We were small in numbers on when the clock struck 12 on New Years Eve.

Just me, Dave and Lucy.

We wrote all the good and the bad from the year on a floating lantern…

…and sent it off into the dark sky, filled with fireworks all around.

We watched it, almost reverently, as it floated up, up, up and away. Goodbye to 2020. Goodbye to all the family togetherness, all the things I’ve learned, all the happy and sad mixed in together.

But we were so happy to welcome 2021.

We toasted to the new year and Lucy was giddy to eat a cookie when the clock struck midnight.

Dave and I looked at each other and smiled.

Because for those who aren’t aware, Lucy made a goal to give up all desserts and candy in 2020. We never thought back in January that she could EVER do such a thing (how’s that for having faith in your kids??), in fact, we tried to talk her out of it a couple times…we were just worried it would frustrate her. But she made that goal with her cousin and was pretty determined…especially after they did a little tweak and allowed three “cheat days” the whole year.

And guess what? That girl made it!

We were pretty proud. Here’s a blurry picture to commemorate the proudness seeping out of us 🙂

She had been stashing away candy that had been gifted to her all year in the freezer for her to eat on New Years, so she got it out and ate a couple pieces to celebrate:

(Had to celebrate with milk, of course, in case you didn’t notice that…ha!)

I gave up the candy part with her, and I have to say this little treat I had saved tasted pretty divine:

We played two-to-many rounds of Hearts (Lucy hit a wall there at the end). But it was one of my favorite New Years evenings, so relaxed and happy.

I was amazed how easy it was to get us going on a bike ride to celebrate New Year’s day the next morning.

I just said the word, everyone jumped on board, and we headed out into the sunny new year on our bikes to get breakfast together, just the four of us. There are some pretty happy things about this 2-kid gig.

It was the most beautiful day!

Poor Bo got left out.

We got some jobs done around the house including organizing the fridge and freezer in a way that Lucy can find things, fixing our garbage disposal with instructions from my brother Jo to “just throw and old spoon in there and turn it on” (which worked!), and read our hand-written sweet letters from our missionary that finally came in the mail.

We played tennis over at our neighbor’s in the slanted sunset light,

As we played I noticed my row of trees I had been dying to get over and photograph (see last post)…just waiting for me.

Love when this tennis player will join us:

It was an all-around good day to start off a new year.

Similar Posts

5 Comments

  1. That sounds like an amazing new year!!
    There is just something fresh about a new year. A full year full of hope. It’s been a rocky start worldwide I think lol but I love the thought of doing our best!!!

  2. So cool that Lucy was able to keep that no sugar resolution! Maybe I’ll start on that (right after I finish baking this batch of chocolate chip cookies 😉 ).
    Happy New Year Shawni and family! I wish you all God’s blessings in 2021.

  3. Lucy amazes me! Also, your weather! Would love a post someday about the yearly cycle of weather in Arizona. It seems so different from anywhere I’ve lived (Northeast and Midwest) and it looks so appealing!

  4. I am profoundly happy that Lucy reached her goal. Without realizing it, I tempted her to eat something forbidden this summer and she kindly reminded me that she was determined to accomplish her goal! That is fabulous! Congrats Lucy Girl! You are incredible!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *