Mid-January already. What have we done so far this year?

Can you believe we are already half way through January?!
And while we don’t have any big adventures on the books for 2026, I am excited to focus on our favorite activities that tend to fill our weeks throughout the year.

We started 2026 by ringing in the new year with Kevin’s brother and his family in western New York. It snowed consistently for four days, giving ample opportunity for much snow play for the cousins and yummy food consumption inside.

We returned home on January 1st to begin the year hanging out with six of the most awesome people we know. Our good friends from Oklahoma came to New York to get some “real winter” adventures. Something they’ve been missing since moving 7 years ago. They say ‘friends are the family you choose’ and this couldn’t be more true our collective 12-pack. We tried to squeeze in as much winter fun as we could while they visited. Here’s a few pictures from the first week.

We met the Bontornos in 2014 when our oldest girls were in preschool together. This year those preschoolers turn 16! So the next week we had a ‘big girls’ trip to New York City. A whirlwind trip full of all things New York City.

Then it was back home to reunite with the men and boys and younger girls. We used a grey day to share some of our favoite pastimes.

The skies brightened and I took the big kids back to the mountain for another day on the slopes. And we squeezed in one more day of sledding at a local hill.

After on last meal together our friends loaded up for their drive home. Our week ‘alone’ at home has been very queit and unexciting by comparison. We’re slowing getting back into school routines. The older two are preparing for opening night of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, opening next week, the younger two are climbing regularly, and Rayleigh just finished her winter-mester course at SUNY. Here’s to more outdoor adventures next week and lots of memories to treasure.