2023 in the Rearview Mirror

You know what they say: “The days are long, but the years are short.” How in the world are we already to the end of another year? It’s just crazy!

We kicked off 2023 with a trip home to Texas to see family since it had been over a year since we had been home. Too long! Unfortunately, we had to leave Emily behind because she still had college classes. But, we had such a fun time! We just took the truck this time and left the RV behind simply because we didn’t know what the roads would be like coming back and we didn’t want to risk it. We made plans just to stay with my parents in Texas. That worked out just fine. I loved going to my nieces’ and nephew’s basketball games, doing crafts with the littles, and spending much needed time with family and friends.

What fun! Seriously! I love and miss these people so much!

While we were in Texas, I happened to see that some golden retriever puppies I had my eye on at a rescue in Dubuque, IA were accepting applications. Tyler has wanted his very own dog for a really long time, but we weren’t feeling it when we lived in the RV. When I saw these sweet puppies, I knew we needed one. Thankfully, Paul agreed, we applied for one, and got accepted! When we got back to Iowa, we surprised Tyler and took him to pick a puppy. That’s when we fell in love with Gracie.

She was truly a little bundle of joy, which was PERFECT because JOY was our 2023 Word of the Year! It was so funny because Tyler had no clue what we were doing when we arrived at a strange house and were heading for the door. When we got inside, the lady told us we could go downstairs to pick one…that’s when we broke the news to him that he was about to go choose his puppy from a litter of 13. He was in shock and sooooo happy! It was so cute! This was the first puppy placed in his arms and he wasn’t about to choose any other. We even let him name her. Paul was nervous about that, but I knew he would have the perfect name. He chose Gracie. It was perfect. 🙂

Paul and I celebrated 21 years of marriage in February of this year. Aren’t we cute?

Emily had the opportunity to travel to the Iowa Capitol Building in Des Moines with her Student Ambassador group. She has had so many great opportunities the past couple of years!

By mid-March, the snow melted enough that we could get the RV out, so that’s exactly what we did! We were ready for an RV trip!

We were so excited! We were a little concerned about how our sweet, new puppy was going to do for such a long trip, but there was absolutely nothing to worry about. She did fantastic and just used the time for cuddle time. She seriously was golden…pun intended!

We had made plans to meet up with our friends that we spent a big part of 2020 with. They now live in Arkansas. So, that was our first purposeful stop. We had so much fun with the Jordan Family! We found an RV park that wasn’t too far from their house. We fell right back into life as we cooked, field tripped, and hung out together…just in a much larger space this time since they have settled in a house as well. Tipper also got to meet her fur-friend, Tripper! Gracie was still a little too small to join in the fun just yet. We had so much fun that we made plans to stop back through on our way back to Iowa to spend more time with them.

Our next stop was to visit our friends, Tyler and Kelsie, aka “The Hopeful Few” in East Texas. We didn’t know it at the time, but they would end up being a huge part of our lives…and our new Podcast this year!

The Texas wildflowers were AMAZING while we were there. Miss Gracie had so many firsts. She was a winter puppy, so she got to experience her first flowers, butterflies, and grass! It was so exciting for a little puppy! LOL!

Our next stop was back home to San Angelo, TX to my parents’ house, where we moochdocked in their backyard and had lots of family time. 🙂 We took advantage of Grandma’s double ovens and a captive audience to do a coffee cake fundraiser to raise money for Tyler’s Boy Scout Camp. Thank you to everyone who bought coffee cakes! And thank you to all of our little helpers! 🙂 Y’all are awesome! Tyler is hoping to do this same fundraiser this spring in Iowa this year, so get ready, Iowa friends! It’s my Great Grandmother’s recipe. Everything is made from scratch, and Tyler has gotten really good at them. I think we made 34 of them this year. They are so yummy!

We also got to celebrate Easter with the family this year. It’s always fun with the littles! I miss those days. We went to church with my sister and her family. Then, enjoyed lunch, treats, and Easter egg hunts at my parents’ house afterward. We sure missed Emily being with us! We almost had a full family picture! Those are rare these days.

We squeezed in some work in this trip too! It’s always a pleasure to work with Southwest College for the Deaf!

And we got to catch up with some good friends.

After all of the fun and excitement, we spent a couple of weeks at Lake Tawakoni. We ended up with a HUGE site and enjoyed lots of down time. The dogs loved going for our walks at this park. While there, we were close enough to meet up with some more good friends.

One more work stop at Pecan Baptist Church in Granbury. We did a little moochdocking here with friends as well. 🙂 While the boys worked, the dogs and I hung out. One of the awesome things about homeschooling was when the kids got to go to work for a day with Dad. They learned so much on those days!

Our next stop was a beautiful state park in Oklahoma, Arrowhead State Park. We had a huge site and full hookups! We happened to be there over Cinco de Mayo, which is the anniversary of the first day we met in person, so we had to go find some Mexican food! This place was really good!

Then, we made it back to the Jordan’s place in Arkansas. This time, instead of getting an RV site, we just parked up in their yard and moved into the house for a few days. LOL! We got to be there to watch their oldest son act in Shrek Jr. It was so good! So fun to see him in his element. Gracie was big enough this time to join in the dog fun. They all played great together. We also made a trip to Silver Dollar City. I rode one roller coaster when we first got there and was spacey for the rest of the day…LOL! I spent the rest of the day enjoying watching everyone else. Ha! What fun we had! Can’t wait for the next reunion.

