While I’d like to think 2024 was a great year overall, the month of May had some historic moments!
On May 2nd, Kyle and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary and the day started out like any other. Kyle had his final nursing exam for his spring semester at 8AM – which he promptly finished in 18 minutes with an 87%, signifying the start of his summer break. The next scheduled event on his calendar? Our marriage ceremony, scheduled for 2PM at the courthouse downtown Toledo. That afternoon, with Judge Josh Lanzinger as our witness, Kyle and I married at the Lucas County Municipal Court in honor of our decade together – to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. We celebrated in our home with a layered marble cake with raspberry jam filling, followed by photos in our backyard under our weeping cherry tree. Later that evening, we gathered with friends for a celebratory brewery tour around Toledo, stopping by all of our favorites – Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Earnest Brew Works, and Quenched and Tempered.
On May 13th, my brother James and sister in law Rikki welcomed their first child, a daughter Elly Celeste, into their family in Lincoln, Nebraska. Elly has given me a great excuse to thrift for children’s books to add to their ever growing collection! We love the daily pictures and videos of Elly, watching her grow from afar.
On May 24th, we set off on our 25 day honeymoon – a road trip out west exploring 5 national parks through 9 states covering 5,263 miles. We revisited 4 national parks (Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Badlands, and Wind Cave) and 1 new site, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. We were also fortunate enough to swing through Lincoln twice to see little Elly at the beginning and end of our road trip!
On May 29th, Kyle and I exchanged private vows at sunset at Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Teton National Park – the same spot Kyle proposed in August of 2021. We were joined by local Maumee, Ohio photographer Jenna Knott to capture our day.
The biggest house project of the year was our exterior brick renovation which consumed much of Kyle’s spring and summer. In an effort to restore the character and charm to our 1950s ranch, we are pressure washing the white paint off to reveal the original beautiful red brick. Our goal is to finish the paint removal in 2025, then we’ll finally get to bigger landscaping projects in 2026!
Our lovable cat Bohdi has been with us for nearly a year and a half now. He’s definitely settled in with us and is very vocal about his meal and treat schedule – maybe in 2025 we’ll finally get it right. He’s become quite the cuddle bug, not only sleeping with us at night, but now on top of us any chance he gets.
Kyle graduated from Owens Community College in December, earning his Associate Degree of Nursing. He’s accepted a position to work at Toledo Hospital in the post-open heart unit in the new year. In an effort to further involve Kyle in the process of Christmas letter writing, I asked him what he’s most looking forward to as a nurse, to which he replied, “paycheck” and I couldn’t agree more.
In 2025, we aspire to cook even more meals at home (eager to explore Chinese cuisine) and are hoping to plan a Frey Family vacation in the fall to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Until next time, Meryn
MERYN MADE 
Leave a comment