2016: A Year With The Fetzer's

2016 is coming to a close. This time of the year always brings a lot of things for me; the excitement of new adventures and plans coming, nervousness for what challenges lie ahead, hope for an even better and brighter new year, and motivation to work towards and reach new goals. Today, it's brought, to me, a lot of reflection on the past 12 months.

2016 has been a challenging year for many. There is a lot of wickedness and unkindness in our world today and many are suffering. I am saddened by all of the hate and anger. I found myself with a heavy heart on many days this year just because of the chaos of the world around me. It is hard to avoid-it's on the news, it's in the paper, it's in an angry Facebook post, it's in the unkind sharing of gossip about a neighbor or ward member. It's on the streets, on our tv, on our computers, in our schools, and at work. It can be found everywhere you go. I am so grateful that my home is a haven away from the storm that is the world we live in. As I think month to month about the different blessings, trials, memories, and tender mercies our family received, I can see that God has been present in our lives all year long, as He always is. We have been so blessed and felt so much love this year. The world can be a dark place but, our homes are sacred places of refuge, protection, and love. I am so grateful for that. I'm also eternally grateful for the lights that are in our world despite the, sometimes overwhelming, dark. The light can be found as easily as the darkness can, if we choose to see it. It's in the kind smile of a stranger, it's in neighbors who are there for you when you need it, it's in friendship and family, it's in charity and service given by strangers to strangers. Light can be found in nearly every corner of the world. The best part is that we can be the ones to bring it. We can be that light in the world.

I hope that each of you have found light in your 2016 as we did and that that light will continue and grow in the next 12 months. I hope we can be that light for each other and can give it to others all year long.

As always, our family had opportunities to create many happy memories this year. These were some of the highlights for me:

A few things I want to remember:

• Emma learned to walk at 11 months old. It was so fun to see her enjoying her newfound independence. 
• Sam and I were called to be scout leaders and have absolutely loved it! Our boys are so funny and sweet and we enjoy hanging out with them. Emma has really enjoyed it too. 
• The three of us had a blast at IF4 (International Fly Fishing Film Festival) in March. Emma and I watched most of the films from the back since she was a little too squirmy to sit through the entire evening but, she did so good. It was a fun trip and we look forward to going again this year. 
• Sam's brother Jake got married to our beautiful, new sister in law, Skylie. They had a lovely wedding at the St. George LDS temple. 
• My cousin, Zack was also married to his sweet wife in the same month and I was blessed to get to make their wedding cupcakes. 
• We had a super fun "birthday month" this year. Sam turned 27, I turned 25, and little miss Emma turned 1. We had a big "tea party" celebration and so many of our friends and family came to show her love. 
• My sister, Olivia moved to Portland. This was a pretty sad day and we miss her all the time but we've had a few visits that have been fun. 
• Sam and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! We had an eventful trip to Zion National Park. There were a few obstacles but it was fun anyway. It was our first night away from Emma and we missed her! 
• We went on our annual cabin trip in July with Sam's family. It was especially wonderful to watch Emma play and enjoy herself there. There will be many more memories made at the family cabin. What a special place. 
• Emma went on her first plane ride and the two of us, along with my mom and aunt Brenda visited my sister in Portland. We saw all of the sights and more importantly, got to spend some time with Olivia. 
• Sam's grandmother passed away in December and we miss her. Because of her passing, we were all able to get together as a family right before Christmas and spend time together in Salt Lake. We visited Temple Square to see the lights and did some pre-Christmas shopping. 
• Christmas was so fun with Emma this year! Santa brought her a kitchen of her very own and she loves it! She is always cooking yummy food for mom, dad, and her baby dolls. 

I am looking forward to another great year in 2017. I'm grateful for the people that love and care about me and my little family and lift us up during the tough times. I'm grateful that I have the ability to do the same for others. It's a wonderful thing to think that we are all brothers and sisters and children of God. I plan to work on having a more Christlike love and spirit of giving for others this year. I was grateful for a sweet sister missionary who spoke in a ward Sam and I visited a few weeks ago. She talked about serving others and said that the best thing to do was simply "find a need and fill it". That has helped me find so many opportunities to help others. I see needs every day, right in front of me, that I can help with. It can be something as small as helping a neighbor move out a piece of furniture or holding a baby for a mother with her hands full. As the, always wise, Winnie the Pooh said, "A little consideration, a little thought for others makes all the difference."

I pray that each of you have wonderful, warm memories of 2016 to reflect on and that you find strength, happiness, peace, and love in the new year. Happy New Year everyone!

