End of the Year 2017

How can it be that another year has already flown by? I literally feel like I was just sitting down to work on this project for End of the Year 2016. But now we've already all lived another year and it's time to document it best I can. I know I never post on my blog anymore, but I love doing these look backs just for my own sake. The way the years fly, it's nice to have a way of looking back and remembering everything that happened.

This year has been huge for me....I graduated high school, I got my first jobs, I got baptized, I saw several different states and famous landmarks, and I got accepted to a Bible college in WY. I'm so thankful I've gotten to live another year!

And so the year begins....

Cold walks down to the mail....these were always something I enjoyed doing!

Baby Faith Gabrellia was born. Janeal went down to Montana to babysit very last minute. She had tickets for Saturday, the 14th, but Faith was in a hurry to be born, so Janeal actually arrived to Zach and Karin's house Wednesday evening on the 11th. Zach and Karin left for the hospital about 10 minutes after she arrived, and Faith was born just after midnight.
I remember this day so well.....I felt like I was becoming an aunt all over again because I finally had a niece! I was so excited that whole day....I went glasses shopping and found a cute new pair, I had my ASL class where I was able to tell some of my classmates about my new little niece, and then in the evening, Tommy, William, and I went to a basketball game and cheered on our  'what would have been our high school team had we gone to high school' team. I went to bed that night full of thankfulness and excitement. 

So many rounds of Dominion were played during the months of January and February. I think this was the day that Tommy, William, and I played about five games right in a row. These were good memories though. We'd drink coffee and listen to Adam Young's albums the whole time. :) 

Can't forget about the fact that I was still doing sign language at the beginning of this year! I loved being able to do that. In this picture, we were having a fashion show....something that definitely wasn't my favorite thing, but we ended our fashion show with about 30 minutes of class left, so  our teacher told us to get into small groups and gave us a list of questions to talk about so I got to talk with my friends, Megan and Amy. It was great practice for all of us and also a fun time to be able to get to know each other better.

I had to make this valentines day sign since Valentines day is one of my favorites after all. :) 

Dad would go out every night and run on this crazy thing. We liked to give him a hard time about it. :)

Baker games....

    FEBRUARY

The beginning of the month there was so much snow. It was just crazy weather. In this picture I was pulling Little Miss Princess (aka Minnie) down to the mail. We were babysitting her and her brother for a couple days which was definitely exciting. :) 

Fun times hanging out with Jeff and Emily in their old apartment. It was such terrible weather outside when I took this picture. It was snowing and there was already so much snow accumulated. I stepped in a drift just to see how high it was and it was almost up to my waist! 

Freezing rain. It made for some cool looking photos though. 

Fun afternoon at the Yosts sledding, playing cards, and adventuring into the mountains. 

Schooool! It seems like so long ago that I was doing school every day! I would sit and listen to my classical playlist on Spotify....or since it was the month of February, I was mostly likely listening to Cornfield Chase by Hans Zimmer on repeat one. ;)

I may look relaxed in this photo, but in reality....it was a struggle trying to get this photo without the camera showing. Haha

Janeal came home from Montana after a whole month being gone! We all decided to go pick her up which was a fun surprise for her. In this photo, Tommy was trying to imitate Buddy from Elf by going up the escalator like that. It wasn't long before the escalator started beeping though so he stopped doing that. ;) 

One last Baker game! Go, go, go, go BAKER!!!! (I definitely heard lots of those little cheers from the cheerleaders at all those games I went to! haha) 

Got my hair cut and a subtle highlight. It was my first time to get a dye in my hair and it was so much fun! William gave me a check and told me to do it since I always give him haircuts. 

Random Saturday afternoon hanging out at church and eating pizza. 

I love these children!

