I guess I'm not really cut out for this blogging thing. Maybe it would be different if Facebook was not around? It just seems like everyone is instantly updated with everyone else, via Facebook, so there is not much of a need for blogging life-updates.
Who knows...
But I suppose I can keep trying to be more consistent with making blog post updates anyways.
So it has been just over a year since the last post. Where were we? Oh yes! Kelly just got a job at Pine Summit, in Big Bear, CA. So much for trying to live near family! Hahaha. I guess we got to for a bit, and it was a wonderful bit. We miss them dearly though!!!! And hope that one day we can be closer to family again.
Let's recap the last year...
We moved to Big Bear. Lived in camp housing for a few weeks. Found a place to rent. Yay.
Mommy and Shawny went on lots of adventures. Normally consisting of going to different parks and the lake.
Shawna got her face painted for the first time at an airplane show. The airport is right down the road from us.. The show itself was not very impressive. There were just a bunch of old fashion planes and cars parked. But Shawna had fun people watching.
We celebrated Shawna's first birthday!! She turned one on May 27th last year. That was fun!!!! It was just a little party consisting of mommy, daddy, and Shawny. But it was still nice. :)
There was a Fourth of July event held at a local church. Shawna got her face painted again! She really loves getting her face painted.
We started going to the Mom and Dad Project. It is a non-profit organization and is a part of the Bear Valley Health District. They host free classes for parents- parting classes, birthing classes, etc. They also host kid classes! Shawna and I go to Toddler Tumbling, Big Messy Art, and Ooey Gooey Science. Each class is about an hour long. None of them are very structured which is frustrating at times, but it is still nice to get out, have Shawna create things and play, and I get to spend times with other adults.
I have made a few mom friends from going to the classes with Shawna. Which means Shawna has made a few friends too :)
Kelly's mom, Dawn, visited us for awhile. We explored more of the back roads of Big Bear, since I'm too chicken to do that stuff on my own. There were also a massive amount of garage sales going on throughout her stay, so we went to a bunch of those. Big Bear has a few days in the summer where people come up from ... everywhere .... just to go to the garage sales. Labor Day, Memorial day, and Independence Day are the most popular garage sale days.
Shawna had a blast with her grandma. They did pretty much everything together. Played outside, played at the lake, built stuff, went on walks, and much much more.
Not much happened once Dawn left. I actually really have no idea what went on during the months following her departure. Thanksgiving happened... I think we just stayed home for that. Haha.
Kelly bought a car to drive to/from work. Before that, he would either ride his bike or Shawna and I would drive him. Thankfully he was able to find one before the snow came. California has...interesting...laws when it comes to snow driving. Basically, if it's snowing and your car is not 4WD, you have to put chains on your tires. I might be over exaggerating a bit, but it is pretty crazy what a little snow does to people. Haha. I suppose being from the Midwest, and being used to snow, it probably seems more silly to us than it does to California natives.
Hmmm....
Christmas! Kelly's mom AND dad came to visit us for a few days! That was fun :)
Me and Shawna traveled to Wisconsin in early January. We were able to see many friends and family members who we had not seen in at least a year. Shawna had lots of play dates with her WI friends. And we took lots of pictures! Shawna and my mom really clicked too. It was so fun to watch her and Shawna interact and play. :)
We flew back to CA in late February. It was a bittersweet time, as we loved being with friends and family again, but it was also good to be back with Kelly, after being gone for so long.
Since our time back home we have been going about our day-to-day lives again. BUT! A few fun things have happened!!
My sister and brother-in-law were in the area (LA), so they came to visit us for a few days!!! Unfortunately the weather was cold, windy, and terrible, which did not allow us to do much outdoor stuff at all. Thankfully Shawna kept us occupied by being her fun little self. She really had a blast with her aunt and uncle!!! Oh! And we all celebrated Kelly's birthday together :)
Right after Alissa and Brian left, Kelly had a four day weekend, so we went on a little vacation!
We went to the Thousand Oaks area. Shawna's favorite part was: all of it!
Some things we did: walked around a botanical garden, went swimming, hiking (and saw a waterfall), geocaching, and shopping. Shawna also met a "friend" at the park. There was a young boy with a handheld bubble machine. He would walk up to Shawna, make the bubbles go, and she would chase the bubbles around the park.
For Easter Sunday we got to go to Grace Community and hear John MacArthur preach. It was difficult to pay attention to him, because Shawna kept telling me that she had to pee. I kept taking her in and out of the bathroom, but she kept refusing to go. She finally went! But it was near the end of the sermon. Ha. Go figure. But you can ask Kelly about the sermon since he got to listen to it. ;)
"Most recent stuff":
*Kelly prepared for summer at camp. He really enjoys what he does, even though he has very long days that are physically, mentally, and emotionally wearing. His summer staff arrived and his long, 12+ hours days began. Kelly and his two co-workers, Jason and Craig, were busy at camp from before sun-up to way after sun-down, teaching and training their summer staff; preparing them for summer.
