Happy Holidays 2021

New Normal

We have learned not to try to predict how things will go anymore, just be flexible and grateful for everything. With that in mind, we had a pretty good year and are very grateful to have made it through the year healthy.

Winter and Spring

Our New Year's Eve party looked a little different this year but we still had fireworks

We got a hot tub!

Goofy kids

We were happy to celebrate Easter, unmasked, with family

Double vaxxed!

We had a great visit with Alex and Anastasia

Skiing - we do it a lot

We didn't get to take any ski trips with friends or family this year, but we got in plenty of ski days

We took one family ski trip to Monarch this year. We stayed in a small cabin just down the road and had a TON of snow and amazing skiing. That is, until... Nate jumped over a landing in the terrain park and tore his ACL :-(

Dono hiked and skied Mirkwood

We had fun family nights in this cabin

Poor Nate!

He had surgery in May

Kelly and the kids finished out the season without dad, including capes and wings for the last day

Darcy McGee

After several bouts of pneumonia we made the incredibly difficult decision to let Darcy rest in peace. She was the sweetest girl ever and we miss her so much.

She was spoiled for her last few hours, getting snuggles on the couch, eating chocolate, and belly rubs in the grass. Even though she was really struggling to breathe, she was so happy for all the extra love from her people that day.

This brave boy chose to come to the vet and be with Darcy as she left our world

We sure miss this sweet girl!

Summer

The kids played baseball - coach pitch for Donovan and t-ball for Eleanor

We were excited to do normal things again like the Golden Cornhole League and bike riding sans mask

We drove Trail Ridge Road between Grand Lake and Estes Park in Rocky Mountain National Park

Kelly and the kids took a quick trip to Santa Rosa to meet Kelly's new grand-niece Elizabelle

Donovan went to a week-long kayak camp

Eleanor learned to ride her bike without training wheels

We went camping a bunch

We bought our first electric car! It's a 2018 Nissan Leaf and we are having a lot of fun driving it - and NOT buying gas or polluting!

Goodbye green Outback!

We spent a great week in Santa Barbara with Gram, Pop, Uncle Alex, and Anastasia

Donovan and his friends love mountain biking

Dono got to drive a mini front loader when we had some work done next to the driveway

Kelly joined the PTA as Treasurer

Donovan and Eleanor

In August, Donovan turned 8 and started 3rd grade. He is still obsessed with reading and likes doing almost any activity outside, although he recently started playing Minecraft (uh oh!) He loved kayak camp so much that he got a kayak for his birthday and can't wait to use it all summer next year.

Eleanor turned 5 in October and started kindergarten in the fall. She is loving, independent, and feisty. She loves owls, unicorns, rainbows, and anything colorful or sparkly. Lately her favorite nickname has been Ellie because there always seems to be another Nora around. She LOVES her 3 besties so much!

The kids started indoor rock climbing this year and put those skills to use on a ropes course for Dono's birthday

First day of school

Princess Anna and Harry Potter went trick-or-treating with their friend Professor Sprout

The best day EVER was when the kids got vaccinated!

Finn

Finn just turned 13 in December and is really starting to show his age. He has either arthritis or nerve degeneration in his hind end and he struggles with the stairs a bit. We've been giving him extra love since we lost Darcy and grateful for the time we still have left with him. He also enjoyed "playing" with Maggie quite a lot this year.

Nate and Kelly

Nate is still working as a Principal Mechanical Engineer at Array Technologies. He started traveling fairly regularly for work again but works from home the rest of the time. Although his ACL injury and recovery kept him down a bit, he has been able to do some bike riding and hopes to ski again this winter.

Kelly is still working for FirstBank as a Software Delivery Manager. In June she started going back to the office one or two days per week but spent December working from home full-time again. Kelly is very happy that Nate helped to fulfill her dream of getting back into horse riding! She started taking lessons in November and hopes to eventually lease a horse.

In November, Kelly and Nate celebrated 10 years of marriage with an amazing trip to Punta de Mita, Mexico. We had so much great food and drink, did a lot of snorkeling and sightseeing, and met wonderful people.

Fall

We spent Thanksgiving in Santa Rosa and it was so nice to see Kelly's family, especially little Elizabelle!

Donovan became Kelly's running buddy this year and they completed the Colder Boulder 5k together

Donovan got to help put up Christmas lights this year... and enjoy the view from the roof!

Christmas parade! We love Christmas in our little town.

We bought a cabin! Owning a cabin in the woods has been a dream of ours for a long time and we weren't sure it could ever become a reality. In October we found the perfect place for us near the Monarch ski area (close to the town of Salida). We cannot wait for all of the memories we will make with our family in this wonderful place!

We wish everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2022!

- Nate, Kelly, Donovan, Eleanor, and Finn

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