2016 in 12 Photos

Thanks to Bobbi for hosting this link up.  

This is one of my favorite posts to do each year. It's always so hard to pick just one photo from each month, but it's a challenge I love. Looking through all my photos from the last year reminds me that no matter how crazy and hectic and difficult life may seem, it's also incredibly beautiful, and I have so much to be thankful for. 

So here's our Year In Review. 


JANUARY: Getting Johnny's ear tubes in and some of his hearing issues resolved was a big part of January. I also decided to do the 52 project, which, if you are a regular reader, you may have noticed I failed woefully at. We spent a lot of time staying cozy inside, and Johnny's love for trains began. 


FEBRUARY: With Lent comes Lenten resolutions. I got bangs again! We started Johnny with a new speech therapist, and it was really awesome to see his vocabulary expand. 


MARCH: We kept plugging away though Lent. I was adding names to the list of women I pray for. The end of winter gets so hard, so we tried to find fun things to do, like ride the train into downtown. I did some thinking about what it means to have spring come back, in nature and in my own soul.  And I got really good at building wooden train tracks. We had a lovely Easter...followed by a terrible stomach bug. Welcome spring! 


APRIL: So many long days with my babies that I know are turning into short years. Finally warm enough to be outside. And my little sister got married!!


MAY: BIG changes as Johnny started preschool a lot sooner than we had originally planned, which stirred up all kinds of motherly feelings in me. Lots of time out side, bubble blowing. And Johnny turned three


JUNE: I took the summer off from teaching and just focused on family and rest. We celebrated the anniversary of Johnny's baptism, and we had our first round of family vacation.  


JULY: Alex finished up his summer semester and we went on our second family vacation of the summer to Alex's family's farm.


AUGUST: We made it home from our family farm vacation. And then we went on our annual pilgrimage with our good friends. I turned 30! And we cranked out a few house projects before school started up again.


SEPTEMBER:  Johnny started school again, Alex started school again, and I started teaching again. All the busyness definitely left me feeling wornout and in over my head. I refocused my perspective on being a stay-at-home mom.  A big highlight was meeting many of the other Blessed is She writers and creatives at our first ever BIS Team Retreat. 


OCTOBER: Trixie turned one, and Alex and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Alex started rotations, and I wrote this Mother's Act of Contrition because, you know, there's always room for improvement in world of motherhood.


NOVEMBER: We got sick, multiple times actually, and really just tried to keep up with everything.


DECEMBER: Lots of Christmas happenings, family time, and learning to navigate the season with small children. 

It's been a great, crazy, challenging, enjoyable, memory-filled year. We're going to soak up our last few days of Christmas break and then roll up our sleeves to greet 2017. Wishing you all a peaceful and joyful new year!