Logsdon's big adventures!

2024 was a tough year for us, full of lots of growing pains and learning, difficult seasons of parenting, tough breaks (literally) and a whole lot of car trouble.  But despite that, we choose to look at the many moments of provision and protection that we have seen and to be thankful for the friends and family that the Lord has blessed us with.  We will choose to dwell in the land of promise and await the better things which are yet to come.

JANUARY

This year began, much like the last few, with a New Year’s Day hike.  But as we were heading outside to load up and head out, we encountered this creepy bicycle parked right in our alleyway beside our own bikes. It was very… unique… and definitely had weird vibes attached to it. I’m talking barbed wire, police tape, a Baphomet head, skull ring, lots of metal and chains attached to it and a creepy mask hanging from it. We looked around to see if anything was missing or if there was anyone nearby to whom it could belong. We asked neighbors if they knew whose it was or who it might belong to. Nobody knew. We asked the police if any bicycle had been reported stolen and that was also a dead end. Finally, we took to our community page to ask. Surely someone had seen this very unique and memorable bike. But no. Nothing. It kind of brought a strange vibe to the beginning of the year.

Moving on from that strange start, we headed out for our New Year’s Day hike. This has become somewhat of a tradition for our family and I think this was our third year doing it.  This year we went to Live Oak Park, hiked around the lake and then spent the rest of the morning enjoying time on the playground and chasing the ducks.  It also sets the tone for our 1000 hours outside challenge that we chose to embark on again this calendar year.

This January we attended our first ever Quinciñera!  (Go figure, I lived in Mexico and all over Latin America and yet this was even a first for me!)  This was a special celebration for our neighbor Aliyah and her family who have become good friends over the years.  The kids got dressed up, I didn’t quite get dressed up enough (I didn’t realize the extent to which the ladies partake) and we enjoyed the evening celebrating and dancing! Eliza loved “the princess” (how she referred to Aliyah all night) and was in awe of the entire event!

We were also able to host my brother for a few days.  He had mentioned wanting to come and see the up-and-coming rookie Wembanyama and the Spurs play the Minnesota Timberwolves and so that’s what he did!  We had a great time together- my in-laws took the kids overnight so that Derek, Trent and I were able to go to the game together.  Despite it being a tough year for our San Antonio team, that particular game was very exciting and, much to my brother’s chagrin, ended in a last-minute win for the home team!  Go, Spurs, go!  We were also able to attend a 50th birthday party for a dear friend of mine after the game and it was so nice to just hang out and catch up!  The rest of my brother’s visit was filled with fishing, parks, walks, relaxing and football.  The kids loved having their “uncle D” around and we all very much enjoyed his visit!

FEBRUARY

February began with some construction on our house- we had a new roof put on both the house and Trent’s office and had a spot in our ceiling fixed (all covered by our insurance, thankfully!).  Because of the placement of the spot in our ceiling, they had to retexture that entire continuous space, which in our house was the entirety of our shared living space- the living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway.  This sounds easy, but it was a headache of back-and-forth with the insurance company, botched contractors, people not showing up and a lot of waiting and rescheduling.  Keep in mind, we had to plan to be out of our house all day for an entire week including meals!  So we pulled everything down off the walls (including all of our homeschool stuff) and did school at the library while trying to be outside and keep busy (in one of the coldest months in our Texas year) all day while the contractors (finally) got everything done!  But it is finished!  Praise God!

We said a temporary farewell to our “Miss Dot” as her job required her to pack up and relocate for the next two years to Lincoln, Nebraska.  We were able to see her off with a lovely gathering at her house, cake and we made her a gift to take with her to remind her of home.  She’s been back for several visits since she’s moved and we’ve enjoyed hearing about her new adventures!

