An 18 Month Hiatus

After discovering that the kids love to read the blog book I have printed out from the very beginning of this blog, I got on to make the second half and got so engrossed in looking back on all our fun adventures. I had all but decided to never blog again, but I feel a renewed interest in keeping our family history this way! So here are a few thoughts about the last 18 months of our lives.

2014 was a really hard year for us. We had some wonderful occasions, but overall, we were really struggling individually and as a family. I was dealing with some pretty heavy depression and Ben was newly graduated and feeling a lot like a failure in his first job with a lot of pressure coming down on him to perform more as a marketer than a PT. We felt relieved to finally be done with school, but emotionally, we were drained and life didn't feel any easier, like we thought it would. We made it through the year and managed to celebrate a few key events, like graduations, birthdays, holidays, and weddings. 2015 didn't start any better. By the end of January, I knew I needed to make some kind of change if we wanted to thrive as a family. After some planned adjustments to lifestyle and a few unplanned adjustments to employment, it finally felt like we could hit the reset button on life and start fresh, like we'd been hoping would happen after graduation. And it worked! Ben's new job with St. Lukes was such a huge blessing for his commute, his hours, his compensation, his career, his attitude, and his happiness! In May we were finally ready to fully commit to eating healthier and being active. By the end of the year, we had both lost more than 30 pounds and felt like we have our lives back on track. We got to go to San Diego to celebrate 10 of the hardest, yet most rewarding years of being officially a family. We spent countless hours with our wonderful families and good friends. And we hiked and biked and explored our beautiful state! We thrived! And 2016 promises to be even better! The Lord took our little family in his hands in 2014 and kept us safe. In 2015, he placed us in the best possible circumstances to begin to thrive. And in 2016, I have no doubt He'll be there, guiding us to find peace and joy in our journey.

2014 Highlights:
May- Ben Graduates from Regis University with both our families there to support us
September- Family camping trip to Lake Cascade

2015 Highlights:
May- Colorado trip to see friends and Sam Graduate
Visiting Moab and Arches National Park
June- Hiking all over the foothills as a family
July- 4th of July trip to McCall with the Douglass family
San Diego trip for our anniversary
August- Ellie starts kindergarten!
September- Family hike to 4th of July Lake in the White Clouds
October- Brook is baptized with her three cousins
November & December- Wonderful holidays with our families