2017

 

This year wasn't jam packed with things like the 3 previous years but the things that did happen were more quality than quantity!

A year prior Mona and I were invited to take part in a vacation "SANS CHILDREN" with some great friends of ours. We accepted the invitation the summer of 2016 and never looked back - we were going! We went on a 10 day, all inclusive trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and had a much deserved relaxing and fun vacation.

Instead of a "snowman" I carved a "sandman". I carved the sandman first and waited until we got back from our trip and then glued actual Mexican beach sand to him. The brim of his sombrero reads "MEXICO OR BUST" which was our groups Facebook chat group name.

The sunglasses the sandman is wearing is to remind me of the pair of sunglasses I lost to a giant wave while enjoying the ocean. I had those glasses 14 years! It was a sad few hours but I quickly started drinking again and got over it.

The Gecko standing on the sandman's drum, reaching for the deflated beach ball, is to signify our little Oliver starting Kindergarten at Gordon Greenwood Elementary. The mascot is a Gecko.

You'll notice a tiny white bow tie the gecko is wearing. If some of you didn't know, that year I started making and selling hand carved wooden bow ties to help make ends meet in our household. It sure kept me busy!

The Narwhal is to signify Charlie's baseball team that year. Obviously, if you didn't guess, their team name was the Narwhals! On the Narwhal's hat is written "Finals". Charlie's team started the season in crawl mode but thanks to his dedicated and awesome coaches they really came into their own when playoffs came around. It was so exciting and they all deserved to be where they were. They went from last place in their division to finishing in the final playoff game. They played like champs but lost to a better team. We were all so proud of our kids.