These are my top 9 *most-liked* instagram posts of this year. We had a lot of good times! Looking back at the whole year, it's really hard to believe how much happened in just one year!

At the beginning of 2016 we were just starting to look into the slight possibility of Collin switching jobs. I don't think we even really started talking about it as a "maybe we could do this" type thing until March. Before that, we talked about it from time to time but it was mostly like, "if you did, which you probably won't." But by April/ May the decision was made. Totally leaving education for the time being and entering a new world as a human relations manager.... at a dairy company!

At the beginning of 2016 we were still waiting on Elan's adoption to finalize. We had been told they really wanted to get it done by his first birthday... but that came and went with nothing. Finally we were able to get that done in Montana in May. Our family trip to Missoula for that was so fun! It will always be a great memory.

Of course another great event of 2016 was our little family getting to attend the temple together for Elan to be sealed to us. What a special moment. We loved having so many friends and family over afterwards for his blessing and lunch as well. Wow that really feels like it was SO much longer ago than it was!

In June we sold our Boise house! We had been renting out for 2 years, and had some renters that did NOT take very good care of it. Then a renter that did NOT pay. We finally got good renters in, and I really think how nicely they kept it and decorated it helped it sell quickly! Being landlords from a distance was not easy or fun, and we were very grateful that it sold and sold for enough that we not only broke even like we had originally hoped to, but even made some money on it!

We had some fun trips this year, like Midway for spring break, a week-long trip to Utah in June, Idaho Falls for the 4th of July, and then Idaho Falls again for Jodee's wedding and for Thanksgiving. We had our family reunion at the cabin near Lava Hot Springs, and took a couple of day trips to Tremonton to visit cousins. We also made trips to Utah for Alex's wedding and during Christmas break. I had fun visiting Idaho Falls on my own to judge their Sonatina Competition, and we made lots of trips to Boise to visit friends and watch wrestling throughout the year! We made it out for one camping trip too, which was interesting and freezing but also a great experience, especially since we had Auntie Andrea along.

Ashlyn started kindergarten... which was a big step for our family! Having a kid in school every day is sure a game changer!

In June I went in for a routine OBGYN checkup and later in July they confirmed that I had a 16 cm ovarian cyst that needed to be removed as soon as possible.... which meant surgery just 3 weeks later. We had a really rocky start to our fall with all of that. The surgery had complications in which they tore my bowel in a couple of places and then I had an adverse reaction called "ileus" in which my entire digestive system shut down for about 6 days. It was a torturous hospital stay to put it mildly. Recovering at home continued to be difficult, and after I'd been home a few days I began a long battle with pretty severe anxiety. Recovering both mentally and physically was a long process. I faked it a lot when I didn't think I could make it. I'm still working through that, 6 months later. September, October, and into November are sort of a blur of mental difficulties to me. I did a lot of stuff when I felt completely awful, and worked through a lot of things with both medication and counseling. I had a lot of support from my family and a few close friends, which was so life saving. I really tried my hardest to still make things like Halloween good for my kids even though I could care less and it actually sent me into a panic. BUT..... I could go on and on about all that, I'll save it for another time. :) Looking back I'm proud that I pushed through a lot of times when I seriously sometimes didn't think I could. I also really often wanted to just go to bed and never get up. Once when I was dealing with yet another medication that was making things worse, the nurse asked me on the phone if I was suicidal, and I paused and thought about it for quite a while. I know I wasn't really at that point yet, but I really did feel like I couldn't handle all of it much longer. I was starting to wonder. I remember that because now it's almost hard to remember what I truly felt like... but I know it was hard. I'm blessed that I can't remember that feeling as much now. And didn't I say I was going to be done talking about this? Ok I will be for reals now. Maybe I'll write more on that later.

We had a great Christmas at our own home. I was still working through mental issues but doing much better by then. I was actually thankful that the Christmas season gave me so much to be engaged in, and helped me to focus on others and my family. Ashlyn totally loved all things Christmas this year, and it was really fun. We got a decent amount of snow in December and had 2 snow days before Christmas break!

Anyway, those are about our highlights of 2016. A year to remember for sure!