One of our many difficulties this year happened in February when Eliza’s fingers got slammed in the car door.  It was a total fluke of an incident and unfortunately it ended up in a very bad break in the ring finger of her left hand.  She had to undergo her second surgery in her short three years of life (her first was when she had ear tubes put in at about 18 months old).  While it was a HUGE stressor to have to arrange all these specialists and come up with the money upfront and out of pocket for her surgery, it was in this time that we saw such incredible financial provision through people in our church. The Lord also went before us in other ways and made our paths smooth before us. The doctors and nurses were all so kind and many went out of their way to be helpful to us. Her favorite “Baby Esther” accompanied her to her surgery and they wrapped up her arm too, so they could both have casts together. So, for most of February our Eliza wielded an enormous cast (that fully covered her hand and went all the way up past her elbow) but handled the entire ordeal so well.  One of her good friends from BSF also had a broken hand at the same time and they both rocked pink casts for a while together. It broke my heart to watch her go through this, but she’s a strong one!

February here is known for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo that is hosted all month long.  We always wait until the last day when we get in for a FRACTION of the price (I think we paid 10 bucks for parking and 10 bucks to get in).  Some things are already packed up and have moved on, but the boys enjoyed watching bull fighting again (Eliza and I were happy to skip that… it is way too stressful for me to watch!) and we always enjoy all the animals and exhibits that are there!

February also brought our first ever AWANA Grand Prix. The boys designed and decorated their own cars and although they didn’t win, they sure did have a lot of fun watching their cars and cheering on all of their friends!

MARCH

March began with a women’s conference at church.  It is always a time to learn and craft and enjoy fellowship with the ladies in our church body that I have come to love so much.

We planted a garden- that sadly did not end very successfully- trying to keep anything alive through a Texas summer is indeed quite a feat. But despite our lack of success, the Bluebonnets were incredible this year and we enjoyed (as we do every year) taking photos together among the Texas state flower.  

We hosted our Sunday School class at our house for an evening potluck fellowship.  We try to gather monthly, rotating around with different people hosting.  We love to host people in our home, but any time it is a large group of people, it has to be when the weather is nice so that we can utilize our outside space.  This night did not disappoint.  I had plans for an evening bonfire, but most people needed to head out early.  Either way, it was a really nice time getting to know each other better and spend time together.

Trent and I also celebrated 13 years of marriage in March. Our celebration was much more low-key this year, but we all shared cake and Nana and Popo took the kids overnight so that Trent and I could go out for a nice dinner without the littles.

APRIL

Every year in April, JBSA Randolph Air Force Base hosts an air show that is free to the public.  We enjoyed that again this year and for the first time I can remember, it wasn’t absolutely boiling hot that day!  We were actually able to walk around and ENJOY all the different planes and aircraft, shows and kids area.  

Another annual free event in our area is FolkFest, which explores the old ways of living and early frontier life.  There were hayrides, blacksmithing demonstrations, animals, cast iron cooking, cannon fire, candle and brickmaking, and lots of cool costumes!  Since we’ve been exposed to some books and shows about life on the early frontier (Mainly the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie series and the TV series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), it was a good hands-on addition to home learning.  We also got to enjoy this event (for the second year in a row) with friends that also like to go!

We went on our second camping trip with our homeschool group to Inks Lake State Park.  This time because it fell in the middle of the week, Trent couldn’t join us, but we had such a nice time with our group- hiking, swimming and enjoying one another’s company. 

Eliza got her cast off and they removed the pin in her finger after a long 5 weeks and my, was she glad to be rid of that huge extra weight.  It took her a few days to start using that arm and her fingers again, but as kids are, she is quite resilient and bounced back shortly thereafter.

We celebrated baby Abby’s first birthday!  We started watching Abby in October of last year and continued to watch her 4 days a week until the end of May when her momma finished out her school year and was able to be home with her during the days.  The kids absolutely LOVED having “baby Abby” in the afternoons and it really was a delight to have a baby around!  Watching her learn and grow and seeing how the kids interacted with her and cared for her was a huge blessing for us.  It also helped us financially as we were still in the beginnings of growing our own insurance business. 

Speaking of birthdays, Trent and I also got to attend a surprise 40th birthday party for an old friend of ours (not old in years, but old as in length of time we’ve known one another).  It was super fun to reconnect with several friends who I worked with when I first moved here to San Antonio over 15 years ago. These are all friends I hold dear, even though we don’t get to see each other nearly as often as we used to.

April was also the beginning of the fall feasts for us and both Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits happened this month.  We are now 6 or 7 years in to celebrating the Feasts of YHWH and every year we learn more and our understanding deepens.  I still have the desire to write an entirely separate post about the feasts and how we choose to celebrate them.  So look for that sometime in the new year!

