2016 Wrap-Up

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We hope this letter finds all of you well, warm, loved and excited for the new year!  As 2016 closes, it's time to reflect on the year in the life of our family.  We have had uncontrolled laughter, amazing trips, growth through some big challenges, and everything in between. The result has been a new depth in our marriage, growth in our two sweet (but ornery) boys, and very soon, we'll start growing into our new house in Zionsville.  We even bought a van, making us officially suburban.  Don't judge.  It's amazing.

At the beginning of the year,  I was still on weekend option days, which meant Dave had plenty of time with the boys.  They had a great time on the weekends, doing projects, attending church and family events, and growing closer together.  I had a great time being with the boys most of the week and handling the school routine.  However, when the weekend contract was up in June, it was an easy decision to abandon that schedule and start a typical three 12-hour shift nursing schedule.  My new schedule still has an every-third-weekend requirement, but it gives the four of us a lot more time together.

Luke is four and in Pre-Kindergarten with Mrs. Stamper at TPCA and we could not be happier!  The kiddos have learned an incredible amount this year.  We have been so impressed with Luke's ability to write his name, numbers, and words with spelling help!  Mrs. Stamper says he is excellent with math (all Dave, for sure not me), but he also loves drawing, making and delivering crafts and letters, and gym class.  Next year he will go through Pre-K again because of his July birthday, and we are looking forward to him growing socially and gaining more confidence.

Luke is such a sweet kid.  He is so helpful, engaged, inquisitive, and excited about many things.  He is also four, which means he can be incredibly defiant, and is constantly trying to push his boundaries.  Many days can be utterly exhausting, but then he'll get you with a sweet smile and ask you to cuddle and read his bible.  I swear he can change on a dime, but I guess that's how toddlers survive :)  He loves spotting monster trucks while we are driving, playing "you can't catch me", helping daddy with stuff around the house, and playing games with mommy.  (We got him Guess Who for Christmas, and he absolute loves it.  It's one of Dave and I's favorites from our childhoods too!)  He also loves his little brother so much - painfully much.  Literally painfully much.  They wrestle, fight, yell, love, cuddle, punch, and play together constantly and while they frequently bicker, they are already inseparable.

Luke is wearing BOY small 7/8 clothing, size 1 shoes, and is growing more each day.  He still constantly gets mistaken as an older kid, and I have a feeling that won't change soon.  His favorite activities this year have been our camping trip, the trip to the beach with Bowen, and Halloween, where he and Eli wore Scuba outfits.

Our boys at their finest.  Luke being silly, and Eli eating.  He's always eating.  ALWAYS.

Eli turned two in September and is just changing so quickly I cannot handle it.  He is speaking in full sentences, holding conversations, making silly faces, and having lots of ideas.  He constantly says "Me have a idea Mommy!".  He is also a total jokester, and loves making people laugh.  Some of his favorite devastatingly cute phrases to say are "cause why!", "put me up" "kay me daddy!" (carry me daddy :), "me ok mommy", and "wuv you too".  This stinker has livened up our family and is the silly to his brother's serious.  He is a joy to raise and we are so excited to continued to see his personality blossom.  He is wearing size 3 and 4T clothing and size 9/10 shoes, and is a bruiser.  He, like his brother, loves to be physical, push and shove, wrestle, jump, and bounce on things (or people).

As a family we had a great year of trips to Holiday World, Michigan with Dave's family, and Chicago to visit the Bednarko's and DeMarco's (and Luedtke's :), and Brown County in the fall with the McGriff's.  Dave and I were also able to visit LA to see Joe and Hannah - they have done such a wonderful job at building their life out there and we are so proud of them!

We also put a lot of work into our house this year, updating sinks, our deck, and other fixtures.  All of this was part of a long term plan to sell our house and move into something bigger in 2017 or 2018.  However, that timeline got condensed significantly when we found a house in November that we just couldn't get out of our heads.  It's a great house in Zionsville that has plenty of room for us to grow into.  It had everything we needed/wanted in a home, and is in a wonderful neighborhood called The Enclave.  We put an offer in and everything worked in our favor.  We move on January 11th.  It's exciting, scary, bittersweet, and joyous, all wrapped into one big ball of wild emotion.  This also means that the last six weeks of the year were extremely busy for us, but we did get our house on the market and can't wait for someone else to enjoy it.

Wooh.  What a year.  We so thankful for the blessings of God in our life - as well as his guiding hand through our uncertainties, doubts and fears.  Everyday we try to do our best to grow closer to Him.  We're not always successful, but we have found a real peace in trying.  We both so desire more of what Christ has to offer, and we are so thankful for what he continues to bless and challenge us with.  

We also love, appreciate and value each and every one of you.  We could not do this crazy life without our village, and we are so thankful for ours.  Our goals for 2017 are to be more intentional about our friendships, our quality time as a family, and our individual health.  We hope you all had a great 2016, and pray that 2017 will be a year that each and every one of you feels the warmth and love that Christ offers.

God bless!

(One final note - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that 2016 was the year of seeing a lifelong dream be achieved for Dave - he's been a huge Cubs fan since he watched games with his Grandpa as a little kid.  I know he'll always remember being in that hotel in Connecticut on a work trip and watching the Cubs win game 7 of the World Series in the craziest of fashions.  Here's to you, 2016 Cubs!)

One Final, Final note.  These two kids are ridiculously cute.