2018. Another full year for our family. Full of blessings, full of challenges, just full of life, and I am so thankful. Life certainly hasn't been perfect, but doesn't that make the good times that much sweeter?
I'm going to attempt doing a brief review of our year. No details, just bullet points to make sure I get through it, otherwise it'll never happen!
January: Caleb got braces. Mike and I had an overnight without kids thanks to my brother and sister-in-law. Jose's mom cooked dinner for us at his house (amazing). Near the end of the month Mike went to Guyana on a missions trip with my parent's, brother, nephew, and another gentleman.
February: Mike returned from Guyana (yay!). Logan cooked a meal for us with Grandma. I went to Ohio for a few days - met up with college friends for dinner in Columbus, went to chapel with my nieces and their boyfriends, was able to have supper with my sister and her family as they were in town for the weekend, went to a special brunch for Amy as she was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Cedarville. Took the boys for a fun evening at the Holland Aquatic Center. Caleb had his ears checked out due to failing the hearing test at school.
March: Took the boys to Rebounderz (we had told them at Christmas that we would take them sometime and we finally got to go!). Went over to the Padding's for an evening. Levi had a friend over to play one weekend, and then went to a friend birthday party the next. I had a few activities at school I tried to help out with.
April: We survived Spring Break (which is quite a feat in Michigan). My guys made me proud at our church's Pinewood Derby.
May: Levi had his 6th birthday. I had an outpatient surgery (ablation). I worked a garage sale along with some other ladies from church - I look forward to it every year! Kicked off the summer with a cottage day over the Memorial Day weekend. Last day of school for the summer! (I was actually looking forward to it due to the difficulty of getting Jackson to cooperate with the school schedule.)
June: Caleb and Logan got to go to a friend's birthday party at a park. We had a couple cottage Saturday's. Caleb and Logan went to Drama Camp at school. I was asked to coach the high school volleyball team at Libertas. Mike went wake boarding at Action Water Sports for his birthday. We had a busy week at our church's VBS - the older three boys attended, I worked, and so Jackson was in the nursery (he was ready to be done by the end of the week!). Also, in the afternoons of that week, Caleb and Levi attended our school's soccer camp. I attended Libertas' Volleyball Camp. A few of us ran the Zeeland Zoom. Tom & Tera came into town and we had time to hang out with them!
July: Plenty of time at the cottage between the 4th of July and a "family weekend" with Tom & Tera around. And, around this time I was starting to get obsessed with trying to prepare for the volleyball season. Levi went to a friend's birthday party. Caleb, Logan, and Levi went to Chess Camp at school. I had my 20 year high school reunion! We had different playdates with friends. Kept busy with the garden. My sister and her family came into town at the end of the month, so we had lots of family time then.
August: More cottage time, woo-hoo! We made headway with Logan and then Caleb both trying to waterski. Caleb, Logan, and Levi went to VBS at Jamestown - we took Jack (neighbor friend) most of the days. Volleyball practices started. Went to the Hudsonville Fair. Took the volleyball girls for a beach day, and that was a fun time to get to know them better.
September: School started! I took Grace Schreur's senior photos. Things were crazy, but mostly manageable with volleyball practice and games. And, of course, Mike was busy at work during this whole time, but he handles it like a champ. Took the volleyball girls to a GVSU game and back to Sage's house for pizza and a movie, so fun. I think it was this month that I booked our tickets for Kenya in March 2019!
October: Finished up with volleyball. The packing shed finished with celery the day after. And, Mike and I both took a deep breath. :) We had our annual skeet shooting party with Harold and Kara (& kids), and Joe. Had an end of the season party with the volleyball team - crazy girls. Bought a 'new' piano! Caleb, Logan, and Levi started with piano lessons. I helped out at Grandparent's Day and Jackson did great. We worked at our church's CandyLand event.
November: Jackson turned 3. The kids applied for their passports, and I renewed mine. We had Parent-Teacher Conferences at school - good reports, phew! Fall Sports Awards Night. Mike and I had a weekend away - we stayed at the cottage, kids were at Eric and Lea Anne's. I started back up with church volleyball. Thanksgiving Dinner with the Krol/VanBeek's. Bought our 'new' car (Ford Expedition), Christmas activities with the Steenwyk's. We had a snow day! Mike flew to Texas with his boss to visit the Cantu's before Rolando passed. Caleb and Logan turned 9.
December: Attended a school fundraising auction, which is always a fun time, and I donated a cheesecake. Church Christmas Program - Jackson did his little dance with his cowboy boots on... We worked at our church's Live Nativity for two nights. Mike and I and the older three went to see Fiddler on the Roof (Jackson went to Padding's) - so good! Mike had his first ever eye exam and got new glasses. I agreed to be the Nursery Co-Chair at our church. We had Tiemeyer, Steenwyk, and Krol/VanBeek Christmas parties. For our S & K Farm Christmas Dinner we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - farmer's in the big city at a fancy restaurant! We had a relaxing Christmas Day. Mike and I had a date night out at Carraba's thanks to a gift card from my volleyball girls.
There! That's a very brief overview of some of our activities from the year. There is so much more to it than this, but hopefully this will be enough to jog my memory when I read this someday. :)
The main thing we are looking forward to in 2019 is our trip to Kenya. I can't think of much else beyond that right now!
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