This past year was so full of fun memories. So much laughter and a lot of poop jokes with three boys in the house.
January: The biggest highlight from January was the trash truck snagging the power lines and pulling down a power pole right in front of our house. The fire truck showed up along with a couple bucket trucks. The boys chatted with the fire fighters and had a front row seat to the whole show. They didn’t stop talking about it for weeks afterward.
The boys got to spend a lot of time with their best friend Zeke while Zeke’s mom went to prenatal visits and the hospital to have his little brother. The three boys get along really well and loved the extra time they had to play together.
Listening intently while Baumpa reads a story. 
Herbie and his ladybug. 
Herbie was sitting on the couch because he got in trouble. Zeke came over and joined him. 
February: We spent Wednesday mornings at the library for story hour and crafts. The boys decorated cookies during one of the craft sessions for Valentine’s Day.
Finn’s first time riding in front. 
Finn is a chips and salsa guy. 
Herbie is an ice cream guy. 
March: March was an exciting month. We flew to California to visit my family. The boys had so much fun with Grammy, Auntie Cole and Uncle Al. Grammy has fun toys to play with and Auntie Cole gave them a ride in her Jeep. (Jeeps are the boy’s favorite vehicle and they never miss an opportunity to point them out when we are on a walk or driving.) But Uncle Alex just might be Herbie and Finn’s favorite person. We went to my uncle’s walnut huller where they have the coolest vehicles. (And coolest great-uncles, I might add.) Alex is very familiar with how everything runs since he works there, so he took the boys for rides. The boys took turns steering in the truck and Herbie got to dump the loader and take a ride in the skid steer.
Finn, buried in books. 
Finn wearing RJ’s jacket. 
Herbie doing donuts with Uncle Al. 
Finn taking a turn at driving the truck even though he couldn’t see where he was going. 
Herbie driving the loader. 
Herbie dumping gravel. 
Finn walking back with Uncle Al after a hard days work. 
Finn with Auntie Whitney.
We have to eat at In n Out at least once when we visit.
Back home and on a family bike ride. 
Sunset from our back yard.
April: Herbie trained for his first kid’s mile! He was the youngest kid and came in last but he didn’t even care. He had so much fun and I’m pretty sure his favorite part about it was the pack of powered donuts he got at the end.
RJ and his friend Sam trained for the half marathon and they ran that right after Herbie’s mile. RJ and Herbie both got matching shirts and had to wear them together.
Sharing a beef stick on one of our family walks. 
Crossing the finish line! 
Powdered donut face. 
Thumbs up! 
Matching with Dad. 
Finn finding an egg during the Easter egg hunt. 
Herbie finds an egg. 
Herbie reading in the beanbag chair with his cup of milk, on a coaster, of course. 
Date night. 
Not sure what Finn was doing. 
Still not sure what Finn is doing. 
I look away for 2 seconds and find them doing things like this.
May: Bring on summer! Lots of bike rides and walks and playing in the water.
One evening, while getting ready for bed and having devotions, Finn fell over while spinning and split his forehead on a corner. RJ took him to the ER for stitches. Herbie was so so worried about him!
Finn 
RJ competing in a bike race. 
Too stinkin’ cool. 
Playing in the downtown fountain. 
Three best friends. Herbie, Zeke, Finn 
Happy Mother’s Day! Love these cutie patooties. 
Lots of family bike rides. 
Tour de Blount 25 miler with friends. 
Finn enjoying his ranch a little too much. 
Ice cream with Megan. 
Jessie graduated high school! 
A popsicle and 9 stitches later. 
June: June was full of more family bike rides, park outings, Dutch Bros runs, and lots of playdates with Zeke. While June was a fun month, we also had to say goodbye to our friends, the Emmons. We are so thankful for their friendship and love that we can stay in contact with videos and pictures.
Too cool. 
Finn reading the scriptures. 
Playing at the park. 
Brushing their teeth together. 
Finn, baby Winston, Herbie and Zeke reading books and making music.
Finn lookin’ cute wearing Herbie’s dump truck slippers. 
Playing at the Muse, a STEAM museum. 
At the Muse. 
Riding bikes through Safety City, a kid sized replica of Knoxville. 
Herbie, Zeke and Finn dining on gourmet PB&Js. 
The boys are always finding bugs and caterpillars.
Dutch Bros run! 
Sipping chocolate milk. 
Holding hands while walking through the zoo. 
Our very dear friends, Sam and Sarah with their two boys, Zeke and Winston.
July: Shenanigans and ice cream. Trips to the zoo and time spent on the boat with the family.
Finn finding the biggest puddles. 
I don’t even know why, or how, or what was happening. These things just happen. 
The boys love listening for the ice cream truck! 
Pure joy. 
Snake room at the zoo.
Boat time!
Finn enjoying his cheese and crackers. 
Finn helping Baumpa steer while Jessie surfs. 
Lunch break.
August: August is RJ’s birthday and our anniversary (8 years). The Garcia birthday tradition is to celebrate that person for the entire week of their birthday. They get to choose all the activities to do, places to go, food to eat, etc. On of those days we went on a fun 30 mile bike ride and stopped for pizza and ice cream on the way home.
