On New Years Eve we had our traditional cheese fondue and talked about our highlights for 2024 and what we are looking forward to in 2025. We also shared our resolutions. I have permission to share, so here they are:
Jack: 1) don't die; 2) no added sugar; 3) no chips; 4) keep getting straight As; 5) figure out the future; 6) run a 4:40 mile; 7) stay off social media; 8) 1450 SAT.
Luke: 1) get stronger; and 2) better at baseball
Kara: 1) win lacrosse districts; 2) get drivers license; 3) keep getting straight As; 4) get more creative at photography
Anna: 1) less screen time; 2) do a front and back walkover
Kori: 1) no added sugar at home; 2) average at least 10 minutes a day of DuoLingo; 3) turn over more control to the kids (stop doing so much for them and let them be accountable).
Thomas: 1) eat healthier and 2) read more.
Everyone except Jack stayed up until midnight. Thomas and Luke played blackjack, the rest of us mostly did our own thing. Before midnight, we all went outside and counted down to the new year. Some neighbors were shooting off fireworks, so we watched those, did some sparklers and then called it a night.
Now, the Year in Review:
2024 was an amazing year! The first thing that comes to mind is obviously our trip to the West Coast. We spent several days in Seattle, then a few in Vancouver, then embarked on a week long Alaskan Cruise. The whole trip lasted two weeks and took extensive planning. The effort was worth it, as we loved every minute. It was our longest ever vacation, the first time 5 of us saw the Pacific ocean and the first time on a plane for Luke. We traveled by car, plane, boat and train. There was a lot going on and everything went just about as well as it possibly could have. It was everyone's highlight of the year.
In other fun, we also did a Spring Break cruise. It was on Symphony of the Seas, which we really loved. We used our passes to all the theme parks. Somehow we ended up owning passes for SeaWorld, Disney, Universal, and Fun Spot. Which is really too much (both $$$ and not enough hours of the day to make it worthwhile). We did not renew Fun Spot and probably won't renew SeaWorld. But, I am not giving up Disney or Universal. That covers most of our free time. And, we are definitely a family that lives for the weekends :)
We had some other major expenses: a big plumbing issue in January. A major car repair later in the year and Anna's wisdom teeth removal, which for some reason insurance did not cover. We bought a new car and passed the Honda to the kids.
For individual summaries:
Luke: turned double-digits. We celebrated on the spring break cruise. He played a lot of baseball. He finished the season with a .526 batting average and OBP of .641 and was one of his teams go-to pitchers, often chosen for the highest pressure games. He is doing amazing in school and was the captain of the Battle of the Books team. He is in the gifted program and earns straight As and high test scores. He is mostly a homebody and is happiest hanging out in his pajamas. He would rather stay home than go to a theme park or just about anywhere, unless it involves playing sports. He is also still too hard on himself and can be a bit of a bad sport. His favorite things are the iPad, the t.v. show Big Time Rush, and baseball.
Kara turned 15 and got her learner's permit, but has not done much driving yet. She does great in school and is very social. She has many, many friends and is often busy doing things with one friend or another. She enjoys playing lacrosse and is a very aggressive defender. She also enjoys doing creative things, like painting and photography. She also likes music, her favorite artist is still Lana Del Rey. She is the opposite of a homebody and gets irritated when we spend too many days, which for her is probably more than one, without plans.
Anna turned 17 and is enjoying her junior year. She likes all her classes and is much happier at school this year. She also played lacrosse, but unfortunately, did not like it very much. She enjoys the theme parks, especially Universal and is generally up for an adventure. She is interested in joining the Air Force when she graduates. She has gotten much better at advocating for herself. With Thomas and I, she vacillates between I'm still a kid/I'm practically an adult arguments (whichever suits what she is aiming to achieve). She also started posting fun 'day in the life' type videos on TikTok and Instagram.
Jack also turned 17. Like all his siblings, he is doing great in school. He is very busy with band and running. He really enjoys track and wishes he had started running earlier. He has a good group of friends that he enjoys doing things with. He is still very intellectual and enjoys history and reading, both fiction and non-fiction. He also enjoys music. He is generally helpful and good-natured, although he still gets frustrated with his siblings rather easily.
Thomas and I enjoyed having every other Friday off together. We would often drop Luke off at school and then spend the morning at Epcot. It was nice to have those regularly schedule day dates. It was a busy year with work. My year started very busy, then was calm in the summer, and now is busy again. Thomas stayed busy all year. We were without a supervisor for about 6 months and Thomas had to take a rotation, which made him my boss for a month. Unfortunately, I did not receive any special treatment during that time.
Today, we spent the last day of our winter break going to Fort Christmas and lunch. I may write about it later, but in short, we played tennis together and had a fun few hours. While we were at lunch (Steak n Shake) I couldn't help but look around and notice how big the kids are, at least the oldest 3. It is going by so fast!
So, what is everyone looking forward to in 2025?
