2021

We ended 2020 with a post about what the word of the year was: Pandemic. So I thought we'd start this book with a little refresher: 2020 was a pretty crummy year. Worldwide pandemic. Earthquakes. Quarantines. Social Distancing. Horribly-polarized Presidential Election. In fact- the word 2020 has basically become synonymous with "crummy".

I had to laugh as I went back to read what we had to say at the beginning of the year. "Welcome to 2020. Shantel and I have been making lots of jokes about how this is the year that corrective vision treatment centers have been dreaming of forever. We expect a lot of marketing aimed at 20/20 and vision-related things. (Shantel: It's true. And I'm excited for 2020. It just SOUNDS good.) We are excited for the new year and have committed to some awesome goals this year.

*Cue hysterical laughter*

Ah. *wipes tears of laughter* We had no idea what 2020 had in store for us. And all of the 20/20 vision marketing plans all but disappeared in March when it was clear that no one wanted to be associated with "2020". I can only imagine those urgent marketing meetings. 

Leading up to 2021, there were a lot of great memes about the year finally ending. My mom had us all watch a video clip spoof of a woman insisting that 2021 was going to "make everything better" and the general consensus has been this:  "Yes, we are glad that 2020 is over - but please, no one make any sudden moves so that 2021 doesn't turn into a low-budget sequel." 

But even as I type this out, I feel compelled to correct my humorous and pessimistic analysis of 2020. The year was filled with blessings for us and our family. There were so many silver linings to each and every storm cloud that it's already hard to remember the storm because the light has been shining through so brightly. David and I were laughing about our January 2020 blog post until we came to this part: 

"And so, with that we look forward into the upcoming year with excitement and hope that it will be a year to make us better people, bring us closer to each other, and help us grow in faith and goodness.      We're here for you 2020! "

We sobered up immediately because it truly was a year to make us better people, bring us closer to each other, and it did help us grow in faith and goodness. That's the amazing thing about living a life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even if the winds are blowing and calamity is raging, He is steady and provides ways to grow and strengthen - not just in spite of the hard things, but because of them. 

---

Although this year we are hoping for a little more "social" and a little less "quarantine"; we are still looking to the future with optimism and faith. We will be looking for ways to stand valiantly and steadfast, working for positive change, refusing to back down from the fight. We will work to root out racism in our lives and our community, we will stand for goodness and virtue, we will do our best to love and lift those around us. 

---

{Shantel}
I'm a little light on the "goals" area this year. My only goal that I can come up with is "To balance my responsibilities and my priorities with more Grace." This is not just an effort at more gracefulness (although Heaven knows I need that, too) but to balance the things I am responsible for doing with the things that are truly my highest priority with an increased dependence on the Grace of Jesus Christ. 

Responsibilities: Stake Primary Calling. Academic Learning. Food Housekeeping. Ministering.

Priorities: Relationships. Spiritual Nourishment. Sharing my love and my time with my family. David.

Some things that I am looking forward to in 2021 are:
-February Science Fair. Trip to Texas with Austin. Family Vacation to the Redwoods. Study the Doctrine and Covenants. Spring Hikes.

{David}

First I should report on my goals from last year.

-Attend the temple every month: I attended in both January and February before the pandemic closed down all temples for the rest of the year. 

-Exercise 100 times: I marked off about 60 and forgot to mark it about 10-20 other times, but did not quite reach my goal although I did a much better job overall exercising and hope to continue that in 2021. It was a really good goal because I found that as the year wore on it really was a bit stressful with all the items noted above and exercising really helped relieve that stress. 

-Blog each week: This was my most successful goal and I did it all the way through mid-November (except 1 week on July). Overall I was able to blog almost every week and stayed up on it throughout the year. 

-User my planner 40 times for weekly planning: This one I did pretty good using it about 30 times instead of 40. 

-Finish the basement: We got so close on this one, we just have a few very small touch up items that we still need to get to (mostly caulking in the bathroom and adding the backsplash.)

Overall, I actually feel pretty good about my effort for 2020 goals and think they helped me have a good year. 

