Christmas 2016

Greetings from the Garlands!

Once again a year has passed! We are amazed at how quickly it seems to have gone yet how busy the year was when we think about everything that happened. We started this blog 8 years ago now, and unfortunately it has basically become a home base for our annual Christmas letter. We actually used to write quite a bit in the early days, and maybe this will be the year we add regularly once again. In any case, here is an update of our 2016.

Winter typically means lots of time spent in gyms across central Iowa, and January and February of 2016 were no different. The girls absolutely LOVE going to games, dressing up in green and white, and cheering for the Lady Dutch. Cayla continues to be the one who loves the games the most. She has a favorite player (Kiara #12) who she adores. More on that in the October section!

This year Cayla and Eliana both made it a tradition of joining Daddy in the locker room after games to enjoy the post-game. Cayla used to be good for a few inappropriate words ("Poop!") to make the girls laugh, but this year was the year of the "Knee Dance." Ask her to show you! It was an amazing journey, and easily Jerod's favorite year coaching. He loves his coaching staff and team. They were fortunate enough to win 21 games in a row and made it all the way to the 4A State Championship game, where they lost to Mason City and the Miss Iowa Basketball (she went to play for the Iowa Hawks so he has forgiven her). The girls loved being in Wells Fargo Arena and gave Daddy good hugs after the title game.

Spring was a time when Zoey began to develop a personality. She is turning out to be quite the fun little girl. Her sisters are so wonderful to her, and that has been a huge blessing. Cayla struggled adjusting to Eliana when Ana was a toddler so we weren't sure how another one would go, but the big sister has loved taking care of Zoey and giving her hugs and kisses. Zoey is a little helper and very goofy. She hated not being to do what her sisters were doing, and did whatever she could to keep up, even if that meant climbing things she had no business climbing.

Cayla had another dance recital with the Dans Co. at the end of the school year, which provided lots of laughs again. It all really depends on how tired she is. No matter how much she practices, if she is tired the moves probably won't materialize, but she still enjoys it.

Summer came and we took the girls to Adventureland again. This year went much better and the girls had a blast, especially at the water park. Nobody wanted to leave, and it was a highlight of the girls' summer. It was very fun to see it through their eyes!

Jerod coached 9th grade baseball again after taking a couple years off. Leah added classes at Drake in pursuit of her MBA. Ana took part in a Big Bat Baseball program and found out she could really smack the ball! She hasn't taken to sports much, so it was fun to see! Whether running the bases or hitting homeruns, we saw a competitive side to her for the first time.

We took a family trip to St. Louis to see Jerod's sister and family in July. That has become one of the favorite things of our girls' summers! They just adore their Heefner cousins and we love spending time with Codi and Nile!

In August we took a quick overnight trip to Omaho with friends and visited the zoo. The girls enjoyed seeing all the animals, but the giraffe was probably the favorite. But staying in a hotel is what the girls talked about. Something about staying in a hotel makes them so happy! In fact, we sometimes have to play "Hotel" in the house.

Zoey turned 2, started potty training, and began to put some words together. She cracks us up all the time. Her current passion is filling up containers with water from the bathroom sink.  The girls started school, and we were excited that Eliana had the same amazing Kindergarten teacher Cayla had: Mrs. Ebersole! She has loved school! Reading is a favorite, although math and science aren't at the top of her list.

Cayla, now 8, started 2nd Grade and was placed in the wonderful Mrs. Kraft's room. The associate Cayla has had for 3 years, Mrs. Townsend, had her first baby, which Cayla has really enjoyed. She would tell us about Mrs. Townsend's baby belly all the time, and pretend like she was pregnant herself. This often involved not being able to do tasks because "of her belly," such as pick up things at school!

For Halloween, Cayla dressed as her favorite basketball player Kiara. Eliana went as Winnie the Pooh, and Zoey was a butterfly. It was a fun night!

Jerod turned 40!! Leah somehow managed to pull off an amazing surprise birthday party that caught him completely by surprise. Lots of family and even friends he hadn't seen in a long time made it a great night.

As the year closes, we are reminded again of how faithful God is to us. We know we are far from deserving of the blessings we have in three great girls, our marriage, family who help us and love us, and jobs that we are passionate about. We have a wonderful small group that we meet with every couple of weeks that have been a blast to journey with. We continue to love Third Church and are excited that our girls love going as much as we do!

Thanks so much for sharing in our journey with us. We are thankful to have family and friends who support and encourage us! May you be blessed during this Christmas season and we wish you the best in 2017! Hope to see you soon!

The Garlands