We had a pretty great year and wow has it just flown by! I like to look back at our year before ringing in the new and seeing what memories and photos really stand out for me. With 4 separate vacations, lots of firsts like new jobs and skills, and tons of date nights out it was a wonderful year for us all.
Before all the Christmas craziness sets in (which I never remember to take many photos of anyway) here are our favorites memories, moments, and photos of the year.
Alec turned 16, got his permit, and then eventually his license.
We went snowshoeing quite a few times as a family; even including my mother in law!
Alec was promoted to apprentice black belt at the start of the year and earned his 1st degree black belt by the end of the year.
We finally finished off our basement; complete with furniture after living here for more than 18 years!
Alec participated in the SkillsUSA competition; earning the top score in the state on his written exam and 4th place in the state with his baking/decorating skills.
The younger boys and I met our friends in Newport for a seal watch; it was such a fun day!
Ian turned 18! And started working full time as soon as his last class was over in the spring.
Alec participated in his first ever karate tournament and came in 2nd in each of his events.
Evan and I met up with our friends for so many hikes all spring and summer-- trying to make the most of them before Evan's friend went off to college in the fall.
My husband and I had a wonderful getaway to New Hampshire the first weekend in June and the weather was amazing for hiking and relaxing by the pool.
Alec was inducted into the National Honor Society.
And earned so many end of the year awards (this was only about 1/2 of them!)... including outstanding performance in his shop for the 2nd year in a row.
We celebrated with ice cream from Bucks-- a place near us we had never heard of before that only serves soft serve ice cream sundaes with all sorts of wild toppings.
I got a new car! I have only ever owned one other new car in my life so this was huge. Normally we buy used but with car shortages everywhere we passed my old car onto Alec and I got a new one.
My uncle came to visit for the first time in a really long time and we had wonderful night catching up with each other.
We enjoyed another fun family filled weekend at the lake for the 4th of July.
We attended a seaside graduation party that was one of the sweetest graduations I've ever been too. It's so easy to personalize the experience with a homeschooling class of 1!
We spent a fun week in the Smoky Mountains and even got to see my sister and nephews for a couple of days!
We took the younger boys to Disney and Universal (Ian elected to stay home but my mother in law joined us!).
Our hiking group more than doubled and we met a few new fun families to hike with and tried out some fun new trails too.
My mother in law went skydiving and we all got to watch.
Evan turned 15 and asked for a homemade angel food cake; it turned out great!
My husband and I enjoyed a 4 day weekend in Maine for his birthday-- we ate lobster, did lots and lots of hiking, and checked out a few new towns.
Alec and I kept our apple pie making tradition alive; baking up 3 pies in one day with some help from Evan too.
Ian finally got to try out deep sea fishing and he LOVED it! They came home with quite a haul of fish too that we're still working our way through.
Linking up with: Spread the Kindness/ On the Edge,
What a beautiful year for you and your family Joanne- loved looking through these memories!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteSuch a great year! Thanks for sharing. Your trips look amazing and you do day to day life so good as well! Congrats on the new car. I have only had one brand new car. We always (except the one time which we regretted) buy used. We've been lucky to not need a vehicle during the pandemic and now shortage of everything. Alec's baking and decorating skills are not just practical but artistic as well. And congrats to him on all of his academic and athletic accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Luckily I didn't care what kind of car I had so we just called up the dealership and asked them what they had in stock and I fell in love with this one right off the bat.
DeleteYay new car. What a sweet year you’ve had! Merry Christmas to you and your precious family
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you so much, Andrea!
DeleteI love this... all the memories! In a blink of an eye - the year goes by so fast. Love photos to bring back all the memories!
ReplyDeleteIt really does go by so fast.
DeleteIt looks like an exciting year for your family! May 2023 be filled with many blessings!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you so much, Donna!
DeleteSo nice to see all of these happy memories in one place! You ate well and hiked for miles, well done!
ReplyDeleteWe sure did!!
DeleteWhat a fabulous year of memories in photos!!! Love the cakes!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteWhat wonderful memories from this year!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat wonderful photos! It looks and sounds like a great year.
ReplyDeleteIt really was!
DeleteIt's my pleasure!
ReplyDeleteI can see that 2022 has been very kind to you. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
ReplyDeleteThank you! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year as well, Jennifer.
DeleteAren't phones great? We can now record our years on them...at least, think that's where your photos come from! And, your MIL is amazing to skydive!! Thanks for sharing, Joanne!
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
Some from my phone, some from my 2 "big" cameras... one or two from my sons' or husband's phones! LOL. My mother in law is still talking about her skydiving experience. She loved everything about it other than the fact that she gets motion sick real easy and it nearly made her sick. LOL. She said if she could figure out a way to stop that from happening she'd jump again!
DeleteLots of lovely family memories there Joanne. So great to look back on.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteSuch wonderful memories to look back at! You all had an amazing year!
ReplyDeleteWe really did!
DeleteSo many happy memories Jo and you're going to enjoy looking back on them in years to come. I was a little envious of the new car and your newly done up basement (we don't have basements in Western Australia). Also great seeing all the achievements and awards too - a very proud mum moment or two inn there I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a few proud mom moments! We have been working on that basement for 19 years and it feels wonderful to finally have it crossed off the list.
DeleteWhat a fabulous year for you and your family. I always enjoy your outdoor activities! Have a fabulous Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteLooks like you guys had an amazing year with many achievements and fun trips. I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic new year!
ReplyDeleteRuth@playworkeatrepeat
Thank you so much, Ruth!
DeleteWhat an amazing year! I love all the photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteWhat a great year recap. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Merry Christmas to you too!
DeleteSo good to have your blog to help capture and keep your memories Joanne. Thanks as always for being part of the Wednesday’s Words and Pics group with your post this week. It’s been great to know this link up has people joining in and I am delighted to have you here as one valued blogger! The link up returns on Wednesday 4 January 2023. Warmest wishes and season’s greetings, Denyse.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a cool year. So very nice. Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThis is so sweet! Looks like you made really special memories and captured a lot of great moments! 😃
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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