As far as goals for 2021, I have a big list of ideas of what I'd like to do, but have not been able to figure out exactly what I want yet. I think I'll just say that my goal is to use my planner each week to help me accomplish the things that are most important. This includes being able to pray to know the things I should be doing and prioritizing those. 

Starting the year off right.

One of my very favorite weeks of the whole year is the week following the holidays before David has to go back to work. Sometimes its a short week between Christmas and New Years, but this week we were busy with family stuff all the way through New Years and David was able to take some extra time off before having to go back to work, so we had the whole first week of January to rest and enjoy each other's company without having to jump back into our regular routines/regular life just yet. I loved this week. It was the best part of Hygge. Slow, cozy, filled with just our family. 

We had some slow mornings with book reading and making pancakes with chocolate chips. I think the picture of Caleb and Lydia shows them eating a cookie. Because what's a week of hygge without a giant cookie to stick in your mouth.?

Brooklyn and Matthew stopped by for a quick visit with Juniper. When we first met little Juni, she and Lucy looked SO different size wise (2 weeks vs 2 months is a HUGE difference) but now they are getting close to the same. I hope that these two will be great friends as they grow older! 

Our biggest highlight of the week was heading to the Hogle Zoo for their Zoo lights event. Sue (and Cal) gave us a season pass to the Zoo this year for Christmas and we are SO excited to be able to use it. We loaded up and it was brisk outside, but really not very cold. But because of the weather the lions were RIGHT by the big windows and it was AWESOME to see them up so close! I mean, you know lions are big, but I was amazed to see how big they really are.  (My mama instincts definitely kept telling me that I shouldn't let my babies so close to these big cats. Even though I knew we were safe, I had to laugh at those subliminal instincts.) 

One of my personal favorite nights of this week was when David and I finished our Logan UT puzzle that we've been working on for... well... for the past year. I think we started it last New Years Eve-ish? We'd pull it out every once in a while for a movie/date night and really enjoyed it. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, as long as I'm doing it with David, it's my favorite thing to do. 

But if that this is watching While You Were Sleeping (my favorite New Years Movie) and doing a puzzle while eating snacks together- then it REALLY is my favorite thing to do! 

Welcome to 2020

Welcome to 2020. Shantel have been making lots of jokes about how this is the year that corrective vision treatment centers have been dreaming of forever. We expect a lot of marketing aimed at 20/20 and vision related things.

Shantel: It's true. And I'm excited for 2020. It just SOUNDS good. 

We are excited for the new year and have committed to some awesome goals this year.

In an effort to make my goals better, I chose to focus on some more number driven goals that are easily trackable. However, the goals I chose are easily trackable as far as numbers, but those numbers will lead to the self improvement that I desire.

My Goals:
Attend the Temple 15 times
Exercise 100 Times
Blog at least 1 blog every week
Plan in my planner 40 times
Finish the basement

These are my goals and I feel like they will help me focus on things that can help me improve.

In addition to those specific goals, I have the following focus areas:
Gospel Study
Prayer
Acts of Service
Considering Shantel, Lydia, Austin, Caleb, and Lucy as individuals

I am excited for these goals and truly feel like they will help my grow as an individual.


Shantel's Turn: 

I'm just barely coming out of that "I-have-a-newborn-so-only-the-basics" mode. But David inspired me with his goals and I decided to just detail out some of the things that I'm working on. Most of these are not new goals, but it felt good to write them down, push myself a tiny bit, and try to hold myself accountable. As well as holding space for some things that I like to do, but don't always make time for, like reading a book. I mapped everything out in my planner, but here are the basics: 

-Temple 25 times (twice a month, plus one)

-Weekly act of service for David (52 times)

-Write down one thing from my gospel study each week. (Thought, insight, or inspiration.)

-15 Visiting Teaching contacts

-Read 12 books, at least one a month (I love adding this one in, because I don't always make time for reading books, but it helps give me space for something that I enjoy.)

-Study Come Follow Me, weekly.

-Read the Book of Mormon entirely on my phone. 

-Memorize the Oath and Covenant

-Bed by 10:30 up by 6:30

And so, with that we look forward into the upcoming year with excitement and hope that it will be a year to make us better people, bring us closer to each other, and help us grow in faith and goodness. 

We're here for you 2020! 

