Yester-Year

Bye 2016. You were a great year, a sad year, a happy year, and a year full of adventures. As I look back in the year, certain moments stand out and it makes me think of Grandma Trout. She always said, "everything changes, nothing stays the same". Here are a few moments from our crazy year that is 2016 and proof that things always change.

-Road Trip: In March Kyle and I trekked across the US all the way to Moab, Utah with Birch and Cedar. Our time was spent enjoying each other's company, hiking, and seeing parts of this great country that we live in. We traveled through mild farming country to mountains and snow storms to red sandy desert. One of my favorite moments was hiking through the sand flats in Moab. It was so beautiful and unique. The biggest take away from the trip was that life and memories are so much bigger, and incredibly more valuable than anything you could ever buy. It was never so clear that there is so much more to life than things.

 -MNDDC: This year marks our 2nd year with MN Disc Dog Club. A club that has brought us hundreds of memories that fill our eyes with joyful tears. A club that has introduced us to some of the most amazing people and dogs one could ever dream of. This year is incredibly important in our hearts because this year marks the first year that Kyle and Cedar place in an event. It marks the year that Kyle becomes president of MNDDC. The year that we traveled to Purina Farms in Missouri to compete in ChillyDog and place once again. And finally one last thing, Kyle receiving the Wazee (a beautiful award that is passed down to the person who best represents the spirit of Wazee and disc dog that year) from fellow MNDDC member, Vicky.

-Remi's Home: This year marks the year that Remi went to his forever home with my great aunt and uncle, Susie and Wayne. Though rehoming a long time pet is never easy, it has by far been the best thing that has happened to him. Seeing him with Susie and Wayne fills my heart with how happy he makes them  and them him. We are so fortunate to have Susie and Wayne in our lives and especially in Remi's.

Agility training: This is the year we started agility with Birch and Cedar.  Being in class again has been so refreshing. This is our first class that is not obedience related and we are loving it, especially Birch. He has been excelling at everything that is thrown at him in class and is gaining more focus each session. Cedar has also been doing extremely well, she is learning to follow direction from Kyle and doing wonderfully. It is incredible to see the progress we are making and how much fun dog sports are. Not agility related, but still awesome, Birch is learning amazing tricks! He can handstand, rebound, and stand on my feet! Such a smart boy, I cannot wait to see what 2017 brings for him.

Matron of Honor: This marks the year my first best friend got engaged! It was such an amazing day and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it. Tristan and Mike are relationship goals. They are adventure seekers and I admire that about them. This year at the Jacobson reunion, Tristan asked me to be her matron of honor. I was so surprised and am beside myself that I get to stand next to this amazing woman while she marries the love of her life. I am excited to see what this year holds for them, it can only go one way, perfection. As for me, I need to get into speech writing and party planning!

Grandpa: This marks the year we lost the most inspirational man of my childhood. The most amazing, loving, funny, grumpy grandpa everyone wished they had. I am unbelievably lucky to have had him in my life and am so grateful he was there to walk me down the aisle and be there for all the other pivotal moments in my life. He taught us all that family is what matters. That no matter what is happening in your life, good or bad, family is always there and is always first. In the end of my days if I take nothing with me, I will still be one of the richest in the world because the family I am so happily a part of has created this rich life for me. Thanks grandpa, I miss you.

Hiking/Camping: This marks another year of adventure, hikes, and camping! This year we made it to the BWCA, Eveleth for the Jacobson reunion, and many other camping adventures. To top it off we bought a vintage camper. It is most likely the cutest camper you've ever seen. I cannot wait to use it next year and hopefully even fix it up a little. Milo appreciates the camper over the tent sleeping arrangements, at least the troll is happy!

ChillyDog: This marks the year we traveled out of state for disc dog. This was the last competition of the year for Kyle and Cedar. We drove all the way to Purina Farms in Missouri to compete. Purina was pretty amazing. There were so many awesome teams there and everyone was so friendly. We made some new friends, got to put faces to names we've seen float around social media and have the opportunity to play disc one last time before the end of the year. This also marks the year we got to experience an ice storm. It was wild. Minnesota winters are harsh but I think Missouri ice is worse. We literally had to body slam our SUV to get the doors open. A really awesome part of our trip was getting to know Melissa, Kai, and Nox better. We fortunately were able to bunk with them while we were down there and had so much fun with her. She is such an awesome person. On top of that Minnesota brought their A game and rocked it at ChillyDog. At the end of our trip before we left we had dinner with everyone who put on the competition and got to know them better. I found that Jason Rigler and I have "nothing in common", except for that we both appreciate cats. We tried... almost perfect opposites.

 -Motorcycle: This marks the year Kyle bought a motorcycle. It's funny looking back and remembering Kyle say he would never own one and now here we are with an old awesome Honda. Paul, an awesome friend of ours, went with Kyle to pick it up and has helped him quite a few times in working on it. We appreciate him! Between rides to Excelsior to rides with family, we had a great time with his old new toy.

Here's to you 2016. Now in our memories, guide us to a better year in 2017 with even more adventures. Give us good health and remind us to see value in what's truly important. Kyle and I don't have anything set for 2017 but maybe that's the best way to enter a new year. With a clean slate. No plans. Just living each day as it comes and making the most of it.

With that... here's a little snippet of our year... it's definitely not everything or everyone that is important to us but just some of the highlights that were meaningful.