There you have it, folks! Another huge year going down in the book of Borns! 😅 Speaking for myself, I think I feel more purposeful than I ever have, and like our family has answered a call that was deeply meant to be fall to us. Praise the Lord!! Let’s recap 🙂
January was fairly uneventful, in a nice way. We spent time recovering from Christmas, and Solly was super brave and let me buzz his hair for the first time! Its carried on since then! A big thing to note was that Brady and I were counting down to when we could finally reapply to do foster care! We were excitedly anticipating that next adventure together!
February is always large! Brady and I celebrated our 14th anniversary, and I believe the next day was the day I reached out to Sask Foster Family Association and training began again! Brady rounded the two year mark for his surgery, which brings lots of emotions and weird trauma responses. Fun stuff, lol! Three more of our kids got prescriptions and glasses!! Dekker and Laela both got roles in their schools production of Frozen Jr! And we closed the month with Rowan’s birthday! He turned 8!
March felt like we could finally start living! I can’t explain it, but this month felt like the month we finally hit our stride again. It had been a while 💜 Dekker cashed in his long time earnings for his long awaited kayak! Brady got moved around in work to his own office, which felt pretty official! Laela had further eye testing and it came to light that she, along with Rowan the month back, needed to patch a bad eye. Behind the scenes, Brady and I were crushing evenings and weekends of foster training, having meetings with social workers, and getting things prepared for the future possibilities!
April was the first month I was a tester for some crochet blankets! It felt really exciting to me. Like I’m somehow paying dues for something that will still come someday 🙂 April was also a month of sickness, and our first ever experience with strep! Poor Wavy! My mom, Cher, and I fit in a sleepover this month as well, and Rae retired!
May was fun!! It brought us back to caaaaamp!! We all had summer on the brain! Well. Not right away. First, we wrapped Frozen. What an awesome time!! 😍 Wavy graduated out of playschool, and Solly turned 7!
As soon as Frozen was done, June came, and Laela was ready for a haircut! She was so eager, and it was a total win! Track day was also a ton of fun. All my little athletes 💜 But once that was done, the big events were mostly over, and we got into summer life! We were officially approved to be a foster family, and our first placement came almost immediately. SO much love was shared. Dekker finished June off by graduating out of elementary school. Oof. I can’t believe he’s so grown up.
July!! Officially official summer! Wavy turned five right off the hop. We spent a ton of time at camp, catching up with our friends, swimming, eating crazy good food, and getting our tan on! Cher celebrated her birthday, turning 33, and about a week later, I turned 35. Lake birthday celebrations are the BEST celebrations!
August held lots more lake time, as usual. Dekker caught his first fish, though he was scared to touch it, lol! Laela and Avery made rainbow loom bracelets like there was no tomorrow. We enjoyed Christopher Lake days, and tons of outside time with loved ones! My mom celebrated a birthday, as did Dekker, turning 12. And as the month came to an end, fall peeked its head into camp.
You know what comes next. SCHOOL. September meant the start of lots of new things. Dekker started high school, and Wavy started kindergarten. The girls started taking ballet! 🩰 I also started baking 🤷🏼♀️ Wherever that came from! I started cooking and pureeing pumpkins for muffins. And we managed to enjoy fall camping still most every weekend! We officially offered on a house, and listed our own! The last day of September, Laela turned 10.
The first weekend in October was the last weekend at camp, and you’d better believe we were there! Working very hard to get things winterized, and ready for a special Christmas event the camp was hosting! Brady had a birthday in October, turning 35. I finally got my hair redone this month, which felt noteworthy since its a LOT harder to get there these days, hahaha! The kids enjoyed the first snow that felt like it was going to stay (clearly, it did not) and we rocked Halloween, as usual.
November was also a very full month! We received two additional foster placements, though one only stayed for a couple of days 💜 That was a very new experience, but we definitely loved being a family of ten for a minute there. I kept up with the baking, as well as preparing for my first ever Christmas market, put on at Kinasao! We spent one day at the camp, basking in the Christmas fun, food, and friends!!
December wraps the year up in a really significant, FUN way! The girls were part of the Nutcracker in their first ever ballet performance. What an exciting milestone!! We started acquiring some new furniture for the next house. Man we can fit a LOT in our bus!! We Christmassed, and we sold our house 💜 Finally. What a victorious way to end 2023, by reaching a goal we have aimed at for literal years now.
Its possible 2023 was one of the crazier years we’ve lived, but also possibly the most fulfilling. Far from perfect. Riddled with roadblocks. But FILLED with blessing beyond understanding. It is undeniable that God has not forgotten our little family 💜 Praise His name!
Thank you, Lord, for 2023! We VERY eagerly anticipate what is coming next!