We are half way through January and its actually going by quite quickly. We are definitely starting to go a little stir crazy and are anxious to be able to spend time with our friends and family again. Fingers crossed that it will be soon.

The kids had one week of online school after the holidays. It went really well. The older 3 were use to it at this point and Hayley actually brought all her stuff home so we didn’t even have to get online. I just helped her work through her stuff all week. With 4 kids we have limited devices so that worked out great. She did awesome.

They all had their own little work spaces and we made it through the week with no big problems. Hayley was to make a bird house for her science class. I put Ryan in charge of that and when I went to look at the finished product here is what I found…

I don’t know if you can tell but its pretty big. She was supposed to take it to school the next day but there was no way she was going to be able to carry it. They may have gotten a little bit carried away. Luckily I was able to send a picture to her teacher and then she showed it to the class. Now I guess we should find a space for it in our yard.

The girls went back to dance via zoom.

Its been a pretty warm January which means its been super windy. I hate the wind and wish we would just get snow and cold. But it is nice when we get some non windy days in between and we can actually enjoy the sunshine.

Ryan and the girls and I have been watching The Mandalorian. Hayley was so excited to purchase this with her own money…

Self care Sunday

The girls made edible cookie dough the other day. It was pretty good but I still prefer my cookies baked in an oven.

Well, the kids are back to in person school which is amazing. I am back at work. Now we are just patiently waiting for the rest of our lives to start to normalize. Dance at the studio, and being able to hang out with people outside of our household being at the top of our lists. I hope everyone is making it through. Sending out all the positive vibes. One day at a time.

2021

 We are nine days into 2021 and I’ve kind of been putting off writing this post. A new year is always an exciting time and I usually write a post at the start of the year about what I’m looking forward to and what I want to work on throughout the year but let’s be real here, I knew things weren’t going to magically change just because the year changed. I guess I’m having a hard time planning or thinking about the future because I have not idea what to expect. We’re kind of just flying by the seats of our pants here and taking it one day at a time. Its funny when I read back on my 2020 post, I was saying that for some reason I didn’t really have any plans and that I was just going to be spontaneous and just go with it (which is so unlike me) and then Covid ended up hitting and my plans probably wouldn’t have happened anyway. Its funny how sometimes the Universe is preparing us for things we don’t know are coming yet. This year I’m kind of feeling the same. Things are just so uncertain right now. Who know’s when we can travel again, or even when we can see our family and friends. Will we have dance competition this year? When will we be able to gather in bigger groups? or go anywhere without wearing a mask? Just so many things unknown for me to really be able to plan anything out for this year.

Its been nice to have more time with my family at home, so I am going to enjoy that as much as possible. This time last year I remember being so busy with dance and basketball that I was exhausted. And even though I really enjoy those things and I do miss them, I’m going to enjoy this quiet life for as long as I have it because I know that at some point, its going to go back to busy and chaotic again. And I’ll be grateful and I’ll love it, but its nice to have this time for some contemplation and perspective so that I’m prepared for it again.

We were so blessed to be able to move last year and now I have this new home that I get to set up just the way I want it. I’m going to focus on that this year. Setting up each room. New furniture, decor, all the fun things. We plan on being here for awhile so I finally feel like I can make this space exactly what I want it to be. I can’t wait to be able to show you the progress on each room as we go. So far I’ve almost got my front entryway and main bathroom completely finished.

I have a really good routine established in my life right now. With all the time I had at home in 2020 I mastered my morning routine (for my life right now), a good workout routine, I drink a lot of water, and I eat pretty balanced and healthy. There really isn’t much I want to change or work on there at this point. But the word that keeps coming back to me is create. I want to take this time to use my creativity effectively and to its fullest, whatever that may mean. I’m not really sure yet. I definitely want to put more time and energy into this blog. I want to take more photo’s. Be more creative on instagram and I’ve already started to create more daily vlogs. Not to post on social media or anything, but just another way for me to journal and record my thoughts and memories. It will probably be boring to anyone but me. But the one thing I don’t have a lot of of my Mom are video’s. I would love to have more video’s of her. So I thought I might as well start journaling via video so that they’re available to anyone who they might mean something to one day.

So I guess I’m going to take that word and run with it. See what becomes of it as I maneuver my way through 2021. I’m going to continue to take every opportunity to learn and grow and try to better myself, and cross my fingers that we can travel a bit at some point this year. I turn 40 this year so I’m hoping for a little vacay to celebrate.