I called this the 'Last Supper.' The next day, Mom, Janeal, and I were starting in on the Whole30 diet. (Whole30= No sugar, no gluten, no grains, no dairy. Basically, all you can eat are whole foods like vegetables and fruit and meat. Lots of meat.) The only reason I decided to do this diet was only because all the boys told me I would never be able to make it that long without sugar to which I said, "Well go ahead and watch me make it!"

MARCH

Surprise birthday visit to Auntie Sandy. We sat and talked and she drew us this picture of all of us and Skylar. 

Janeal and I had to make a quick visit to drop off some stuff at this sad, empty house. As I walked in, the smell of their house hit me and I imagined all my little nephews running around and Zach and Karin being right inside. That visit was the first time it really hit me hard that they aren't here anymore.  This house holds so many wonderful memories. I'm so thankful for the two years we were able to have Zach and Karin with us. 

Game night at Michael's with Taylor, Ben, and Abi! We really wanted some coffee, but since we didn't have a coffee grinder, we had to get creative and use that sledge hammer. 

Making a pie one afternoon.....I think the amount that the pie is going to yield was a bit of a mistake. I made sure to cross it off. ;) This was the day I decided to make pies because I knew that Lena was coming to work out with Janeal so I needed an excuse to not have to work out with those two. Haha. I don't mind working out, but I just didn't really want to that day. ;)

Marika's wedding!! (wedding number 1 of the year) This was such a fun day! I absolutely love weddings so every one is super fun and special. 

First lawn mowing! I always love it when the weather is finally clear enough to start mowing. :)

Jeffrey and Emily's first home! We spent the whole week helping clean things and get the house ready for moving day. 

Can't get over how much I love the spring time. (But then again, I would say that for every season!!) 

Moving day! And at this point, my Whole30 diet was official over so I could finally eat normal food again! It was so hard having to decline all the good junk food at all the work parties at Emily's house during that time. Pizza, soda, chips......I just always had to make sure to bring my fruit and vegetables with me so I wouldn't feel completely left out. ;) 

Thankful for the big trucks we had to stick everything in!

APRIL

The first of April was spent at the farm. It was just like the olden days when we'd go spend a day helping out and then just spending time with each other. 

Frisbee with friends

Friends!

Have I said yet how much I love spring? 

Walk down Homestead with Emily. The mountains in the distance are so pretty!

Easter Sunday. He is risen!

I just appreciated this tulip....its all purple, but then there is that blue part that is super cool.

Let the softball games begin!! Jeffrey's roster for his team was cracking me up since he made up all these different nicknames for his people....

Engagement pictures for this sweet couple!

One of my favorites from the evening. :) 

Mom's birthday!

Hanging out at Michael's river!

MAY

This picture somewhat sums up my May. Lilacs and my passport. I was in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. I guess it's not that many places....but it definitely felt like it. :)

Nikki and Aunt Marlene came to visit again which made for some fun new memories.

Pike Place! It was the first time I've ever been there, and it was a fun experience. My favorite part was probably all the flowers and just all the different lilacs in general that I saw. (If you can't tell already, Lilacs are my very favorite flower. :)

I had just finished taking my SAT when I took this picture! I was so happy, and also a little bit stressed because I had to leave for Montana the next day. I was busy packing!

Here I come, Montana!!! (I may look relaxed in this photo.....but my foot was hurting soooo bad right there. I could hardly walk because that's how much it hurt. I was just hobbling along in the airport, telling Janeal to slow down. I think it was because of my shoes, because that only happens when I wear those shoes. I need to get rid of them..... ;)

I sent this picture to the family after I took it and the boys went on and on about how glad they were that there was a Road Closed sign in the background because otherwise people might not have realized that the road was actually closed. Those goofy brothers of mine! Haha :)

The kids would always go to bed super early, so Janeal and I would usually take advantage of that and do something fun afterwards. Usually we would walk, but that evening, I made myself a root beer float and I think we ended up watching, 'The Parent Trap' even though it looks like we were going to watch Tarzan. ;) 

Going to pick up Karin and Benjamin!!! We were all so excited to have them back home. :)

I love these two!

