CHRISTMAS 2021

 

Merry Christmas! 

Thanks for taking the time to visit to read our Christmas letter! In the old days of Cayla's early years, we actually updated this block with semi-regular posts. As life has sped up, this blog has since settled in to simply becoming the home of the Garland Christmas letter.

It was an eventful 2021 for the Garland family. We'll start with the hardest thing of the year. We lost Papa Tim in July, which has been hard for us all. Papi was a great man, and his love for our girls is evident in how much they miss him. They loved reading books on his lap, cuddling with him, and watching him eat all of his Cutie oranges. We are thankful that we all have our own memories to carry with us, and we are looking forward to seeing him again.

The girls continue to bring life to our house. They are all unique, which keeps things from getting boring. We'll start with the oldest!

CAYLA (13): In September, Cayla Joy became our first teenager. Needless to say, she thinks she's pretty cool. The best part of her getting older: this fall she started 7th grade at Pella Middle School. Yep, the same building that Daddy teaches in! He has enjoyed seeing her in the halls nearly every day, where they usually share a hug before she says, "Love you, Daddy! Kiss, kiss." She is loving school, and there are many sweet girls who are friendly with her. Cayla also loves her associates. Cayla is playing drums in the band and has loved it. She's very proud of taking part in concerts. She still loves to sing and has a sweet heart toward other people. While Cayla has definitely figured out the drama part of being a teenager (she likes slamming doors!), she has also grown in so many ways. She's more and more independent all the time, sometimes too much so, as when she slipped out the door one morning before school to take a solo walk around the neighborhood! Thanks to a neighbor who called, we found her marching purposefully near the hotel. Oh, Cayla.

ELIANA (10): Eliana continues to be an amazing sister to her older and younger siblings. She is in 5th grade at Jefferson and Daddy loves driving her to school in the mornings. She continues to play soccer, and has a special love of music. She is trying the French Horn (pretty hard right now) and started taking piano lessons. Eliana's love of reading continues to grow, and it seems like she is constantly starting a new book. Her goofy side is definitely coming out this year, for better or for worse. She is as tender hearted as ever, though.

ZOEY (7): Zoey continues to make her home at Madison Elementary as a 2nd grader. She is probably our spunkiest girl, and keeps life exciting. There's been much more friend drama this year, which often dampens her days, but she has enjoyed her teacher and classmates. She has gotten more into sports in 2021. She loved running at a track meet for the first time, enjoyed playing soccer again, and has started playing basketball. She also enjoyed a tennis camp over the summer. We're not sure what, if anything, will stick down the road, but she seems to love sports the most of all the girls. 

LEAH has really enjoyed her role as a social worker at Hospice of Pella. What a gift it is to slow down and meet with people in their final days here on earth. She enjoys her co-workers and loves the culture. She also enjoys working fewer hours and getting to drop the girls off at school and pick them up most days after school. She finally gave in to a friend who had been encouraging her to sign up for a half-marathon and crossed that off the list in October - definitely slow and sore, but it got done!

JEROD continues to teach 8th Grade American History. He loves the staff and has really enjoyed this group of 8th graders. He helped coach 7th grade football for the 4th year and enjoys it more every year. He stepped down from coaching the High School team this year, but jumped back into coaching when the 7th grade girls needed a coach and has enjoyed the girls. 

After many years of discussing taking a big family trip, we finally went for it. Jerod has always had a love of the mountains, so we flew to Colorado and spent a few days in Colorado Springs and Denver. It was our first time west of Nebraska together and first flights for the girls. We'll never forget Ana and Zoey holding hands as the plane began to head down the runway, or Cayla's very loud "Wow!" as the plane lifted off. They loved the flight and we all had a blast in the mountains. Highlights: riding the cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak, Royal Gorge Dam, Garden of the Gods, Casting Crowns concert at Red Rocks Amphiteater, and the Denver Aquarium. 

We continue to hand on by a thread some days, but trust in God's faithfulness. He has seen us through a lot as a family and continues to bless us more than we deserve or could ask for. May you and your loved ones
be blessed this Christmas!