No matter what does or doesn’t happen, I will always live a life of gratitude and contentment because that’s what brings the most peace and joy into my life. Being able to sit in a room by myself and still feel excitement and happiness for life is always my goal. I’ve gotten to the point where I honestly don’t need a lot to be happy. Its just there. Maybe I can use this blog to share how I got here because it was definitely a journey. And I know my life will continue to evolve and just get better and better with time. So 2021, even though I have no idea what to expect from you. I’m ready and excited to see where you take me.

 I write one of these at the end of every year. A recap of our year and a kind of where we're at right now in life. I believe my first one was in 2008, so that is 12 years of Christmas Letter's to look back on. This year has been an interesting year for sure, and we've been challenged and have been learning important lessons, but on the whole has actually been a pretty good year for us. I hate saying that because I know so many people have really struggled and suffered this year. I have definitely felt the collective heaviness of the World at times and my heart goes out to all. Covid has been a rollercoaster ride for sure. Something so new to all of us and we have done our best to navigate it without fear or judgement. We are all doing the best we can and we are trying to be true to us, but also be a good community member who puts the good of all at the forefront. I have hope that this year will bring more light, and life will slowly take a new form, hopefully without Covid, but one where we as a human race are more connected and empathetic.

At the beginning of 2020 all I wanted was to sell our house. We are so blessed that it happened during covid and we were able to sell and find a house that is in the perfect location, and is perfect for our needs right now. It was really hard to say goodbye to our big beautiful home that we put our heart and soul in to, but it was the right move for us at this time in our lives. We are getting settled and I am having fun decorating a new place and making it our own. I think the biggest highlight for us this year was our Malacko house boat vacation. We went at the beginning of September and it was one of the best vacations we've ever had. So fun with so many memories we will talk about and cherish forever. So glad we were able to do it with my Dad and Penny, and most of my family. 

Hayley is 9 and in grade 4. We kept her at the same elementary school in our previous community because she is already doing so well there and was to have the same teacher as last year. It is a smaller school with smaller classroom sizes so the transition to all the covid restrictions was a bit easier. She is doing well in school and received the leadership award in her classroom last month. She is so kind and tries to be a friend to all. There is a bit of girl drama in her class but she works really hard to stay out of it. She got her dream bed this year and it has made her whole life. It is a loft bed with stairs and a desk and I have to admit, its pretty darn awesome. She love's keeping her room clean and organized. She still love's calico critters and has a nice little collection going. She is still dancing ballet and jazz this year but dropped tap. She wants to focus more on ballet and is even doing a solo this year. She comes home and practices non stop. She loves hanging out with her big sis and they have such a special relationship. She is so appreciative and so full of gratitude and gives the best Hayley hugs.

McKenna will be 13 in a couple of months and is in grade 7. She is at the same middle school she was at last year but its now in our new community which has been awesome. She can take the bus to school which has been so nice for me. School is definitely very different for my social butterfly but she has a really good group of friends who she keeps in touch with anyway she can. Usually over facetime and video chats when they can't actually be together. She is so laid back and adjusts to most changes really well. She definitely misses doing dance at school the most. She is also doing ballet and jazz, but dropped tap this year as well to focus more on ballet. She was able to skip a level this year and has worked really hard to be able to do that. She added a lyrical solo which is just so so good and gives me all the feels. She still loves to work hard at acro at home and is still the queen of handstands. She is starting to care more about fashion and make-up and will be an official teenager so soon. She is hands down the best big sister and is so helpful and kind. Her favourite tv show that she binge watched this year was Modern Family.

Ty will be 14 this month and is in grade 8. Its been a bit of a tough year for him. He started at the middle school in our new community that McKenna goes to. Its tough starting grade 8 at a new school but even tougher with covid thrown in there. He is with the same group of kids all the time for everything and there are no options or sports or other ways for him to get involved and meet lots of new people. He hasn't been loving it and is wanting to go back to his old school. I hope when they go back things will start to go back to normal so he can have a proper middle school experience there. He is also really missing his friends right now. He is super active and loves to be outside. He found a new love for mountain biking this year. He is anxious to get back on a snowboard and has lots of plans for all the snowboarding he is going to do this year. He is counting down the days until he can get his learners and wants to get a job this year too. He is so funny and fun to be around and always has us laughing. He's the only one who loves coming in the hot tub with Ryan and I and we always have the best conversations with him. He hasn't quite hit his growth spurt yet and is pretty anxious to get a bit more height and at least get taller then his Mother. He loves pop and nutella and lasagna. We are enjoying watching The Arrow together.

