Goodbye 2022!

Well 2022 was a big year for our family. I think we traveled more miles in this single year than all the previous 20 years combined! Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but not by much.

First up was Costa Rica in March. Ben and I had been planning and saving up for this trip for years. It was our 20th anniversary trip, plus a family trip as Miles was graduating. We were/are entering that phase where our children are starting to go in different ways and have such different schedules. Costa Rica was just amazing. We all loved it and all long to go back. The food was delicious and Ben is still making his own version (which is pretty darn close) of gallo pinto - rice and beans. We ziplined through the jungle, cruised and toured the rainforest, walked in drenching rain, visited both the Pacific and Caribbean oceans, body-surfed the Pacific waves, saw beautiful and interesting creatures galore, made our own (and slightly gross) chocolate, shopped in the local grocery stores, and much more! One of the biggest highlights of the whole trip, however, was our horseback riding adventure. It was nothing like what one does in the United States! We were so free to ride the horses however and wherever we wanted - and in the most beautiful pastoral country ever. Our horseback ride included trotting by brahman cows (who were adorable but also slightly terrifying to pass), crossing rivers up to the horses’ chests, Ben and the kids running their horses in the fields and up the hills, picking guava fruit off the trees and eating them for a snack, and seeing numerous monkeys and exotic birds. The entire vacation was an incredible adventure for our family!

The last week of June my parents took their two daughters (myself and Erin) and our families on an Alaskan cruise. Another trip to remember for sure! We saw the beautiful land of Alaska as we stopped in the port cities of Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Each town was so unique and so fun. We kayaked, hiked, shopped, watched a logging show, etc. On the cruise we went to shows, walked around, played laser-tag, drove go-karts, and two of our group (Ben and Jonas) dared the crazy spiral water-slide. Plus, we ate at the buffet pretty much three times a day. The buffet was amazing and I am not embarrassed to say it was truly a highlight of the cruise! The kids could pick and choose whatever they wanted; the parents didn’t have to cook anything. It was a win-win situation for everyone and was truly delicious food. Our last night we took our own walking tour of  Victoria, British Columbia and it was a beautiful end to our beautiful cruise. The best part was having my parents and sister and her family there with us! (We missed my brother Derek, who was busy living his true Alaskan life building awesome log cabins.)

In August, Ben, Miles, and myself went on Miles’ 18th birthday trip. We’ve decided to give our kids, when they turn 18, a mini-vacation anywhere in the U.S or Canada or Mexico. Their choice within those limits - and just parents and the 18 year-old. And Miles was so Miles . . . He chose to go to South Bend, Indiana. The reason? The Studebaker museum. Miles has loved Studebakers since he was a young kid. He even owned one for a short season. So off we went to South Bend, Indiana. It was quite the adventure and we all loved it! It was such a unique trip (which is so classically Miles) and even I, who doesn’t care much about cars nor museums, loved the Studebaker museum. We also enjoyed walking around the gorgeous Notre Dame campus, taking the scenic river walk in downtown Chicago, as well as meeting up with some of Ben’s family in the Chicago area. It was such an enjoyable trip.

As far as trips went, we had our last big adventure in October. This time it was just Ben and myself who went along. We were part of a surgical medical mission group from our town that traveled to Honduras. It was a week-long trip and was a lot of work. Ben, especially, had long and challenging days in the OR - but he truly loved it. These surgeons and their awesome nursing assistants were all part of literally changing the lives of all the Honduran patients they treated. I helped out in the recovery phase of surgery, but due to a ridiculously ill-timed toothache that turned into an infection, my experience was a little less grand. But it was neat to be there with Ben and to take part in such an enriching experience.

It was quite the year full of quite the adventures. However, what we treasure most are our relationships with friends and family. We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

End of year interviews:

2022 turned out, in many ways, to be a great year. We were blessed to go on so many wonderful traveling adventures. But 2022 was also a tough year as we sent Miles off to college (awesome, yet a loss to our home), as Jonas decided to not care much for school nor his family (for the most part - he "tolerates" us at times, I think . . . :) ), as Emmy struggled with friends and bullying (that continues to this day and makes me want to just move . . . ) and as Lucy . . . Lucy actually had a pretty great year. The rest of us just need her to have a little more patience. :) Here's to a better 2023 - less traveling in the future, but hopefully better situations and circumstance for all of us!