MAY

May brought to a close several of our yearly commitments- both BSF and AWANA.  We have been doing Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for 8 years now and so many of our closest friends are people we’ve met there. This year I am attending only as a member.  I truly loved the years I spent in leadership there, but to be honest, in this season of life, it is so nice to simply attend each week and study God’s Word with ladies of all ages and walks of life.  Last year we wrapped up our study on the book of John and we have now resumed a new study on Revelation!  This was a study my grandma talked about frequently in her correspondences with me before she died, and I am so happy to finally be able to do this study myself!  The kids are enjoying studying Revelation right alongside me and that is one of my favorite parts of BSF- we all get to study God’s Word together! 

AWANA is a program hosted by our church (and many others) whose aim is to teach kids to memorize God’s Word and hide it in their hearts. Last year Trent and I took advantage of the time the kids were in their classes and tried to build in some short dates, but this year I am a helper in Eliza’s Cubby class.  Each week my children have a verse (or verses) to memorize and so I have been memorizing the weekly scriptures right alongside them (but threefold!).  My kids learned so many verses this past year in addition to all the books of the Bible (even Eliza can tell you most of them).  Even though these two activities make our Wednesdays VERY full, they are core parts of what we do as a family.  

We celebrated Levi’s 6th birthday with a fun Wild West themed birthday party.  We had lots of fun props and games and everyone had a great time!

May in Texas is already HOT!  We were blessed by a friend with free “guest” passes to Schlitterbahn for a day.  We swam and played and rode rides and thoroughly enjoyed our day there.

We also made a trip down to the coast to National Seashore Padre Island for a day with our nature group.  We were surprised by some pretty intense weather just as we were arriving and ended up spending an hour sitting inside our cars next to each other in the parking lot.  Finally the storm cleared and we were able to drive down the coast a bit.  We all parked next to one another and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon playing in the sand, catching all sorts of sea creatures and riding the waves!  (which were still pretty wild from the earlier storm)

JUNE

June was a whirlwind of excitement.  It began with Vacation Bible School at our church.  I taught the 4- and 5-year-olds, like I had last year.  Eliza wasn’t quite old enough to be in my class so she stayed in the nursery while the boys each had their own classes.  We had a splendid week on a “Jungle Journey,” learning and singing and playing together!

We went to the horse races at a local racetrack.  We always aim to go at least once a year.  It is a cheap, fun way to make memories.  The kids get in free, and I think it’s 5 bucks apiece for adults to get in.  My horse-lover Levi especially enjoys it (who am I kidding, THIS horse-lover enjoys it just as much!), but all of us like being able to go see the racehorses up close and the thrill of being right next to the racetrack as all their powerful hooves come thundering by is pretty exciting!  This evening in particular was pretty “extra-” because they also had camel, ostrich and zebra races as well.  Since the time between races is so long, we weren’t able to stay for all three specialty races, but we did get to see the ostriches and the camels and that was quite entertaining!

My best friend’s baby was due mid-June and she and I had really hoped that I’d be able to make it to the birth.  We had one false alarm where I drove to McKinney in eager anticipation and then had to head back in the morning because the baby clearly wasn’t coming yet and Jedidiah was being baptized!!!  And on Pentecost of all days!  The day we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit was the same day he decided to be baptized!  It was a momentous occasion, highlighted by the fact that in my absence the night before I had forgotten to tell Trent that he would need to bring a change of clothes.  So he ended up going into the water and baptizing Jedi in his church clothes, which was quite memorable.  Ironically, I did find a spare set of clothes in the car afterwards.  Oops! Nana and Popo joined us as well.  It fills our hearts with such joy that our Jedi has decided to follow Jesus!

Well, my bestie Catherine did have her baby… the very next morning and I just missed it!  Despite my best efforts, I arrived about a half hour too late.  Even though I missed the actual birth, now that I didn’t have to hustle back for a baptism, I got to stay and linger all that day and the next snuggling a newborn, celebrating their oldest son (who now shares a birthday with his youngest sister) on his 10th birthday and helping around the house as much as possible.  Our other best friends had driven up from Austin so the dads took all the older kids to the park while we got to stay back and chat and snuggle that sweet new babe!  These were such a sweet two days together and I’m forever thankful for the friendships between our families.

