Well hellooooo there...I hope this blog post finds you all doing well and having a wonderful holiday season!! As you can tell it has been quite some time since I posted last but life has been crazy busy in the best kind of way possible. Some of you may be thinking why is she posting now, it’s so out of the blue? And my response to that is you are soooo right but I’ve been wanting to write a post for awhile but haven’t really known where to start. And tonight as I was playing around on Facebook and looking at “See Your 2013 Year in Review” on my page and thought, it’s perfect..I’ll write a year in review post (with LOTS of pictures) and get back in the blogging world once again!!!
So without further ado here’s our year in review:
January 1st we started the year out with celebrating a late Christmas with my mom…
At the end of January, beginning of February we celebrated Misha’s 4th birthday with his first birthday party EVER. And what made the day even sweeter is we did a joint birthday party we our dear friends The Herrington's...you might remember them, we lived together in Ukraine while we both finalized our adoptions of Misha and their daughter Olivia!! The party was HUGE success and so much fun and a truly wonderful moment being able to celebrate with wonderful people who helped us bring home our babies.
~Misha at the party~
~Misha & Olivia's personal cakes~
February was a very fun month for our family as we headed to Disneyland for a run-cation..yes you read that right, a run-cation. My mom and I ran in the TinkerBell Half Marathon and David and I figured why not stay a few days after the run and enjoy a little family vacation. My mom and I ran the half in 3 hours and 40ish minutes...not bad for a girl who was battling the flu. Oh, I forgot to mention that part..we’ll the day I was suppose to head down with my mom, Misha woke up with high temp. which lead to the flu..and not the stomach kind of flu, he had the “he’ll need Tamflu” kind of flu..so we drove down Saturday and and by the day of the race, Sunday, I woke up battling a fever but I didn’t go all the way to Disneyland for nothing. Plus I had a very amazing little girl, Chloe..I wrote about her here: inspiration ...cheering me on from her hospital room...so I ran the half and finished!!!
~The Before and after of our 1st half marathon~
~Misha is NOT amused by his new shades, but I was~
March brought on the beginning of baseball season in our house..which meant Ryan was eating, breathing and sleeping everything baseball!! And thank goodness baseball is a favorite sport for this family so we truly enjoyed every moment of Ryan’s baseball season. He was placed on an amazing team with some wonderful families who we’ve become great friends with...oh and the cake topper was Ryan’s team won the Championships for his division...I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready for next season, because I am sooo ready to see my little man out there doing something he absolutely loves and lives for!!!
~Ryan at bat and his awesome team~
Baseball took up a big chunk of our time which was good for us...Misha learned about cherring on his brother and towards the end of the season would actually give a loud shout when his brother (and his teammates) was at bat!! But we did make time for me to walk at my graduation from college!!! That’s right folks, I AM A COLLEGE GRADUATE!! I walked the stage in May with most of the class of 2013 but didn’t actually finish my classes until August 25. None the less, walking across that stage was a beautiful moment, and something I’d been working towards for the last 8 years. It’s wasn’t the easiest road to finishing but sticking to it really paid off and I am proud to say I am so proud of myself!!
June gave David and I a chance to get away to one of my favorite places in the world..Hawaii!! It was a much needed get-a-way, with some serious sunburns, so there are not many pictures of the two of us buuut trust me when I say it was a blast and so nice to reconnect with my husband and enjoy the time together. Visiting one of great friends Megan was a bonus to the trip!! Love you Megan!! :)
~The inner surfer came out while paddle boarding~
~ life on a boat with a drink in my hand may be in my future~
July we celebrated the 4th with a baseball game on July 3rd and then with our friends the Herrington's. on the 4th.who are really more like family and we had a blast swimming and eating!! July was also fun because I was able to attend the National Conference for Thirty-One Gifts...oh what’s that, you didn’t know I was a Thirty-One consultant...well, surprise I am..I’ve been a consultant since July 2011!! I had a blast and made a life long friendship with 2 wonderful ladies and I am so excited to go to the 2014 conference and catch up with those lovely two ladies!!
~Baseball Game siiliness~
~Swimming on the 4th~
~Thirty-One National Conference~
August was eventful since school was ending for me and starting for the boys...Ryan started 3rd grade...I’m still in denial my baby is in 3rd grade...Misha started his last year of preschool, which is also hard to swallow because that means he’ll be in Kindergarten next year. Both boys are doing great in school and are now enjoying their winter break. I finished school officially in August and have never felt more like laughing and crying all at one time like I did the moment I pressed send on my finally paper!! August also brought on “Fall Baseball” which should really be named End of Summer Baseball since there was NO kind of fall weather with 100+ temps!! None the less we had fun and I learned I enjoy watching Ryan play baseball from the stands and not from the dugout as a coach.
~Growing up too fast and I FINALLY finished~
September began with another trip to Disneyland for another run-cation....David, Ryan and I ran the family 5k on Saturday and then on Sunday I ran in the Disneyland Half marathon with my mom and good friend Mandy..we had a blast despite the heat and humidity...we finished and beat our last time with a finish in 3 hours and 32 minutes!! September also lead David, Ryan, Misha and myself to run family 5k with the Neon Splash Dash which was so much!!
~Running is the best when shared with family and friends~
~Disneyland Fun~
~The Neon Splash Dash~
~1/2 marathon #3 in the books~
~I LOVE her to the moon and back~
That brings us to December...this month has simply flown by in the blink of an eye....I’m not sure how I feel about only having 5 days left in 2013 but I can say this past year was crazy, fun, adventurous and I am truly blessed to be having so much fun with my best friend and our children!!
I can't wait to see the exciting fun that is to be had in 2014 for our family!! Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!!!
Love,
P.S. Here are some other pictures of our good times from throughout the year…
