Wow! It’s hard to believe that we are already in 2020! And not only that, but we are halfway through January! Believe it or not, I haven’t even thought about any New Year’s resolutions yet. That might be because I don’t always succeed at keeping them… Or it might be that I am still in denial that 2019 is gone.
2019 was a crazy, busy, fun, exciting, challenging, memorable year. So much happened during those twelve months, but somehow, the year seemed even shorter than normal.
The Macy family that not everyone gets to see.
We had multiple trips planned last summer, but before we could enjoy any of them we were given a horrible surprise. Our dog discovered mold by our back door. (We were warned that beagles have incredible noses…) Given our past experience with mold, it was rather devastating. (Okay, that’s a bit of an understatement.) After tearing up the flooring, we were prepared to live with cement for a while, but thanks to three of our wonderful brothers (yes, I just called them wonderful), we now have a beautiful tile floor instead. It was quite the process putting it in (and we aren’t completely done), but it looks great and we love it! Of course, new flooring meant repainting as well. And then the china-hutch needed some updating…
Everyone took turns scraping the adhesive off the floor. Turns out that our family is also very sensitive to the chemicals in that! Go figure!
Daniel did an awesome job laying the tile (with the help of his sisters). We had a pretty good system going that involved everyone. Dad did all the measurements and cutting, Melissa mixed the thin-set, Daniel and Hannah headed up laying the tile, and the rest of us helped with clean up.
In between tearing up and laying down flooring, our family traveled the world! Well, part of it at least.
Josiah and Daniel toured Prague and Vienna with their orchestra (there was quite a bit of fundraising for that one) before heading to Wales to visit some good friends. While there, Daniel discovered that falling (or maybe jumping?) into an empty moat is not the best experience. He now has the use of both of his legs again, but the healing process definitely wasn’t overnight.
They still managed to enjoy the remainder of their trip. Daniel just had to view everything from a different vantage point.
The day they returned home to the states, Nathan took off for the Czech Republic. He took a group from our church to do both an English camp and a music camp for Czech teens. This was his third year going, second year leading the group, and first year doing a music camp. I have heard a lot of positive things about the trip from the various members of the team, but mostly I have heard that Nathan is an incredible leader.
While the guys decided to travel out of the country, the girls were content to just get out of the state for a few days. Well, actually two weeks would be more accurate.
Dad joined us for the first weekend in Zion and Bryce. After that, the six Macy females went on to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. It was amazing! We camped the whole way and proved to the guys that Macy women can survive quite well on their own (even with slight car problems and a tent that was determined to fall apart on us). We made quite a few memories on that trip and are already scheming on how to pull off another one. Thank you, Caleb, for helping to make it possible! (Did I mention that we have some great brothers?)
Yes, we are wearing “matching” shirts. It’s been so long since we matched, that we thought it would be fun to do the stereotypical conservative home-school family thing again for one day. Don’t judge.
In August, the five Macy sisters and some dear friends went camping in the Sequoias for a weekend. It was a wonderful time of hiking, laughter, meaningful conversations, and nearly burning out our campsite. I would do it again in a heartbeat! (Just not the nearly burning out the campsite part. And for the record, that wasn’t me.)
We were also able to take the boat out this year. That is definitely something we need to do more often!
Dad still has what it takes!
On a less than fun note, our family has had some health scares this past year (maybe the mold had something to do with it?), and to be perfectly honest, they haven’t completely gone away. God has been gracious though, and He has given us the strength we need to get through each day. Not only that, but He also made it possible for us to go on our various trips despite all the health issues.
Have you ever noticed that pets will start to pattern after their owners? Well, apparently Oliver felt left out and decided to have health problems of his own. Our seemingly healthy beagle scared us with three seizures over the space of three months. Each one worse than the time before. Next, he drank some bad water and nearly died! I have tried to convince him that there are better ways to get attention… He is thankfully doing much better now.
Leaving that behind and moving on to another topic, Nathan received his Masters and Daniel graduated from High-school! We are so proud of them both.
We are also very proud of Susanna for winning the Metro Award in the Congressional Art Contest!
Which brings me to another exciting part of 2019, the AV Fair. Every single one of our students that entered won a prize! Our family also took home ribbons, but honestly, I was much prouder of our students’ accomplishments than of mine. It’s strange how becoming a teacher changes your perspective.
Art classes have been going well. We have grown since last year, although not as much as we had hoped due to some unexpected roadblocks. But we love the students that we do have. It is so fun to teach people who actually want to learn. Plus, our students really do seem to enjoy being in class! It definitely makes our job easier.
Our year was wrapped up in a very unexpected way. We were asked to take in two little relatives for a few months. After rearranging half of the house, baby-proofing everything, and Daniel moving in with Nathan and Josiah to free up a bedroom, we welcomed two little ones into our home and our hearts the beginning of December. They are adorable, lovable, and scary smart. Everywhere they go, people fall in love with them. They are such special blessings and they bring so much joy into our lives.
I won’t lie though, it hasn’t been a completely smooth transition. Baby schedules don’t always match up with ours and consequently, we have had to bend some (well, a lot actually). Sleep also is getting sacrificed, as well as personal time (what is that anyway?), and with all the extra exercise, we all lost weight over the holidays instead of gaining it. Really though, we feel blessed to be able to invest in the lives of these two little ones for this season.
To “pash” in puddles is one of life’s greatest joys! (It can be hard to find them in the desert, though…)
Little guy may not be walking yet, but he is determined to climb!
So how is that for a crazy year? (And that really was the quick version…) I don’t know what God has planned for us this coming year, but it is probably better that way. I am afraid, that given the choice, I would opt for a calm, peaceful, boring life. But life is an adventure! Never dull, sometimes scary, always exciting, and definitely worth living!
~Elisabeth~
Okay, technically this isn’t from 2019 since it just happened this month, but it is close enough. Caleb is no longer a contractor working at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), he is now an official JPL employee!