One of the gifts we were gifted for Levi’s birthday were summer passes to Urban Air.  These were THE BEST gift, and we went there often to get out of the heat and to let the kiddos burn off a lot of energy.  The kids all got braver each time and tried more and more new things.  One of their favorite things were the climbing walls.  Even Eliza harnessed up and climbed to her heart’s content.

JULY

July began, as always, with a celebration of our independence on the 4th!  We went to our local parade and then headed across town to a friend’s house.  This is the second year that she’s hosted our nature group at her house on the 4th of July and we swam the afternoon away.  Jedi ended up pooping out and slept out on a patio chair most of the time we were there (I’d say he was getting sick, but it never amounted to anything and the next morning he was perfectly fine again).  Because he was feeling puny, we decided to head home instead of staying with our friends to watch the fireworks.  We got back, put Jedi to bed and I ventured out with the younger two to watch a local display.  It wasn’t quite what we had planned, but we made the most of it anyways!

A neighbor invited me to a painting class just up the street from my house.  Art is NOT my strong suit and definitely doesn’t come naturally to me, but it was fun to learn something new and have an afternoon out!

Levi lost his first tooth this July!  He was thrilled when it finally came out.  He’s lost two more since!

AUGUST

The beginning of August brought summer travels and our yearly visit to Minnesota.  We’ve taken to driving now, seeing as we still have three car seats and we’d have to pay for plane tickets AND a rental car for two weeks!  It’s always a long drive, but broken up by stops and visits with friends!  This year our first stop was at the home of a friend of mine from high school (and college.)  Robert and his wife Heather and I have seen each other a handful of times over the years, but this was the first time we’d ALL been there with ALL of our kids (three of ours and four of theirs).  It was chaos… in the best possible way.  The kids had a blast, and we were thankful for both a place to stay and for a chance to catch up with old friends!

On our second day we ventured through Oklahoma and made it as far as Wichita, KS.  We had planned to stop at Taylor Falls, where Trent and I had camped and hiked many years ago, but when we got there the line to get in was enormous and since this was just supposed to be a stop for a few hours, we pulled an audible and instead visited the Chickasaw Cultural Center and really enjoyed it there! (Although we still drove up the hill to snap a photo with Taylor Falls in the background) We’ve been learning a lot about early frontier life and the native peoples are very much a part of that. After a few hours wandering the grounds there and eating lunch, we were ready to get back on the road!  Unfortunately they don’t allow any sharing of photos without their explicit permission, but we 100% recommend visiting!

Our third day included a lunch stop with dear friends that we met in China many years ago- Zack and Katie.  We’ve been blessed to get to see them over the past few years when we’ve traveled.  The kids always enjoy playing together and while this was a quick visit, it was so worth the stop!  As always, thanks for feeding us and letting us crash your space for a bit!

We reversed the order of our visit this time around because we were trying to travel only on weekends to avoid missing work.  Usually we go visit my family first and then venture up to our time share at Breezy Point for the second week, but we decided to go to Breezy first so that we wouldn’t have to cut our time there short.  While it added an extra 3 and a half hours to our last day’s travels, it was still worth it.  The kids had a blast swimming all week long, playing at the beach and hanging out with family.  We also got to finally meet my brother’s girlfriend, Hannah!  She’s super sweet and I’m so glad we finally got to meet her and spend some time getting to know her!

When we left the lake on Sunday, before heading back to the cities, we made plans to take a day trip up to my most favorite place in Minnesota- the North Shore. We’d attempted to visit Duluth (where the North Shore begins) last year or the year before- we saw the lift bridge, spent some time at Canal Park and hiked at Jay Cooke State Park– but I didn’t feel like the kids got a real taste of the vastness and beauty of Lake Superior. So this time we ventured down to the water where the Knife River meets Lake Superior and spent some time at Lester Park. The boys and I walked to the falls while Trent stayed back with a napping Eliza and then when she woke up, they came and joined us. There was also a little scavenger hunt that a local group was putting on that Jedi and Eliza participated in. They ended up getting two gift cards for a local ice cream shop and so after spending the day tromping in the river, we enjoyed some delicious ice cream together! I’d still like to take them to some of my other favorite spots in the coming years (Tettegouche State Park, Gooseberry Falls, Temperance River, Split Rock Lighthouse…), but at least we got to spend some time throwing rocks in the lake (one of my favorite childhood pastimes)!