Cuz...ya know....sitting with my feet dangling off the top of a very big cliff is totally normal. Plus...it was a good view of Billings...so can't complain. ;) 

Siblings.

What a fun, fun, visit Janeal and I had that first trip we took to Montana!! And saying good bye wasn't hard at all because we told them we'd be back before they even knew it. 

I was back home for about a week before our next adventures began! During that time, I order these two new piano books that I was really excited to get. I love this music! 

The Walk for Life! 

And we're back on vacation!! This time though, we were driving. It definitely made for some fun memories.....card games at the main table in the RV, waving to random people while stuck in traffic, laying on the back bed and watching the scenery out the back window, (and also waving to random people then.  So many people would start waving once they saw us! One car got really excited and even started flashing his lights at us!) trying to find ways to entertain ourselves, the campsite we stayed at our first night and Tommy giving us an object lesson about two pine cones being thrown into the water and watching them float away, (what was he trying to teach us again? Not really sure, but probably something about life and lovers knowing Tommy....hahaha) and the many hours spent looking out the window

We arrived at Billings!! This picture cracks me up. Michael's air mattress is closest to us, William's is in the middle, and then there's Tommy's air mattress at the very end. Hahaha 

Goofy Sunday morning photos while waiting for everyone to get ready for church.

Dwight was absolutely convinced that the shoes he has on in the photo were his shoes. He told Karin several times they were his shoes. (They were really Benjamin's ;) He tried walking in them and we were all trying hard not to laugh at him! This little kid, walking around with huge shoes, and adorable glasses. It was a pretty hilarious sight. 

I love the way he smiles!!

Custer's Last Stand Nation Park. This place was really cool. There was so much history involved. The boys would read the little booklet that gave the details about the history and then we'd be right in the same place where everything happened. I was trying to imagine what it was like.....the blazing sun, the sound of all the crickets, and looking out over the mountains to the sight of all those Indians....

Janeal, Karin, and I went on a shopping trip afterwards and of course stopped at a souvenir shop. :)

The kids were already all in bed here, so all of us adults were having pie and ice cream. Then we watched Sherlock while drinking coffee. It's times like these that I love being a big kid. 

Chucky-Cheese! The twins absolutely love it here...

After we went to Chucky-Cheese, Karin took the kids home and the rest of us plus Zach headed over to Scheels and some other stores. Its not every day you see a Ferris wheel inside a store so of course I took a ride on it. ;)

We also went to Costco and re stalked our snack supply. 

Zach, Dwight, Janeal, and I brought Michael to the airport since he couldn't stay for the whole visit. You can't really see Dwight in this picture, but he's definitely there....running down the hall way like he always does. :) 

From Zach and Karin's neighborhood, you can walk down a little ways and see a pretty good amount of Billings. You can see the airport way in the distance too, so Mom, Dad, Janeal, and I went and watched for Michael's plane to leave which we saw. 

And we head out!!

All the rest of our adventures....Devil's tower, Mount Rushmore, SD, Cody, WY,  Yellowstone. There were so many cool land marks that I saw! And one of my favorite things was the fact that South Dakota still had lilacs all in bloom. I felt like I saw lilacs all month long....the first week in Washington, the next weeks in Montana, and the last in South Dakota.

JUNE

One of my favorite sights. We were close to home again!!

Sparky was actually really smart this afternoon....he stood as still as a statue, watched this squirrel slowly come down, and then the minute it touched the ground, chased after it and caught it. We were pretty impressed with him that afternoon!

Tommy and I helped serve potatoes for Pape at the Deming Log Show.

Drew and Julia's wedding! (Wedding number 2) The food there was...amazing! And there was so much of it!

A fun afternoon hiking up Steward mountain with friends and then playing frisbee in the evening. At this point, I was pretty positive I would be attending Frontier School of the Bible in the fall. Little did I realize that I would be going there, but not until the winter! :)

Nikki and I both wanted to watch the Duggar's together, so we just called each other and watched the same thing at the same time. It was a pretty fun evening because it was just like we were watching it together! 