Nate just turned 16 and is in grade 10. Like for real. I have a 16 year old. He has towered over me for a long time and is inching to the 6 feet mark. He wants to hit that mark so bad. He also stayed at his same school in our previous community. He is doing well there and we decided there is no point in changing a good thing when we can make it work. He is really missing basketball this year. It is life to him. This has pushed him to play the guitar more often and he is getting really good. He's also been teaching himself to play the piano. He loves music and always has to have it playing. He loves wearing hoodie's and got a magic hoodie this year that has made him a girl magnet. Ha ha. It is a running joke in our family but he is definitely more into girls this year and has one in particular that he talks to on the phone and plays online games with. He is really independent and sometimes I'm just not really sure what to do with him because he's still my little boy but is so close to becoming a man at the same time. Just very new territory for me. He likes playing games with us and just got his learners. Guess we will be teaching him to drive this year.

Ryan works for a general contracting company as a construction coordinator. He also does a lot of estimating on jobs they are bidding for and does a little bit of project managing. He likes his job and the company he works for. He finished our basement a couple of months ago and built shelves in our garage. He is so handy and can pretty much build or fix anything. He got a new bike this year and is also enjoying mountain biking. He is looking forward to snowboarding this winter too. He loves ending his evenings in the hot tub and loves relaxing when he is actually able to. He has had lots of time off for the holidays and we have enjoyed having him at home. He's been working on a puzzle and we've been binge watching Friends together. 

I am working as an EA sub in Hayley's elementary school and love it. It works perfect for me to set my own schedule and to have the option of saying no when I just can't work that day. I also love spending my days at home doing laundry and keeping the house in order. I have the best morning routine down and its so nice to have that time in the mornings when I'm not working for exercising, meditating, writing in my journal, and just having some quiet time before I start my day. I think one of my busiest jobs right now is taxi driver. I am looking forward to the day when Nate can drive and take some of the load off. I turn the big 4-0 this year and was supposed to make the last year of my 30's epic. Covid kind of put a damper on that so I have big plans to make up for it this year. Although I did start the year off with a girls trip to Vegas right before our first covid shut down. I had so much fun and am so grateful I was able to fit that in. Having a gratitude practice has been one of the most important tools I have gained this year and really helps me have a positive outlook on life. I find so much joy in being a Mom and watching my kids grow, but also find so much joy in watching myself grow and giving myself the time and space to be me and do what I love.

We have had a nice quiet Christmas this year. I think it was the perfect way to end 2020. We are looking forward to being able to see our families again and have a proper celebration together when we can. I hope you made the best out of your year and that there were amazing moments and lesson's learned that will make your life better in the long run.

Merry Christmas and much love,

The Olsen's, 

Ryan, Kelli, Nate, Ty, McKenna, and Hayley

Our top nine from instagram. Its a program that calculates your top liked photo's of the year and and puts them into one picture. These are for our public family account, the girls dance account, and my private account.

 The wind finally died down enough so that we could get outside. It was a beautiful winter day with the sun shining and we took advantage by walking down in the riverbottom. It was so nice to get out of our house and enjoy nature and each other. It is one of my favourite things to do with my family.

Nate just got his learners so we officially have a driver.

We've been enjoying our down time this week. I do get tired of living in work out clothes, leggings, and sweats though.

All dressed up with no where to go

The moon was really big and bright the other night

And a rousing game of twister. Its hard to beat these two when they can do splits and are a lot more bendy then the rest of us.

 Christmas was a bit different this year. We usually spend Christmas eve with the Olsen's and then boxing day with my family, but with all the restrictions we just stayed home. It was really nice having a quiet Christmas at home this year and I thought it was actually the perfect way to end this year. We had my brother and sister over because they are both single family members and it was so nice to have them for some added excitement. Christmas Eve we had an appy style supper. We played catch phrase and watched a couple of Mickey's Christmas short's. We face timed my in-law's while we opened our gifts from them and just hung out, visited, and snacked until it was time to hang our stockings up and go to bed. All the kids slept in the basement together because its tradition.

Christmas morning was exciting and special and its always fun to see the kids open their gifts. They were all grateful and happy with their new things. Then we just spent the rest of the day in our p.j's enjoying all the new things, relaxing, and visiting. We chilled most of the day and then made a delicious ham and potato meal for supper. Then we ended the day in the hot tub and it was just perfection. 

Christmas Eve outfit

Christmas day outfit

Livin her best life with a new bean bag chair, sherpa hoodie, stuffies, and new headphones 

My new phone case. Friends is life.

Livin my best life with a chai latte in my new friends mug, a stroop waffle, wrapped in a cozy blanket

 The last few weeks we have been asked to stay home as much as possible. To be honest, this isn't all that hard for me this time of year. I like being home when the weather is colder. As Christmas approaches I love just being at home with little to nothing to do so that I can get all my shopping, decorating, and baking done. Its been nice not having to drive 4 kids to school or dance, or even out with friends at all. Its been quiet and peaceful and I am enjoying it. Its a bit harder for the kids. They miss their friends and social events but I'm so glad they have each other. 

