the garlands

Merry Christmas from the Garlands after one full year of many highs and lows where we have seen God work in amazing ways, and we are so thankful!

One of the major highlights from our 2025 was that Shovels and Spades was released this fall, and it has been a wild and VERY FUN ride! The book launch happened on 11/30/2025 with around 40 friends and family joining in person (despite the winter weather outdoors), and we were so thankful for the live support, as well as the online support, bringing in over 2,000 views on the Live-Stream - WOW! We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for this book in 2026!

You can check out a few of the book reading excerpts from this event on our new YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ShovelsAndSpadesBook):

"This is Not Normal" - https://youtu.be/FuPJxch4kBw?si=knH5zHEdgYMuE_Fv

"Alexa and the Surprise Subscription" - https://youtu.be/sECij4kOGdA?si=mx11Br6i3KO8VGMM

Cayla has now signed over 100 books, and she is loving every bit of this, especially now that Dad finally has her book done:)

On May 18, Eliana was baptized at Third Church after sharing her beautiful testimony of God's faithfulness in her life! She said the following: "Trusting God means giving your problems to Him and saying, 'Lord, You may do with this what You please.' I've had to understand that God always answers, even if it's not the way we would plan it. We all need to learn to let go and trust in His perfect plan. This baptism is my way of showing the devil that I'm going to always try to do this. This is my way of saying that I am choosing to believe."

The day after her baptism, these words could not have rang any more true, as Leah was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (Breast Cancer), and what a wild (and hard) ride that was full of so many BIG emotions! Thankfully the cancer was fully removed in a bilateral mastectomy on 07/21/2025 at Pella Regional Health Center with the incredible surgeon Dr. Welander, along with the amazing support of Nurse Navigator Kim! We were so thankful that no more treatment was needed following the surgery!

The first step of the reconstruction will take place on 12/30/2025 at Mayo, and the second and final step will happen later in the spring. God has been so good and so faithful through it all, and Leah was able to share about this journey when she was baptized on November 16 in the Auditorium service at Third Church.

Another highlight from our year was that we were blessed to have a vacation to Nashville to celebrate the joy of life and health in August! We very much enjoyed having Jerod's mom Jill join us!!!

In June, we had such a nice and FUN time boating with our amazing friends/neighbors, as it was SO good to escape the worries of the cancer journey for a day! Cayla even got to drive the boat a bit!!!

August also had the girls enjoying the Donut Run with Gigi's Playhouse!

October brought us a very special Pella in Pink!

One other major highlight from our 2025 was the re-finishing of our basement that Jerod and so many others have been working so hard to finish by Christmas! We are so excited to invite family and friends into our new space in 2026!!!

Cayla: Age 17

Junior at Pella High

Involved in: Special Olympics (track, biking, bowling), singing at church, Best Buddies, Cheerleading, Third Students, & going to the BOLD Conference every summer!

Eliana: Age 14

Freshman at Pella High

Involved in: Bravo, Tennis, Choir, Soccer, Best Buddies, Third Students, & passed Driver's Ed this summer!

Zoey: Age 11

6th Grader at Jefferson Intermediate

Involved in: Volleyball, Soccer, Track, Band (Trumpet), Choir, & Third Students

And... Cocoa Gracelynn:)

We are so thankful for our 18 years of marriage, and although life has taken us on a journey with many peaks and valleys, we continue to depend on God and each other in it all. We continue navigating Jerod's health journey as well with various appointments and medicines, and we are hoping and praying for a slow-down of the progression of the symptoms. We continue seeing God's hand in our lives, and we are grateful for his faithfulness. We are also SO thankful for the support of so many family and friends in this past year, as we are SO VERY BLESSED!

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who have shared in our lives in 2025, as we have been SO blessed to be supported by SO many of you in SO many ways! We hope our paths will cross in 2026! May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love and hugs,

the Garlands:)

Merry Christmas from the Garlands!

Thanks again for checking in on our blog to see how the Garland family is doing, as it has been another year full of adventures, answered prayers, and continued health challenges in 2024! We continue to watch God move through the highs and the lows, as He has never let us go, and we believe He never will!

One major highlight from our 2024 was our Spring Break trip to North Carolina to meet back up with some very special friends of Leah's from 25 years ago, as well as the girls' first trip to the ocean!!!

The ocean at Wrightsville Beach was a bit chilly but so much fun!

The next morning brought us back with donuts and a beautiful sunrise!

We enjoyed incredible hospitality, many laughs, fun, and good food!

Cayla Joy (16 years old)

Eliana Lynn (13 years old)

Zoey Grace (10 years old)

Cocoa Gracelynn (2 1/2 years old)

Some other highlights from 2024 began with Aunt Lisa & Mike's wedding in Clear Lake in May!

Then the Iowa Games in Ames in July - Table Tennis for Eliana and Jerod, and Track & Field for Zoey with the long jump, 50, & 100.

August brought us to Minneapolis for a Josiah Queen/Forrest Frank concert, as well as the girls' first time to the Mall of America!

August also included another incredible NEEDTOBREATHE concert for Jerod & Leah!

The new school year came later in August - Cayla as a sophomore at Pella High, Eliana in 8th grade at Pella Middle School (with Dad as her teacher), and Zoey in 5th grade at Jefferson Intermediate. They are all doing well in this current year and are involved in many activities!

Thanks to some generous friends, we made our way back to Wells Fargo in October to see For King + Country to celebrate Cayla's 16th Birthday - SO GOOD!!!

The Garland girls and friends also enjoyed 2 other concerts with multiple artists at WinterJam at Wells Fargo in February and the Concert on the Square in Oskaloosa in August! I guess it's quite clear that we all love music!

God showed up BIG on 11/21/2024 in answering a 16-year prayer for an official diagnosis for Jerod, as although this newly-discovered rare neurodegenerative disease is a bit much to grasp ahold of, we trust that God will go with us as we step into this new chapter.

We do not know where this next year will bring us, but we look forward to more adventures, making memories, and sharing special times with family and friends! Thanks for your amazing support, love, and encouragement, as we could not be walking this journey without our faith and the incredible community we have surrounding us!!!

For the 2 of us, Jerod continues as a Middle School history teacher and coach, and Leah continues as the bereavement coordinator with Hospice of Pella. We are so blessed to have been married for 17 years and counting... :)

And speaking of chapters from a completely different journey, Jerod's book that he has worked so hard on and will likely release later in 2025 called Shovels and Spades will share about our adventures in the world of Down syndrome! Coming soon to a bookstore near you!!!