As 2017 comes to a close, I can't help but have Albus Dumbledore's words ringing in my head, "Another year gone!...What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were.."
Our heads but more importantly our hearts are much much "fuller" than they were a year ago. We have seen and felt the tender mercies of the Lord in our lives pushing us along and we have witnesses miracles as well as enjoyed the growth and learning our family has made.
About this time last year, I found myself staring at our family motto for 2016 which was
CHOOSE JOY and I felt it just wasn't time to let that motto go. So we kept it for 2017 and I think it was really important for our little family to have that reminder through all that 2017 had in store for us.
I wanted our goal words printed out where we would see them and be reminded of them each day. So I made them apart of our command center in our kitchen.
And now it is that wonderful time to not only reflect on this last year's growth and goals, but to continue the
tradition and pick our new goal words for 2018.
At almost 4 months we chose the word
BLOOM for our sweet Adeline.
Looking at this darling girl a year ago to now has me looking at a beautiful toddler. That little baby has
bloomed into a busy toddler eager to get her hands (and mouth) on everything.
Adeline's appetite has
bloomed into a love of almost every food except peaches and green beans.
She has
bloomed in her love for other people, especially babies and kids. She will shake with excitement and lunge out of your arms to be around others.
Her personality has
bloomed and I have loved watching her thought process and to see her find things she loves. She is our observant and thoughtful little girl.
Adeline's love for music and dancing has
bloomed and will continue to soar. Any beat or rhythm she will immediately pump her hand (not fist, open palm) to.
Adeline's love for books has
bloomed but an unexpected blossom is her love for sports and balls. She is so coordinated at kicking and throwing balls and loves to be an active participant.
Adeline's vocabulary is truly
blooming and hearing her say "Thank you" and "Pwease" will set a permanent smile on your face.
Adeline's new word for 2018 is GRASP. To
grasp is to really seize or hold onto something firmly. It is our hope that she can truly
grasp the world around her and how much she is loved. We hope she will
grasp her new role as big sister in a few months and also
grasp all the new adventures and lessons that will come her way.
At 2 years old Lydia's word was
CREATE for 2017. And boy did this girl take that goal and run with it.
Lydia's personality is to
create her own flare to life all along her way through it. This year she
created joy and imagination in ways I would never have thought of.
Lydia has
created many new friendships and loves to play and be the boss.
She has
created a love for singing and wearing dresses. This little lady is all girl and
creates a bit more sparkle in the world with her love of pink and lipstick and painted nails.
Lydia has
created a very deep love for
anything pink and that was all she initially asked Santa for, for Christmas was "a pink present."(Easy enough for Santa)
She especially loves to
create through art and projects. She loves play dough, painting, coloring with anything that makes a mark, and cutting paper and string. We always run out of the "pink" items first (paint, crayons, makers and play dough dry out from overuse, etc).
Lydia has channeled her energy in
creating more learning and knowledge for herself. She loves to write her name with help and find the letters and numbers that surround our billboards, license plates and decorate some of our mountain tops (We live near the V and B on the mountains in Bountiful).
She has helped
create many rules and boundaries in our home and family with her endless energy and desire to test the limits.
Lydia has
created a love for her Savior and loves to point him out in pictures, statues, books, etc. Recently she has taken to reminding me when I have lost something and then found it again, "Jesus helped mama find that."
This next year Lydia helped chose her word to focus on.
Lydia's word for 2018 is CONNECT.
It is our hope that Lydia will connect with others, her sisters, and us as her parents. We would love for Lydia to continue to make a stronger
connection with her Father in Heaven and Savior. We hope she will
connect in her learning new things and her communication skills.
For 2017 I chose the word
BECOME. It felt so fitting and I am happy to think of all the things I have
become in the last year but I also recognize that I have so much more to do to really embrace the word
become more fully.
I have
become a better wife and mother but I realize that I have such a long way to go. It has been a lot of growth on patience and humility in motherhood and I feel extremely inadequate. I feel that I have much room for improvement but I am grateful for the progress I made this last year.
