Year in Review: 2017

by

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It’s December 31st, 2017, and here I am recounting the memories of this past year. Had I wrote this a couple weeks ago, the tone would be much different. The past two weeks has stretched our little family. So I will work backwards in events, to end on a cheerier note.

Surrounding the Christmas season, health problems plagued our extended family. One week before Christmas, Jess flew out to Bozeman with Elijah to catch a ride to Bismarck, ND to visit her grandmother in the Hospital. She had been admitted the week before for a heart attack. They spent the week by her side, encouraging her with their love and presence. On that Friday, they headed back to Bozeman, as we had already planned a trip there for Christmas. I also braved the icy roads and we convened in a warm and cozy log home in the woods that Krista was house-sitting.

This was supposed to be a relaxing week-long vacation in the woods. Instead, we received a call from Jess’s mom informing us that Ken would be needing an emergency triple bypass, which was scheduled for Tuesday. Our weekend in Montana was spent preparing for the drive back, getting in too few precious moments with dear friends and attending a Christmas Eve service. Christmas day was spent on the now icier and more dangerous roads on our route back to Oregon, except with Krista tagging along.

To make all this even more despairing, Jess and I were hoping to announce some special news in 2018, but that was shattered that morning she left for Bozeman. Jess will fill in the details, but we had a miscarriage, and we would have to deal with the emotion of that loss a thousand miles apart. Needless to say, these past two weeks are some of the darkest we’ve faced in our nearly ten years together.

So the sad/hard stuff is out of the way, onto the life shenanigans we are known for. In November, Krista gave us a surprise visit for Thanksgiving. In October, Elijah turned two, we took a trip up to Seattle and a trip down to Eugene. In August, we camped out in Idaho for a long weekend with Krista. In July, we ran our second marathon of 2017, the Jack & Jill Downhill in the Snoqualmie Pass in Washington. We also photographed a wedding in Woodenville, WA and had a visit from some Bozeman peeps.

June was the awesome fun month of the year as we went on a family trip to Norway. Jess’s parents, sister, along with Elijah and I made our way into Scandinavia to run a Marathon (Jess and I, Krista ran the half) during the summer solstice, tour Norwegian fjords, walk through the history of the Vikings, imagine how we could move to, and live in Bergen and realize just how hard (foolish) it is to travel with a toddler to a place where the sun always shines and expect him to sleep.

And then there was May. We bought a house. We said, “let’s buy a fixer upper in The Dalles!” I love Chip and Joanna Gaines, but we ain’t be no Gaines’s. But here we are working our way gradually through this 1946 ranch style home in the upper east side of town. It’s not quite a money pit, but I’ll sure be glad when I can pack away the drywall tools and spend a weekend without seeing an open hole, missing trim, or countless other unfinished projects. Here’s the place when we bought it. Hopefully I will show you some progress this spring.

The first few months of the year were quiet, but not without their own events. We celebrated 9 years of marriage in May. Jess turned 30 and took a trip to Coeur d’Alene in April. She also made a trip back to Bozeman in February. In January, Jess and I took our first trip away, sans child, to Portland for a weekend gettaway to a tiny home rental.

Work continues to go steady, Jess continues to grow her business and we have done well as a family. 2018 bound to be a good year. I’ll be going to Nepal in March and I know that God has some big things in store for us. Here’s to remembering the year behind, but embracing the wild ride that is life yet to be lived. I hope 2018 bring us more consistency in posting to this blog, sharing videos and pictures and bringing more glory to God!

As always, you can follow our adventures here and a bit more of the day to day on instagram.

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