The close of 2016

Here we are, the end of 2016. Shantel and I thought we would tag team our year end post. 

On New Year's Eve we asked the kids (and each other) what our favorite memories were from 2016 and thought it would be great to just run back through a couple of 2016 highlights. In all honesty, we are not exactly so sad to see 2016 go. It was a good year, but definitely had its challenges. 

Shantel: This is so true. We love our life as a little family, but I think you can love the stage your family is at while recognizing that there are other things in life that are a little rocky. 2016 was pretty good to us, but we're glad to be saying goodbye. 

At times this year our calendar may have got out of control. Usually October is our busiest month with a lot going on in November and December as well. This year, those were pretty typical, but August definitely took the cake with so much going on. 

Shantel: The calendar doesn't even come close to showing how many things were going on. I feel like we had something every night of the entire month. All good things, but it was a lot. 

However, looking back at our favorite memories is a good reminder of how much we loved so many things this year. Even in that crazy August, how great is this picture of Austin (and Andi Middleton) from our awesome Peaden/Middleton camping trip this year. 

David: I'll start with me, my favorite memory, without a doubt, was our vacation to the Oregon Coast. Camping, playing on the beach, driving in the car and seeing so many fun things. It was the best summer vacation since Houston and it was such an incredible trip. Here are just a few of the fun photos. 

(Shantel: David was the one who started this post, so he gets first dibs on his favorite thing from the year - but let's be honest, when we talked about favorite things on New Years Eve with the kids - all we could talk about was how much we loved this vacation!) 

Shantel: Obviously, our biggest (and favorite) event from the year was our vacation. But there were so many other little things that I loved throughout the year. My favorite moments were the times that we were able to escape the demands of life and just be together as a little family. Going to the park together, making a day-trip to the Scandinavian Festival, staying home in our pajamas all day while David chased the kids around the house and played "tacos" with them. The moments when David and I turned and looked at each other and said "Wow, this is just about perfect right now." We started out the year with Austin still not sleeping through the night, but I feel like this year we've grown so much as a family and we're truly in such a wonderful little stage right now. Regardless of all the other noise that 2016 has thrown our way, I've loved the sweet moments I've been able to have with my family.

It is really true, our kids at at such a perfect age for us to really enjoy this "family of four" stage. Now, onto the kids. Lydia said that her favorite thing was the pool! Lydia loved her swimming lessons and loved even more the frequent trips to the neighborhood pool. She is lucky to have a mom who is so willing to take her to the pool so much. She become a good little swimmer and is learning so fast. That is definitely the thing she loved the very most.
Shantel: This is really just lucky for me, because I love the water! I'm so glad Lydia does, too. 

I'm filling in proxy for Austin since he did not specifically mention his favorite thing, but I'm certain he would say playing with Lydia. This year is really when they have started playing together all day long. He loves building with her, running with her and laughing with her. I feel like this is a great shot of them together. They are great siblings and so good to each other.

Shantel: I concur. :) 

We are love our little family, goodbye 2016, and thanks for the memories. 

New Years Eve

December 31st is David's sister Amy's birthday (Happy Birthday Amy!) and most years we throw a big party and celebrate with her - which we love. However, this year for New Years Eve things worked out a little bit differently and we ended up having a relaxing stay-home day with just our little family. It was exactly what the doctor ordered for this pregnant, tired, slightly overwhelmed mama. My only regret from the whole day is that I didn't get a family selfie picture to end the year with. (Honestly, I was sad enough about it that as I sat down to write this post I legitimately thought about going upstairs and waking both of my children up so I could take a picture. Thank goodness I came to my senses quickly.) 

We started the day with a yummy breakfast of aebleskivers and yogurt. Reading books, playing with Christmas toys, enjoying a slow day together. Also- Tacos. This is the favorite thing for the kids to do with David. He rolls them up in a blanket (usually together, but I only got a picture of Austin) then pulls one end and rolls them out. The kids love this. Austin seriously said some version of "I wanna taco/wanna be a taco/taco" like 200 times. It was a good morning. 

