One Second Everyday 2016

This year, I tried to capture one second every day. I missed a couple of days, but it's still a great collection of the memories of 2016. You can view it on our youtube channel (click here). 

Baker Family Highlights of 2016

u 20 years of living in Missouri and Mike working for MSHP Crime Lab 

uMorgan turned 15, got her driving permit, loves colorguard (learned to spin rifle and sabre, on top of flags, this year), loves swim, and took a trip to San Francisco with her grandparents 

u Sarah turned 13 (yes, a teen!), absolutely loves reading, also enjoys colorguard, volunteer opportunities, and swim too! She also got her braces on this year! 

u Family Trip to Smoky Mountains (we saw a bear, went white water rafting, and hiked to some amazing waterfalls!)

u 22^nd anniversary 

u Mike has been enjoying photography more this year, and Cathy loves finding the waterfalls to capture on film 

u Mike joined a local shooting range and has enjoyed target practice

uCathy & Mike Arkansas getaway, slept in a yurt  

u 3 trips to Michigan (summer, thanksgiving, Christmas) 

u We redid a room in our basement and made it an etsy studio for Cathy’s business, with a beautiful pallet wall! 

u And we bought a new (to us) car with scrabble tiles (business is good!) www.celebratingthemoment.etsy.com

Celebrating 20 Years at the MSHP Crime Lab

Michigan Summer 2016

Michigan Thanksgiving 2016

These beauties who call me mom! 

Gram

Sometimes on this journey of life, you meet amazing people. And then sometimes you're really lucky and get the joy of calling them family. Thus, my good fortune of being able to love Mike's Gram all these years.

(Mike's Brother, Ken, took this picture of her last Thanksgiving. She is 93 in the picture, and 94 now.)

We are feeling a bit sad right now because she took a big tumble this past Sunday and could really use some prayers for healing! We've got a family gathering this summer and are looking forward to spending some time with her! 

Gram, we love you! 

January Love

I have absolutely LOVED January this year. This is not the norm. Norm often involves me suffering from seasonal depression. Not this year. This year, I have been motivated...got a lot of stuff done and reorganized and started and cleaned out. It's a great feeling!

And every weekend...we've been lazy. Enjoying family time. Replenishing. Soaking in togetherness. We've been able to get outside every weekend this month, the unseasonable warm weather has been amazing! Today involved a quick trip to Wilson's Creek.

Look at our very unique find on our walk. Any guesses? 

We thought it was an egg of some kind. Good thing Mike was with us, 'cuz he was foolish brave enough to pick it up! The other side had the markings of watermelon rind, this side apparently had some fungus on it. It was hallow, like a dried gourd. 

We came home and the girls insisted on making dinner. Well, okay, twist my arm! This was the kitchen when they were finished (to which my dear husband remarked "it looks the same as when you cook!" - ouch, sometimes the truth hurts!) Oh and by the way, Morgan even made my favorite pancakes for me - chocolate chips and pecans! Yum!! 

We've completed two puzzles this month. One very difficult one took us three weeks. This one we cranked out in just three days!  

As you can see above, we've been converting the area under our stairs to two American Girl 'studio apartments' - they are still 'in progress' - and it's hard to get a good picture, but they both have bunk beds in them. This weekend the girls worked on painting the walls. Sarah's is pink and white diamonds, Morgan's has green splatter painted walls. 

And the other thing is that we've had some absolutely gorgeous winter sunsets this month. My camera fails to capture the brilliance of the colors, but there were four different colored layers in the sunset tonight. Here is a picture off my back deck. 

Lastly, I just got a new devotional called "Jesus Calling" and I am very excited about it. It's been speaking to my soul, and that is good! And here comes February...birthdays, hearts, GS cookies, two weekend getaways...oh it will be good! 

In-laws

I know that not everyone gets along with their in-laws. And I know that some people have legit reasons for not getting along with their in-laws.  But I've got to say that every time I get together with my in-laws, we have the best of times! Perhaps it's shared tragedy that bonds us to something bigger beyond pettiness. Perhaps it's the distance that makes the times we gather even sweeter. Perhaps they are just wonderful people whom I get to call 'family'. Whatever it is, I'm thankful for them.  We couldn't get together with everyone this summer...well, they live in MA, WI, NY, NC and FL - so it's a bit of a challenge - we saw most of them last summer and hope we can again next summer.

This past week was spent with the Boston Bakers - and I find myself a bit sad today, wishing the miles were a bit shorter, and the girls could have more time with their cousins.  But I am certainly thankful for the opportunities like this past week where we packed in the fun!