New Year's Eve 2018

We celebrated New Year's Eve with the Susongs again this year, and as tradition would have it, our night involved two lanes of galaxy bowling and a family style Chinese dinner to follow.  A small, intimate gathering with good friends is right up my alley (no pun intended) on this last holiday of the year and we are thankful for this sweet family to celebrate with.     

One of my favorite additions to our night this year was a pile of questions I put in the middle of our big table over dinner.  The questions covered all kinds of topics to reflect on from the year behind us, along with some good questions to get us thinking ahead to 2019.  The kids LOVED doing this and it was so cute to hear them share their favorite accomplishments from the year, proudest moments, and best memories.  I loved when Sam talked about his basketball coach and what a great mentor he was to him this year, when Mila said she was most proud of being a good friend at school, when Cruz talked about how much he loved learning to play football, and when Molly shared that her absolute favorite memory was seeing Hamilton in Chicago (in a British accent of course).  The kids talked our ears off and while us adults didn't get many opportunities to dig in too deep, I couldn't help but think we were planting some seeds for some good reflective thinkers in our future.  There are few things I love more than a big ole table and all the fellowship that happens around it.  

I shoved the question cards in my pocket before we left and have been meaning to include a few notable responses here.  A little 2018 yearbook for the taking...

1. Best purchased this year.  Our kayaks.

2. Best binge-worthy show this year. Hands down, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  We finished Season 2 in two days and are so sad we have to wait a year for the next one.

3. Hardest you laughed this year. Playing salad bowl in our basement for Friendsgiving.  Oh my gosh, we laughed SO HARD that night.  

4. Favorite news event of the year. The royal wedding.  I got up at 5 am on a Saturday and made scones and everything.  I'm sure watching that beautiful wedding on the couch with Mila will be something we always talk about, like the way Mom still remembers watching Princess Di's wedding.  

5. Best place visited this year. I think I've gotta go with London.  I loved this city and its energy, culture, and class.  

6. A new friend you made this year.  So many!  I loved getting the chance to lead a Bible study with sweet, Courtney, have been so thankful for new couple friends through our small group, and have a feeling we'll be spending more time with Beau's new manager and his great family in the new year.

7. Best conversation you had this year.  I'm just going to sum this up and say every chance I get to be in the real with Kate.  We put in hours of conversation on Voxer each week, but when we invest in some good quality hours together, we have lots to catch up on.  Conversations over snowy outdoor fires and whisky in March, Decorah camping trips and pizza farm talks, and post-Ray LaMontagne and divey diner breakfast chats this fall.  

8. An unexpected surprise this year. After eight months of doctor's visits and tests, my dad finally found out he had chronic appendicitis after a long and stressful day at the hospital in November.  It was a rather scary experience for us all, but there was much beauty at the same time.  Dad was well taken care of with some wonderful doctors and nurses and we spent one long and late night with mom in the waiting room drawing near to each other and one ever present God.  

9. Favorite song you heard this year. There are lots, but our date night with Wild Rivers in Iowa City was definitely a music highlight of our year.  

10. Day this past year you'd live over and over.  Waking up in that cabin in Decorah this fall, or our long kayak float this summer, or that night in Sausalito, ordering sushi takeout, playing games with the kids, and telling all the silly and scary stories.  

11. Best holiday memory this year. Sitting in Wilbos on Black Friday and running over to Peekaboo to grab a game for us to play.  Or Jorgensen Top Chef night.  Or Christmas Eve candlelight.    

12. Best movie of the year.  Is it bad to say Wreck-It-Ralph Breaks the Internet?! ;)  Still waiting to see A Star is Born...

13. Something new I tried this year. Joywheel Cycling.  It's the most fun I've ever had working out.

14. Most excited for this next year.  More bike rides. More adventures.  More people around our table.  And...HAWAII.

15. Best lesson learned this year.  Hebrews 12:2 - HE is greater than ME 

Just a few long lost pictures from our January...