I have
become a more loving disciple of Christ. One of my biggest goals was to
become less judgemental and more accepting and loving of other people's choices and lives. Honestly this one was a lot harder in the beginning of the year but I am so happy to say that it
became less of a focus because it got easier to love and accept as the year went on and I found myself succeeding most of the time.
I
became healthier and fit in my body, spirit, and mindset. My scripture study
became more meaningful as I included a more meaningful prayer to invite the spirit in to teach me and so did my eating and exercise. My goal went from "trying to fit into my old clothes" to changing my mindset on how I ate and strived for a more effective and enjoyable exercise routine.
Our house has
become more of a home as we have sought the spirit to be more present and continued to find joy in house projects.
One of the most important ways I have really stretched and grown with the definition of
become which is "began to be" is in my role as a wife. Brian's second year of residency began in July and it seemed to hit with a cannon ball to the stomach as he quickly experienced true burn out. As his wife, I felt helpless, nervous, and so vulnerable. I didn't know how to help him and quickly felt drained and the onset of burn out myself. I truly had to learn what is meant to
become a supporter and encourager while grounding my anchor of trust in the Lord as we had just found out we were expecting our third baby. Learning to trust in the Lord and his timing is really
becoming.
My new word for 2018 is CHERISH.
I hope that I can
cherish and protect all that I hold dear-my family, my testimony, the different roles I hold as mother, wife, daughter, friend, and disciple of Christ. I want to
cherish change and
cherish the trust that has really "begun to be" in my soul.
Brian's goal word for 2017 was
REACH.
In his professional life, it was a pleasure to see the growth that he has attained in his knowledge and understanding of his patients. In October of 2016 he had a resident who was very belittling and hard on him. It brought out this "wife bear" in me that I had never experienced before. I was angry with this resident and how she treated Brian. What was such a pleasure to experience was that Brian worked with this same resident in March of 2017. We expected hell and prepared for it. When the time came though, this resident couldn't stop raving about Brian's progress and knowledge. She loved seeing his growth and working with him that she asked to work with him on another rotation after that. We truly felt Brian was
reaching his goals.
And though residency took a turn of exhaustion, Brian's knowledge and skills have really stretched and grown.
Brian has
reached out for a more personal growth in having a grateful journal and looking for ways to stretch his gratitude and find joy each day.
Brian has
reached out in his fatherhood and love for his girls. The girls are sad to see him leave each day and look and wait and look anxiously out the window for him to return.
Brian's testimony has
reached and extended through his trials but also his successes. He too has been learning to rely on the Lord's timing and plan.
For 2018 Brian has chosen the word APPRECIATE.
Brian hopes to be more
appreciative and grateful. It's been a rough last few months for him with residency burn out and this word felt fitting for him in this coming new year. Brian wants to learn to
appreciate more by look for things to be grateful for each and every day.
At home and elsewhere he also hopes to be more
appreciative and understanding with all his girls and emotions that he doesn't always get. Spiritually and physically he hopes to
appreciate his working and healthy body as well as show his
appreciation for his knowledge of the gospel and our Savior by developing better study and service habits.
As the news of our dear prophet Thomas S Monson's passing last night I feel it so appropriate to quote him here as the new year of 2018 dawns.
"Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." -President Thomas S. Monson
President Monson had such a great focus on the things that matter most. His legacy and lifetime of service all done with a sweet smile will be greatly missed and I hope emulate them this year.
As I have been putting away Christmas decor, I at first felt like my house looked naked with the original everyday decor back in place. But I couldn't help but feel there was a little bit of symbolism in it all.
By the end of the year we adorn our Christmas decorations and it feels magical and exciting to feel the change of extra things filling the house. After a long year of ups and downs we feel ready for the magic and love that Christmastime brings.
But by the end of the holidays when it is time to clean up it almost feels refreshing and simple to do so. What a great way to start out the new year! Clean, fresh, and simple as we turn over a new page.
And once more in the words of Dumbledore, I'll start 2018 out with this, "Before we begin our
banquet [new year], I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
