How is it possible that another year has passed? I'm pretty sure we just started 2019 a couple of days ago...and yet here it is - 2020!! Not only a new year but a new decade. The past decade has been the most life-changing decade yet! I went from being a single woman living on my own, in my own home, pursuing a career in clinical social work, and traveling the world to a married woman with 4 bonus kids plus one of my own, living in cold, snowy Utah, managing an ever-evolving home, and growing in unimaginable ways. I would love to say it's been the easiest decade of my life, but I'm pretty sure my years from 0-10 will always hold that honor. However, it has been the most rewarding decade of my life. The days, weeks, months, and years can sometimes be turbulent and messy. At times, the valleys of my life's journey seem vast, cold, and daunting, but without those valleys, I would be unable to recognize the majesty of the peaks. Jeff and I had the opportunity to reflect over this past year (and upon our nearly 7 years of marriage). To say this year has been transformative would be a gross misrepresentation of the evolution (and, at times, chaos) this family has experienced. (That's not to mention our extended families and the events in their lives.) Dallin graduated and left on his mission. Amber got married. Laurin graduated from nursing school and will be married in a couple weeks. Jonas started preschool. And Danny is just trying to navigate teenage life in all its complexities. Jeff and I went from having 3-5 children living at home at all times (and one summer with 6 kids including Jacob!) to only 2 kids. I keep thinking life slows down as kids grow up and move out, but that is not true! Life seems to come at us full force. At times, I simply wish for things to be still, but that's not how it works. Life isn't meant to be lived in stillness. It's meant to be heartily embraced - the good and the bad. It's meant to teach us, to humble us, to inspire us, and yes, at times, to break us, only to build us back up again bigger and better than ever before. To survive life would be tragic. To live life is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
Ok...enough of my philosophic reverie...New Years was a party at the Southwick home. Because Krystle knew that she would either have her baby or be close to it, I offered to host all the New Years' festivities for the little boys. Danny and Kaia were too cool to hang out with us all night (they each had separate friend parties to attend). However, because we started early, they still joined in most of the fun. Plus, we were lucky enough to have Baby Addie and my parents, who flew up to help Krystle, join us. My sister, Nichole, has thrown some pretty epic New Year parties for the kids so I patterned my activities after hers. If it's not broken, why fix it? The Tanners and my parents showed up at 4:00 and by 7:00 it was all over! Yup! What was planned to happen gradually over the course of several hours was compacted into 3 hours. It was crazy and chaotic but so much fun! First, I hid bags with an hour displayed on each bag (e.g., 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, etc.). The original plan was to open said bag at the indicated hour. Inside each bag was an item or items to indicate what two games or activities we would do that hour. Instead, we started with the 6:00 bag, participated in the games/activities, and just kept opening them until we were through. We did everything from making our own clocks (to use in a dice game later that evening) to having a "snowball" fight in the hall. The kids had a blast! I just tried (and pretty much failed) to maintain some of the chaos.
We opened most of the bags before we stopped for dinner. Tonight I made one of my maternal grandmother's signature dishes - green chili steak chimichangas. I love Mexican food! It reminds me of my childhood and of home. I had to incorporate it into our festivities.
Following an excessive amount of food, we finished up our festivities with sparklers, Chinese lanterns, poppers, a "year in review", and a sparkling cider toast...at 7:30. At that point, the Tanners, Mom, Dad, Danny, Scott, & Kaia left to continue their evenings elsewhere. Jeff, Jonas, and I cleaned up, got ready for bed, and finished our evening watching the cute animated movie, Abominable. Jonas was asleep by 8:45. Jeff and I stayed up to watch the ball drop in Times Square with NYC at 10:00 our time. After another toast and a kiss, we headed to bed as well. And that's it! 2019 is over!
New Years Day was fairly uneventful. Danny went to work with Jeff for the day. Jonas and I stayed home and played. I guess some people might think that's a poor start to the new year/decade, but it was the perfect start for us. Life is just that - a series of seemingly insignificant moments that create a tapestry of memories. Jeff and I had the opportunity to reflect on those memories and moments from the past year that evening. Jeff took me out for dinner. As we ate, we had fun going through a series of "year in review" conversation cards. It was fun to reminisce about all the events from the past year and to look forward to the events of this new year. I can't imagine going through life without Jeff. He is my best friend. He sees me at my worst yet only recognizes my best. He loves me in spite of my imperfections. He has been the best part of this past decade, and I know he'll be the best part of the next. Here's to 2020 and all the new adventures ahead!
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