Janeal's birthday and also Papa's birthday spent in Benton City!

Spending time with Papa

This day was so fun. It started out with Michael, Tommy, and I heading to the farm to help Uncle Fred get his place looking nice for a Holstein convention. First we stopped at Ralleys and Michael found this nice truck that he bought....

...then we made it to the farm and William showed us his new motorcycle that he had just gotten the day before. He also did a drive by which was pretty fun to listen to. He was speeding past us! ....

....then Tommy and I left the farm early and headed over to our friend's house for Frisbee, a campfire, and then we ended the night watching fireworks in Sumas.

My graduation dinner! (this day was also the same day that I got baptized, so I had lots of different emotions going on that day....excitement was probably the biggest, but I was also a little nervous for reading my testimony in front of everyone)

Right before the three of us got baptized!! This was one of my favorite memories, because we got into the bathroom and were just talking to each other about the service and how excited we all were for the next part!! That day is so special in my memory. :) I'm so thankful I was able to get baptized along with these girls and another good friend. 

Watercoloring and handlettering became a big part of my year....

And you can't forget about those Monday night softball games....

Uncle Fred's Holstein convention at his house! There were hundreds of people who came from all over the country to tour his farm and see how he did things. 

Uncle Fred and his family after it was all over! 

Let the summer fun begin! 

JULY

And now we get into the 'Saturday of Summer' as Janeal calls it. July was my absolute favorite month of this year. I started working at Haugens which made for some fantastic summer memories....hours spent on the berry picker listening to the radio blaring out Despacito and all those other popular pop songs of 2017, picking buckets of berries for the we-pick, goofing off with Allie and Isabella, getting incredibly sunburned/tan, and talking with customers as I walked out to the row they were suppose to pick in or as I helped them weigh out their berries. (Weighing out customers berries was so stressful.....math isn't my best strong point)

The 4th of July at the berry farm! We decorated with red, white, and blue, and wished our customers a happy 4th of July. I should have gotten off work around 6:00, but Kelly told me to go home early and 'light up the sky' with my family and friends. I was very thankful about that. :)

This was one of the games we were playing. We were all suppose to hide from the 'it' person, so this is where Tommy hid. He stayed there for a while before that person finally saw him. We were getting a kick out of it. 

Early mornings waiting for customers to get to the raspberry farm. I appreciated the way this soap looked cuz it was half pink and half clear color. 

Birthday parties at the lake!! These were always so fun....

These two!! I had so much fun with them during our work season!

So many boxes needed to be made every day in between helping customers. 

And being on the picker! This was a long day...almost 12 hours. The reason it took so long was because we were in the very heart of the berry season and they were so ripe! The berries were coming in soo fast! All those flats you see at the end of the picker are just from one round! (One round means up and down a row) Usually we just get about one stack, but that day we were getting two+ stacks. We had to unload about every two rounds. 

Every Monday night I still attended softball games which always made for fun memories. I would always go over to Emily and Jeff's house in between work and softball and hang out with them before walking over to the games with Emily. 

More berries....I don't even want to know how many raspberries I ate this year!! 

Spontaneous McDonald's run with Grace before a baby shower one evening! We were both being so crazy that evening.

During all that work with the raspberries, I was trying to focus on Austin and Christy's wedding that was coming up soon! I had so many responsibilities for that day....hair and makeup for several of the girls and then photography for the reception. I was really excited for all of it. In this picture, I was testing different hairstyles that were fast, but elegant. I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to do everyone's hair, so I had to try working my fastest without being sloppy. 

Haha, Isabella and Allie always crack me up. When we were unloading the flats once, I ran to the shop to grab some more waters and use the bathroom, and these little signs were all over the bathroom door. 

