Last week, I sat down at the computer and clicked through every photo I had taken in 2020. I made a couple observations as I did this:
First off- I didn’t use my big girl camera even once. Oops!
Second- we spent A LOT of time outside this year. Almost all the pictures that I saved to print are taken outside. I didn’t realize how much we stepped out of our home to refresh and heal from all the chaos of the world until I looked through our pictures.
Third- 2019 was the first year we hadn’t added anyone to our family in 5 years. 2020 continued on that trend, but I noticed the theme in my photos became a very established three blond heads in a row. Anytime I had a chance to take a picture, those three blondies are in it!
Fourth- despite the memories and the challenges this year brought us, it also brought us a lot of good memories and even some fun times!
Let’s take a look….
January
We sold our house and packed up to move!! Since we had already moved twice in the year, and Theo worked the weekends, we decided to do it 100% by ourselves. We loaded the UHaul and unloaded it ourselves (and 80% of that was Theo). It was a memory we will never forget and also, we will never do that again!!!!!
February
Theo and Tera attended the Daddy/Daughter Valentines dance at school. They both had a blast and it was the SWEETEST thing to see Tera so excited to go out on a date with her Daddy.
March
In March I went to Cincinnati with some of my friends. We walked around town, chilled at our Airbnb and bonded over life and motherhood. It was a blast and it was also the last weekend that anything was “normal” before the shut down. We also celebrated Theo’s 29th birthday and bought our first rental property in March.
April
In April, we embarked on our hiking challenge! We went on a hike every single day in April. It was a lot of work, but SO FUN and we got to explore so much of the Miami Valley!
May
In May, we finished working on our first rental property and started in on the second one! I also turned 29 and we continued to enjoy the beautiful weather OUTSIDE!
June
June was a bit of a tough month for our family. We started it off with a booked couples getaway that was cancelled due to the protest and riots downtown and needing “all hands on deck”- meaning Theo had to work, even if he had pre approved vacation. Thankfully, my in-laws still came for a short visit and I got some help and support with the kids. I did a lot of wallowing in June, but our family also had some fun! Like tubing down a local river…
July
Theo took the kids on his annual backpacking trek. This is the first year that Ezra went and they decided to not camp overnight this year. They left early in the morning, hiked 1.5 miles to their “camping” spot, cooked lunch on a fire and hiked 1.5 miles back out. And that took ALL DAY. Theo said the kids cried for most of it, but each year gets easier and easier. And I LOVE being able to stay at home and have peace and quiet for the entire day!
August
In August, we decided to attend our annual Hines family reunion. 5 of Theo’s family members are medical workers, and three of them work directly with COVID patients (the other two are most likely exposed, but not officially on covid units). We knew that getting together would be a risk, but we decided to meet up. It was a beautiful reunion and brought some much needed encouragement and conversations, plus tons of time outside in the fresh air and on the boat. And nobody got sick!
In August, we also celebrated Tera turning 6!! And then just a few weeks later, we all started back to school in person.
September
Things kind of slow down for us in September as the temps cool off and we have no holidays or birthdays. We mostly spent September getting into our back to school routine just in time for Theo to officially get a new position at work and literally switch up EVERY part of our schedule. HAHA. We also got to attend a beautiful wedding and it was the most normal thing we had done in a long, long time. It was SO refreshing.
October
This little man turned 4! The rest of October must have been pretty boring, because I don’t have any additional information to give about the month of October…
November
In November, we had the elections, and Ezra turned TWO! We also decided to take advantage of the still-warm weather and drive to Hocking Hills for a hike day. It was beautiful and we loved it!!! We will be back for sure.
December
In December, we tried our best to get into the holiday spirit! We welcomed a college student, Corinne, to live with us in between semester breaks (they have a break from Thanksgiving until near the end of January!). We also finished up our first semester at school (we have managed to stay in person the whole semester, and hope that continues into the New Year!). We also celebrated Christmas and are looking forward to ringing in 2021.
And that is a wrap on 2020! There were a LOT of highlights that I found when I just went looking through pictures. God has been faithful to give us health, love, laughter and our fair share of tears. We are abundantly blessed.