A really fun milestone was starting preschool with Herbie. Of course, Finn thought he also needed to start preschool so he usually colors or draws while I work with Herbie. Herbie LOVES school. He begs to have preschool every day of the week. He loves learning and he loves explaining to RJ what he’s learned.
I don’t know how this stuff happens. 
It’s school time!
September: RJ bought a motorcycle so he could haul his bicycle to location and ride from there. That way, I could still have a car to drive while he’s gone. He had a gravel bike race in North Carolina and it was too long of race for me to wait with the boys (a little under 6 hours of race time) so it was perfect that he could leave the car at home.
We participated in the Barley’s Cycling Classic this year. We opted for the 33 mile route and boy, was it fun! We all had a great time and ended the ride with free pizza from Barleys. 10/10 will register again this year. Maybe for the 53 mile route this time??
Barley’s Cycling Classic 
At the aid station snackin’ on some cookies.
Preschool activity. I think they ate more dry macaroni than they put on the paper. 
The paper chain we made to count down the days til Grammy and Auntie Cole visited. 
Riding the merry-go-round at the zoo. 
Bike ride around Cade’s Cove loop. 
Cade’s Cove
Herbie helping me make scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Bike ride around Norris Dam State Park 
Norris Dam 
Norris
October: My favorite month! We drove to Cade’s Cove a couple times with friends and biked the 10 mile loop. We usually see a few bears, lots of deer and a coyote or two.
We participated in the Lick Skillet Scramble, a 40 mile bike ride that winds through the country side just northeast of Knoxville. We all had an amazing ride and we even met a little goat at the aid station. The boys were the only toddlers on the ride and they were the perfect height for the goat to eat their snacks and head butt them. RJ was not going to stand for that so after multiple attempts at shooing him away, RJ hauled the goat over to the grass and wrestled him. He didn’t mess with us anymore after that. Once we made it to the finish line, we crossed the road to the Lick Skillet Farm where lunch was provided and Farmer Alex gave us a tour of the farm.
One morning the boys had the idea to visit the fire stations in Knoxville. Thirty-eight miles later, we had made it to 12 out of 19 stations. At most of the stations, someone would come out and talk to the boys and ask them if they wanted to check out the trucks. We were even able to watch one of the engines leave on a call.
My mom and Nicole flew out for my birthday and Finn’s birthday towards the end of the month. It was so wonderful to see them and get to hang out after months of only seeing them on video calls. I turned 30 and the next day Finn turned 2. We had a fun little birthday party and celebrated all week with fun things like ice cream, walks, coffee (Finn LOVES coffee just as much as I do), presents and cake.
Finn got his very own library card.
Biking at Cade’s Cove. 
Herbie was so excited for his pack of cookies. 
There was a little goat at the aid station! 
The farmer and one of his pigs. 
Piglets!
Reminds me of Grampa G. and his love of tractors.
At a local pumpkin patch, playing in the corn pit. 
Somehow Finn manages to get this dirty quite often. 
The boys shared their firefighter costume. Herbie wore the jacket and Finn wore the pants. 
Grammy is finally here! 
Auntie Cole is visiting too! 
A moster and a firefighter for Halloween. 
My almost birthday twin turns TWO! 
November: We soaked up the last bit of nice weather. Read lots of books, raked a lot of leaves and ate really great food for Thanksgiving.
Dutch Bros opened it’s first location near us and you better believe that the boys and I were there opening day!
Matching
Thanksgiving with the family.
The boys love helping me make eggs for breakfast.
December: RJ took the boys on a lot of bike rides to see Christmas lights. They had their favorite houses and by Christmas, they knew what streets they needed to bike down to see them.
RJ completed his goal of biking 6,000 miles for the year. I’m guessing at least half of those miles included rides with the boys.
Herbie ran another mile race and improved his time significantly from earlier in the year. But really all he cares about are the snacks at the end. RJ ran a 10k after Herbie’s race was done. He got second place.
We spent Christmas Eve with RJ’s family and celebrated dad’s birthday and opened Christmas presents. Christmas Day was nice and relaxing. We opened a few presents as a family and the boys spent the day playing with their new toys and books. Dad and mom came over for pozole, the Garcia tradition.
We camped in our back yard a couple of nights. Finn was so excited that he wouldn’t go to sleep and he and I had to go sleep inside around 11PM. The next night we switched some things up and we all made it through the night. We can’t wait to go on some camping trips. I’m thinking that camping this time around will be a little different than our motorcycle camping days. It will most likely require a lot more patience and a go-with-the-flow mentality.
Downtown Christmas parade.
Herbie runs his second 1-miler! 
Of course, he mostly cares about the snacks at the end. 
RJ ran a 10k right after Herbie’s race. He came in 1st place.
These boys love snuggling.
Finn was so excited about his baby mug he got for Christmas.
Tour de Lights ride with hundreds of other bikers. 
Camping in the back yard. 
Snug as a bug in a rug.
Herbie practicing his letters. 
Haircut time. 
Reading the Boxcar Children at a coffee shop.
While 2023 was an incredibly fun and adventurous year, it was also filled with some really tough seasons. I went through three really painful and difficult miscarriages. Although we don’t have any answers as to “why”, we know we serve all-knowing and mighty God. We are so thankful to have our church family and Bible study group to surround us with prayers and words of encouragement. We are trusting the Lord in whatever way He sees fit to grow our family.
~Em