My year in pictures … briefly

The end of 2023 has arrived, so time for an abundance of year in review pieces and posts all around the blogosphere and beyond.

Naturally, I have mine to add.

Here, friends, is my year in review … by way of one photo for each month. I wouldn’t say the photos are the best or highlight of the month. They’re simply, for the most part, my way of sharing of a snippet of what went down in my world January 2023 through December 2023 — especially considering my lack of sharing anything here throughout the year.

JANUARY

Robert, Benjamin, and Callie waiting for PawDad — the highlight of visits to our house — to arrive home from work. cutie patooties.

FEBRUARY

By february of 2023, i hadn’t seen my arizona grandsons in more than six months and, for a variety of reasons, an opportunity to see them in the coming year seemed unlikely. so i missed them horribly and looked at photos of them often.

MARCH

brianna and her family honored jim with a dinner out for his birthday. jim wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the gift.

APRIL

Temps were finally warming up in colorado, and callie enjoyed every opportunity to soak up the sun.

MAY

Jim and i were delighted to see one of my favorite performers — matt maher (with Phil Wickham and leeland) — in a very small venue. it was an Excellent, soul-stirring concert.

JUNE

june is a busy birthday month for my family. camden kicks it off each year, with his on june 1. following him are declan, brayden, my adult bonus grandson tyler, then me. several other non-immediate family members have theirs in june, too.

JULY

i hosted a gathering at the end of july for this great group of folks i love so much: my niece and nephew, kids of my sister who passed in 2020, and their families plus my local family. love, love, love!

AUGUST

I grow a lot of flowers in my yard and come august, it’s time to start saving seeds from the spent ones for next season. this year i learned that snapdragon seeds come out of hulls that look like skulls. Skulls! absolutely floored me! i had to share with everyone i know. Sometimes more than once.

SEPTEMBER

Callie, still soaking up the sun, now in piles of leaves from all my trees. i love fall. she loves the fallen leaves. nearly as much as she loves the sun.

OCTOBER

in spite of all my lamenting and being lonely for them in february — and every other month — jim and i did get to visit our favorite arizona grandsons in october.

NOVEMBER

Robert’s third birthday was on thanksgiving this year. his family, including jim and me, celebrated his big day on sunday of thanksgiving weekend. at the zoo. in (literally) freezing temps. we had so much fun we didn’t even notice the cold. literally.

DECEMBER

christmas this year had a, well, decidedly covid christmas of 2020 feel to it. Brianna’s entire family — including patrick’s mom, visiting from california — were so sick that we didn’t all gather together, as originally planned. jim and a brought gifts to them (twice, to accommodate james’ sharing of the holiday with dad patrick then leaving for his mom’s) then hosted andrea and allen at our place. you do what you gotta do, though, and we all did it with love and lots of laughs. and hopes that christmas 2024 will be a healthier one.

Farewell, 2023! Cheers to 2024 and the promise it holds for one and all!