We have actually had a quiet holiday season here, so it's given me a chance to reflect and be thankful for the events of 2025.
The first big event of 2025 was the birth of our 4th grandchild - a son born to Rebecca and Joseph. I got to be there for the delivery and those first special days as they became a family of five!Then in March, Terry and I celebrated our 35th anniversary with a long-anticipated camping trip to New Zealand. We had three weeks of living in a tiny van and having a great adventure seeing some gorgeous sites. Also lived through a wreck with a tractor trailer and had our return flight unexpectedly leave a day early without us!
2025 also brought the purchase of Scott and Ann's lake house on Melton Hill Lake. It's such a beautiful spot and we are very blessed. We hosted the Schaefer clan there for a week in July and had a blast. I wasn't sure we could top the reunion of 2022, but I think we did!
We also hosted our immediate family there over Thanksgiving.
Though it's just 25 minutes away, our current plan is not to move out there but are continuing to run it as an AirBnB and just staying out there occasionally. It has kept us quite busy as we decided to manage it ourselves. It's been a fun project, and we have reminded ourselves several times of how we used to dream of owning a Bed & Breakfast someday.
We sold several rental properties in order to buy the lake house, but we have a few other rentals that Terry maintains. I am still doing dyslexia therapy and really enjoying my students this year.
We didn't do any big travels after NZ, but we have a trip to Portugal planned in early 2026. We also found out we have another grandbaby due in July (thanks, Caleb and Meredith, for that Christmas news!).
2026 Superlatives:
Best moment - birth of grandbaby #4 in February
Best book - Green Dolphin Street (set in 1800s NZ and surprisingly inspirational)
Best movie - Freakier Friday
Best food - Montanaro pizza with pistachio sour cream in Queenstown, NZ
Best date - Hobbiton in New Zealand
Best lemonade from lemons - touring Aukland on our unintentional extra day there
