2017 was kinda weird for my family.  It was the first time that our oldest, Jordan, hadn’t been home in over a year.  Instead of his coming home, each of us made a trip to Colorado to visit him.  Christmas came, and we got him for a week.  It’s a strange place in my parenting years to be: to go months without seeing a child.  We are knocking on the door of empty-nesting, and I honestly don’t know how Jim and I will deal with that.  It may be spectacular.  It may be depressing.  It’ll probably be a little of both.  What I know for sure is the complete wholeness I feel when the five of us are under the same roof.  It’s different now because each of us has different needs separately and as a unit.  Five adults require space, a lot of food, and a ton of wi-fi.  These times are special and fleeting, though.  I know that.  I’ll take these moments however I can get them.

February, 2017. Jim and Jordan at Keystone.

July. Culley visits for hiking and Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

August. Mother-and-child reunion. Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.

November. Livi spent Thanksgiving with Jordan in Boulder.

December. Together at last. Hilton Head Island.