Then we spent another few days back in the Twin Cities at my sister’s house.  I got to visit one of my best friends from Middle School and see a few of Evelyn’s soccer games and then, before we knew it, it was time to go back home.  There were a lot of people I didn’t get to see this time around, but we’re thankful for the visit anyways!  

On the way back down we were able to visit other dear friends from China. I always joke that most of our most treasured people that we met overseas live somewhere along the I35 corridor (of course there are many more dear friends that we met there that are still living abroad).  We met on a super hot and steamy evening at a restaurant called The Stix with a large outdoor play space and then spent the next day with them at Justin’s mom’s house, swimming in their pool and celebrating their girls’ birthdays.  I had seen them pretty recently for the birth of their baby, but the kids couldn’t WAIT to see their friends!  And Eliza was so happy to meet (and hold) baby Emme!  Catherine also blessed us with a mini photo shoot- she knows photos hold such a special place in my heart and it was a huge blessing for her to do this for us!

Back in Texas we celebrated Nana and Popo’s 50th anniversary!  This was a big one and we would have loved to really put together a celebration for them, but having just gotten back from our long trip, it just didn’t happen.  Maybe we’ll go all-out for their 51st!

The entire summer was full of (free) summer movies, a weekly Bible study with friends and LOTS of water play- swimming pools, splash pads, rivers, lakes, water balloons, squirt guns, etc.  It’s the only way to survive our insanely hot summers!

SEPTEMBER

September is always a bit of a whirlwind.  We’re still recovering from being away from home for weeks, and yet all of our activities start back up.  This is our fourth year homeschooling and this year we have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader and a preschooler.  While we continue meeting with our homeschool group throughout the summer, we begin having monthly themes and lessons again in September.  I was in charge of presenting to our group about fish and the kids and I have participated in monthly presentations throughout the school year.  In addition to BSF, AWANA and Wild + Free, we have been learning little bits of sign language and Spanish, doing art and experiments, have housed a ridiculous number of animals and insects and have continued to listen to copious amounts of audiobooks (41 chapter books this year!).  Our map on our wall is filling up!

Along with the start of all these other activities, soccer also started back up for Jedi.  This was his first year in a new age bracket and it came with a learning curve.  They played on bigger fields, with more players and now played with a goalie!  The Wolves had a rough season, but we were glad to watch him and his team as they fought their way through every game. We also had some extra spectators a few times, when family came to watch him play!

Trent and I also both have birthdays in September, which when combined with everything else we have going on, makes for a very busy month!

OCTOBER

October began with National Night Out with our neighbors.  I didn’t take nearly enough photos, but we always enjoy spending this evening with our friends.  The police and fire department stopped by and showed us their vehicles while we chatted and ate.  Baby Abby was there, and she walked to us that evening for the first time!  We are so lucky to have such great neighbors!

October also brought the fall feasts!  We celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles together this month!  Again, I’m planning on doing a separate post on each of these at a later date!

We always try to make it out to the pumpkin patch each year and take some yearly photos.  There is one nearby that we really enjoy and for the first time in as long as I can remember, it was NICE outside!  It wasn’t boiling hot and despite it not being “fall” weather either, it was very pleasant!

Soccer ended the same weekend I attended our women’s retreat with ladies from our church.  It was a great weekend with wonderful teaching, fantastic food, fellowship and fun!

One of the biggest blessings at the end of October was that we got a new van!  Our old one had been somewhat of a money-pit, requiring some rather large and laborious fixes over the last few years and then shortly after we returned from Minnesota, the transmission started having issues and needed to be replaced.  The other car woes we faced this year were extensive and constant, but instead of focusing on that, we will celebrate the fact that we are now the owners of a 2015 Toyota Sienna!

November began with another camping trip with our Wild + Free group, this time at Lake Bastrop South Shore Park.  We actually only ended up going for the day because online all the campsites were booked for the night.  It was still a really nice day we were able to spend together!

