We have been so blessed with gorgeous weather this past week, and I have been soaking in the time I get to spend walking outside in nature, since those walks won’t fit into the schedule once I start teaching again in January. But just check out that spectacular sunrise.

On the day after Christmas, we started taking all the decorations down so that it would be done before Lily leaves. While we were in the midst of the chaos, I had the best visit with my dear friend, Megan. She and her family were stationed in Germany a few years ago, and I have missed her and our monthly lunches so much!!

We went out to lunch, talked and talked. Then we came back to the house and talked and talked some more. If she didn’t have to get back to her family they were visiting in Austin, I think we would still be talking – ha ha! I miss her!! Oh, and she came baring amazing gifts straight from Germany – all the yummy chocolate, other cookies, as well as a giant still soft and yummy gingerbread boy. Arthur started in on that one right away.

We did a lot of work over the week (like taking down Christmas), but we also had a lot of fun too. I was still taking it pretty easy because of my treatment, and so there were lots of movie breaks, games, and putting together puzzles.

And there were the moments were I really felt horrible, but was so grateful for the thoughtful gifts of others, like this cute heating pad giraffe my friend Janilee gave me a few months ago. It was just what I needed to help.

One fun tradition that we didn’t let my cancer get in the way of, was having my traditional New Year’s Eve Eve party. I kept it pretty simple, had most the the food and things prepped in advance, and had lots of help from Kevin, Lily and the boys to get it ready. And now that Lily is real adult and even has a boyfriend, they got to come and join in on the fun.

The party is pretty much eating lots of food, talking and laughing, but the highlight is always the white elephant gift exchange. Some of the gifts are just plain awesome, but what makes it an adventure every year, is that I put Kevin in charge. There have been feats of strength, the wheel of white elephants, using the gong, etc, etc. And this year, each person drew a name which they had to keep secret, and the gift they were choosing was actually going to be for that person in the end. It was hilarious!! First, you were trying to guess what that person might like, and then fighting to get what they might want. Good times.

On actual New Years Eve, we spent the day packing Lily up to leave the next morning to head back to BYUI in Rexburg. I think we were all in a bit of denial about the whole thing of her leaving. Chris was able to come over to join us as well. We worked, watched a movie, they played video games, and had a lowkey day. It was so lowkey, we forgot to do our special poppers and confetti. Oh well. It was a nice way to end a very interesting year for our family.

And just for fun, I have this collage of pictures of Kevin and I from throughout the year. There have definitely been some incredibly difficult trials this year, but there have also been more blessings and miracles than we can even count. I am so grateful to have this amazing man by my side through it all, and for the love and support of my friends and family. Here’s to a Happy New Year!