2015 in Review

It's that time again-- to look back on all the blessings God gave us this year as it comes to an end and a new year begins. Last year was HUGE with our move to Vermont. This year was HUGE with the arrival of a new family member. I don't foresee any HUGE events this coming year, but we never know what God has in store!


In January we got our first real taste of a Vermont winter. It snowed a ton, and we enjoyed a trip to a local golf course to sled down some huge hills!

In February we found out our family would be growing yet again and we would add a new little bundle in September. The kids also went ice skating for the first time and spent lots of time playing in the snow.

In March we toured a sugarhouse to learn more about how maple syrup is made. We also enjoyed a visit from my mom.

In April we celebrated our first Easter in Vermont, with our usual traditions of dying Easter eggs, and egg hunt, and new Easter clothes. We finished up our first full year of Classical Conversations in Vermont, where the kids made a ton of new friends and learned a lot.

In May, Leah finished her fourth year of dance (tap and ballet) with a recital. With the warmer weather we put in our garden and started spending more time outdoors. We also found out our fourth little baby was going to be a little boy, evening out the gender ratio in our family!

In June we went hiking as a family on the trail where Robert Frost wrote his "Road Less Traveled" poem.

We also finished up our first year of AWANA in June at church. The kids learned a ton of memory verses and really enjoyed growing in the Lord.

Also in June we did our annual strawberry picking, followed by the Strawberry Festival at church.

July was super busy! Besides the 4th of July parade and cookouts, we went swimming and pedal boating at the lake. We celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday at a fun park with putt putt, a huge slide, bumper boats, and tons of family fun! We also had a weeks' worth of Kids' Camp at church.

In August we really started to get prepared for the arrival of our fourth little baby. Our church family gave us a truly amazing baby shower. We also enjoyed the annual Fair & Field Days, and a visit from Mom & Dad. 

Leah also turned seven in August, celebrating with a Barbie-themed party with her friends.

In September, Brett and I enjoyed a weekend away at the Pastor's Encouragement Retreat in Portland, Maine. 

Leah started 2nd grade at home and her 3rd year of Classical Conversations. Andrew started kindergarten and his 2nd year of CC. (Abi just tags along and gets into trouble!)

September 21st we welcomed the newest member of our family, Jacob Daniel-- and nothing has been the same since! Each day we are taking on the challenge of being a family of six!

In October, we took a major two-week vacation to Texas, spending the first half at the Great Wolf Lodge and the second half visiting Brett's family, whom we haven't seen in 4 years. We loved the time away and wish we could see his family much more often!

Later in October, we had a visit from my parents, and we also celebrated Abigail's 3rd birthday with a little Elmo party at home.

In November we had a simple Thanksgiving at home, just our little family (and a huge 15 pound turkey!).

We went on our annual Christmas tree hunt and got our house all decorated for the holidays.

And of course this last month, we celebrated all the fun Christmas brings. We saw Santa, decorated cookies & gingerbread houses, we attended church parties, and read about Jesus' birth. 

Christmas 2015

I can't believe Christmas has already come & gone. Everything seemed so fast this year. Plus, the weather was unseasonably warm-- we haven't seen any snow yet this season, so it hasn't really felt like Christmas!

Christmas Eve was our church's annual Candlelight Service. There must have been more than 150 people there! The choir always sings their cantata and this year the kids joined them for a couple songs. They stole the show! They certainly have been practicing hard this year and they all sang loud & clear.

When we got home we put out cookies for Santa. We read The Night Before Christmas. We opened the last box of What God Wants for Christmas, a 7-day Advent activity we always do (hint: it's us!). And we read the Christmas story from Luke by candlelight. Andrew had a sleepover with the girls so that when they woke up in the morning, they would all be together and not be tempted to go out of the room and see all the surprises. (I think Abi was more excited about Andrew sleeping over than Santa coming!)

This little boy was so excited he slept very little all day long and ate every time he woke up and stayed up till 10pm.

We rarely put any presents under the tree until Christmas morning so it's always a huge surprise when they get up.

We got them up at 7:30, although they'd been awake maybe half an hour or so. I missed videoing their reactions, but they were priceless. They are always amazed Santa actually came.

The opening of gifts probably only took about an hour or so, and that's only because we stopped them a few times to throw away trash and get organized for more.

Abi's gift from Santa was a toy phone. A very inexpensive toy phone. But that's all she asked for. She loves them. It also came with toy keys. We also got her a saucer chair. Leah and Andrew both have one but hers' broke and she likes to have a place to sit in the playroom to watch movies. She got a toy broom (trust me, she loves to sweep and always takes my broom out), an Anna doll (from Frozen-- Leah has the Elsa one, so we wanted Abi to have her own) and some coloring books. It was so fun to see her "get" Santa this year and understand which presents were hers' and the whole concept of giving. When we asked her what she wanted from Santa, she put some thought in it and gave us 3 or 4 things. Of course, they kept changing as time went on, but still, she knew what she wanted.

Andrew's major wish was a remote control plane. We knew a) those are quite expensive, and b) they are much too hard for him to fly. But still, we wanted him to find that out for himself. So we found an inexpensive styrofoam one that is made for indoor use. It's still geared toward much older kids, but that was his only request for Santa. It turned out to work fairly well, as long as he has a little help. It seemed to work better outside, as long as there was no wind. Of course, as soon as he tried doing it on his own, he flew it into the tall grass behind our house and I had to go fish it out, but after that he hasn't tried it again without help.

He also got a huge T-Rex, some Iron Man gloves (that apparently make him actually become Iron Man), a new Bible, Matching Game, and some Blaze & the Monster Machine cars.

Leah's major request from Santa was a Magic Microphone Singing Elsa Doll. (It was actually MUCH less expensive than the huge Barbie Dream House she requested last year!) You can sing along with her a song from her favorite movie. She loves this doll and the song has become a constant background to our day! She also got a Barbie set, a Cinderella Play-Doh set, a kit to make jewelry, and pj's for her doll she got last year.

We figured this was the only year we could get away without getting much for little Jacob. So he got a bottle and couple toys and that was about all. He really could have cared less. He was still his usual happy self most of the day, and actually slept a little more than usual. 

We got a couple gifts that were for everyone together. A set of blocks, and a sled (although with no snow, who knows when they'll use that!). 

They each got a big box of things from Nana & Papa, which they opened all at once. Lots of little fun things to keep them entertained the rest of the day! 

Brett and I were blessed to be able to give each other some great gifts this year too. I got him a new watch, a DVD, and a pair of jeans. 

 The rest of the day was spent playing with all our fun things. We snacked most of the day and then had a big pork roast for dinner.

This is a Pop-Up Dollhouse from Nana & Papa. It doesn't have any furniture, but they improvised with Barbie furniture & played well together!

In the afternoon, this little boy lay on his blanket downstairs surrounded by all the toys & excitement. He contentedly kicked his little legs for over an hour, so entertained by all that was going on.

Aunt Karen got Andrew a Hot Wheels racer that crashes cars.

 

We had the perfect day, together as a family. All the kids could be heard at some point saying, "This is the best Christmas ever!" Even Abi, who rarely has words to express her feelings, said, "This is so much fun." Now we get several more days off to rest and enjoy each other & our new fun stuff!