2017 Recap
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! We hope this letter finds all of you recovered from the holiday season and enjoying 2018! It’s time for our annual wrap up, otherwise known as a letter that I hope in the future may give me some recollection of what happened in these busy, early family years.
2017 was a big year for our little family. In January we moved from our first home that Dave and I bought together when we were engaged 7.5 years ago, to our new home, that we hope to raise our family in for a good long time!
In March, we celebrated our first Easter in our new home with Dave’s family, and unknowingly, this would be the last holiday that we were able to spend with Dave’s dad Jim. It was a beautiful day, great meal, and Jan and Jim together hosted a wonderful egg hunt and blessed Luke, Eli, Bowen, Noah and Aiden and Alicia with wonderful gifts and wonderful memories. I’ll never forget the smile on Jim’s face as he was hunting around the yard for the best place to hide the eggs. They also did a hunt for the adults, which shockingly was the most competitive of all.
Luke started his first team sport in April, and played soccer for ZYSL. Minus a rough first practice (as in, he screamed on the sidelines the whole hour and refused to play), he LOVED it and did a great job!
In early June, Dave and I were also able to sneak away for 2 nights for my 10 year college reunion at DePauw. We stayed in Hogate and had the BEST time catching up with friends, attending alumni events, visiting Alpha Phi and generally pretending we were college kids all over again.
In May, Jim’s health began to decline and we spent the next two months making sure he was safe and fed in his home, getting him admitted to the hospital when it was time, and making the transition to long term care and hospice in June. He had made his wishes clear, and Dave, Kristy and Julie did a wonderful, gracious job of following them, and being there for him and each other in those final months. He was placed on hospice care on Father’s Day and passed away June 20, 2017. We were all devastated with this loss, but felt very thankful that he was no longer in pain, and with the Lord. He went to be with Jesus with all of his kids around him, quietly and peacefully.
Dave and I were so moved by the friends and family that came to Jim’s services, and pitched in for us at that time, by bringing meals, and offering support. My mom really stepped up to help with the boys, and I came home a few times to my brothers cleaning our house and unloading groceries to make sure we had enough food for everyone. My dad unloaded all the flowers from the funeral to Jan’s house and through all of the sadness, it honestly was such a beautiful, humbling time for us and for sure would have been significantly harder without all the support we received.
The rest of the summer was somewhat of a blur as we all dealt with cleaning out Jim’s house, Dave dealt with estate issues, and we all struggled through shock and grief. Our boys did a great job of understanding the situation to the best of their abilities, going with the flow, and somehow surviving our inevitably impatient and zombie like states at times. We had to cancel a few fun family trips and move some things around and they continuously impressed us with their ability to adjust and accept the circumstances.
At the end of the summer, Dave was able to step away for a bit and travel to Portland, Maine with friends for his annual guys trip. They hiked and experienced the great outdoors at Acadia National Park, explored breweries in downtown Maine, and ate lobster. I was able to get away for a few days with my friend Megan to LA to see Joe and Hannah and experience the coast! We went on a stars house tour, to Manhattan Beach, up to Malibou and also were able to relax and have some great girl time catching up and swimming in Joe and Hannah’s apartment pool!
We also found out in August that we are expecting our 3rd little one in 2018 so that rocked our world just a little more at the end of the summer!
We also had an awesome weekend away at our friends' lake house in September (The Alerding's) where the boys took their first boat rides, and Luke learned he has a great passion for two person kayaking as he and Dave made their way around the lake a time or two. We had so much fun eating, playing and spending time with our great friends!
Dave and I also had a quick getaway to Philly around the same time for my friend Sarah Chick's wedding. It was so nice to get away, and we experienced the best hospitality from the Chick and Vlahos families! It was a beautiful, memorable wedding and we are so glad we were able to go!
This fall, we headed into our first year with both boys in school! Luke started his second year of PreK, and Eli started in his two’s class, both at Trader’s Point Christian Academy. I started working a pretty set schedule of M/W/F in order to use school as childcare, which has worked out wonderfully thus far. It has helped relieve so much stress in piecing together childcare to just know they have somewhere to go that is consistent and safe and where they are loved!
