Our Christmas Card & Letter 2020

I didn't send a Christmas letter with our card this year but if I did this is what it would have said. 

Merry Christmas!! We hope during this crazy year that this note finds you healthy and well. Like many of you, 2020 definitely looked different for our family but it taught us to cherish the one thing that is most important in the world, time together. Liam's last year of preschool was cut short in March and I became a full time teacher to two at home through the end of May. Our classroom was filled with walks and bike rides around the neighborhood having the hardest time not going to the parks while they were closed, doing Cosmic Kids Yoga in the living room, learning letters, numbers, colors, and shapes at the kitchen table with endless art supplies, experiencing virtual Disneyland rides on YouTube, building towers with magnet blocks, and so much more. The crazy thing is, I had prayed for just a little more quality time spent with Liam before sending him off to Kindergarten ... I didn't know what that would look like or what I was actually praying for in the moment ... but I learned it was this. It was getting to teach him his last few months of preschool and having him home every day with me. It was an answered prayer in the hardest but best way. 

In the summer we took our annual trip to Pocatello and Bear Lake. It is always one of the highlights of our year! Both of our kids have asked many times since when we get to go back. Other than that, summer was quiet. No swimming lessons, Roaring Springs passes, Children's Museum, etc. Instead, we spent many days with our blow up swimming pool splashing in our own backyard! We also transformed our yard this summer into a space we all love! We added a cozy sectional out there, a fire table for s'mores, a swing, beautiful flowers, trees, and shrubs we planted with our own two hands. We had a cement pad poured on the side of our home with our hand prints etched in it. 

In the fall, Lyla started her first year of preschool. She LOVES it and wishes she could go more than 2 days a week. She got her first haircut (bye bye baby mullet and hello baby bangs!), learned how to ride her hand-me-down balance bike like a champion, and was completely potty trained night and day by the end of the year!! Proud of that girl of ours!

Liam's school year started 100% online until slowly he went back every other day, to eventually the elementary schools opening full time. He is thriving in Kindergarten ... reading above grade level and making all kinds of new friends! His dream of riding the bus came true, too! He learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels this summer and is the such a good example to those around him at school. We are so grateful for him!

Nic has spent the better part of a year working from a home office! It has not come without its challenges but we love getting to see him more often and spend every lunch together! He has helped the hospital in so many ways through Covid and is officially the first member of our family to be vaccinated! He is always our rock emotionally and physically and he is helped complete more projects around our home this year than he probably cared to. haha We adore him!

Then there's me. Sometimes I struggle to see the difference I make around here until I get sick or something and see many of the plates I keep spinning in the air fall. Then I realize one of my truly greatest strengths is juggling ... schedules, schools, laundry, meals, emotions ... haha! It's a real art! ;) Jokes aside, I our kid's schooling and our home were my labors of love this year. I transformed our kids bedrooms into places that make them both smile and gave me a creative outlet that I really love to express. I finally found answers to the source of the headaches and pain I'd been experiencing for over 2 years and feel relieved to say that I now have coping mechanisms in place to keep it really well managed. It has been a huge blessing!!! 

So you see, 2020 really was filled with a lot of blessings. No matter how many things were canceled or closed, times when we couldn't see family and friends, masks we had to wear, or bottles of hand sanitizer we went through to try and stay healthy. I hope you can see the blessings from your year too. They are there and I know it is thanks to a Savior who is watching over all of us, especially during hard times. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We love you!

Nic, Meagan, Liam, and Lyla