the garlands: Christmas 2024

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!!!