Year in Review- Part 2

 Jumping right back in-

AUGUST 

• August was BUSY! On top of all the moving stuff, I wanted to jam pack everything we could with friends and family before we left. All of our homeschool curriculum came in too so we jumped right into our schooling. The kids had been missing structured learning so much it was easy to get going. 
• Since most of the house was packed up, we decided we might as well graduate Etta from the crib into a twin bed. She transitioned amazingly! 
• One day we met my brother Jake and his family at the largest Fire Truck museum in the USA. The kids were in HEAVEN! 
• We did the quick and famous “hole in the rock” hike in downtown Phoenix. It was bloody hot even at 8am. 
• Me and the kids took a day trip up to Sedona for the first time (I’m so mad we waited until the last minute to check this amazing place out) and met up with my girlfriend and her four kids. We did a few amazing hikes among the red rocks and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the creek. It was for sure one of my highlights from the summer. 
• The Sunday before we left, our local congregation began meeting in person again (in very limited numbers)- we were able to attend one last time. It was bittersweet. 

We packed up the largest U-haul we could get and spent the last few days saying goodbye to all of our amazing friends and family. There were lots of tears, even from the children. I think it was the first move that they were old enough to actually understand what was going on. My eyeballs were so swollen from crying! 

SEPTEMBER

• We survived the 900 mile, 15 hour drive! My sister Natassja came with me in the van with the younger kids and all of my plants, while David drove the massive truck, towing his car with the older two kids. We broke up the trip and stayed over night in Nevada. I was so thankful to have Natassja with me, she was so freaking helpful and I don’t think I could’ve done it without her. 
• After getting settled in our new rental home, we quickly familiarized ourself with our new community. We couldn’t get over how GREEN everything was!!! First time some of my kids have ever played for an extended amount of time on grass, haha. We explored our local parks and went down to the Boise River green belt a lot. 
• Within the first week we got Remington enrolled into Fencing lessons and found the most amazing youth ranch where the kids get horse riding lessons in exchange for doing ranch chores. It’d definitely one of the kids favorite places to go. 
• We did a ton of fun lessons in our Marine Biology science unit and even got to visit a King Tut exhibit at the end of our Egyptian unit. I’m telling you, homeschool has been the best decision for us.

OCTOBER 

• Oh man Idk If i can’t even reflect on October without losing it. October was probably one of the darkest and hopeless few weeks we’ve ever experienced. David woke up on the morning of October 5 with some pain in his back. I woke up to him rubbing his back and trying to stretch it out. He was concerned because the pain was different than anything he had every experienced before. He was able to jump on a get a tele health appointment where they basically told him it sounded like kidney stones and the only way to confirm would to be to go into the ER. So he went and after they scanned his body with a CT scan- not only did they find two tiny kidney stones but they found a large solid TUMOR on one of his Kidneys. I still remember when he called me on the way home from the ER. We were in shock. He was referred to a urologist who he saw a few weeks later who pretty much told him that there was an 80% chance that it was cancer and that he needed to get it out surgically asap. Surgery was scheduled for November 4. Hearing the cancer word pretty much rocked our world. He was so young and healthy, what did that mean for him, for our future?! I was a mess with all the waiting and unknowns. We researched everything we could about kidney cancer, statics, treatments and even watched a few nephrectomy procedures. I felt like knowledge was power in this situation and knowing everything we could helped manage the anxiety a little. All I can say was that it was the longest month ever and we had lots of hard conversations I never thought we would have. 
• David continued on at work as normal and I was home getting lost in my thoughts so I tried to stay as busy as possible with the kids. We went on more local hikes and spent all the time we could at the ranch. I also spent hours pounding the pavement on long runs to clear my head. 
• Wolfe fell off our hammock onto our patio and needed staples in the back of his head. (We met our deductible in no time this year) 
• I had my girlfriend take family photos of us. I know it sounds morbid but I wasn’t sure if they would be our last. I wasn’t in a good mind frame. 
• We celebrated Halloween at a local church trunk or treat. It was the first year we all dressed up and it was fun night to take our minds off the upcoming surgery. 
• Even though it was a crappy month, we tried really hard to soak up and enjoy our first real “fall” as a family. The cooler weather and changing leaves were so dreamy. 

NOVEMBER 

• November was a blur. Surgery came on November 4. It was a the longest few hours of my life waiting to get the call that he was out. Dr. confirmed renal cell carcinoma but we had to wait for pathology for staging and typing. She was confident that she had gotten out everything though! I was so thankful that COVID restrictions had been lifted so I could go spend the new few days with him in the hospital. 
• David’s parents came up from Utah and totally took over at home with all the kids so I didn’t have to worry about them. Honestly they were the real MVPs that week. 
• We joked that we finally got our overnight kid free getaway...ha.
• He came home a few days later and I fully stepped into caregiver mode. I’m glad it was temporary and he recovered like freakishly fast because that was hard solo parenting for those few weeks. I actually think the anxiety and build up to the surgery, weeks of sleepless nights and then coming home and everything being ok like sent me into a bit of a spiral. Hell, I was just a mess. 
• Thanksgiving came and went- I cooked and prepared the whole meal myself. It was so rewarding and so yummy and also so exhausting, also super emotional because we just had so much to be grateful this year. 
• We went to Cabalas for the kids to meet Santa behind plexiglass. 

DECEMBER

• What even happened this month!? Haha I got a super bad sinus infection that last two whole freaking weeks. It was miserable. 
• The weather got colder and we spent a lot more time indoors. The only places we even go anymore is our weekly Walmart grocery trip, once a month costco trip and then occasionally to the local thrift stores. 
• I started my own yeast starter (Jane dough, thank you very much) and learned how to bake bread from scratch. 
• I actually didn’t mention it before but since moving to Idaho I’ve become quite the little cooker and baker in the kitchen! For the first time in my life, I’m actually semi enjoying preparing meals for my family. 
• Kids still stayed busy with school lessons and Frances learned how to Read!!
• I booked half a dozen photo sessions over the fall/winter which was amazing considering moving to a new place and having to build up clientele. I also was hired to do a branding shoot for a new massage spa that is opening next year. It was fun to “dress up” in business wear for those meetings. 
• Spent as much time as we could with family and bundled up to see the famous Caldwell lights. 
• And lastly Christmas, which I’ve documented to death. 
• Our New Years plans tonight include eating a yummy dinner and getting off to bed by 9pm!

So there it is, our bullet point 2020 in review. Like many, we are happy for it to come to a close and we are so looking forward to what 2021 has to bring.