Hopes for 2021

 Well ladies and gentleman, we have finally made it to the end of 2020. I am interrupting my trip reports to celebrate this momentous occasion!   I, along with many others have found this year to be a challenge but also it will be remembered as a really special year. I mean, nobody is ever gonna forget 2020. In the midst of pain and life looking nothing like I expected, I can see so many blessings that have come from this year.  My word for last year was "simplify" and boy did that happen.  The year the world slowed down!  I have loved how simple life has been this year.  We took advantage of the time we were given and really focused in on our little family!  

This down time we have enjoyed these last couple weeks have allowed me to really focus in and dream for next year! Which brings me to the word I have picked out for 2021! It only took a little bit of time reflecting to instantly land on the word that felt right for this year.  This year is about "growth".  Growth in so many personal areas of my own life, enjoyment in watching the growth of my children, growth in our marriage, growth as a family.  I really want to push myself to grow this year!

Spiritually:

2020 Goals: Spend devotional time specifically seeking a desire to grow as a wife and mother.  Spend every day this year in the word. 

This year I didn't focus as much as I was hoping in this area.  I lost my focus to family life at times.  But we did make great progress with family devotions and I have some great ideas to expand on that into the new year. I also read several books and listened to several podcasts about marriage and family life that have really helped me.   I also have a plan for myself to really focus on my own spiritual growth this year which means I have to make myself get up before the kids so I have the time to learn and listen to God for all aspects of our future. 

2020 Goals: Focus on my own spiritual life, make time daily first thing in the morning to read my Bible and pray.  Help foster more devotional time in my kids lives. 

 

Marriage:  

2020 Goal:  Be honest communicators. Prioritize at least a little uninterrupted time each day to connect and some dates here and there!   

I'm not one to sugarcoat it, this year was really really hard!  But have no fear, we are not quitters and we continue to work hard and strive to do better and be better for each other.  We love each other and are committed to making our marriage the best it possibly can be.  It is really hard to admit when things are hard but I do believe as we both spend more time focusing on God that will inevitably benefit our marriage and family.  We have had zero opportunity to date or spend alone time together this year between a new baby, work, and then covid so we are purposing to go back to the basics this year and date one another and pursue our relationship with the same intensity we did when we first started dating!  

2021 Goal: At home date nights every week with at least one night out a month.  Really focus on the basics of quality time (when we can get a moment with 5 kids) to build our relationship. Communicate honestly.

Family Life
2019 Goal: Be Present More  

We crushed this one this year!  I am so excited about the opportunities our family was given this year to really just be present together and have fun.  The normal hustle and bustle became non existent and we have loved all this family time. I selfishly hope we can continue this well into the new year.  I also have some great ideas to continue to cultivate and make every moment count! 

2021 Goal: Travel together even more, eat dinners around the table together, Sunday Tea Time, Read a book a month as a family.

Finances:   

2020 Goal: Finish replenishing our savings, continue with retirement savings and hopefully start to contribute more to our mortgage (Baby Step #6).  Save for 2 large vacations and 2 small vacations to take place this year!

Well this was a bit of an odd year but we are still steadily making progress.  We crushed retirement savings this year and traveled far more than we anticipated.  We still haven't sped up on the mortgage but if all goes as we hope, we may have a quick path to paying off the mortgage!  But I won't get ahead of myself there.  2020 has set us up well to leap right into 2021.  We hope to continue to pad the retirement savings this year and then find the balance between traveling while we still can (fingers crossed Peter can continue to work from home) and the big home projects we want to complete. 

Home:  

2020 Goal: This year I hope to allow the boys to do a little remodel of their bedroom and then we debate whether we want to start on windows or I have dreams of updating our 80's stairs into a more modern look.

We accomplished the boys little bedroom remodel and towards the end of the year Peter learned how to replace the windows himself which is going to be huge for cost savings when we still have over 30 that need replaced. But we expect to make a huge dent in windows this year.  I think we have now decided to bypass the stairs and remodel our master bathroom next which depending on what we decide for travel this year, we might get to.  In general, I also am feeling the itch to kind of redo some of the decor around the house so I am planning to start a mini refresh of every room of the house. I also decided I want to be a plant mom and have several house plants arriving in the next couple weeks so wish me luck on that new endeavor!  Did I mention I want to grow this year?

