Goodbye 2021...

Another year in the books and certainly not one that will be forgotten anytime soon.  From a never ending pandemic to an ugly presidential election to sending our boys off on missions to Jack switching jobs to finally getting our Utah house plans finalized, approved and permitted it was a year full of highs and lows.  But in amongst it all we have so much to be grateful for.  And how easy it is in our lives to see all the craziness and miss some of the beauty. So on the last day of the year Jack and I went kayaking down Rock Springs at Kelly Park starting at King's Landing.  I had wanted to do this and how glad I was that we spent our last day of 2021 doing it! It was a gentle reminder that we can always find peace and goodness in our lives if we search for it.  While the day started off a bit overcast, it ended beautifully.  Much like 2021... 

The best part of living on a lake is the firework displays that go on around it especially on the 4th of July and new years.  I have to admit it was nice to just sit back and watch...something that we would never do had the boys been here.

After helping me get Christmas cleaned up Sage enjoyed having her dad tow her and Bo around on the raft! Cheers to a good 2022!

Christmas in Utah!

I have never been a fan of celebrating Christmas anywhere other than in our own home. The idea of transporting gifts across the nation never excited me nor did I want to deal with explaining to the kids how Santa would figure out where they were. I love to wake up in our own home on Christmas morning and always look forward to cooking a big Christmas feast. Having said that we always loved when family traveled to us.  I think there has been only one Christmas that we celebrated away since having kids and it was the boys' first Christmas.  We decided to reward ourselves that year and take a trip to Hawaii...the reward being traveling without the boys haha!  That first year of raising twins is a busy one so we were quite grateful for my parents being willing to watch them while we took a trip.  Since we were traveling from NJ we met my parents at the SLC airport where they grabbed the boys. Then on our return we did a stopover back in SLC where we celebrated Christmas with the boys and my family before returning back to NJ.  From that point forward we celebrated Christmases in our own home.  Fast forward to this year with the boys being away for their first Christmas since leaving on their missions and my aging parents finding traveling to us a bit more difficult, especially in the world of Covid, it seemed the perfect time to give Christmas away from home another try.  It turned out great and I'm so glad we went.

Of course it wouldn't be Christmas without the normal frantic push to figure out what photo to use for our annual Christmas card and in typical Roddy fashion, I found myself calling a neighbor asking if they'd be willing to run over and snap a couple photos with minutes notice.  I had sworn this was the year we'd get a professional one with the boys in it before they left this summer but no such luck.  Here are a few shots that my sweet neighbor Holly was able to capture for us. All I needed was one with us all smiling...

Next we were off to Utah but not before dropping Nova off at the kennel.  None of us were happy about this as it would be the first time he wouldn't be coming with us but sadly we were left with no other option since he no longer fits in his travel case that was already bigger than the maximum sized one allowed on the plane.  

So what happens when you leave your dog for ten days and head to Utah to play in the snow without him?  He creates his own "white Christmas".  Had to laugh when the kennel sent me this photo of what they found when they arrived one morning to check on him...

Of course just because the boys are gone doesn't mean that our traditional annual photos with Santa are.  Deep down I think Sage enjoys this tradition even if she was now the only one in the photo.  Of course with Covid, Santa has to be extra careful and so he practices social distancing for photos too...haha!  But boy it sure feels a lot more like Christmas in Utah with these cold temps!  It was definitely time to dust off the coats...

Aside from the fact Jack got sick a few days before we arrived and contaminated many of us during the holiday, (thankfully it was just a cold) we still had such a great time. It was so nice being with my whole family. While we didn't do too much because it was quite cold, we enjoyed just being together.  Here are a few random shots from our time there!

T'was the night before Christmas...and all through Grandma and Grandpa's house...

The highlight of Christmas morning... talking to our sweet boys!!!

It was definitely a successful Christmas with everyone really putting it some great thought into the gifts they gave!

Sledding in the Provo bowl...

Two boys enjoying their Christmas presents...

Game night!

Goodbyes...

Thanksgiving weekend!

Well this Thanksgiving marked the first one without the boys and it definitely didn't feel right.  From not having them around to help decorate the tree to missing them around the table feasting on turkey, everything seemed off.  While we failed to capture our lovely Thanksgiving feast that we shared with our dear friends the Stroud's (whose son is also serving a mission in Mexico and could relate to that feeling of having empty chairs around the table), we did get a few from earlier in the day as we enjoyed spending time on the dock enjoying Florida's beautiful November weather.  This year I made a point to convince Sage and Jack to let me have the tree up and decorated by Thanksgiving since we'd be heading to Utah for Christmas and wouldn't get to enjoy it for nearly as long!  I'd much rather have it up a couple days early than have it up into the New year! :)

Happy Halloween

I'm pretty certain the last time Sage dressed up as a cowgirl was in 2009 when she would have been three years old!  Fast forward twelve years and here she is...Still the cutest cowgirl ever!  

After spending the day together doing everything from church hopping (since it was Sunday) to house hopping, this group ended their night at our place.  Gone are the days of pumpkin patch visits (especially when you live in Florida) and costume shopping but I was just happy to have them at our place hanging out.

And it wouldn't be a complete night without knocking a few doors...if even just to get enough to cure the sweet tooth! The jury is out if this will be the last year of trick or treating for Sage! :)