On January 24th, our precious little Ruby turned a year old. We were also officially on the road to her adoption the day after that. The next weekend, we celebrated her birthday with family and close friends. It was loud, kids everywhere but it was a lot of fun!
In March, Henry celebrated his 7th birthday with his first sleepover, Ryan and Bryson. The boys had a lot of fun playing outside and even more fun staying up half the night watching movies and running through the house with sugar in their bloodstream. The next morning, not only did we make it to church with FIVE kids in tow, we made it on time. Definitely a victory for two tired parents.
May was a very bittersweet month as we learned our precious "M" was headed home. She was with us for 1 year and 2 weeks and saying goodbye was a giant kick in the gut. We miss her silly smile, catty laugh and huge heart SO much. She is an angel baby and we are incredibly thankful to have her in our lives.
Two days later, we went from a heartbreaking day to one of the best days of our lives. Wednesday, May 10, 2017 was the day we officially adopted Ruby Joy Holland!
Mike also started a new job in May as an Infrastructure Manager for an energy company. He's really enjoying his new role and has a great team. The company offers nice perks and has a family-focused work environment, something he's really been missing. We are really enjoying having him home during the week and not running a brutal on-call scheduled like he was at the previous company. Something about 2am outages don't make for a happy life. Onward and upward!
June was also a very busy month as Henry completed first grade and we started our summer break. It was all fun and games though until Mama nearly cut off two fingers while washing a ceramic crockpot that shattered in the sink. 6 stitches and 4 visits to CareNow, I was on the road to recovery. It was a very challenging couple of weeks, but thankfully Ruby was able to stay with us for a few days and Mike was a big help as well. I definitely fared better than the shattered crockpot.
The following week, we added another member to the family when we adopted Dutch. He's a 95 pound Boxer with a protective spirit, but he's also extremely lazy and super chill with the kids too. He's been a great addition to our family in spite of having to work through the aggression/protective issues when we have visitors. Training has been good so far and we're hopeful he can be socialized in the long run.
At the end of June, Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We went to dinner at Pappa Bros Steak House and went to have cake in Trinity Groves. I can't believe a decade has passed since we said our vows but mercy we've lived what feels like two lifetimes since then. If I know one thing, I would marry him and do it all over again. He's my dream come true and an amazing husband. Our families get along well and we've made a lot of beautiful memories. Life hasn't always been roses and sunshine, but we've always been there for each other no matter what life has thrown our way.
We spent a big bulk of the summer either at Nana and Papa's pool, the racetrack or doing activities at church or with friends. It was definitely a fun one! Oh and we even got to make a trip to Houston to see our favorite "Sisters" for their birthdays. Love them!
Henry signed up for Taekwondo over the summer and found a new passion. It's been great for his self-esteem, balance, coordination and discipline as well. He goes twice a week and really looks forward to learning new forms and techniques.
Henry started second grade at the end of August and he's really enjoyed it so far. He's made some new friends and is enjoying learning about math and science. He's in LEGO Club on Tuesdays and enjoys time to be creative with friends.
In September, Mike and I took a belated anniversary trip, long overdue vacation to Playa del Carmen with Jerry and Laura. We had an amazing trip and it was my first trip to a real beach (not counting Galveston last Thanksgiving.) We spent 4 nights at the Ocean Maya Royale where the food was good and the relaxation was even better. We got sunburned and enjoyed tons of outdoor time. We went to Mayan ruins, lunch in a Mexican cafe, rode ATVs, went ziplining into a cavern (BATS!!) and Mike went snorkeling. Each morning we got up and watched the sunrise over the Caribbean and picked up seashells as we walked. It was paradise and we hope to go back someday.
In October, I started working as an associate with Stream Energy. I've enjoyed learning about the energy industry and helping others save money on their utility costs. It's a growing field and if I continue working the business, it could help our family out financially but still give me the opportunity to be here for the kiddos and focus on our family.
Mike also resumed his IT consulting job in October after a brief hiatus this summer. He primarily works from home at night and/or the weekends when his schedule is open. He loves getting back into the technical side (his other job is more managerial and project manager focused) and especially loves working from home.
Onto November, which didn't start good as our beloved Dutch made a BIG mistake. He got a bit curious after I left to go shopping with RJ one morning and when I came home to a shattered crockpot including tons of shattered glass and ceramic, I knew he was in trouble. Poor guy ended up having surgery to remove the contents and it took over 2.5 hours to complete. He had a rough recovery and lots of quiet time to heal. He's lucky he survived it, but won't have another opportunity to do that as he's now crated when we leave the house. Oh and no more crockpots for our family!
The rest of the month was even harder as we said goodbye to Granddaddy. He celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this year, but as the months went on, his health declined dramatically. We were with him the last 4 days of his life and thankfully by his side when he passed. I know that God made him whole in that very moment but we sure miss him. For as long as I can remember, he was hard of hearing and more recently had lost most of his vision and was cranky a lot but who could blame him?! He went from being a pillar of strength to relying on other people and I know that hurt his ego. It would anyone! He taught me so much but I would give anything to have more time with him. I know we all would.
We did have good family time the week of his passing and I'm incredibly thankful for that. It's hard for all of us to get together and it's awful that it sometimes takes a tragedy for it to happen, but there were many heartfelt conversations that needed to be had. I hope it helped my Daddy, my uncle and my aunts as well to be together.
After Thanksgiving, I officially launched Wood U Be Mine, a hand-painted sign business where I make custom pieces, home decor and gifts. I have enjoyed having a creative outlet and love seeing the finished products. I'm looking forward to creating more in 2018 and building the brand with more offerings and variety.
Now we are rounding out the year with December. We stayed really busy with holiday festivities between church, Henry's school and family time. We've really enjoyed extra down time the past couple of weeks, but we are looking forward to getting back into our routine again. Mike heads back to work on the 2nd and Henry back to school on the 8th. RJ and I will go back to our routine of trips to the gym, play dates and our highly coveted nap time in the afternoons. Henry will also start back to TKD and working towards his next belt test.
So I guess that closes out 2017 for the Holland family. It was a whirlwind of a year with lots of really great highs and few hard hit lows. We know that God has a plan for all of us this next year and we look forward to walking it together. May your year be full of blessings, laughter and new adventures. Cheers!
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