{2016 Christmas Letter}

Here we are again, at the close of another year.  2016 was quite the eventful year for the Mighty Meeks!  Our biggest highlight of the year was being able to take our whole family on a 2 week trip to England.  We loved sharing London with our kids, and were able to enjoy time with friends while we were there.  We saw so many fun things, and had a wonderful time!

Gabe (right) and his best friend, Mica (left) show off their graduation shirts.

Gabe (18 and a freshman...in COLLEGE!) had a very busy and joy filled year.  He turned 18 in February and ran track in the spring.  He worked very hard for his team and was part of a first-ever podium sweep at the District meet for the 3200m run where all top 8 places were from North Central.  May and June were filled with "last" moments of high school... Last band concert, last AP exam, last track banquet...until, finally, graduation!  Gabe graduated as a Distinguished Valedictorian from North Central High School in June.  He was also honored as one of the Outstanding English Students of the Year, and earned many accolades from his AP scores, and hard work at maintaining his 4.0 the whole way through high school.  He is now attending Whitworth University here in Spokane.  He is living at home, which is saving him a pretty penny, but is connecting and making friends through the Cross Country and Track teams.  He ran as 3rd man on the squad for most of the XC season and is enjoying college and college running.  His hard work continues to pay off both in school and on the XC course... He moved up to 2nd man for the final meet of the season, and is finishing his first semester of college as I type...having taken courses through the Honors program at Whitworth and keeping his grades up.  He is technically still undeclared, but leaning heavily toward and English major.

Bethany and Mica look great as they head to Prom.

Bethany (16 and a junior) lives for her running career.  She started her winter training by doing PT for a knee injury, which kept her out of track season until the last few meets.  She worked very hard to get her knee back in shape, and was able to qualify for the regional meet in the mile.  Her summer consisted of training, training, and more training.  She was a girl with a goal for State, and she came so close.  Her XC season was amazing, she ran the whole season with no injuries (a first!), and PR's around every corner.  Her dream of State came up short this year, but we are very hopeful that a strong team next year will finally realize the dream of an NC Girls State Title.  She has also done a great job in the classroom this year, earning mostly A's and B's.  However, she is quite ready to be done with Math!  Beth is still dating Mica, who is now a freshman at WSU in Pullman.  They keep in touch via facebook and text, and enjoy time together any time he is able to make the trek back to Spokane on weekends.  Beth is beginning to consider her options for beyond high school, and while she isn't excited about heading to college, she is looking at some programs that may lead her into personal training, which Jon and I think she would be excellent at.  She loves to encourage her team to work hard, and is able to inspire them to give their best.

Micci and Jon after the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Michaela (13 and an 8th grader) has explored lots of new things this year, while still continuing with old favorites.  She turned 13 in January (all my babies are teenagers now!), continued to work hard at her studies and Irish dance, ran track in the Spring and ran cross country in the fall.  She ran with the NC girls during some of their summer "off-season" practices, and has made some great friends that she is excited to join in high school.  She is still attending the North Central IST (Institute of Science and Technology) program, so she is already at the high school, just not able to participate in sports with her sister and her friends yet.  She has been struggling a little bit with a knee problem because of the strain of dance and running, but so far she isn't ready to choose one or the other, so she is in PT to get strong and hopefully be able to continue with both.  She is keeping her grades up and has studied and learned a lot as a part of this program.  She has major goals of becoming a humanitarian aide worker when she grows up, and she works hard at her studies to help her reach this goal.  She has also donated school supplies to our local refugee agency, World Relief, and was very helpful with our Grace Church refugee dinner on Christmas Eve (as were Gabe and Bethany).

Dolly, our sweet pup, is now 6 years old.  She has mellowed a bit in her middle age, and spends her days lying on Micci's bed, "guarding" the neighborhood from rogue cats.  She has become quite lazy, but she is still a sucker for affection, and loves to curl up with us in the evenings for some cuddle time.

Jon and I are both doing well. We celebrated 20 years of marriage this year (the reason for our England trip), and we are still very much in love.  We really enjoyed taking our kids to England this year, it was probably the highlight of my year.  We are both still running, not as often as we would like to be, or as consistently as we would like to be, but still involved and enjoying it.  For some reason, my autumn and back to school were very busy, and so I have taken a season off of teaching Oula, but I am really hoping to get back to it this Winter and Spring.  I am still teaching at Holmes Elementary, and Jon is still teaching music lessons and pastoring our small church.  We are still loving Spokane, and enjoy being a part of the many different facets of our community. 

2016 was such a full year, I'm sure I will look back on it with joy and great memories.  We had many friends and family come to visit us this year, we hosted Thanksgiving, and had our wonderful trip.  We watched our amazing children continue to grow and change and become amazing young adults with big dreams and big hearts.  There are too many pictures of so much fun and wonderful things from 2016 to share here.  If you would like to follow my instagram (beccameek), I post regularly, so you can keep up with the happenings of the #mightymeeks. 

Much love and happiness to you all in the coming year!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

{Merry Christmas}

This post was supposed to happen a few days ago...  We celebrated Christmas with our kiddos on Monday in Spokane before making the three hour trek to Missoula to celebrate with family.  I had planned to do this decorations post early this week, and time has gotten away from me, so here I am, posting on Christmas Day.  Merry Christmas to you and yours...  I hope you enjoy this glimpse of a few of my favorite (Christmas) things.

