New Year

2019

Here is a nice watermarked collage of my top Instagram posts in 2019 haha. In 2019 Adele turned 3, Esther turned 5, Israel turned 1, I turned 26 and Leland turned 31. We fostered Baby Girl for 3 weeks in June and fostered Baby Boy since July, 5 months. I didn't really make any goals for 2019 which I kind of regret. It was a good year though. A lot of growth for me, especially in these past 5 months since we have had Baby Boy and started homeschooling.

2018 and 2019 were both quite exciting and difficult years for us. I felt like I was purely in survival mode, adding new babies and new kids coming and going. Now I am looking forward to 2020 as a year to get into some good habits and maybe, not so much rapid change. It is really hard for me not knowing how long Baby Boy will be with us, but we will probably have him until at least July when he turns 1. You truly can never plan on anything though. Anyways here are some of my goals for 2019.

1. 365 Days of Scripture Study

I used to be really good about reading every day, and this year I have read most days and kept up with the Come Follow Me curriculum. However, I want to make this my most important goal so I am kept accountable. I'm going to try to study every day no matter what, even if it is just a few minutes. I am so excited to by studying the Book of Mormon this year and I know there are so many blessings that come from reading the Book of Mormon. I am really going to strive for consistency in this area. 

2. Document our Family

So I have been making the blog into a photo book every year, so I will probably do that this year, although it will be harder because I will have to take out the edited photos of our foster kids and put back in the originals. I want to be better at blogging to document instead of turning to Instagram posts or stories which kind of just get lost. I also want to be better about making family videos. I'm going to make a baby video for Esther since she doesn't have one, and maybe a few other videos of our trips and things this year. 

3. Get Healthier

Super vague goal right? I really want to get into an exercise routine and lose the rest of the baby weight from Israel's + Adele's pregnancies. This past summer before we got Baby Boy, I was in a great habit of running a few times a week for a few weeks and it was amazing! Then we got a newborn though and that all went out the window lol. I cannot even think of exercising or trying to lose weight when I'm not getting enough sleep. Hopefully this year will be the year that Baby Boy and Israel both start sleeping better and I can have a little more energy to dedicate to myself. Also I just bought some face serum to try and have some sort of a skincare routine like an adult ha. Hopefully it will fix those dark circles under my eyes I have from said sleepless nights. 

4. Get OUTSIDE everyday!

So this goal is a little daunting to me, but I'm going to try and do it. In every book I read, I keep seeing the common theme of how children (and adults) need  to be outside. Our brain is wired for it and it is in our DNA. This is something that has also taken a backseat since I have been in newborn survival mode. But I'm going to do it. Ideally, it will be me and my children blissfully exploring nature for hours, realistically it might look like a walk around the block or a 10 minute jaunt in the backyard on super cold or bad air days. 

In the past I've made goals for the kids too, but aside from taking them outside with me I'm not going to do that this year. Esther is not quite old enough for the new Children and Youth program yet, but I do want to talk to the girls about setting goals and help them set some for themselves too. 

I am always so refreshed by a new year and a clean slate. I am excited to see what 2020 brings!

Also some kind of related pictures from the last few weeks. (because we went outside even when it was cold)