2020 In Review

I think for the past few years I've felt as if whatever year it is has been the hardest of my life. In addition to the ways in which the COVID pandemic impacted our lives, 2020 was a very challenging year for our family. At the end of 2019, I remember thinking that I couldn't wait to put the year behind us and move on to bigger and better things in 2020. But things didn't magically become easier when the calendar was flipped to January of 2020 and in many ways, they continued to grow more difficult. Robert D. Hales gave a talk about gratitude where he said, "In some quiet way, the expression and feelings of gratitude have a wonderful cleansing or healing nature." I know that's true because as I've turned to the Lord with gratitude I've felt happiness and hope for the future during some really dark times. James 1:2 tells us to "count it all joy when we fall into divers afflictions." That joy can and does come from living a life full of gratitude. 

So even though 2020 wasn't perfect, I didn't hate it and I wasn't saying good riddance to 2020 when the clock struck twelve on New Year's Eve. Sure, there were things I wish would have been different. Four weeks was the longest stretch of time Jared and I spent living under the same roof all year and that's just not cool. But overall it was a beautiful year for our family. I'm looking forward to 2021 because I know it will be another year filled with things to be grateful for. I thought I'd do a little 2020 year in review and share one picture of something we were grateful for each month of the year. 

Jared was promoted to Chief and we celebrated that huge accomplishment at the end of January with a promotion ceremony and lunch/party! The ceremony was everything I love about any military ceremony, right down to the National Anthem sung by Abigail and Samantha. The party afterward was just friends and food and fun and everything that Jared loves. 

For Valentine's Day, Jared surprised me with a night away and tons of time together in the temple. Uninterrupted time with Jared, room service, and the temple? That's a recipe for the best Valentine's weekend ever. 

RAF Lakenheath had their annual Chief's Induction Ceremony in March which is just a formal event held to honor the base's Chief selectees. Samantha and Natalie got all dressed up and went as Jared's dates for the evening. This was before COVID restrictions went into effect in the UK. These three spent the spring of 2020 together in England while the rest of us were in the States. Jared is a great dad and I've loved hearing from our two youngest about all the memories they made together while we were apart. 

Madison and Carson were all set to be sealed in the Bountiful Temple in June. Then temples were closing and they started to worry that they wouldn't be able to get sealed as they'd planned. So they moved their sealing appointment to the Brigham City Temple in early March. And then all the temples were closed and they decided to go ahead with a civil ceremony in April and then be sealed as soon as they could once temples reopened. Their wedding was small and beautiful and so very sweet. And their sealing (on their originally planned date!) was heavenly. 

Mom and I replacing the board holding up the mountain along the frontage road near Echo Canyon

I was lucky enough to spend almost four months living with my parents in the spring and late winter. I moved out of their home at seventeen and have lived far away pretty much ever since. It was a huge blessing for me to have that time with them. Earlier this week I emailed this to my mom: I was so grateful to be able to come live with you when it felt as if everything was falling down around me. Having a soft place to land was just what I needed. Honestly, the changes the pandemic brought were perfectly timed for me. I didn't want to have any responsibilities, I didn't really want to be around anyone, I didn't have the energy to serve in any real way, and I was able to be a hermit without anyone wondering what happened to Sarah. Plus I was able to spend so much time with you and Dad! I agree that we haven't had enough time together over the past couple of decades so even though the reason behind me being your roommate wasn't happy, the result absolutely was. 

In June we had a lot of things happen. Jared and the two little girls joined us in Utah. Madison and Carson were sealed. Emily came home from her mission. And we took a family vacation to Yellowstone. Jared really, really wanted to see all the wildlife possible while we were there and we did okay, but it seemed as if all the bears were in hiding no matter how much our heads were "on a swivel" (Jared, 2020). Then it happened one day as we were driving out of the park. A baby bear, which you can maybe barely see as a black dot in the background of this picture! Jared was so happy. 

This is also a Yellowstone National Park photo because we were there in June AND July and it was seriously so much fun to be all together again after so long apart and in such a beautiful place. I think we may have been geothermal featured out by the end of our time there but man, those geysers and pools were amazing. Our little cabin was rustic and fun and next to a lake. There was both sunshine AND snow and the candy shop downtown had the best fudge. 

Jared left for his remote tour in early July and will be gone for a year. He had over two weeks in quarantine before he and the rest of the group who arrived with him could go to the main base and start working. That was a long boring wait for him living in a big tent filled with bunk beds. I love this picture he sent to me in August. He's standing in front of an old bunker that was bombed out in the first Gulf War. He's away from us and that's certainly not anyone's favorite, but at least he's smiling and having lots of adventures. 

Speaking of adventures, in September we traveled to the hopping city of Thermopolis, Wyoming. Matt and Val planned a fun weekend there so they could visit the Wyoming Dinosaur Center and we tagged along. We visited Hot Springs State Park, watched Emily and Laura climb up every rock and mountain they saw, went swimming at the Star Plunge swimming pool, and laughed our way through the local grocery store late one night when we were feeling silly. 

Samantha loves tennis. Anytime the weather is even slightly nice and we're all around, she suggests we all go and play tennis. But really, Sam and Jared are the only people in our immediate family who even play so it mostly Samantha hitting the ball and the rest of us struggling to return it. And me on ball girl duty because we all know I can't play. One lovely October afternoon we headed to the local courts to play and I snapped this picture of the girls climbing the fence after their game. I love watching them have fun together. 

Thanksgiving! Even though Madison and Carson live just an hour or so away, we don't see them all that often because they have work and Carson's school and we have all the same things going on here.  It was just good to be together for the day. And we've been lucky enough to see them two more times since then. Thank goodness for December birthdays and holidays! 

Jared surprised us all and flew out to visit for Christmas. He literally walked into our bedroom out of nowhere just before eleven one night. It was two weeks of solid Jared time. We played games, we ate out at all his favorite places, we spent a lot of time being together. I think I'd taken for granted how much I love being around Jared. We don't have to be doing anything particularly fun, it just makes my heart sing to be by his side. 

2020 has certainly been a year with a lot of challenges for our family, but I'm grateful for the lessons we've learned as we've worked through them. For sure, this year hasn't played out at all how I thought it should. It's been filled with crises, separation, a pandemic, and just a general feeling of there being more than enough struggles to go around. Despite all that, we've found happiness and growth that wouldn't have come any other way.