I've slowly added to this blog over the last three months, writing a few events at a time, but never finishing. This is now an incredibly long blog. (I think I did this last year, too. Oops.) So I'm going to break it up into sections as if I'm sending you several letters over time. :) Thanks for reading!
September & October 2021
On September 29th, we adopted a Boxer-Mix puppy from a rescue. Her name was Harper, and we changed it to Bailey, in honor of the character George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life." We felt the name would remind us to have hope through our hard times. Bailey has absolutely been that hope for us and a welcome distraction from the grief after losing our dear Watson.
That said, we are missing our Watson so much. His loss left an enormous hole in our hearts and has opened up a Mary Poppins-sized bag of questions for our kids. Why do bad things happen? Is Watson in heaven? Did God take Watson away from us? Are we going to die soon too? How can mom and dad say everything will be all right, when, on September 5th, it wasn't?
The last three months have been incredibly difficult. I can't sugarcoat that. It would seem dishonest to post the pretty pictures of us smiling with our adorable new puppy without acknowledging the constant ache we've endured. I am, by nature, a private person when it comes to the more personal details of our lives, but for some reason, on this one point, I feel compelled to share the honest, hard truth of it all. Perhaps because not to share, would be to dismiss how much we loved Watson. And oh, how we loved him.
For Halloween, Evelyn was Rena Rouge, the superhero fox from Miraculous. Liam was Venom. Our neighborhood put on a spectacular event Friday, with a bouncy obstacle course, games, a haunted house, and a candy trail. Barkley and Liam volunteered with the cub scouts and the kids played with neighbors and classmates. Then on Halloween day, we had our annual pumpkin carving party and friends joined us for trick or treating! All in all, a wonderful time.
November 2021
I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a lovely gathering with friends on Tuesday and then spent Thursday just the four of us. We had breakfast at IHOP, then cooked practically all day. I made sweet potato casserole, dairy-free mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gluten-free vegan stuffing. Barkley made the turkey and gravy. I usually make pies, but this year I opted to purchase instead. We played games, watched football, jumped on the trampoline, built forts in the living room, painted ornaments, exercised, sang Christmas songs, played fetch with Bailey, watched our senior dog Jade set the world record for longest Thanksgiving nap, ate a delicious dinner, and ran the dishwasher three times.
I'd love to share the many accomplishments my kids have made this fall. Evelyn is making huge strides in math. When we pulled her out of school last April, I went back to a first-grade math curriculum to figure out the holes in her education. (She's in fourth grade.) From there, we reviewed various strategies and practiced, practiced, practiced. Oftentimes, we would complete two or three math lessons per day. In early November Evelyn successfully passed, with proficiency, her second-grade math course and then started third-grade math. Our current goal is to begin fourth-grade math in March and be on track with her fifth-grade curriculum at the start of fifth grade!
Evelyn is doing great in therapy, as well. She attends a social group, physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy once a week and absolutely loves her therapists. She recently started seeing a counselor and I think she is beginning to turn the corner from her overwhelming anxiety and negative thoughts.
Liam is a busy athlete! His flag football team won the championship by defeating the undefeated team of the season. Having never played football before, Liam was the underdog on his team. He practiced hard, and advocated for himself, going from one of the greenest kids on the field to being an amazing center. Following football, he played soccer (his favorite) and was awarded the CACTUS award which stands for Coachable Athlete, Compassionate Teammate, Ultimate Sportsman. How awesome is that?
Liam is rocking public school. Straight A's and so many sweet, positive words from his teacher about his participation, kindness, and cleverness. He qualified for gifted services and will begin those in the spring. He's excited to join his friend in the program as the two of them are very competitive when it comes to math skills and they seem to encourage each other really well.
In addition to all that, Liam competed in cross country at school, too. By far, his best run was the day he got pushed over about a 1/4 mile after the start. He skinned his elbow and was sent to the first aid tent for a bandage and ice. My competitive young man declined the ice and asked if he could finish the race. He set out several minutes behind everyone, including the sweeper. Somehow he managed to pull ahead and pass runners, ending in 61st place. We are incredibly proud of him for overcoming that trial. Then on the day of his school's Turkey Trot, he finished in sixth place! He even loves practicing on the treadmill. We may have an official runner in the family.
December 2021
In early December, I made a whirlwind weekend trip to Florida to see my mom and sister. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to rest and replenish my energy. I spent time reading, napping, going for walks, reading my bible, reading new books, writing my current work-in-progress, and we even squeezed in an afternoon at Magic Kingdom and then hopped over to Epcot for some food and treats. It's an amazing bonus that my mom is a Disney cast member. If you're ever wandering through the shops in Animal Kingdom you might see her!
While in Florida, I also had the blessing of having dinner with one of my dearest friends, Caitlin. We hadn't seen each other in three years! It was wonderful to catch up with her.
In writing news, I shared my award-winning novella for the first time publicly! Thank you to all who have taken the time to read "Christmas at the Fort" and for your wonderfully sweet messages. I will never forget receiving a text message at 10 p.m. from my friend, who is a teacher and a mom to a one-year-old daughter, saying she really should be sleeping, but couldn't put the book down! As this is the first time I've shared my work, it was incredibly nerve-wracking, but it's been so rewarding to get feedback.
If you haven't had a chance to read "Christmas at the Fort," you still can! Just click "Exclusive Content" on my website's menu and subscribe to my monthly newsletter. I hope you enjoy the story and that it brings warmth to your holidays!
Next up, we had our annual Gingerbread party. The kids and adults all enjoyed cookies, hot chocolate, and decorating gingerbread houses.
On December 13th, Barkley and I celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary. It was a typical day. Barkley worked, Evelyn had a cold. Just continuing to do life together every single day.
Then, my sister came to visit over Christmas and we surprised the kids! They were thrilled to see Aunt Sammy. Barkley and I used the opportunity of a free babysitter to belatedly celebrate our anniversary. We went to see a movie in the theater for the first time since Covid started. We saw Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was especially fun since one of our first dates in 2007 was to see Spider-Man 3.
Next up, we went to Flagstaff, saw a bit of snow on the ground, and took a shuttle to the North Pole! Evelyn's highlight was the elves' schoolroom. Liam said he couldn't narrow it down to one thing, but I think he liked Mrs. Claus' hot chocolate the most.
North Pole Experience
On Christmas Eve, we attended church and then had a quiet, relaxed dinner at the Village Inn. The dinner out was unplanned, but I really enjoyed not having to cook, and I think we might make it a new tradition. We've found, as we've moved every two years for the last six, that it's been difficult to create and stick to traditions each year. The two things we have stuck with are reading The Night Before Christmas together and waiting to wrap presents until the last minute.
Christmas Eve
Christmas day was relaxing and filled with joy. We opened presents, played with toys, took naps, and watched movies.
Christmas Day
2021 certainly had its ups and downs. I'm looking forward to 2022 and praying that you all have a healthy and happy New Year! Here's hoping I write again in January and don't wait four months to post another ridiculously long blog. Thanks for reading!
With Love,
Stephanie Rose and family!
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