Merry Christmas 2024

 



































Hello! Here are some highlights from our 2024! We hope you all have a peaceful and joyful Christmas, and a wonderful New Year. We sure enjoyed 2024 and look forward to what 2025 brings.
2024 Highlights:
Hallie, 16 going on 17: drivers license, finished orthodontics, wisdom teeth out, “came out of my shell”, archery, prom, YW class president, violin, reading, writing, watching K-dramas with mom
Hanna, 14 going on 15: long jump for track, 8th grade trip to Washington DC, braces off, started high school, student council, 8th grade poetry award, editor for middle school literary journal, stage crew for high school fall play, violin, first boyfriend, taller than Hallie, art projects, Minecraft
Heather, 12 going on 13: student council, speech/debate/drama club, social butterfly who likes her cocoon, cross country, flute, started Invisalign, makes movies on the iPad with Hazel
Hazel, 10 going on 11: cross country, basketball, cello, Chicago trip with GranB, Pappy, and Mom to see Peter Pan (Field Museum, Lake Boat Tour, Navy Pier, Chicago-style Pizza, Garrett’s Popcorn, and more), started fifth grade, deaf (again) in left ear, surgery to fix hearing
Devin, young at heart: continues running and weightlifting, continues baking all the delicious things, grew an amazing garden, considering shaving his beard, Stanford University/Elsevier list of top 2% most influential scientists in the world
Amy, excited about every grey hair: released as nursery leader, was choir director, now is in Stake YW presidency, preschool teacher, hike leader, outdoor educator, carpool driver, good listener, homework help, makes sure her girls know all the best music, bought a car (for Hallie, kind of?), paused classes at UNL to change degrees (maybe? Thus the pause.)

Suga (Bolognese dog), 4 years old going on teenager: still white and fluffy, still funny, still tiny, still a very good boy. Loves checking the backyard for birds, squirrels, passing neighbors, leaves, strange cloud formations, odd shadows, unusual sounds and also the usual sounds. Might be switching his eternal loyalties to Devin instead of Amy.

Bluey (Beta fish), 2 years old: passed away in October. He was a Christmas gift for Heather two Christmases ago, and he lived his very best fish life. Heather kept vigil with him his last day/night, and was the first to find him Sunday morning. We buried him in the backyard in a small box lined with tissues, and had a small funeral service where we remembered the good times with him. He was a fish with character.

Family: trip to Ponca, Nebraska for Spring Break, family reunion in northern Michigan, day trip to Mackinac Island. Hallie, Hanna, Heather went to girls’ camp in Nebraska and Michigan. Amy was camp director for the Nebraska camp, and got to go (for the third year!) as a leader to the Michigan camp. Highlights included: white water rafting, kayaking, hiking, flooded tents, rolling with unplanned adventures, cooking over a fire. Trip to Wasatch Mountains, camping (again!), reunion with Lincoln friends, official tour of BYU campus, hiked the Y in Provo, visited Purdue University, Amy drove to Indianapolis for a weekend visit with friends and to Cincinnati for a weekend visit with friends. 

Devin and Amy: celebrated 17 years married in 2023, and in a few days will celebrate 18 years. It’s a quiet life but it’s ours. We went from a one car family to a two car family in October, though we still don’t have a dishwasher. Life is good.

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