Wild + Free also put on a mom’s panel this month.  I loved gleaning from all the wisdom shared from some “seasoned” homeschool moms and it was a lovely evening together.  The moms in our group have met monthly all year long, usually discussing books but occasionally having other activities (brunches, book exchanges, different kinds of discussions).  These meet-ups have been so life-giving for this homeschool momma and I’m really grateful for all the different things we’ve read about, talked about and learned about together this year.

Jedidiah celebrated his 9th birthday with a military-style birthday party, followed closely by a Friendsgiving with some good friends from our old church, then we had Thanksgiving and our niece’s birthday celebration with our family, then the next day we drove to Austin to meet up with our besties again, and then the birthday celebrations just kept rolling!  It’s always a crazy stretch from mid-November to mid-December, having two of our own childrens’ birthdays, another family birthday and Thanksgiving all smooshed into a short period of time!

Some other fun things in November were the acquisition of a big (free) trampoline in our backyard.  The kids are outside jumping on it constantly!!!  Jedi also took up skateboarding and so we have been spending much more time at the skate park where he can practice his new skills.

DECEMBER

By December we were TIRED!  But it wasn’t time to rest yet!  Eliza celebrated her 4th birthday with a ballerina birthday party.  She has been interested in ballet ever since we were invited to see our friend perform in the Nutcracker last year.  We were blessed again this year with tickets to return and Eliza absolutely loved going to the ballet! We were lucky enough to end up at the same show as many of our friends so we were all able to enjoy the show together!

We finished off our year accomplishing (for the second year in a row) over 1000 hours outside. I’m so thankful for all the fun memories we have fishing, camping, hiking, jumping, skateboarding, playing at parks, swimming, worm-hunting, bike riding, kayaking, bone-collecting, exploring and enjoying all of God’s creation!

Trent has been continuing on in real estate. He made the switch mid-year from eXp Realty to lpt Realty and has really liked it so far! They do a really great job of marketing listings (they used to be a marketing agency) and we have seen how helpful it has been while other houses have sat for months and months, he’s gotten houses sold quickly! Besides real estate, Trent is now officially a year into his job with ORR and Associates, doing insurance (mostly general liability and workman’s comp) and continuing to work on growing his business. He still plays pickleball whenever he gets the chance and spends his free time reading zombie books and hanging out with us!

For me, other than homeschooling, running errands, cooking meals, keeping up with our activities and our home and taking advantage of every opportunity to be outside, I have kept myself busy crafting, reading and doing puzzles. This is how I keep my sanity!

2024 held several goodbyes (well, at least this side of eternity). The first was for a boy I used to tutor in Spanish back when Jedidiah was a baby. His mom was my midwife when I had Jedi and I spent many sweet days with him and his younger brother. Makai lost his young life to cancer in January at only 20 years old. In March, the 21-year-old son/grandson of two dear friends of mine from BSF went missing. We offered up many prayers on his behalf and I watched as community rallied around his family for months while we all hoped and prayed for his safe return. When they received the sad news a few months later that his body had been found, we mourned alongside them. Both of these young lives lost grieved my heart and challenged me to trust the Lord even when things are hard and don’t seem to make sense, and to praise him even when it hurts. These young men had so much life ahead of them and we’ll never know or understand why their lives were cut short. Thankfully, both of these gentlemen knew and loved Jesus and he was on spotlight at both of their celebrations of life. Another sad loss for us this year was Miss Billie, who had been such a constant for us since we moved to our new church a little over 2 and a half years ago. Miss Billie always checked in on us, was constantly in prayer for us and was one of the sharpest people I’ve ever met! She always had a joke to tell and could recite all kinds of literature from memory. She had a rough story but was unashamed to tell it because of the way that Jesus radically changed her life and turned it around. Although her loss was felt by our whole family, I praise God for her life fully lived. I look forward to getting a “Billie hug” when I get to heaven!

And now, we finish off the year reflecting on the many blessings we have received this year.  We have seen how his eye is on the sparrow more times than we can count and despite the growing pains, here we are at the end of another year- healthy, together and grateful!

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

May your new year be merry and bright!