2021 Goals: Replace a lot of windows, replace the deck and another yard project, at least start saving for a master bathroom remodel and do a mini refresh of all the other rooms in the house.   

Personal Health:  

2020 Goals:  Continue to keep carbs in check, for sure get back to strength training and run for enjoyment and stress relief this summer, not necessarily for rigorous exercise.  

I kept my 2020 goals very attainable because my goal was to make sure and be able to feed Ayla for the full 12 months and I am thrilled to have accomplished that goal because I was unable to with her big siblings! Over the course of the last couple months I have worked out consistently and am loving this routine, I am already feeling stronger than ever.  I will be adjusting my plans in the new year to make sure I get up early and can squeeze my workouts in and devotions in so that my evenings are free to spend with my husband and kids! I have also taken another radical step that I am so excited about!  I have talked for years and years about a desire to hire a personal fitness coach and now that I am done breastfeeding I took that step! I have spent a lot of time researching options and came across a team that I really think is going to be perfect for me to reach the goals I have for myself  and help me to become stronger and healthier!  It is not cheap but I know this is going to be soooo good for me this year and I am excited to have begun this journey!

2021 Goals:  Adjust routine to work out first thing in the morning.  Be open to learn and put my trust in my fitness coaches to help me reach my goals! 

Vacations:  

Ah 2020. This area looks nothing like what we expected this year but we gained some awesome new experiences and made the most with the lemons we were handed.  And now, I am not sure I would have changed a thing. The kids got to experience several new states and the lifetime memories made as we have traveled together make it so worth it! At this point, I am not really sure what to expect for 2021.  But I know we WILL travel!  We have a 15th Anniversary trip booked to Hawaii but I have a strong feeling we will be adjusting those plans and finding a new place to travel together, but it will still happen!  We would also like to reschedule Sabrina's trip that was cancelled last year but again, most things are up in the air at this moment but we will have fun and we will see some new places wherever that might be! 

So here's to 2021!  A year that I feel most of us are kind of tip toeing into.  I've become much better than I ever anticipated at being okay without a plan and living in the moment.  I don't even have an expectation as we walk into this next year, but it has been nice to spend time in reflection and anticipation with a rough outline of hopes and dreams and plans.  

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

Utah - Zion National Park

We knew while in the area we obviously had to hit up Zion National Park.  The biggest barrier to this park is how busy it gets. By 9-10 it is swamped and parking typically shuts down. They only run the shuttles (which we wouldn't want to use anyway) during peak seasons and holidays so we knew if we wanted to visit this park we were gonna have to go early. So we came up with the idea of heading out that way for sunrise.  We found a trail that we heard had great views of sunrise as it rises behind you and fills the canyon and we thought the kids might be able to handle it.

So up and at 'em early before we had to leave Utah behind!  We were right on schedule as daylight began to break and we could see the mountains start to awaken.

Now I am going to be completely honest and say that as I researched this park I truly did not understand why this place was so popular. I still assume a lot of the reason is that it is so easy to get to from civilization but as I watched these mountains began to come alive I truly began to understand the aweof this place! 

We were running a bit behind schedule and the short hike with kids was much more challenging than we anticipated but we all made it for the big show! Want to talk about jawdropping!

For reference, the mountain we watched sunrise from was right above that arch.  It was cold and tough with the kids but still a memory that I will never forget. It was more than I could have ever imagined so I am glad we made the journey! Honestly we took lots more pictures and drove around other parts of the park but there is just no way that pictures can do this place justice!  It is that amazing.  

It was getting quite busy by the time we left (Peter had to get to work and the kids were tired, cold, and hungry) but this is definitely on the come back to list also.  There are tons of really really challenging hikes here and everything in between so we will definitely be back when we have more time!  We also saw tons of wildlife in our short time in the park - tons of deer everywhere, lots of mountains goats up close and personal (which I am glad I didn't meet up with on my journey back down the mountain, alone, with a fussy cold baby) and lots of turkeys! 

