As I sit down to write this year’s review, I’m sitting in a rearranged living room, with a much too large Christmas tree, holiday music on the speakers, and a different puppy snuggled next to me. Rearranged, that’s a good word for our year. Much of the events that occurred to our family have resulted in changes, but ones that leave us in more-or-less the same place, let’s dive in.
(pictures coming soon, check back!)
We started our year with the loss of Jessica’s remaining grandma. She was only a month and a half shy 104 years old! While her loss had been anticipated for some time, it still stings no less when they pass. Jess was able to rearrange some travel plans and after running the Mesa Marathon in Arizona, she joined much of her Family to celebrate Granny Inez’ life in early February.
To continue in the theme of loss, we also had to say goodbye to our dog Flynn. He started getting sick toward the end of 2023 and didn’t recover. I’ve said goodbye to many animals, but this one hit me hard. We got him shortly after we bought our first house in Bozeman, so he’d been with us for most of our marriage and adventures as a family. He was a great pup and we still miss him. We did not last long without a pup in our family though.
We skied most weekends. Fitz is now among us and we generally had a blast on our little hill outside of Helena. Elijah completed another year of All Mountain Ski Club, getting more confident with each run. We headed out to Oregon for spring break, enjoying a week with my folks in Dufur. We mostly hung around my childhood home and while there came across a listing for a litter of GSP puppies available near Hermiston, OR, right along our path home. And so just a week after loosing Flynn, we welcomed Stella into our home and filled our year with puppy training and are looking forward to sharing so many of the same activities that we did with Flynn.
If you’ve know us for long, you know that running is part of our family DNA and after a couple years hiatus of me running anything more than a 5k, I thought it would be prime time for me to get back to it and I registered for the Governor’s Cup here in Helena. I had a good start to running, taking advantage of my work’s proximity to the trails here. But all that momentum was lost during a fateful lunch run that I decided to run in-town, rather than on the trails, and found myself not even a mile in, sprawled out along a boulevard strip, bleeding and sore. I tripped! A chunk of sunken and broken sidewalk became a fulcrum point and my body a lever. I half caught myself and broke my right hand in the process, starting a 3-month healing process that included a surgery and a couple of casts. It was challenging to not have the use of my right hand, but work was accommodating, and many personal plans were put on hold.
Jess was still as busy as ever; Photographer, race director, social media manager, and full-time mom. She also spent time selflessly helping others in need. Being so busy she had a smaller docket of weddings and elopements, but we still shot some together and I’m continually amazed at the work she puts out. She also took some time to surprise Elijah with a trip to Spokane to go to a Mat Kearney concert followed by a day at the Silverwood theme park, north of Coeur d’Alene. I did a little be of travel for work after getting my cast off and still love my job and the things I get to work on. I was able to release my third mini-doc and feel like I get paid to play (and count it as work).
Our summer was spent soaking in as much time with family we could. Jessica’s sister and her husband (Krista & Rich Moeller) will be going back to Scotland next year to be missionaries, but spent the summer in Montana. We got in good time hiking, camping, backpacking, and just good time together. One of our highlights with them was an overnight backpacking trip into the Scapegoat Wilderness. We were so proud of the boys. They carried supplies and were champs. Both Elijah and Fitz enjoyed baseball with Fitz starting in T-ball (AKA: Playing in dirt, chasing friends and butterflies, and outfield weed control), and Elijah was in coach-pitch. They were able to show off their skills to visiting family as my brother Brendon and his girls visited us for a few days.
Another highlight was our annual camping trips with the first being our church father’s day campout on Holter lake and then our friends the Holmes and McQuiggs, this year at Holland lake. We also camped with Jessica’s parents and the Moellers for 4th of July. Amidst all this we also celebrated Elijah giving his life to Jesus and baptized him in the lake at the edge of town. We are so proud of him!
Jessica’s parents moved to North Dakota, so Rich, Elijah and I helped move a load and I hauled a borrowed trailer back with my truck. Oh yeah, I bought a truck! It’s a 2012 Toyota Tundra that’s been around the block a few times, but such a great tool to have. The Outback will no longer need to suffer lumber runs and we no longer have to decide between paddle boards, the dog, or the children when we go on adventures.
We picked up in the fall with school, a vacation, and the Just for the Helena of It race. Fitz started preschool a couple days a week and Elijah entered the 3rd grade. We headed out to South Dakota to attend Krista’s commissioning as a missionary at a conference in Rapid City. We made the most of our route, visiting Devil’s Tower, Badlands National Park, Wall Drug, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Bighorn Canyon, and other places. It was a full, but fun, week of travel and time as a family.
It was Jessica’s 3rd year as the marketing director for the Just for the Helena of It half-marathon, 10k and 5k race. It’s amazing to see how much effort it takes to put on a race for nearly 700 runners. I helped with logos and graphic design and event photography. The event went amazingly well and they were able to donate $40,000 to a local domestic abuse center and an organization that helps young girls be active. Even though the process and result was fulfilling, Jessica made the hard choice to step down to allow for more family flexibility, time for her business, and for our church.
We travelled out to Oregon once more to spend Thanksgiving with my PNW family. We had nearly all the family on my mom’s side meet us at a rental south of Hood River for a beautiful holiday feast that reminded me of childhood gatherings. Even the weather was in agreement with Mt. Hood visible the whole day.
We aren’t straying too far from home for the rest of the year. We’ll be hosting Christmas at our house with some of Jessica’s family in town. I’m grateful to be be given the time off around the holidays. We don’t have a ton planned, but we may ski, puzzle, or just relax by the fire.
For 2025, I’m sure there will be some common occurrences, like Jessica running a marathon, a trip to Oregon or two, and enjoying this beautiful state we live in by skiing, hiking, and camping. I should be underway building a garage/apartment this Spring among other home-improvement projects. We are hoping to do a family vacation touring the Utah national parks and I’ll be helping organize a relay race in SW Montana in July. We are even toying with a trip to Nepal for my 40th with some friends.
So there we have it, another year in the bag. Some things are definitely different heading into the new year, but so much is still the same or at least similar. We still love our church, the family of believers there, and the hope we get to spread to our town by being a part. We hope the hope, joy, and peace of Christ for your lives.
Merry Christmas,
The Montana Powells