Now training is over and campers have arrived. The long days continue though, as Jason and Craig are still fairly new to camp, and most, if not all of this year's summer staff are new as well.
*Dawn (Kelly's mom) is visiting again! She arrived a week before Shawna's second birthday. YEAH! Shawna turned TWO! We had a little party at the park with four of her toddler friends. We ate fruit and chips, the kids fed bread to the ducks, and we all had cake.
*The weather has been hot. I can't remember when it last rained. Maybe February when it was a rain/snow mix. I miss Wisconsin thunderstorms and really green grass. But I love having the lake and hiking trails super duper close by.
*We go to the lake or the park (or both) almost every day. If we don't go out out, we will at least go out for one to two walks around the neighborhood and/or in the forest. No matter what we do, Shawna makes it all exciting and fun.
*We have been re-organizing our house and re-decorating a little bit. It has been fun... but the process also makes everything a mess! Haha.
*I have been making Water Kefir!!! It's a yummy fizzy water beverage with great probiotics.
Things we are looking forward to:
*Kelly's dad is visiting us in about a week!
*The 4th of July is coming up! That means games, face-painting, and fireworks!
*Near the end of July, I get to take Shawna to Wisconsin for just over two weeks. Yay! I am very excited to see family and friends again! Kelly gets to stay in Big Bear and work ;)
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A little about Shawna. Because we love her so much. And because not everyone we know and love gets to spend much time with her because of where we live.
*Shawna is one of the biggest joys in our life! She is growing up so beautifully (although she needs much teaching and training). She is constantly learning new things and surprising us with how fast she picks up on... everything, really!
*Shawna has lots and lots of energy. She loves to run, climb, jump, bounce, be silly, play with tools, have mommy paint her nails, and get ice cream with daddy. She also loves to be outdoors and visit daddy at camp.
*Shawna is all potty trained. I looooove not having to think about diapers. We started at the beginning of March (when she was just over 21 months old) and she picked it up really quickly!
*Shawny-shawn is also talking a LOT. She still does ASL, but she uses her words even more!
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Thanks for reading our update!
Until next time!
-The Holden Fam
Now training is over and campers have arrived. The long days continue though, as Jason and Craig are still fairly new to camp, and most, if not all of this year's summer staff are new as well.
*Dawn (Kelly's mom) is visiting again! She arrived a week before Shawna's second birthday. YEAH! Shawna turned TWO! We had a little party at the park with four of her toddler friends. We ate fruit and chips, the kids fed bread to the ducks, and we all had cake.
*The weather has been hot. I can't remember when it last rained. Maybe February when it was a rain/snow mix. I miss Wisconsin thunderstorms and really green grass. But I love having the lake and hiking trails super duper close by.
*We go to the lake or the park (or both) almost every day. If we don't go out out, we will at least go out for one to two walks around the neighborhood and/or in the forest. No matter what we do, Shawna makes it all exciting and fun.
*We have been re-organizing our house and re-decorating a little bit. It has been fun... but the process also makes everything a mess! Haha.
*I have been making Water Kefir!!! It's a yummy fizzy water beverage with great probiotics.
Things we are looking forward to:
*Kelly's dad is visiting us in about a week!
*The 4th of July is coming up! That means games, face-painting, and fireworks!
*Near the end of July, I get to take Shawna to Wisconsin for just over two weeks. Yay! I am very excited to see family and friends again! Kelly gets to stay in Big Bear and work ;)
------
A little about Shawna. Because we love her so much. And because not everyone we know and love gets to spend much time with her because of where we live.
*Shawna is one of the biggest joys in our life! She is growing up so beautifully (although she needs much teaching and training). She is constantly learning new things and surprising us with how fast she picks up on... everything, really!
*Shawna has lots and lots of energy. She loves to run, climb, jump, bounce, be silly, play with tools, have mommy paint her nails, and get ice cream with daddy. She also loves to be outdoors and visit daddy at camp.
*Shawna is all potty trained. I looooove not having to think about diapers. We started at the beginning of March (when she was just over 21 months old) and she picked it up really quickly!
*Shawny-shawn is also talking a LOT. She still does ASL, but she uses her words even more!
------
Thanks for reading our update!
Until next time!
-The Holden Fam
Haley Ann:
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog!! You made it so easy to picture what you, Shawna and Kelly have been up to over this past year.
I read your blog three or four times looking for but not finding anything about Grandpa Mo being her favorite relative. Will give you a pass, tho...no doubt you didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, ESP CLINT'S. (Just tell Shawna that when the two of you come to Wisconsin later in July, I've got ten free Dairy Queen ice cream sundae coupons for her.)
Congrat's to Shawna being potty trained! Also, that she's talking up a storm. Can't it to talk and then talk and then talk a little more with her while the two of you are here.
Thanks for sharing your family life with the rest of us, Haley. As time allows, keep those blogs coming!
Love, Dad