We asked Lydia what she wanted to do in the afternoon and she said that she wanted to go to Walmart and bring her quarters so she could get a prize. She counted out all of the quarters in her money bag (where she stores her money) and put all three of them in a smaller bag in her pocket. We took the opportunity to buy a massive amount of storage bins to aid us in our quest to organize our basement. Austin had brought a quarter that he had earned, and had insisted that he hold it in his hand the whole time. I'd been impressed with how well he was holding onto it but by the time we stopped at the much anticipated quarter machines, he'd lost it. We took a quick walk retracing our steps but couldn't find it. My sweet Lydia, without any hesitation at all, piped up and said "I'll give him one of my quarters!" Later, when I was telling her how proud I was that she'd decided to give him one of her hard-earned (and saved) quarters, she responded with "I gave him one of my quarters because I didn't want him to be sad." Melt. My. Heart. This girl has the biggest, giving heart and I'm absolutely in awe of how wonderful she is. Austin got some skittles and Lydia got two-quarters worth of a tiny sticky frog. Ha. But the lesson and example of my sweet girl was a perfect way to end 2016. (Also, those bins - although expensive - are going to be awesome for our basement!) 

When we got home we put together a last minute "New Years Eve" countdown with a balloon for 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Inside we put papers like "make ice-cream Sundays together as a family" and "play with a new Christmas toy", ending with "write one thing you want to do in 2017, watch a New Years Countdown, and get ready for bed". It was so awesome. It was everything that I could have hoped it to be. Both kids were so excited to pop the balloons, and we all had fun with the little activities. Our neighbors started shooting off fireworks while I was making dinner (little pizzas, chips and dip, and apple cider). It was SO fun. The kids loved watching them from the window, and at one point Lydia said "New Years Eve is so much fun! This is the best holiday." 

As soon as the kids were in bed, David and I popped some frozen pizzas in the oven and sat down to our big New Years Eve Plans: 

Catch-Up Blogging!

I know that this doesn't sound like the most exciting thing to most people, but I've been looking forward to it all week. It's easy to get behind on the blog posts that we want to do, and it's always so nice when we can sit down together and make sure that we record the events of our lives. (Or at least caption most of the pictures that we've taken.) There isn't anything I'd rather be doing tonight.

Catching up on 2016 blog posts. Pizza. Dr. Pepper. Hallmark Christmas Movie that we ditched in lieu of While You Were Sleeping, which is SOOO much better. Cozying up on the couch. Talking about events and life and our little family. The best of the best. 

Happy New Years Eve! 

Happy New Year!

2014 was a wonderful year for our little family. Lydia turned two, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, we went on an awesome vacation to Indiana. However, the biggest accomplishment/event was that we grew from a family of three to a family of four.

The end of the year also brings about the end of our 2014 blog book. The biggest thing that we have taken from this year is that we have loved being together and feel incredibly blessed to have each other. 2014 has been fabulous but we are looking forward to the new adventures that 2015 will bring. 

Happy New Year!

(Lydia wouldn't cooperate when we wanted to take a family picture, so we set her on the chair and then flash-mob-photoed her and actually got a good smile. This picture makes me happy.) 

Two Thousand Fourteen

Happy 2014! Last year was wonderful - but we are so excited as we look forward to this new year. 

Some of the goals we made last year were:

1- Buy and move into our first home.
2- Focus on seeing the needs of people around me and then working to fill those needs.
3- Work hard to meet new people in our new ward/neighborhood. Be friendly, social, inviting, and inclusive. (Along with this: Strive to fulfill my calling the the very fullest.)
4- Continue to grow as a mother and wife. Focus on Lydia and David and finding the things I can do to bless their lives the most. Three things that go under this category: -More quality time (Stop letting other distractions get in the way.), -Healthier eating options , and -Maintain a positive attitude about myself and others (Stop letting little things get me down and frustrated.)

It makes me happy to know that we improved in all of these areas. Sometimes it made us stretch out of our comfort zone, but at the end of everything - I believe that we are better people with happier lives at the beginning of 2014 than we were at 2013. That's what I hope for the start of every year, that I can look back over the past year and know that I have become a little kinder, a little more organized, a little closer to my little family. 

These are some of the goals that David and I talked about together for our family: 

1- Have a monthly family goal that we write on the calendar. Focus on that goal.

2- Go to the temple every month. No excuses. 