This was a really fun day. Jase and Lukus joined us on the picker which eventually lead to Jase throwing berries at all of us. I was so dirty with raspberry stains on my clothes when we were done! Then afterwards, Kelly said she would take us on a tour of the raspberry plant, so we went and got the grand tour. It was really neat seeing what all happens to the berries we pick. 

The same day was William's birthday, so I went home and we have a fiesta! Well...the fiesta ended a little short, since William wanted to go to the theater with the family and watch Dunkirk. 

Helping set up for Austin and Christy's wedding!

My last day at work......Tommy came and brought me this Italian Soda. All my co-workers were saying, "I wish my brother would bring me an Italian soda on my last day of work!" :)

Rehearsal dinner for Austin and Christy! 

I promised Allie a Mocha milkshake, so I came and visited one last time before saying good bye. I was so sad to leave! 

My pile of supplies for the wedding. Hairspray, makeup, and everything you can think of. I even had a bar of chocolate in that pile of stuff! You never know when you might need chocolate. Haha :)

The wedding day!! (Wedding #3) I got to church around 6:15 and started in with Lena's hair and makeup. Then I did Cassidy's makeup, Hannah's hair and makeup, Christy's makeup, Mrs. V's hair, my hair and makeup, and then helped with Emily. It was a full morning, but a lot of fun. 

Christy was a beautiful bride!

The last Sunday in July, a big group of us went to get the 50 cent Frosties at Wendy's. :)

 AUGUST

Bring on the campout!! This is always a much looked forward to event. We are having a team effort here to set up my Christmas lights that I wanted to bring. We got Jacob and William holding Tommy's feet up, while all the other look on and give their advice. haha :)

Spazz is a big part of the campout. Look at that hand!! That's pretty good....although I still don't think I became 'King'

The Hammer's lake!! We went there Thursday and Friday this year and it was a blast. Afterwards, several of us went back to Maple Falls to get ice cream. 

Card games late into the night! That's what the campout is all about. This evening was so fun. We played games for a while, then went out in the field to do what you call 'Star tripping.' (that made for a lot of laughs) then we walked around the loop in the dark. Taylor and I were just hanging onto each other since we were scared. Haha. 

The next day of the campout, I started coughing and coughing. I thought it was due to all the wild fires, but later on in the month, the smoke cleared and I kept on coughing. I'm mostly not coughing anymore, but I still do every now and then. 

My lights came in to good use at night! You could see our campsite a mile away!

The Olympics!! I almost didn't play, but Joel made me so I had to. 

The burn ban was in effect.....so what else do you do, but get a big candle and warm your hands by that?! 

Watercolors....

Good bye party for some friends! We had a propane fire here, so we could get away with having a fire. :)

Pedicure with Taylor and Emily! 

Everyone gathering around, waiting for Zach and Karin to get here! 

Dwight cracks me up...

After all the kids were in bed, we sneakily came over to Michael's to play card games. We did this a couple times....the next time we played Zombiecide the whole time which was a lot of fun. 

Quick picture with Miss Faith before leaving for the fair!!

I had such a fun time at the fair! I bought a wristband, and started going on a bunch of rides with the twins. Alexander was so cute when we went on this ride. He was super scared, but he ended up loving it in the end. 

Pretty soon, Alexander and Benjamin met up with their cousins, so Tommy and I did some rides and then I went and found Grace, Jacob, and their cousins and we all hung out for a bit. My favorite ride from that whole evening was probably the Orbiter. It was so fun and crazy!! 

Showing pictures from our year so far to Karin and telling her all the stories that went along with them. It's always fun getting caught up with everyone again. :)

Uncle Fred's farm with Zach and the boys! The twins were letting this calf suck their finger here. It took them a little bit to warm up to the cow, but once they were brave enough to try it, they enjoyed it. 

Dwight was so cute, walking along with his bucket of water and watering the flowers. 

More water coloring and hand lettering for a good friend leaving for college! 

