Dear Family and Friends,

What do I even say about 2020 … What a year, right?

It started off with us finding out I was pregnant on New Year’s Day. We were excited, but also a little freaked out. We had just moved to a foreign country. Life was a little crazy at the moment. And little did we know that the world was on the cusp of a global pandemic. 

That’s pretty much how I’d summarize 2020: seesawing from one extreme to the other. Lots of tears and fears mixed with uncertainty, anxiety, anger, isolation and boredom — AND lots of joy, excitement, love, adventure, friendship, laughter and peace. 

We had income loss, visits from family and friends cancelled, unmet expectations, and lonely months in government-mandated lockdown. We mourned the death of a dear friend. We watched from far away as parts of our home country burned because of racism.

But we also bonded like never before as our family of five spent hours upon hours together in a 900 square foot flat. Our home became a workplace, a school, a church, a playground, a yoga studio, a refuge. We held Easter egg races in our garden and went Trick-or-Treating door-to-door in our flat. We watched A LOT of movies and ate maybe too much Ben & Jerry’s.

When possible, we explored London and its varied neighborhoods, museums, canals and parks. Lance picked up city mountain biking and the kids mastered their scooters. We took day trips to the English countryside and then the coast, visiting castle after castle. We snuck in trips to Disneyland Paris, Scotland and Turkey. And we sadly sent our firstborn off to school (and she can feign a cute British accent because of it).

In August we welcomed Wesley C Stevens into our family. We’re not actually sure he’s ours, since neither of us were present for his birth. (Lance wasn’t allowed in the room and I was under anesthesia.) But he’s great so for now we’ll assume he’s ours.

See what I mean? A weird but wonderful year.

I love the analogy that we’re all in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Circumstances make this year look different for all of us. No matter if you’ve weathered the worst year of your life or happen to be unexpectedly benefiting from “The Year of the ‘Rona,” we wish the very best for you and your family. If you’re getting this card, we see you, we miss you, we love you. 

God bless 2021!!