This past year I've really tried to make gratitude the focus of each and every day. No matter what is going on in my life I can always find something to be grateful for and it shifts my energy and outlook almost instantly. I knew this would be something really useful for my kids too, especially with these covid times, and decided to buy everyone in the family a new journal that we would use as gratitude journals. We are doing 30 days of gratitude where we meet each evening for the next 30 days to write something we're grateful for. I found a gratitude calendar online and then just switched some things out and added my own. Things like what body part are you most grateful for? What talent are you most grateful for? What family member are you most grateful for? Things like that. It has been so nice to gather together and share the things we are grateful for. I hope it is a practice that my kids will take with them the rest of their lives. We don't always remember to do it every night but we are doing our best and it has made a difference in our home this holiday season. 

We also did a week of service. McKenna was the one who brought up drawing names and buying gifts but then I suggested we draw names and then do something nice for that person that day. We did this for a full week and it was so fun to watch everyone come up with nice things to do for each other. I think it is something we'll do randomly from now on. Its nice for us to step back from our own lives and think of others, especially our family. I think because we spend so much time together we just get into these patterns and habits and we just co-exist. I want us to always be aware of each other. Go out of our way to connect and be there for each other. Not take each other for granted. Its been fun to add these two things into our family routine and has brought us closer together as a family. The one thing that has been nice about this pandemic is that its stripped us down to what's really important in life. As we learn to rely on each other more, enjoy our home and being together we realize we have everything we need. Right here. Getting rid of some of the noise and just being here has been really really nice, and hopefully we'll continue with this feeling as things start moving forward with life again. We'll always remember the time when it was just us and how good it felt. And that we can still have a piece of that always if we make time for it.

We are getting so excited for Christmas. We are pretty much ready to go and are just not so patiently waiting. Today we decorated the last of our sugar cookies, decorated gingerbread houses, and are just getting ready to settle down for the night with a Christmas movie. Life is good.

Happy Christmas everyone!! Hope you have a magical holiday filled with so much joy and love.

 The Christmas season is fully upon us and even though it looks a bit different this year I can honestly say it still feels the same. I don't know, for me Christmas is all about the little things. All the traditions that you can really do anywhere with anyone. Yes, it won't feel quite the same without all of our family to celebrate with but for me anyways, I have everything I really need right here in my home. I know its not that way for everyone and my heart goes out to those who are hurting and struggling right now. Please reach out to someone if this is you. Having support and connection is the most important thing and its okay to admit your not doing well and need some extra loving.

December has been pretty good to us so far. The 3 older kids went back to online school and it has been fine. Not sure how it will effect their marks but at this point I don't really care. As long as their showing up and doing their best I'm calling that a win. Girls are back to zoom dance classes and we are just enjoying our quiet life at home. The kids are really missing their friends but at least we have the technology to keep in touch in ways we could not when I was their age. I think in a way I'm grateful for this experience for them. We live a pretty easy, blessed life. Learning that everything is not going to go their way all the time and that sometimes we have to sacrifice the things we want for the good of someone else is a beautiful life lesson. One that builds strength and empathy.

Hayley got the bed of her dreams, which I'll share more of at some other point, but I love going to wake her up in the mornings and her cute, groggy little face peeks out at me.

Evenings spent in the hot tub are my favourite.

We've had some beautiful days in between the windy one's.

Ryan started getting the garage organized. He always amazes me with what he throws together with his shelves and organization. I'll have to show you when its completely done.

Beautiful sun rises bring me so much joy.

The girls were finally able to do their ballet exams. They were scheduled to do them in April but ended up getting cancelled. They did them one at a time via zoom. The girls were super prepared and I think both of them did very well. We are still waiting to hear the marks. They are both so excited to move on to the next level and start learning new things. 

This handsome boy turned 16. Sixteen people. That is huge. Its not the best having a birthday during a pandemic but I think he still enjoyed the day. We made his fave supper and had his fave dessert, played his fave game, and had fun reminiscing and watching video's of him growing up. I'm extremely proud of him and will do my best to really relish the last few years we have with him at home. Teenage boys don't typically like getting their picture taken or being posted about so we'll just leave at that. We sure love you Nate!

And now we are on to all things Christmas. Movies, music, baking, and of course decor. I'm pretty simplistic when it comes to decorating. I just like to put little touches here and there.

I love tree ornaments. Anyway, I hope you are finding joy and enjoying this special time with your family. Much love.