It’s amazing how many things can change in a year. I selected a few of moments from the year that I captured on camera.
The very first thing that happened in 2016 was getting our first puppy – Missy. She has been a great addition to our family. Drama crashed its way into the year via an off-duty cop that totaled our car in the parking lot of the mall.Our car getting towed away. Sad day.But it was soon replaced by a new-to-us Subaru Forester.Perhaps one of the biggest moments of the year was having Micah genetically tested, through which he was diagnosed with a rare syndrome called Kabuki Syndrome.As a stay-at-home dad, most of my days were spent playing with the boys. Often with them in the “oven.”Micah also started preschool in January, which has been an incredible and wonderful blessing to Micah and our family. Micah loves school, and gets excited every day to go.One of his favorite aspects about school is that he gets to ride the bus. Here is his first day riding the bus to school.His teachers always say that he is the happiest person in the class, always welcoming everyone with a big smile. As the boys grow older, they are becoming better and better friend.My good friend James drove all the way from Chicago to visit our family for a few days, and we went to go see Josh Garrels and John Mark McMillan. John Mark McMillanJosh Garrels and John Mark McMillanDuring the winter the boys and I have to find ways of entertaining ourselves, and Missy definitely added to the fun.My best friend Dennis came for a few days to visit our family. It’s always SO great to have friends visit us. It means so much to me.One day Micah wasn’t feeling so well. With bed head, no pants, and one sock he wanted to learn how to take pictures, and so I showed him.Sarah and the boys snuggling before bed. Micah got to help me get the yearly three red carnations for Sarah – a tradition I’ve now kept for 13 years.Micah got to experience his first valentine exchange at school. One of the saddest events of the year was the passing of my grandmother. It was good to be here to be with my family during this time. There was a warm spell that happened in the middle of winter and I took the boys to a park to enjoy some much needed time outside.I don’t get many pictures of me and the boys, but this is one of my favorites.On Easter my aunt treated us to a visit to the Easter bunny. During our unseasonably warm winter, the boys, Missy and I spent a good amount of time in the backyard getting rid of some energy.One of my favorites of the boys.Micah and I enjoying a nice fire in the back yard. Ezra hitting age two was a big milestone, and one that has changed the dynamic of our family in many ways.In March we met up with a few local families with children who have Kabuki Syndrome. We met at a huge indoor playground.In April, Sarah, the boys, and I did a March of Dimes walk.
Ezra looking out the bedroom window.
Ezra looking out the bedroom window.
#toddlerlifeOut on a family walk.My perdy wife. One of the most exciting events of the year was my sister’s wedding. #weddledblissThe boys playing the piano at the wedding.Going back home for my sister’s wedding made it so we could also the grandmas and grandpas. Here Micah and Ezra enjoy playing the guitar with Grammaw. Here’s the boys and Sarah playing with Grandpa Glenn and Grandma Ingrid. It was also great to meet up with two of my friends at a local park. We also got to spend some time with some friends in their new house. Micah and Ezra – their personalities in a photograph.Sarah looking over the boys playing in our pool. Micah being goofy in Sarah’s glasses.Another huge event that occurred this year was my brother’s graduation from high school. Here is my 96 year old grandma and my dad congratulating him on his big day.During some of the hottest days of the year we took the boys to a nearby park that had these fountains to play in. This is one of my favorite pictures of the year.It was quite the experience meeting Pope Francis at an event about racial justice here in town. He was a lot thinner than I expected. During the fourth of July my sister and her husband came to visit, and it was good to hang out with the newlyweds for the holiday.Not the sharpest picture, but one that captures joy and love. During the fourth Micah got to hang out with some cats. Greenie, the cat pictured here, was twenty at the time this picture was taken. She passed away a couple months later.Ezra and Greenie. Micah and Ezra watching the fireworks at the lake house.We had a great view of the fireworks from our porch. Every year a group of friends hosts a summer event called Comprestival. Here Andrew introduces Eric, who kicked off the music for the event. They are two of my oldest friends.July 4th was Sarah’s last day of breastfeeding Ezra. A moment that was very bittersweet for her.Perhaps the biggest transition we had this year came when Sarah and I accepted the position as a Family-Teaching couple at Boys Town. After we were offered the job, I took half a day and just walked around campus, thinking about what life might bring us here.We soon found out where we would be living, and we came to visit it one day with the boys. Here, Micah stands at the entrance to our apartment.Missy at the back gate of the backyard of our apartment.Micah and Ezra eating breakfast at our big dining room table.The view from our dining room window in the morning.Micah turned four this in September of this year.It was fun to celebrate it with two of our Boys Town girls this year.One day Micah came home from school with his school pictures, and I couldn’t believe how cute and perfect the picture was. Definitely my favorite picture of Micah.Ezra at an event we participated in. In October we met up with a group of families that had kids with Kabuki Syndrome, like Micah. Here is a classic “Scrunchy Smile” that is very common among Kabuki kids.Micah and me at the Kabuki gathering in Norfolk, Nebraska.As Autumn arrived, the colors exploded both inside and outside my home.So many leaves to rake!So many cute smiles to take pictures of!Micah has really grown accustomed to living with teenage girls, and loves to sit at the counter with them for breakfast.This winter we took a trip to a nearby state park and stayed in the lodge and let the kids play in their huge indoor playground, the same one we visited in March for the Kabuki gathering.Micah climbing the ropes in the playground.Each day I spend some time at our dining room table to think and reflect on the upcoming day.
Micah enjoying a nearby waterpark.
Ezra and his floaties at the water park.
It’s been quite the eventful year. Who knows what 2017 will bring for us?
Stepping Back 