We had this brilliant idea to do something we had been talking about for a long time…start our own podcast! We were trying to be very intentional about showcasing what we do on our Sinar Media platforms. So, after a little brainstorming, we came up with the idea and ran with it. It has been so much fun and we have gotten a great response to it! We called it Beautiful View Podcast and our byline is “Always look for opportunities in life to see a beautiful view.” We recognize that sometimes in life, things don’t go as planned or expected, but oftentimes, there is still a beautiful view to be found in every situation. We hope it encourages and inspires our listeners.

In June, some of our Fulltime Families friends stopped by Bellevue! So, we moved up to Bellevue State Park to camp with the Acheson Family while they were here! What fun! We miss our FTF friends. The boys set up our tent between the two rigs. We even had a birthday to celebrate while they were here! We had a great time hanging at the campground, visiting the Dubuque Arboretum, swimming at the pool, and roaming around Bellevue.

We had a great and busy summer…plenty of foosball, friends, Heritage Days festivities, 4th of July, Scout Camp, etc.

While the boys were at Scout Camp, Emily and I camped at Backbone State Park with the dogs. We had a great, peaceful week. It was good to have the boys back at the end of it, though.

I started a fun, little side gig working at River Ridge Brewing.

Tyler started public school for the first time since Kindergarten. He’s a freshman this year. This was hard on my Mama-heart, but he is doing great!

Emily settled in to her fall semester at NICC. She is a part of the work/study program and does the graphic design for the college and helps with student events, tours, and things like that.

We had some more traveling friends stop through Bellevue! It’s been a few years since we’ve seen them, so it was so much fun to catch up!

More end of summer fun….

And then the leaves began changing…Scout awards night, Tyler’s first Homecoming and dance, and lots of puppy cuddles.

We moved the RV up to Bellevue State Park to finish out the season as campground hosts. It was so nice to be back in the RV! We have missed it so much! Also, the fall in Bellevue is so beautiful! We got to watch it change form summer to fall while we were at the state park.

Our friends, Tyler and Kelsie, aka “The Hopeful Few” came to visit us. They stayed in our house while we were in the RV. Kelsie is also a very talented photographer and captured some gorgeous family photos while they were here. They also performed to a packed house at River Ridge Brewing and a couple of other venues while they were here, too! What a great week! We also thoroughly loved having a little one around.

We began a busy season of birthday celebrations…up first is Paul!

And then my (Candy’s) birthday! We checked out Great Revivalist Brewery. It was so good!

And then it was Thanksgiving. Emily and I spent all day Wednesday prepping everything. We have so much fun with this stuff and we prepared a FEAST! It was all so yummy! Such a fun day!

The kids and I got the tree put up! It looks so festive!

We woke up to our first snowfall of the year on November 26, 2023. It’s so pretty! The dogs were soooooo excited! They played and played and played some more.

We celebrated Miss Gracie’s first birthday! She was not impressed with the party hat, but she completely approved of the pupcakes. She even stole one of Tipper’s! LOL!

We celebrated Tyler’s 15th Birthday!

Tyler decided to give basketball a try this year! Go Comets! I think we have officially drunk the Koolaid now. I guess it’s time to get us some Bellevue Comets apparel. LOL!

It’s a constant battle with these two love pups to figure out how to get any work done! It’s a good thing they are cute!

We began the Advent season with a little trip to the streets of Bethlehem and Live Nativity event. It was such a sweet evening! When we got home, we had a charcuterie board of goodies and piled up on the couch for a Christmas movie. I treasure these fleeting moments with my little family.

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! On the morning of Christmas Eve, we gave the kids an invitation to our First Annual Christmas Eve Family Slumber Party. I didn’t know how they would respond…if they would think we were complete dorks or if they would be excited. Thankfully, they were very excited! Whew! It’s hard to come up with things to do with them as they get older, but blowing up air mattresses and camping out in the living room with snacks and Christmas movies was a hit! Christmas Day was low-key and fantastic. We opened our handful of gifts and then played games all afternoon. I cooked a big dinner of homemade enchiladas, Spanish rice, refried beans, and of course our British Christmas pudding! There was loads of laughter and silliness. My heart was so full!

We want to wish all of our family and friends a very Happy New Year! Thank you for following our adventures. We pray that the Lord will bless you in the coming year. I know many of our family and friends have had a difficult 2023. As one friend shared on her Facebook page the other day, “2023 can go step on Legos!” LOL! Our year was a bit of a roller coaster as well, but the JOY of the Lord has sustained us, given us hope, and carried us through. And honestly, as I’ve reflected on the MANY great times we had this year, my heart is full. I think we often tend to focus on the negative and forget to look for the overwhelmingly abundant Beautiful Views along the way.

If you haven’t done so yet, check out our Beautiful View Podcast, where we talk about a range of topics, but we are always looking for opportunities in life to see a beautiful view. Come laugh with us (sometimes at us), cry with us, and be encouraged as we share our lives with you in an engaging and inspirirational way. We look forward to another year of sharing with you. Be sure to check out our “Beautiful View of Christmas” episode. The kids even got involved in this one as we retell the story of the birth of Jesus in an engaging way that the whole family will enjoy. Emily also led us in traditional Christmas songs of worship with her voice and guitar. You don’t want to miss this sweet episode! 

 “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24-26