10. We stayed alive through the drive!
We made the BIG move from Oregon to Utah! We left during the worst storm of the year. A 16 hour drive took us 3 days! The roads were horrible, and on top of it all Erica was extremely sick! When we finally arrived at the Lowry’s Erica was taken straight to the ER and was diagnosed with strep throat. She celebrated New Year’s with antibiotics and pain medicine!
9. Manti La-Sal has another new pal!
We moved to Price so Nate could start a new job with the Manti La-Sal National Forest. He is now the Lands and Special Uses Coordinator. He picked up on the new job quickly and is enjoying the new scenery and different experiences. His favorite days are spent out in the forest seeing bald eagles, badgers, fox, deer, elk and any other kind of animal he can spot!
8. Perplexed in the Duplex!
Before we could buy a new house we had to wait for our home in Tillamook to sell. We lived for nine months in a two-bedroom duplex. Almost everything we owned was sent to a storage facility in Nevada. We lived off the essentials and borrowed furniture. Our couches were camping chairs and our dining table was a folding table and chairs! On the bright side we moved into the most wonderful ward! We were blessed with some great friends in the 8th ward! Eric served for a short time as a Sunbeam teacher and Nate served for an even shorter time as an assistant Scout Master!
7. Cough, sneeze fevers too, colds, sickness even the flu!
You wouldn’t believe our medical bills for this past year! For some reason we were all sick starting in January and ending in August! We had 3 trips to the ER. Ty was hospitalized with pneumonia. We had everything imaginable from strep 3 times, to pink eye, ear infections, and the flu, every bacterial and viral infection out there! You name it, we had it! Glad that’s over!
6. Here to there and everywhere
We went on several vacations throughout the year, which was a nice get away from the Duplex! One of our favorite vacations was to sunny California for a Lowry family vacation. It was a lot of fun being with Erica’s brothers and parents. We all loved Disneyland, playing on the beach, seeing the aquarium, but just being all together was such a delight! Another vacation we enjoyed was a trip to Arizona. We made several stops along our way including Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, and finally our destination Phoenix. Our family loves camping trips and one of the best this year was being with all the Lewis family in the Uintah Mountains. Our family absolutely loved Lake Powell and hiking through Arches National Park.
5. We wanted to cry, at least we could buy!
Our house finally sold in July and we were able to move into our new home in September. Although we took a huge loss on our Tillamook house we were still able to buy. We are very grateful for be in a new house. We moved two streets over which put us in a new ward. We love the 7th ward and the wonderful friends and neighbors. The kids love having their own rooms and after living in “the dupe” we are very grateful for the extra space and all our stuff back!
4. From soccer teams to balance beams!
This year the kids have been very busy with extracurricular activities. Ty loved playing basketball and even participated in the basketball clinic during the summer. Ty tried a new sport: T-ball, but didn’t like it as much as soccer! Ty loves playing soccer and is very competitive! He likes scoring goals and playing goalie! Mara’s new activity was tumbling this year. She sure is doing well with front rolls, skips, jumps and other tricks. Ty and Mara both loved swimming lessons. Although Caleb was not signed up for these activities he sure loved participating on the sidelines. Caleb loves all sports and can’t wait to be able to play like his big brother!
3. Hip-hip Hurray, another birthday!
Caleb turned one in January and had a fun birthday celebrating with his daddy’s birthday (two days earlier) and cousin Garrett’s birthday (four days earlier). We bounced at the Kangaroo Zoo all day! Ty turned six this year and we had a Super Hero birthday party! All the boys had a cape and masks and our neighborhood felt safer with all the supers running around! Mara turned four and enjoyed two birthday parties at the park with all her friends. The BIG birthday of the year was Erica’s birthday—she turned the BIG 3-0! Boy how the time flies by!
2. School is way cool!
When we moved to Price Ty not only started in a new school and class, but it was all day Kindergarten! He did an amazing job adjusting to a new teacher and he loved his new classmates and friends. Ty is now in 1st grated and doing super! He is a great little reader but his favorite thing is art and recess! Mara started preschool once a week and wishes it was every day! We do a neighborhood Joy School with seven other moms in the neighborhood. Erica loves the opportunity to teach and the one on one time with Caleb when it’s not her turn teaching!
1. The Reason for the Season!
Our family is grateful for the opportunity to wish all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas! We are thankful for this time of year we have to remember our Savior Jesus Christ's birth. We hope that your hearts are filled with the Christmas spirit and that you may truly enjoy this special time of year
5 comments:
What an amazing year for your family ! We're sure glad you guys are closer!
I feel like I shared a lot of your life with you. So glad you are back in Utah. Thanks for the memories.
It's nice to look back and count all our blessings. The good certainly outweighed the bad. We are thankful everyday for good health care.
Your family has been able to enjoy so many vacation spots.I am happy that you take time to play together.
Can't wait to see you again.
Enjoyed your cute letter. You sure have had a lot of ups and downs this last year. Wow! It sounds like you guys are doing wonderful and are loving Utah. I'm happy you live near family and get to see them so often. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I designed my Christmas cards and was ready to order them...and then I decided it just wasn't a priority this year. So you are not the only one.
That's funny to know how much Mara didn't want to wear her dress, because on Sunday I told her how pretty her dress was, and she told me that she really didn't want to wear it:)
What a wonderful card! The pictures were wonderful, and it was fun to read about your year! :)
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