just plain jenn: 2016

Well, after the crappy year that 2014 was... I had high hopes for 2015 to be a lot better. I mean, it's not hard to top a year where I was pregnant during a long hot summer, our marriage had a few rocky bumps to work through, and my dear dad passed away... but still, I guess after a year like that you just aren't sure. Luckily it came through!

2015 was another year of change. It was gol-darned BUSY. Other parents tell me that this busy-ness only gets worse as kids get older... I guess we'll have to see.

One of the biggest changes was that in June, we moved in with my mama, just across the river in Plain. We had the opportunity to rent our River Rd house to some wonderful relatives that were needing a rental for about a year and a half while they build a house. The rental market in Plain is hard, so we offered them our home for this time. And my mom was gracious enough to allow our brood of 5 to move into her home. So... we are a little tightly packed, and it's definitely chaos at times, but we are enjoying this extra time with Grammy.

Moving off the River Road property has been okay, but a little hard for me. Right when we moved out, Dave and Christie moved back, and Jenny and Haakon moved into their house, so now they are all out there and we are over here... It's forced our family to spend more dedicated time with one another, but I miss the camaraderie of being all together out there. But, I keep telling myself it's only temporary and we'll be back in our home before we know it.

Updates on the kiddos -- Olaf is enjoying second grade. He's a complete Lego MANIAC, and is quickly becoming an expert in Minecraft on the iPad. He's happy that ski season has started up and is exploring more of Stevens Pass every time he goes! Though Forest could have gone to Kindergarten this year, we decided to hold off a year so he wouldn't be the absolute youngest in his class. (well there were many reasons but that was one of them). It's been a great decision as he's been doing well at his second year of preschool - this year he is actually excited to learn since he's better at sitting still and concentrating. I think he definitely needed this extra year before kindergarten. He's also enjoying skiing, and was finally able to lose the "leashes" and go down by himself on daisy. I'm proud that he got over his fear of momma letting go! John is 15 months now, and starting to turn on the personality. He has the most hilarious laugh when he thinks he is doing something funny. He is a CLIMBER. Stairs, ladders, tables, countertops, mom... Such a sweet addition to our family. Even when he is throwing a tantrum face down on the floor because he didn't get what he wanted... it's hilariously adorable.

We've been enjoying a wonderful year of snow in Plain... as the pictures below will show.