3- Do something social at least every other month. Focus on inviting members of the ward into our home as a way to begin/sustain friendships and to reach out to others. 

4- Family prayer every morning. (To go along with our Scripture/Song/Prayer at night.) 

Some personal goals that I have this year: 

1- Be more aware of what I'm saying to others and about others.

2- Read my scriptures in the morning instead of putting it off until night. 

3- Put a priority on visiting teaching, temple attendance, and cheerfully fulfilling my calling. 

4- Dedicate time for both David and Lydia that is distraction free. Make sure they know they are most important. 

I think it's important to make sure that the goals you set are achievable and focused on the things you really care about most. We also want to be more healthy this year. Healthy meals and more exercise. (And by more exercise, I mean... exercise. period.) We are taking other steps to help make that happen as well - but the things that are the very most important to me are these things. These are the things that I truly believe will bring us the very most happiness this year. I just know that this year is going to be a good one. Here's to you - two thousand fourteen! 

2013 in Review.

This has been a crazy year for our little family. I started putting together this "Year in Review" post and when I went back to January to see what we did, I had to double check that it wasn't two years ago that I was looking at. So much has happened, and so many blessings have come our way. Here's a recap of what we've been up to:

January:
Lydia turned 8 months and got her first pedicure. We moved out of our apartment and into a storage unit while we hoped for a closing date on our house that was sooner rather than later.
 


February:
Lydia turned nine months old and we moved into our new house! We still are in awe of the beautiful house that we live in and are grateful for it every day. Our new house came with new furniture, including our first washer and dryer of our married lives. 

March:
Lydia ate a billion oranges and started balancing on her own without holding on to anything. We printed out our third blog book, started making our house feel like a home, and although David worked long hours due to busy season, we still had an awesome March Madness bracket/extravaganza. 


April:
We enjoyed an unusually warm April with lots of play dates at the park. (We love our Cooper Friends!) I held a Bridal shower for my sweet friend Cassie. My dear cousin Spencer passed away. We built a rock wall in our backyard in the same week that we sprang a leak in our family room ceiling. We started getting our money's worth out of our Pass of All Passes.




May:
Lydia turned one! And we took a road trip to BYU-I for Jenna's Graduation.



June:
Lydia and Elsie continued to develop their "best friend" relationship and I was blessed by Ashley's friendship as well. David and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary and we took a "Staycation" and packed our week full of fun adventures. 


July:
Lydia turned 14 months and was SO fun. We had the Knowles family reunion and enjoyed the fireworks at Thanksgiving Point. We took an 11-day road trip to Houston, TX; spending six days there and traveling the 24 hours to and from over the other 5 days. Some of our favorite activities were the Houston Zoo, the NASA space center, Galveston, TX, and the beach. (We also loved stopping in Albuquerque on the way there and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth on the way home.)



August:
David's company HBM merged and became Eide Bailly. The Walker family canned salsa and I learned how to chop and freeze Anaheim peppers. My dad build us a laundry stand for our washer and dryer - officially turning the Laundry Room into my favorite room in our house. 


September:
Lydia attended her second annual Pirate Party at Hutchings Museum. She also turned 16 months and got her very first hair cut. I turned 26 and had a wonderful birthday due to my sweet and creative husband. 


October:
We dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood {and supporting cast} for Halloween and had a great time. We also hosted several events at our house, like a book club, murder mytsery dinner, and Halloween FHE. For people who proclaim to be fairly awkward and anti-social we felt really proud about putting ourselves out there. David turned 29 and I made him an awesome Aggie Quilt. 



November:
We had a great Thanksgiving and had fun Black Friday shopping. We bought a new MacBook computer (which I am typing on right now) and we love it! Our ward split and I was put into the Primary Presidency. Lydia turned 18 Months and is all toddler. (We also took a road trip down to Saint George for Grandma McAllisters funeral.) 

December:
The month was full of Holiday craziness, but David and I spoke in church on the Sunday before Christmas on the true Christmas spirit and were somehow able to maintain that spirit in our lives throughout the month. We went to the Alpine Live Nativity and had a wonderful Christmas. 

2013 was a wonderful year for us. Here's hoping that 2014 is even better!

Happy New Year!