Saying Goodbye to 2018

It's the last few hours of Christmas Break and what a break it has been.  Our annual festivities with family and friends took a bit of a nose-dive when Carter was diagnosed with Influenza A.  Santa gifted us all some Tamiflu and we managed to enjoy our time together as a family of four.  The good news is that we managed to sneak in that ER visit (due to a febrile seizure and sustained heart rate of 150bpm) before the end of the year and thus our deductibles had already been met.   Since we didn't manage to gorge ourselves on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, we went all out on New Year's Eve with friends and then again with family on New Year's Day. 

As we say goodbye to 2018 it was a year of mixed emotions as we experienced some great highs and some lows and a lot of personal growth for each member of our family.  The saddest part of 2018 came when we said our good-byes to Bradley's Grandma Cora.  She has been a part of his life since the day he was born, a part of our life together since we started dating, and an integral part of our boys' lives from the moment they were born.  The silver lining in her passing was the abundant amount of time that we were able to spend with family.  We continue to miss her in all of the regular tasks that we take for granted.  A pheasant recipe here, or a reminder on how to properly seal the canned tomatoes there, or even just to get some sound advice.  She leaves behind a great legacy and there's nothing more she would want. 

As a family we enjoyed several concerts together.  Thanks to Mema and Papa we took the boys to see ZZ Top and Chris Stapleton this summer. We also snuck in a Giant's game along the way.  

Then we traveled north to Portland in the Fall with friends to enjoy Journey and Def Leppard.  The boys still have their hearing, didn't witness any obscene acts at any of the concerts, and prefer the Journey channel on Pandora to any "Top 10" hits, so we are chalking all experiences up as a win.

We went to new lakes this summer and a favorite was Statue Lake.

Another first for our family together was rafting on the Klamath which was a fitting end to Summer.  Ultimately, a highlight of the year was going to Cabo San Lucas as a family with Bradley's parents, and his sister's family.  We also brought along Mason's friend Mason (Bob), and left right after school was out, packed and ready for adventure. 

We managed to coincide our trip perfectly with a Hurricane headed straight towards the Baja.  It put a bit of a dent in our pool time and beach time, but wonderful memories were made and we all made it back home with no reports of food poisoning. 

Miles and Carter enjoyed great baseball seasons.  Miles finished off his last year in Farm League and Carter finished off his last year in Little League Minors, in which their team placed second in the end of the year tournament.  A real treat was watching Bradley and his cousin Clint coach Carter's team.  Carter also played in a travel ball team and we spent many fun weekends at different ball parks.  The experience of being on this team has been truly rewarding.  We have become closer to other families, this has pushed Carter to become a better ball player, and we have truly enjoyed watching his team play.  They won their final game of the season and that was a true highlight of the year.  Both boys also managed to rally their friends to attend a summer baseball camp in Eugene, Oregon.  I don't know who had more fun, the moms or the boys.  It was a great experience with many members of his travel ball team.

Carter and Miles also competed on the local swim team over the summer and although the early mornings in the VERY COLD pool were not the highlight of their summer memories, they sure enjoyed helping their team earn the high point mark at the county meet.

Construction efforts were also at an all time high.  Inspired, by the construction of the "pig palace" the boys built their own fort with scraps.  Since this picture it has since developed into two rooms and a back deck.

It wasn't the best snow year, but we also managed to get a few turns in on the mountain and both boys are now certified knuckle draggers.

Bradley and Joy enjoyed a trip to Los Barilles in February for two friends' destination wedding.  A moment of personal growth occurred for Bradley when he was put on the spot to deliver a killer toast at the reception.  Celebrating the event with close friends from childhood made it even more special.  

Miles and Carter also managed to pass Hunter's Safety (in the middle of baseball season no less) and this has since opened up a completely new and fun world for the boys to participate in a hobby with their dad.  Pheasants, dove, ducks, and even a mountain buck hunt have been experiences that the boys have shared together with their dad.  

Miles developed a passion for running this year and was one of two students in the school to join the "100 mile club" at school.  He competed in various races throughout the year and effortlessly enjoyed them all.  He also worked hard at losing his baby teeth and growing new adult teeth.  His consistent loss hit the Tooth Fairy's pocketbook pretty good, but his smile is drastically different.  Miles is consistently praised for his ability to bring fun and kindness to all that he does.  He's really pushed the "personal growth curve" with his dedication to growing his own mullet. 

Carter continued to display his consistent dedication and hard work through his help with the EHS football team, his commitment to two baseball teams, and raising two pigs.  He stepped up to the plate with all of his new responsibilities and enjoyed the rewards of his hard work.  His participation in 4H and the fair was a highlight of the year for our entire family.  

Between being the right hand man at the family business, being the most involved father, and supportive husband it's crazy to think how much more Bradley accomplished this year.  A benefit to his hobby of growing amazing produce was the fact that a new local restaurant/distillery purchased everything he grew.  He managed to sneak in a guys' fishing trip to the coast complete with some crab and many weekend days on the local rivers.  This hunting season didn't find him with a buck, but he spent a lot of time hunting with his boys so that was a win.  He managed to build an amazing pig palace in between coaching Little League and making sure the boys passed Hunter's Safety.  He's taken up an old past time and begun playing the drums again.  It's really nice to see the boys learn more about music from their dad.  We are so lucky to have such an amazing father and husband.

Inspired by Bradley's interest to play the drums, Joy has begun playing the piano again.  Bradley's parents had gifted Grandma Ann a piano years ago and it was time for it to find a new home.  Being the devoted father he is, he managed to move that piano into the perfect spot in the house and not hurt his back.  While she didn't run a full marathon this year, she did manage to run two 1/2 marathons and many various races with many age group wins and podium places.  A highlight of her year was seeing the culmination of the playground remodel at her school.  This was the result of close to two years of hard work and completed at little cost to the district.

When it all comes down to it we managed to enjoy many wonderful experiences as a family, by ourselves, as a couple, and as brothers.  We aren't sure how it will happen, but we hope that 2019 brings us as much happiness and experiences as 2018.  To those of you who choose to be a part of our lives and experiences, thank you.

Here's to 2019!