Christmas 2020

  2020, not overly exciting, right?

We ended 2019 with a family trip to Disney. First time to Mickey Mouse Land for Reese. We stayed at a great resort and enjoyed some family time. 

January:  I don’t remember much about January.  Who does?🤷‍♀️

February: Paige, Reese and I took a quick trip to Florida to spend a few days with Gram and Pop. Coldest days in Florida in over 700 days!  

Paige and Peyton turned 20 the last week in February. We then attended a pre deployment ceremony for the 236th Inland Cargo Transfer Company. This deployment would take Paige to the other side of the world for the rest of 2020.  My parents flew home for the week, my dad’s reaction to flying for the first time in 40 years was comic relief for the difficult week. Oh, and we were starting to hear about some virus that could make it’s way to the US...

March: by the end of March the world was shutting down. Working in Healthcare started to get extra challenging, and by the end of the month Peyton and Reese were both home and close to full remote learning. 

April: we went pretty much nowhere. The end. 

May: thankfully it was getting warmer! Remote learning was ending. Paige was doing well and we would hear from her at odd times of the day and night. 

June: well, there were no murder hornets! 

July: we had a nice, but low key July4th, with fireworks at home. We did take a fantastic trip to Florida. Tons of beach time, boating and fishing. 

My calendar does mock me with the dates of concerts we were supposed to attend! 

Reese went with her “2nd family,” the Longs,  to Michigan for a great week spent on the lake. Peyton had plans on and off all summer, Paige kept us up to date on the “dry heat” of the sandbox...

August: Peyton started her senior year at ISU, and Reese was able to start school in person at First Baptist.  My job continued to change on a weekly basis with the increase in COVID-19 patients. 

September: I spent a weekend BACK in Florida for a class. Mostly rainy, but the class was good, and a I loved the  quality time spent with Betsy Shallenberger!  

October: James and I took Reese and Katie Long to the Dells for a few days of fun at the water parks and remote learning. We were now starting to look forward to Paige coming home.

 

November: more changes at work, starting to do more patient care remotely and ordering Covid testing nearly every day. Took the time to add a new tattoo, an awesome American Traditional nurse drawn by Paige.

A small (less than 10 people, Covid approved) Friends Thanksgiving was spent with the Shueys and just a bit of family. It was a pretty nice day. 

It is now December again of the weirdest year ever. Which is saying a lot, as I have had some pretty weird years. 

Personally God has taught me so much this year. I have had to take a look at how I feel about personal rights, about truly loving others, and about whether I trust God to walk me through the tough days.  My faith has been deepened. So much about 2020 has been tough. The quick look back through my calendar and photos reminds me of the blessings in my life. It is humbling how blessed I am.