Update

Santa came and brought us a trip to the Bahamas for Christmas.  Early on in my cancer journey I told Mark I wanted things to be different now, specifically how we celebrated our holidays.  I told him, “Lets take the boys somewhere and make some memories”.  It was Christmas in Georgia this year (we go back and forth between Georgia and Texas) and so Mark got with his parents and it was cheaper to go to The Bahamas than it was to go to Florida.  So after their last day of school we surprised the kids with a couple of gifts (that was the other part of my ‘different’ deal – I wanted to scale it WAY back when it comes to the gifts) and one of their gifts was a scavenger hunt that told them we were leaving Monday for the beach.

The boys were super excited.  The house we rented was fantastic – everyone got their own room which made sleeping arrangements much easier.  The picture below was taken on the beach right outside the back door of the house.

It was Garrett’s first beach experience.  At first he kept saying ‘wash, wash’ (which is what he says when he wants us to clean his hands).  But by the end of the trip he was able to see the fun that sand and water can provide.

He would literally scoot on his bottom all over the beach.  Up and down the sand hills.  The amount of sand all over this kid and in his diaper and crevices was amazing!

We took the boys to the top of the world’s only remaining kerosene lit light house:  Hope Town Light House.  Garrett and Keith were not with us on this adventure (Garrett was taking a nap on Keith down on the boat).  But Hamilton and Luke loved the climb and view and adventure of crawling through the windows.  (This is Mark’s mom with them at the top looking out at the harbor of Elbow Cay).

Despite me having a fever, double ear infection, and just feeling junky the first couple of days overall the trip was wonderful and lots of memories were made.

I’m still trying to process the new year.  2017 seemed so far away, yet something I was striving towards for so long.  Thinking back about this time last year I want to have a conversation with myself and tell the naive Ashley to get ready, be prepared, slow down, and start letting go of control.  I obviously had no idea this time last year that in just 5 short weeks the year I was planning would be turned upside down and take a very different path.  So I’m in processing mode for how to prepare, plan, set goals, and thrive in 2017.

Have you set 2017 goals?  What are your hopes and plans for the year?  Do you have traditions to kick off a new year?  I’d be interested in hearing from you.