No one can forget about the great American Eclipse. I was a little disappointed because I thought it would get a lot darker than it did, but it was still pretty weird. It just felt like it was dusk instead of day. 

The sun and the moon....

A boy and his dog. (and a screen in between them...trust me, Dwight loves that dog but he is also terrified of him haha)

Dad and Mom's anniversary! 

Aunt fail......I only wanted one last selfie with Dwight before he left....but he didn't want to take one. Whatever. ;)

Janeal bought a new car!! (and I bought new cheeta print high heels ;)

Nikki and Aunt Marlene visit!! Aunt Marlene wanted to see some pretty sights so we took this trip to Mount Baker. It really was beautiful up there! That was our view for lunch... 

Friday Harbor!

We like taking goofy pictures......my hair is having some problems here....but then again, it always has problems haha

Finally felt like I wasn't coughing as bad so I could apply to this job! I got an answer right away, followed with an interview, and then the job! I was so excited to start in on my next job...........

SEPTEMBER

Grandpa and Sparky

Last boating event at the Langleys! 

The next day, William, Tommy, and I went to visit Uncle Walt and then spent the day boating and riding the jet ski. Towards the end of it, Robbie, Tommy, and I were sitting on top of the boat just relaxing and talking. I always love hanging out with those two, so it was very entertaining. :)

Let the work at Woods begin! For the first couple of weeks, I was just doing a 3 hour shift making cookies. Everyone called me the 'cookie girl.' 

A big part of my year.....my Bible reading. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to try to read through my Bible 4 times in a year, and I was able to complete that!

Early mornings. I started at 6 for the cookie shift, 6:30 for Bench 2, and 3:30 for mixing. Once I started learning mixing, I always loved my two other shifts cuz I knew I would be able to sleep in. ;)

Starting training for mixing. I was so stressed out. I was suddenly thrown into a position where everyone is counting on you to make all their stuff and I only got four days of training! Annnyways....I should complain about it anymore haha

Corn day! I think Tommy was maybe trying to do an 'ear of corn' here? Haha...

Emily's golden birthday so of course we decorated with gold. 

OCTOBER

A week later, both us and the B's got together at Jeff and Emily's to celebrate Jeff''s birthday. It was a lot of fun, but the thing that made me the most excited was when Jeff said, "Hey, I want to show you a present Emily got me!" and then pulled out a little onsie that said, "Baby Balvanz arriving May 2018," on it. I was soooo excited! 

My bedroom window  view

Trying out Christmas recipes at work....

Goofs....

Soccer game with these girls!

First real sign to make. I gave it to a friend for her wedding. (Wedding #4)

Tommy and Taylor started offically dating!

Sparky is so unimpressed. ;)

 Applying for Frontier School of the Bible. I got accepted on the 22nd of November!

NOVEMBER

Hahaha...these two....

Tessa and Charles. What a fun evening! (Wedding #5) 

My 19th birthday!!

The harvest festival at church.....always a good time. 

Spontaneous black Friday shopping on Thursday evening. 

DECEMBER

Sparky hasn't learned how to pose yet....I'm working on it with him ;)

Christmas Eve! That evening was one of my favorites because we did a special Christmas Eve service. It was such a blast going up front and singing and reading. 

Grandpa and I on Christmas day! I asked if he wanted to get a selfie with me, and then he forgot I even took one with him about 2 minutes later. :) He's a funny one. :)

New Years Eve. My last Sunday home for several months. I'm going to miss these girls!

He's going to be such a little heart breaker when he gets a little older. I mean, just look at him now. ;)

I love these three so much!

One last selfie of 2017 with some of my favorite people!! 

2017 has been such a memorable year. I'm so thankful for all the lessons learned. There have been some hard situations I've been through this year, but I'm able to look back now and see how much that has grown and matured me and I'm so thankful.
2018.....Lets do this!

Until next time,
Caroline