We (mostly Dave) finished up the basement this fall, we hosted his family and mine for Thanksgiving, and Dave began a new endeavour of coaching JV basketball at Trader’s Point. Coaching is something he has wanted to get into as long as I’ve known him, and he had a great opportunity to become the JV assistant coach this fall, so even though we had not quite set up our lives for a coaches’ schedule, we talked about it, prayed about it, and decided to try and make it work!
So far, it has been great. Dave’s job is flexible enough and his boss kind enough to let him coach and we have figured out week by week how to get him to as many practices/events as possible! Quickly into the season, the head JV coach got a job out of town and Dave was promoted to head coach. We have had the best time watching him thrive in this new role, and we absolutely love seeing him in his element at the games. The boys love to go to the games, eat popcorn and loudly yell “GO KNIGHTS!!”. It is so wonderful they get to see him do something he loves so much! So, needless to say, we are going to figure out how to make his coaching more a part of our life so that next fall it’s a little easier to manage all our commitments!
This fall was also the first year we had Butler basketball season tickets, which were so much fun and everyone had a great time at the games we were able to make. Luke also had his first basketball season at the Zionsville Boys and Girls Club. Which, might I add, he had been looking forward to for literally years. He had a co-ed team, so Dave and I coached together and had a great time! Luke loved every minute of it and did a great job!
We had a great Christmas season, and started our 2018 with a trip to Iceland to celebrate my mom’s upcoming 60th Birthday.
Though this year will start out with a bang of a new baby in April, we are hoping for a few less life changes in 2018. We want to continue to prioritize God and our family, work to cultivate positive relationships, grow in our faith and continue to settle in to our new home and new roles. We are going to make a conscious effort to plan and spend time on things and people that are positive models in our lives, push us to grow, and challenge us. Pouring into our kids and being intentional parents is again, at the top of our list as well. We hope each and every one of you has a blessed 2018 and are able to grow in faith and family and love this year!
2017 was a big year for our little family. In January we moved from our first home that Dave and I bought together when we were engaged 7.5 years ago, to our new home, that we hope to raise our family in for a good long time!
This was a wonderful and much needed move, but as I had forgotten and was quickly reminded, moving is no small task. Neither is putting together a new house, learning it’s new noises etc., and adjusting to approximately 3 times the space we had in our old house. We absolutely love our new home, but the early months of the year were certainly an adjustment period! Dave got started right away working on finishing the basement for our family and amazingly, finished it in just about 9 months! It is now a beautiful new space for our family to grow into.
In March, we celebrated our first Easter in our new home with Dave’s family, and unknowingly, this would be the last holiday that we were able to spend with Dave’s dad Jim. It was a beautiful day, great meal, and Jan and Jim together hosted a wonderful egg hunt and blessed Luke, Eli, Bowen, Noah and Aiden and Alicia with wonderful gifts and wonderful memories. I’ll never forget the smile on Jim’s face as he was hunting around the yard for the best place to hide the eggs. They also did a hunt for the adults, which shockingly was the most competitive of all.
Luke started his first team sport in April, and played soccer for ZYSL. Minus a rough first practice (as in, he screamed on the sidelines the whole hour and refused to play), he LOVED it and did a great job!
In early June, Dave and I were also able to sneak away for 2 nights for my 10 year college reunion at DePauw. We stayed in Hogate and had the BEST time catching up with friends, attending alumni events, visiting Alpha Phi and generally pretending we were college kids all over again.
In May, Jim’s health began to decline and we spent the next two months making sure he was safe and fed in his home, getting him admitted to the hospital when it was time, and making the transition to long term care and hospice in June. He had made his wishes clear, and Dave, Kristy and Julie did a wonderful, gracious job of following them, and being there for him and each other in those final months. He was placed on hospice care on Father’s Day and passed away June 20, 2017. We were all devastated with this loss, but felt very thankful that he was no longer in pain, and with the Lord. He went to be with Jesus with all of his kids around him, quietly and peacefully.
