January- Kicked off the year with Justin being gone frequently for work. This earned him enough points for us to go and enjoy a one night stay at the ocean. It was one of the few family vacations we have ever taken other than to visit family, and it was simply delightful.
February- Found out we were having another little girl. The ultra sound technician told Justin to get a male dog and a cigar to smoke in the garage because that was the closest thing he was getting to a boy this year. Haha! We were so excited to be having another girl and for Natalie to have a sister!
Natalie and I also traveled to my hometown to wish my basketball coaches well wishes as they retired from coaching.
March- Natalie turned 2! It was hard to believe. We had a small birthday party with dear family friends and she got many gifts that fit her perfectly. Justin continued to travel a lot. Many trips up to Canada!
April- We enjoyed spending Easter with a best friend from College, Amy Petersen (now Fullmer). She flew up from Utah to check out the Pacific Northwest. We really enjoyed some good library books during this time and introduced Natalie to potty training! She still enjoys a good book while sitting in the bathroom. Natalie and I made an impromptu trip to Ontario because my grandma was having some serious health struggles. We stayed for a week and visited with her, tried to help out as much as we could, and played with cousins.
May- Natalie got her first hair cut! The Primary did a visit to the Temple Visitor Center as our activity for the year. Justin got home from traveling, just in time for us to visit Ontario for a Memorial Day celebration. My family always does a big picnic along with decorating graves. It was a sunny windy day, but the food was delicious and we spent a lot of time with family. We did a lot of dry pack canning while at my mom's that weekend as well. Sadly, Grandma Corn had not recovered well from earlier this year and was steadily declining in her health. Natalie spent alot of time playing with her cousins and enjoyed going in the swimming pool at Annie's house.
June- Holy smokes it was one hot month! Thank goodness I was only 8 months pregnant... hahaha. We tried to keep a normal routine, stay cool and wait for baby girl to make her debut. I was very tired this month and did not feel real well. Thankfully Justin was close to home most nights. My Grandma Corn passed away at the very end of the month. We were sad to see her go, but were glad that her suffering was eased. We will see her again someday.
July- The 6th was Grandma Corn's funeral which I watched via FaceTime. (Technology is amazing!) Then 3 days later Jenna Ruth was born on July 9th! She came into the world a dark haired feisty beautiful girl. That pretty much sums up the rest of the year, haha. No, she is a sweet girl, but it has been a challenge adjusting to two young children.
August- Adjusting to a new baby and we blessed Jenna Ruth. Justin's parents and grandparents made the long trek up here, along with my parents, and younger brother and sister came. It was a precious day and I was grateful for the family support.
September- Our Presidencies First Primary Program happened. It went well! At the end of it we traveled to Ontario while Justin traveled to Maine for 2 weeks. Little did we know this trip would cause us to be moving in a short time.
October- Halloween- Natalie was a darling Cinderella and Jenna made a cute pumpkin. We did a lot with our Ward Harvest Party. We also really enjoyed General Conference, and Justin had a busy month with returning from Maine and traveling to Canada back to back weeks.
November- Flew to Utah for Thanksgiving! It was a fun trip and great to see all of the family. We made the decision we would accept the job in Eastern Oregon and would be moving. We also watched with sadness the state of the Refugee Crisis in Europe. This especially made us focus on our many blessing and privileges living in the United States.
December- Flew by! We celebrated our 4th and last Christmas in the Pacific Northwest. Put our house up for sale and sold it a week later. Enjoyed spending time with the many dear friends we have made over the past 4 years. Justin and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and we counted our many, many blessings in life.
It was an intense year for us. Many lessons in tenacity, praying, answered prayers, patience, and trusting in the Lord with all our might. He has a beautiful story for our life that I feel is refining us each day and has helped our family be stronger. We said goodbye to 2015 by keeping 2 little children up far late than they should be, but we look forward to 2016 and the things we will learn and the joy we will get to experience. Happy New Year to All!
Justin and Ruth Blazzard
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