It's a New Year...

Oh my! Where should I start? I almost feel bad to write about our year because it was such a terrible year for so many people. However, after going through all that our family did in 2018, 2019, and 2020. 2021 felt like a piece of cake. 2021 was mostly a good year for us and I am so thankful for that. I'm just so thankful that I can say that...it's been so long.

I entered January 2021, praying that it would be the year that my life turned around and it truly was. I'm not saying that it was a perfect year because it wasn't. It still had days that weren't good but nothing like before and for that I was so thankful. 

I was going to go month by month but then decided I'd just throw it all out there at once. It was a year full of LOVE and LAUGHS! We spent a lot of family time together at home making memories, cooking and trying new foods together, reading books (the girls learned to read), watching movies and eating way to much popcorn and cookies. I started back journaling and blogging as you can see. We laughed a lot and shed a few tears. Made some new friends and lost a few along the way (due to the 2 awful C words). Probably the biggest events this year was that I got engaged (July), Married (Nov). I also became a step mom too two boys (11 and 16). Brad started his own side business (he still has a day job too), and found out (in Dec) that a new grand baby is on the way (Ashley is due in June 22).  I spent every second I could with my grown kids and the grandest babies. We took several day trips. We visited all of the parks around us and yes socially distanced as much as we could (the first part of the year) but decided that life was just to short to stay locked away. We prayed about it and left our health in God's hands, used common sense, socially distanced as much as we could, and invested in no telling how much hand sanitizer and lysol...lol We went to see Katie 3 times in NC. While there, we went to the beach, visited the military museum, and the water park. Kaylan taught Zach and Ada how to ride a bike and she and I did lots of crafting (Katie has talent). The girls started upward cheerleading. Zach started basketball. We joined the Farm Fit Kid's club and ran several races (at the farm and virtually). Zach ran to raise money for several charities and won several medals. We got invited to the Special Needs Kid's Day On The Lake...The kids loved taking part in the boat parade. The last school 2020-2021 year ended in May 2021, with Zach taking his final elementary (5th grade) walk. Ada learned to skate (the rest decided skating is not their thing). They learned to fly kites at Mulberry. We grew our own food garden. I planted over 30 evergreen trees and redone all of my flower gardens. Ada grew her own bucket garden too (my girl has a green thumb). They loved gardening so much that Brad even built them fairy gardens. We attended VBS. Joined Paulding Rocks and went on several rock hunts and hid a few ourselves. Both Blaze and Layla started back hippo therapy and they both are doing very well! Both of them have made huge progress in all of their therapies. We spent a week at Cocoa Beach with my friend Tabitha and we had a blast! While we were in Florida we decided to take a trip to the Kennedy Space Center and we actually got to see a launch (best trip ever!). We went to Buffalo Creek with my friend's Brittany and Sandra for a nature scavenger hunt (It was so beautiful there and so much fun for the kids). We watched a kid's lamb showing and learned how to show sheep while we were at Buffalo Creek.  Went to the Atlanta Zoo, attended a paint party, visited Berry College, Trunk-or-treated with TEB. We hosted our own cookie parties (friends & family), kid's craft party with little friends, and family Halloween party.  Visited Graham Farm for Christmas (one of our new favorite places), Pine Mountain Gold Museum for Christmas, Babyland General in Cleveland (Aniston's bday). We cheered on Alabama (Roll Tide!) and watched the Braves win the world series (I can imagine my mom and brother were cheering too up there in Heaven)! The tooth fairy nearly went broke as we lost so many teeth that I lost count...lol Layla got selected as student of the month at her school in March. In October Ada was selected as student of the month at the school. Zach made it into the G.R.I.T program at school for his good grades. We finally finished adding the extra bedroom (It was started about 15 years ago). We completed several home improvement projects. I love that Brad can build! We also, finally after all of these years, got county water ran to the house... Boy what a blessing it is! We will be adding a new above ground pool in spring 2022. We were shut down most of August because Covid hit our home. It first hit the school so the kids were out for a week. Then I got it and then Brad got it... so we pretty much quarantined the whole month. The kids may have had it because a couple had runny noses, but if they did it was very mild and they weren't tested. Covid for me was pretty much flu like with no taste or smell for several days. However, Brad got much sicker and ended up having to go to the hospital for treatment for double pneumonia. But thankfully we overcame it. In October, Ada got a Young Author Award! I'm so proud of her. Reading and writing have been a huge struggle for her but she has made huge progress this year so this award was such a surprise! The new school year started in Aug 21, with the two big boys (Josh and Zach) moving up to 6th grade / junior high. Blaze moved to 3rd, Ada 2nd, and Layla 1st. I'm so proud of all of the kids. 2021 was their  year and they deserved it. 

And in between all of the exciting days I mentioned were the calm quiet laid back kind of days days and those we found to be some of our most precious and best moments of the whole year. 

I hope to add a slide show or share some of the highlights in pictures soon. 

Happy New Year!