I almost started this post with “This year was a busy year,” but I realized that I started my reflections on 2016 with the same words, and probably the year before that. It has been a full year, but I haven’t really been posting much on this blog, even though that was one of my goals for this year. It seems that the Internet has turned into a place where one now needs to always watch what personal information we put out in public. It didn’t always seem that way. Of course, the Internet was never a perfectly safe place (one still locks car doors when parking in even nice cities), but when I started writing this blog, it felt like I shouldn’t have a problem if I kept information that was too personal off the website. But this year I was torn. So I didn’t write much.

I posted pictures on Izzy’s blog. I waffled between making the blog private (in which case almost no one ever read it), or making it public so Susanna’s parents could see the pictures. I also posted on Instagram. Of course, on Instagram, that is the place to be this year. I posted here – more pictures than words – but my posts were not very frequent. And the boys posted even less in their blogs.

So, how did I do on my goals for the year? Not very well. My goals (from my post a year ago):

• Be more consistent in writing in this blog. I think it helps me to take time to focus on what I have finished.
  I put more pictures on this blog this year, but fewer words.
• Be better about posting pictures of Izzy in her blog.
  I think I did pretty well with this. I was able to get pictures into Lightroom, and post to the blog directly from Lightroom. 
• Do another “March Challenge.” This time with Will and Ben.
  Nope.
• Finish the coffee table.
  This I did finally finish (after too many months of it sitting in the shop).
• Make at least two additional pieces of furniture in the workshop.
  I think I did, though not for the house. I made a water table for Izzy with Dan, and some furniture for the workshop.
• Install the pool with Susanna and the boys.
  This was done, but not the pool we had planned at the start of the year.
• Finish the patio updates/outdoor kitchen.
  Nope. We did a lot of work on the patio, but it is not finished.
• Install a new door on the workshop and interior walls/insulation on one wall of the workshop.
  Nope.
• Improve insulation on the workshop and the boy’s play loft.
  Added on the workhop only. 
• Host a New Years party with Susanna.
  Considering that I am writing this on New Year’s Eve…
• Go bicycling with the family.
  I did some, but not as much as I wanted.
• Spend a good week with Ben working on his boat this summer.
  We did some work, but not a full week worth.

But overall it was a good year. Some of my memories from the year (and I’m sure I’ll think of a dozen more as soon as I post this):

• Getting a sailboat with Will (and driving half-way across the state to pick it up the day before we left on vacation) and almost sinking the boat when we launched it.
• Watching Izzy start walking, talking, and finding her own personality.
• Watching Will start at high school.
• Watching Ben have a great start to his final year in middle school.
• Going on a family vacation to New Hampshire.
• Taking a bowl turning class with Ben.
• Many weekends at the Mystic Seaport.
• Going on a long hike with my Dad.
• Saying goodbye to Targa.
• Getting a new cat with Ben.
• The mess of dealing with removing lead paint in this house.
• Having to stop installing windows to drive to the mall to give Susanna the spare keys when Izzy locked her out of the car in the rain.
• Being stuck in a dark airport with Ben when the power went out for hours at the Atlanta airport.
• My Mom visiting for spring break.
• Building a sandbox and water table for Izzy with Susanna’s dad.