 This peacock was given to me by my grandma.  It is one of my favorite vintage pieces of Christmas decor.  It clips to the tree instead of hanging.  The peacock is the family bird of the Pfau family, which was my grandma's maiden name, so this piece is a little piece of heritage.

 These beautiful shoes are from Gabe's first Christmas.  They are so heavy that we have to make sure they go on a sturdy branch!  It always makes me smile to see them come out of Gabe's Christmas box.

 These little mice have been my Christmas friends for as long as I can remember.  I just adore them.  Aren't they so cute?  They have been missing from our tree for two years...First, I lost them, then I found them and didn't put them back with the Christmas stuff, so of course I couldn't find them when Christmas rolled around again.  I'm so happy they've rejoined us this year!!

 This is one of Micci's ornaments, and it is versatile because M can stand for Micci, or for Meek!  It is so pretty and winterish.  

 Another one from my childhood, this angel was given to me when I was three.  I always look forward to pulling her out and hanging her on the tree.

 Our tree!

 Gabe's manger scene, another gift from my grandma.  I used to play with this scene as a child and I would reenact the Nativity story with the different pieces and characters.  When Gabe was old enough, he did the same thing (although he may have added in a few Lego characters, too).  When Grandma got a new set, she gifted this one to Gabe, so it is always set up at Christmas now.

 A new addition this year, I spent some time making garland from old sheet music.  It was a fun, quick project that added a nice touch to our decor.

 Our very small Christmas village consists of a school and a firehouse.  They make a nice addition atop the piano since we no longer have a mantle.

 And speaking of no mantle, I had a hard time deciding where to put our stockings this year, but this spot in the dining room works perfectly!  I added a few Christmas-y touches to our stocking holders...My last three Santa mugs, and a couple of candles, the Joy, Peace and Hope ornaments, and of course the stockings themselves.  I made these ones three years ago from some burlap and vintage lace and satin I had around.  I just love them.

My centerpiece for the coffee table in the living room includes some pine cones, a snow globe and my big jar.  Normally the jar is filled with sand dollars, but for Christmas, I emptied it and added some beaded garland, a string of battery powered lights, and my set of Lighted Ice vintage Christmas bulbs.  These are from a set that my other grandma had, and only two of them still work, but I love them so much that I had to display them.  So I popped them into the jar and they are beautiful!  I also scattered pine cones throughout my living room and dining room to add some wintery touches.  

Well, there you have it.  A quick view of some special Christmas decor that always makes our season bright.  Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!  Watch for our New Year's letter coming soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

Thinking about Christmas

I'm already beginning to think Christmas around here.  Unpacking all our boxes had the happy chance to reacquaint me with some of my Christmas fabric, which has my creative juices flowing.  You may remember these from last year:

Burlap Christmas stocking with vintage fabric and lace

I'm now selling them in my Etsy shop; with lots more ideas of Christmas-y goodness to come.
There are some other fun items in the shop already, so feel free to check them out.

A Christmas Poem... Our year in review.

Four days before Christmas, we’ve just settled in
For some pre-holiday fun and some relaxin’.
It’s that time of year, when we take back a look,
At the fun that we’ve had, ‘fore we close the book…

On yet one more year. Two thousand and eight
Is closing down soon, but, man, was it great.
Michaela turned five, and went off to school,
Her Mommy cried, like most Mommies do.
But, wait, Mommy went back to school, too!

“Madame Librarian,” that’s what I’ll be called,
If all goes as planned, I’ll have a “real” job in the fall!
Bethany’s in third grade, she’s now a fiddlin’ fool,
She’s still a monkey, and doing well in school.

Gabe is in 5th now, he’s right at the top.
Reading’s his strong suit, we can’t get him to stop!
Scouts and robotics club, that’s what else he does,
Legos and saxophone, two more things he loves.

Jon is still strumming the old guitar,
He brings home the bread from near and from far.
He’s still writing songs, which I think are the best!
And hopefully, someday, so will the rest…….(of you)!

Another bright spot in our wild crazy year,
Jon and I traveled to England, land of good “cheer.”
A conference, sightseeing, wonderful new friends,
It’s really too bad it had to come to an end.

But then there was Silverwood, where fun abounds,
Until the second day, lightning drove us off the grounds.
This was a bummer for all of us there,
But when you’re with friends, you make fun anywhere!

So there is our year in a nutshell my friends,
The Meeks are busy, but the fun never ends.
Stop by and see us, or give us a call,
And we wish Merry Christmas, to one, and to all!

Time to update....

Wow, has it really been since August that I've updated this thing? Seems not right. Well, one of my New Year's resolutions is to update my blog more frequently, so I guess I'll start now. Look for our family's Christmas letter to come soon, since I didn't send it out this year. And since I put those little notes in all of your Christmas Cards, I guess I should keep you informed.


Gabe's cast is expected to come off on Tuesday. For anyone who didn't know, he broke his wrist at the beginning of December. He has been in very good spirits about it the whole time, but he is very excited to get the cast off.

Bethany is playing Christmas songs with some other violinists before church this Sunday. I'm pretty excited that she has progressed on her violin enough to be able to do this! She really enjoys playing!


Michaela will be singing at church this week as well. Her Christmas Program was yesterday, and she did a great job!

I'm done with school for the semester, having achieved A's in both my classes! I'll take one class next semester, and I'll be working as much as possible, too! Right now, though, it's Christmas Vacation, and I'm planning to enjoy the next two weeks. The plan that isn't really a plan includes baking cookies, getting the house back in order after a semester of craziness, hanging out with the kids, and just enjoying our family.

Til next time...
Becca