2018 Year in Review

Reminiscing and recapping my year is always a fun blog post to do.

It is also bittersweet.  I love looking back at all the happy times and many memories made, but am at the same time sad that the years are flying by and there aren’t many left with the girls at home with us!

Here are some highlights from our year:

January

We enjoyed a pretty snow in the middle of January and had 4 days off from school:

Lizzie got her Dexcom!  This was a game changer for her diabetes. Aunt Julie came over right away and put it on for us.

February

Liz attended her 5th grade father/daughter dance.  She looked beautiful and enjoyed her evening with Chris.  He didn’t look too bad himself.

Celebrated Valentine’s Day:

March:

Had my first volleyball season as the Middle School assistant coach and loved it!  Can’t wait for this year.

Went to Silver Dollar City with my mom, sister, nephews, and girls.

April:

Celebrated Easter and our Risen Savior:

Liz sang at a Cardinals baseball game with her 5th grade choir.  Me, Emily, and my mom were able to go and listen to them.  It was a great day!

Emily got braces and it changed her look so much!

My mom and I took the girls and my nephews to our first JDRF One Walk event.  Liz and Zach’s team, Cousins for a Cure, was able to raise a little over $1,000 for Diabetes Research.  It was an awesome day and such a great cause to walk for!

May:

We ended another school year:

Emily had her first singing recital and did an excellent job at it.  This girl is so talented with singing.

Went to a Cardinals game as a family:

Celebrated Emily turning 10!  Double Digits!!!!

Welcomed Maxwell Kramer Bolin into our family.  He is a HANDFUL!

June:

Chris turned 35. We spent all day on the river with him.

We went to dad’s grave on the 1 year mark of his death.  I miss him more and more every day.  There is so much he is missing that I wish I could just tell him about.

We went to Florida:

Celebrated 14 years of marriage:  (How has it been 14 years?!?!?)

July:

Enjoyed a lot of river days:

And Adventure Tuesday days:

Went to St. Louis for a full day of fun after Elizabeth’s endocrinologist appointment, where she had an awesome A1C of 7.2%

August:

Started a new school year:  Emily- 5th grade and Liz- 6th grade

Liz had her first ever Middle School dance:

I turned 34:

September:

Both girls played volleyball on our city league and this is the first year I didn’t coach them.  It was kind of nice to just sit in the stands and be a parent.

My sister and I took the girls to see Taylor Swift!  It was the best concert EVER!  Will always be a favorite memory of mine.

October:

Enjoyed fall break in the beautiful Smoky Mountains in Tennessee!  It was such a great time of relaxing and enjoying God’s nature.

Celebrated Halloween with a cute blue M&M and Supergirl:

November:

Had our first World Diabetes Day with a T1D in our house.  It means so much to our family now!

Had a great Thanksgiving with some of Chris’s family that we don’t see a lot:

December:

Went to Branson and Silver Dollar City with my sister and her family.  The lights at SDC were amazing.

Emily had her first basketball game ever:

Celebrated Liz turning 12:

I graduated with my Master’s Degree:

Celebrated Liz’s 1st diaversary:

Had a very Merry Christmas:

And that was 2018.  It was a blessed year.  If it wasn’t your year, I pray the new year brings changes for you.

Sending much love and blessings to you and your family in 2019.

~Jen