Every year, we email out a digital Christmas card and letter to friends and family! I’m not very active on social media anymore, so I particularly enjoy this practice of sharing a detailed overview of the last year in a dedicated letter.
Here’s our life in 2024!
2024 was a year of adventures for us! Our family hiked through both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, went to Lake Tahoe with my family, cabin-camped in Utah with some of Russ’s family, and Russ and I got away to New Orleans for some fun without kids. We enjoyed our trips, but we also enjoy our regular, everyday life. Life isn’t perfect, and there are hard things about parenting daily. But we love being a family, and we love the life we’re building together.
Peter (20 months) is at such a fun age! He repeats any word you say to him (though he confuses who is mama and who is dada), points to all the parts of his face, and says “cheese” anytime a camera comes out. He loves playing with cars, exploring outside, and throwing balls, as well as getting into, well, everything 😅 I’ve been setting him loose in parks since before he was one, so now that he’s had a lot of practice, he is a little adventurer! I love to see him both cautiously and courageously test his limits. Others often seem nervous watching him, but I just think “he’s so cool!” every time I watch him conquer something new.
Holly (5 this month) has really grown up this year. We had many struggles early on in the year that were linked to stopping her thumb-sucking habit (what an event 😅), but most of those difficulties feel like they were forever ago now, thank goodness. This summer, Holly mastered a two-wheeled bike, the monkey bars, and swinging on her own. She could listen to music all day long, and she goes through about 37 sheets of paper per day with all the drawing she does. She has also taken a huge interest in letters lately. She constantly asks me how to spell things and sounds out words on her own (though for now, they’re indecipherable). I don’t formally teach her literacy skills just yet, but I’m amazed at how much she teaches herself when she’s really interested!
Ada (8) was so excited to get baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this year. She loves Jesus and regularly says she wants to follow Him. She has become a major reader, and she constantly tells me about new things she learned in a book, or uses words I’ve never heard her use before. She still takes gymnastics (finally got both legs straight in a cartwheel!), and she also started piano lessons a few months ago. She loves homeschooling because it gives her opportunities to exercise her creativity, read lots of books, and play with her siblings. She’s at this great age where (although she still fights with us daily) she thinks Russ and I are doing everything right– she often says things to the effect of, “When I grow up, I’m going to do this just like you!” She’s sensitive and sweet, and she is so helpful (when she wants to be 😅).
There are so many things I have loved about this year! First, I really prioritized getting the family outside. Starting July 1st, my goal was to get 500 hours outside by the end of the year (avg. 2.73 hours/day). Cold weather and sickness really threw us off, but we still got more than 400 hours (avg. 2.19 hours/day). It has become a lifestyle for us to prioritize time outside, including things like hiking, playing at the creek, walks, bike rides, and even meals on the patio. Second, I took a course on the benefits of play for children. One major aspect of the course was trying a screen-free month. Well, here we are seven months later and the kids are still screen-free, and we all LOVE it! Ada says that she loves being screen-free because it opens up time to do other things that are more fun. Third, I undertook a major project this year – I edited and organized my childhood home videos, and then uploaded all 58 videos to a private YouTube channel so that my whole family can easily access them. This project was both fun and exhausting, and I’m excited that it is complete. Other things that made the year enjoyable and productive were lots of reading (including a virtual book club with my sisters/sis-in-laws), creating weekly systems and routines for myself and the kiddos, joining a homeschool co-op with three other families that also prioritize time in nature and child-led learning, and feeling really great about my marriage. We have fun, we flirt, we speak respectfully to each other, and I feel so grateful every single day that I chose Russ for forever ❤️
Russ is such a rockstar. He is so good at so many things! He got really into 3D printing this year, and it all started with a cheap, broken 3D printer that he fixed. (We won’t get into the fact that he’s purchased two additional 3D printers since the original 😂) Besides being great at fixing things, he also applied for and received an aviation scholarship! He finished his private pilot license back in 2018, and now he’ll continue on with an instrument rating. In October, Russ joined his dad and other extended family members to bike the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park. It was hot and strenuous, and you couldn’t pay me to do something like that, but he powered through and had a great time. And one more of my favorite things Russ is good at? Home improvement projects! After some water damage a while back, we had professionals replace a portion of our flooring, but Russ was not satisfied with their work. Luckily (😂), the water damage returned (the “professionals” didn’t find the cause, but Russ did!), so we had to replace our entire downstairs flooring. This time Russ and his dad did it, and they did amazing work! (Plus, I’m in love with the lighter color 😍) Russ continues to work as a Team Lead on the line team at Duncan Aviation. Some recent changes in management have increased his responsibilities, but he always rises to the occasion and does excellent work. In his downtime, he enjoys weekly nature adventures, smoking meat, reading, and stargazing with his telescope.
With the changes at Russ’s work, a lot of things about our future are currently up in the air. Some of the things we might want are mutually exclusive, so we’re working together to figure out what will be best for our family. Luckily, no matter what we choose, we’ll be together! And we’ll continue to build a life we love living, together 😊
With love,
Russ, Ashley, Ada, Holly, & Peter Holmes
Click to see previous year reviews!