Dearest 2017,

As I sit here at my desk eating Dove chocolates and staring out the window, I realize that I can sum you up with these four words: YOU DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

We’ve seen good years, and fun years, and challenging years, and long years, and years full of adventure, and unexpected years, and years that flew by, and years full of prayer, and years full of questioning.

But this year… wow! Where do I even begin? You were most certainly an unforgettable year. You did not disappoint. You brought your A-game. You went above and beyond. You were an incredible year. We’ve loved our time with you.

You were the year that prayers were answered.

You were the year that we held our dreams in our arms.

You were the year that we got to watch my belly grow, and grow.

You were the year that Shawn won $5,000 through his company, in the form of one of those comically ginormous checks.

You were the year that Shawn was promoted to manager of his own store.

You were the year that we took a risk and decided to buy a house. We saw God work in big ways behind the scenes. In ways that made us say, “That was God.”

You were the year that brought us to San Angelo, Texas. A place we had never even heard of before moving here.

You were the year that Shawn won an Alaskan cruise through his company, and saw some spectacular sights.

You were the year that we got to meet a new niece and a new nephew.

You were the year that we had some family come to visit.

You were the year that we met some great people in our new city.

You were the year that we got a Christmas puppy named Weller.

You were the year that we took a roadtrip to Colorado to introduce our daughter to my family, and the majestic mountains.

You were the year that we traveled to some new places in Texas, seeing more of this big state.

You were the year that we stood hand-in-hand at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

You were the year that our daughter Noella Pearl was born.

2016 was a year of praying. It was a year of asking, “God, do you hear us?”. Every time I drove to work on those icy Cheyenne roads, through a tunnel of trees, I would be so deep in thought. Knowing we were in the middle of our 4th attempt at IVF, I would often fear the outcome, and what the future held for us.  It was the same path, the same route, a different day, but the same year. There was something about the repetition of that same path, every day, that reminded me to just keep on praying, to just keep speaking boldly before God, to keep asking, in faith, for specifics. In many ways, that was the theme of 2016. Along that same path I would pray so specifically, and so often, that Shawn would get promoted to manager soon, knowing that then we could finally settle down. I prayed over and over that God would find the best place for us, but also knowing that we would accept any offer to relocate. So I prayed that whatever they offered us would be a place that God had in mind for us. I prayed that he would find the right city, state, community, church, and opportunities for us there – wherever he would move us next.

2017 was a year that so many prayers were answered and dreams were realized. It’s a year that will forever be near and dear to our hearts.

Here are a few other blog post highlights and some picture highlights from the year:

A daughter
Her first doll, survivor’s guilt, and timing
Grace for right now
Our circumstances, his goodness
This belly
2 years back in the USA

2017, you were an incredible year. We loved our time with you.

2018, we can’t wait to meet you…