Feeling that Christmas Spirit

The past few weeks have been ridiculously busy. Not just the regular holiday season hustle and bustle, the kind of busy where you don't have time to sit or think or breathe. Probably one of the busiest times in my life. Being a mom to an active toddler is already busy enough. I also work from home and it's been a particularly hectic month at work. On top of that, I took on the job of coordinating a major charity event which is scheduled to take place at the end of December. Add the regular busyness of the holiday season plus the cake orders that I chose to take PLUS a nasty case of hand foot and mouth disease for my poor little Emma on to all of that and you have me, constantly on the verge of a panic attack, running around like a headless chicken. Needless to say, I found myself feeling extremely overwhelmed. 

The other day I looked at my calendar (which was still set to October) and was shocked when I realized that the first week in December had already passed by! I didn't have all of those wonderful, magical, spiritual, warm feelings of Christmas that I usually have this time of year. Although I'd been giving my time to others, I didn't feel good. I hadn't been taking care of myself, I hadn't been taking care of my family, and my spiritual, physical, and emotional health were all suffering. I needed to shift my focus. 

I resolved to spend the rest of the week enjoying the simple joys of the season and soaking in the moments with my family. All of the responsibilities were still there but, I wanted to find a better balance and focus more on those things that matter most to me. 

I was feeling a little discouraged by all of the pictures on social media of everyone's beautifully decorated trees and homes. The second week of December had already begun and my Christmas decor was still buried somewhere deep in a storage unit, gathering dust. I hadn't even had a moment to think about it. I decided that the next day would be the day to go on our annual family Christmas tree hunt. 

Emma just wanted to sit and eat snow in her giant marshmallow suit.

Note the golf ball-sized snowballs hanging from Daisy's fur.
She loves to frolic in the snow.

Poor Emma started to feel sick as we hunted for the tree so we didn't take our time but, we got our tree. It was imperfect, as real trees are, but beautiful and it smelled so lovely. I was excited to have a cozy evening at home decorating. It's one of my favorite nights of the year. It was somewhere between sips of hot cocoa, setting out the nativity, Bing Crosby's "Marshmallow World", and trimming the tree that I started to feel it-the Christmas spirit. I started to feel the excitement of experiencing all of these traditions with Emma this year. I felt warm as I held Emma up to get a better look at baby Jesus in his manger and then snuggled up on the couch to read her the first Christmas story of the year. I felt better than I had in a while. Thank heaven for Christmas. 

The rest of the weekend was spent at home, together with the four of us, listening to Christmas music, wrapping gifts, guzzling hot cocoa and cider, sitting by the tree, and watching Charlie Brown's Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. A wonderful weekend and a much needed break from the crazy whirlwind that has been my life. Emma didn't feel well which wasn't fun but, it also meant that I got double the amount of snuggles and I soaked it up. 

Emma started to feel much better today so this evening we decided to venture out on a drive to see the lights. We had heard about a neighborhood called "Christmas Lane" that was supposed to be a really great place to see Christmas lights in Cedar City. We've lived here for 5 years now and I couldn't believe we'd never heard of it! It was so neat! There were large signs in every yard with ordered sections of the poem, "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and the whole neighborhood was decked with lights and creative Christmas displays! A gingerbread house in one yard, a huge blow up Santa in another. One home had Santa waving from the window, another had a life sized nativity in the yard. It was beautiful-so beautiful that we did the loop twice. I wish I had more pictures to share but I was caught up in the moment. 

I've been so grateful for the time with my family. I'm (obviously) not perfect at it but, I'm working on shifting my focus to the reason for the season and taking time to experience all of the simple things that I so love about this time of year. I may have gotten a late start but, the important thing is that I'm doing it. I had been so excited when I saw the church's Christmas message encouraging everyone to "light the world" this Christmas. The other day, I felt the guilt as I realized that I had not done one of the things on the list. It was late in the evening and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to do whatever was assigned for that day. I started to beat myself up as I pulled up the calendar on my phone so that I could continue to make myself miserable over what I hadn't made the time to do. I suddenly felt light as I looked at the assignment for the day, "Jesus prayed for others, and so can you." I could do that one! I could do it right then. It was simple, but prayer is powerful. I felt a taste of that wonderful, warm spirit of Christmas, the spirit of giving, as I fervently prayed for those I loved and those I knew were in need. 

I'm looking forward to experiencing a few more of my favorite wonderful holiday traditions this year. I'm looking forward to time spent with family, time spent in reflection, and time spent in service. I also have already begun working on my New Years Resolution: SIMPLIFY. Merry Christmas everybody! May you feel the saviors love and light this season.