4/52

"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2019."

Cruz: You got to go up on the big stage at church yesterday and receive your very own Bible, a rite of passage for a 2nd grader at OHC.  A total of 76 2nd graders were given Bibles at Orchard yesterday!  And although you seemed more fascinated by the big screen behind you and I'm pretty sure you didn't hear a single word of the prayer, I know God's truth will continue to guide your heart as you grow and grow.  And now you said you can pass on your Storybook Bible to your sis.  So sweet you thought of that!

Mila: You finally got to have your unicorn party yesterday!  We celebrated with a taco bar and one massive unicorn cake, balloons, pin the horn on the unicorn and unicorn ring toss, presents, treats, and lots of time to play with your cousins.  You were so funny opening up your presents - you screamed at the top of your lungs when you opened up your Wellie Wisher cocoa stand, and made lots of funny remarks to make everyone laugh.  Still can't believe you are five, baby girl!   

3/52

"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2019."

Cruz: You put this amazing Lego ship together all by yourself last week, working little by little at the table while the rest of our world was in a state of chaos.  And when you lost a pretty important piece, you creatively used a different piece to complete rebuild the missing link.  And then you helped your sister build one of hers!  

Mila: You received your third Wellie Wisher doll for your birthday and have had three sidekicks beside you ever since.  You love changing their clothes (and never matching them), love when I style their hair, and you even put a little box in our mudroom with all of their shoes.  Now, to add to our otherwise busy rush to get out the door in the morning, we have to also ensure your doll of choice has the correct shoes on her feet.  Oh the patience, oh the joy!

Mila's birthday weekend

Mila's 5th birthday fell smack dab in the middle of one of the most trying weeks of our lives.  When I look back just a week ago, it's a true gift from God that He gave us time to soak her up and celebrate her.  The Wednesday before her birthday, Beau's mom went to the hospital.  The night of her birthday (long after we had tucked her in bed, the ambulance was called for Beau's dad.  The day after her birthday, one of the worst days.  But, thankfully, his parents are both home and although Mila's unicorn party is postponed for the time being, I looked back on all these pictures yesterday and they made me cry.  We celebrated our girl good and her joy gave us so many reasons to smile, even in the storm.       

I love when the kids' birthdays fall on a weekend and I've realized we don't get many of those opportunities!  Since Beau went up to Mason City to see his parents on Saturday, I stayed back and decided to spend a snowy day celebrating our girl a little early.  She requested Imagine Dragons on the way to the mall and later said they, Mary Poppins, The Greatest Showman, and Elvis were her favorites to listen to.  We ran around the mall and laughed on those silly mechanical stuffed animals.  We got Mila's ears (re)pierced and she chose a pink stuffed piggy as her reward for being brave.  We went for a snowy walk on South Main and she cried when her "Cruzy" got too close to the edge of the creek.  We warmed up with her favorite hot cocoa at Cup of Joe and Daddy joined us for a game of Sorry.  Then she chose grilled hamburgers, chips, and pears for her birthday dinner.  We spent the rest of the night working on her one goal for her new year - learning to do a cartwheel.  She's getting closer!  

Sunday morning, I woke up super early to surprise the birthday girl.  I rolled in about an hour before church, hands full with a balloon bouquet and donuts from our newest donut shoppe, Icon Donuts.  We made a donut cake fit for a queen, sang her Happy Birthday, and then it was off to church.  After church, we talked her into lunch at Chuck E. Cheese, even though all she wanted to do was open her gifts.  We ate some pizza, played girls vs. boys in ticket numbers, and the kids left with brand new slinkies to add to their toy collection.  And finally, we let the girl open her gifts!    

This is what she had been patiently waiting for until, well, Christmas. ;)  She graciously soaked up every gift - a new Lego set, a Wellie Wisher friend, a hat to wear this summer, and an outfit that matches her favorite doll, Camille.  Then, she played and played until she crashed!  

The celebrating continues with one more sparkly unicorn party to come!