Dave and I were so moved by the friends and family that came to Jim’s services, and pitched in for us at that time, by bringing meals, and offering support. My mom really stepped up to help with the boys, and I came home a few times to my brothers cleaning our house and unloading groceries to make sure we had enough food for everyone. My dad unloaded all the flowers from the funeral to Jan’s house and through all of the sadness, it honestly was such a beautiful, humbling time for us and for sure would have been significantly harder without all the support we received.
The rest of the summer was somewhat of a blur as we all dealt with cleaning out Jim’s house, Dave dealt with estate issues, and we all struggled through shock and grief. Our boys did a great job of understanding the situation to the best of their abilities, going with the flow, and somehow surviving our inevitably impatient and zombie like states at times. We had to cancel a few fun family trips and move some things around and they continuously impressed us with their ability to adjust and accept the circumstances.
At the end of the summer, Dave was able to step away for a bit and travel to Portland, Maine with friends for his annual guys trip. They hiked and experienced the great outdoors at Acadia National Park, explored breweries in downtown Maine, and ate lobster. I was able to get away for a few days with my friend Megan to LA to see Joe and Hannah and experience the coast! We went on a stars house tour, to Manhattan Beach, up to Malibou and also were able to relax and have some great girl time catching up and swimming in Joe and Hannah’s apartment pool!
We also found out in August that we are expecting our 3rd little one in 2018 so that rocked our world just a little more at the end of the summer!
We also had an awesome weekend away at our friends' lake house in September (The Alerding's) where the boys took their first boat rides, and Luke learned he has a great passion for two person kayaking as he and Dave made their way around the lake a time or two. We had so much fun eating, playing and spending time with our great friends!
Dave and I also had a quick getaway to Philly around the same time for my friend Sarah Chick's wedding. It was so nice to get away, and we experienced the best hospitality from the Chick and Vlahos families! It was a beautiful, memorable wedding and we are so glad we were able to go!
This fall, we headed into our first year with both boys in school! Luke started his second year of PreK, and Eli started in his two’s class, both at Trader’s Point Christian Academy. I started working a pretty set schedule of M/W/F in order to use school as childcare, which has worked out wonderfully thus far. It has helped relieve so much stress in piecing together childcare to just know they have somewhere to go that is consistent and safe and where they are loved!
We (mostly Dave) finished up the basement this fall, we hosted his family and mine for Thanksgiving, and Dave began a new endeavour of coaching JV basketball at Trader’s Point. Coaching is something he has wanted to get into as long as I’ve known him, and he had a great opportunity to become the JV assistant coach this fall, so even though we had not quite set up our lives for a coaches’ schedule, we talked about it, prayed about it, and decided to try and make it work!
So far, it has been great. Dave’s job is flexible enough and his boss kind enough to let him coach and we have figured out week by week how to get him to as many practices/events as possible! Quickly into the season, the head JV coach got a job out of town and Dave was promoted to head coach. We have had the best time watching him thrive in this new role, and we absolutely love seeing him in his element at the games. The boys love to go to the games, eat popcorn and loudly yell “GO KNIGHTS!!”. It is so wonderful they get to see him do something he loves so much! So, needless to say, we are going to figure out how to make his coaching more a part of our life so that next fall it’s a little easier to manage all our commitments!
This fall was also the first year we had Butler basketball season tickets, which were so much fun and everyone had a great time at the games we were able to make. Luke also had his first basketball season at the Zionsville Boys and Girls Club. Which, might I add, he had been looking forward to for literally years. He had a co-ed team, so Dave and I coached together and had a great time! Luke loved every minute of it and did a great job!
We had a great Christmas season, and started our 2018 with a trip to Iceland to celebrate my mom’s upcoming 60th Birthday.
Though this year will start out with a bang of a new baby in April, we are hoping for a few less life changes in 2018. We want to continue to prioritize God and our family, work to cultivate positive relationships, grow in our faith and continue to settle in to our new home and new roles. We are going to make a conscious effort to plan and spend time on things and people that are positive models in our lives, push us to grow, and challenge us. Pouring into our kids and being intentional parents is again, at the top of our list as well. We hope each and every one of you has a blessed 2018 and are able to grow in faith and family and love this year!
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