Pros of this place:

It is jaw dropping and amazingly beautiful

has tons of hiking

Easy to get to, took us about an hour from St George

There's a whole little and adorable town right outside the gates with food and lodging options if you want to stay really close by 

cons:

Super busy 

I wouldn't like the shuttle service if I visited in the busy seasons 

really challenging hiking options so use caution 

Current rank of National Parks Visited:

1) Bryce Canyon

2) Zion 

3) Capitol Reef 

 

Utah - St George

For the second part of our Utah tour we settled into St George.  I LOVED St George, it was beautiful and there was so much to do nearby and the sunshine didn't hurt either!

We wrapped up our last week of school before taking a nice long break while Peter worked. 

Baby girl REALLY started taking off walking and she was pretty proud of herself

Sabrina got all sorts of goodies on this trip for her ouchies.  This taco was a reward for letting us take out her stitches instead of making us find another urgent care to do it for her. 

It may have been too cold for the desert dwellers to swim but our kids enjoyed having the pool to themselves all week long!

One of my favorite memories was going out to Snow Canyon after work one evening at sunset.  I would love to have this sort of playground with mountains to climb, caves to explore, and petrified sand dunes in my backyard! 

Poor Sabrina had yet another mishap on some lava rock.  She is one tough cookie! 

And she was rewarded with cookies for her wounds too!

 Our time in St George was far too short but we were grateful to find an option to visit this area at all. We would definitely stay there again if given the opportunity because there is still so much to explore there! 

Utah - Bryce Canyon National Park

After our day at Capitol Reef, the next day we were off to Bryce Canyon National Park. The most common road would have us back tracking through 2 hours of roads we had done the day before so we decided to try the road less traveled and we were pretty happy with that decision because it was probably one of the most gorgeous drives we have ever done!  

 

 Driving through the gates of the park actually reminded me a lot of Grand Canyon National Park.  There are shops and overflow parking in a little village like setting outside the park.  Before we left we watched a little documentary on this park so we knew some of the old wild west history of this place.  But no picture or documentary can do a place like this justice.  One of the things I noticed on the drive in was the most amazing paved walking/biking trail that went on for miles upon miles. It would be so fun if you were camping in the area! 

We were quickly waved through the gates. We did briefly see the Visitor Center, well I stayed in the car with Ayla but Peter ran the others in for a potty stop and to get their Jr Ranger Books. He said it was a very nice Visitor Center and had a pretty cool museum.

The canyon runs a long distance and has a long scenic drive but we opted to try and find parking and visit two of the notorious lookouts - sunset and sunrise.  Parking was filling up but we were able to find a spot and the best part of this spot is we could walk from sunset to sunrise as they were only about a half mile apart on the rim.  

I'm not sure there are adequate words to describe this place. It just kind of takes your breath away as you approach it.  

There are plenty of hiking options down into the canyon but with the amount of warnings at the trail heads we didn't brave them with the kids at this age but it is something we would have loved to do!  I absolutely loved this place and could have spent hours just sitting and watching, but we had busy children so we were on to a trailhead that we had confidence they could handle.

We found a nice little trailhead that we could drive to at the bottom of the canyon and see the hoodoos without having to hike down into them.  This was perfect for the kids to just run and have fun in the creek and see the canyon from below. 

The waterfall had all but disappeared because of cold temps but it was cool to be able to still hear it flowing, even if we couldn't see it. But we had to watch out for some pretty thick ice on the trail. 

Pro's of this park:

It definitely has the wow factor

It has nice facilities and a big visitor center

So many hiking options from beginner to pretty advanced it seems

Cons:

Definitely a busier park but we were fortunate to visit in the off season so we could park inside the gates

Parking was still scarce

But 100% this is a park I would choose to visit again and spend more time in. It was so gorgeous and if the kids were a bit older I would love to hike down into the canyon. So it is definitely on our list of places we would like to come back to someday! 

Rank of parks visited and reviewed:

1) Bryce Canyon 

2) Capitol Reef