2016 Recap

I have a friend, who I have known since I was 4 years old, named Jillian.  Jillian is actually the one that introduced me into the land of blogging after she started a blog when she was pregnant with her first child back in 2011.  I joke with her (and on her) because her blog is something that she will not touch for a month or so, and then will go back and write about 20 posts and put them up all at once. And now clearly, I have turned into the same thing. C'est la vie!

2016 was a fantastic year, filled with lots of great memories. Here is a (very) quick rundown of just a few of our highlights...

• We got SNOW in South Carolina. So much fun!
• Lori and Bobby (and Bobby's mom Stacy) drove up to spend the day with us.
• Karsten turned 15 months old and we were still going strong with the nightly bottles.
• Karsten also joined in on a few bedtime Bible stories, but we quickly determined that she had zero attention span.

• We had some unseasonably warm February weather, and spent a lot of time doing fun outdoor stuff, like sidewalk chalk.
• We celebrated Valentine's day together!
• I went to my home town for our first annual friends dinner (which was definitely repeated in 2017)
• The primary elections were held, and Kate was bummed that she didn't get to vote. So, she decided to make her own card and hold a kid's election. She brought her home-made voter registration card with us when we went to the polls, and then we all got fussed at because we were told our polling location could be accused of voter fraud.
• We signed Kate up for soccer at the YMCA and she was so excited to get her soccer gear.

• We celebrated Easter 2016
• Of course we had a few Easter egg hunts :) Karsten caught on pretty quickly!
• I drove the girls to a friend's peach orchard and took their pictures in the beautiful blooms
• Kate had her first official soccer practice and game. At this point, we were still pretty undecided as to how the season would go.

• April finally brought some WARM weather. And warm weather means bathing suits, sprinklers, and outside fun.
• We pulled out the water table, and Karsten seems to love it just as much as Kate did. We've had this thing for 5 years and I have to say, it was definitely money well spent!
• The soccer season continued and we realized Kate did not heart soccer the way her mommy did.  She preferred the sidelines with her friends over chasing the soccer ball. 

• May was a crazy busy month. First up, Kate's LAST day of K4. It was a sad and exciting day for all of us.
• Next up - VACATION. We went to Sunset Beach, NC and Kate has been begging to go back there since we left.
• Also  in May, I celebrated my 5th Mother's day. What a blessing and honor to be Mom to these two girls.
• At some point during the month, Kate's school held their Kindergarten orientation, so we got the chance to visit her new school and tour the facilities.

• We spent a lot of June just doing fun things at home.
• We made a few lake trips and always love being on the water.
• Our church had a waterpark day.
• Kevin attempted to teach Kate how to hit a softball, and she actually started hitting them!

• Kate took swimming lessons and through the course of 2 months, she pretty much learned how to swim AND she learned to dive!
• Kevin and I took Kate with us on our annual mission trip with church. Karsten stayed home with her Nana and got to soak up some quality grandparent time.
• We celebrated the 4th of July.

• We wrapped up our mission trip
• Kate turned FIVE.  We tried to celebrate with a birthday party at a local waterpark, but got rained out.  So we improvised, and had a party at our house!
• Kate started Kindergarten.  Somehow I have a school-aged kid!
• We had plenty of lake days again - so fun!

• Karsten started Parents Day Out one day a week. After the initial tears and separation anxiety, she quickly got over it and now LOVES to go to school and see all of her friends. 
• Kate started gymnastics and I think we found an extracurricular activity that she can stick with.
• We spent one Saturday at a waterpark (the one where we were supposed to have Kate's birthday party).

• Kate lost her first tooth.
• Our church had a Fall Festival.
• We visited a farm / pumpkin patch with Kristi and Davis, and got lost in a corn maze!
• I took the girls to a Clemson game and we watched Clemson ALMOST lose to NC State. 
• We celebrated Halloween (Princess Elena and Princess Anna)
• Karsten turned TWO.  Of course we celebrated with a Frozen birthday party.  What else would you expect for this Anna and Elsa loving little girl? 

• Kevin and I went to Las Vegas for my continuing education. We tacked on a few days to the trip and visited Zion National Park, in Utah, went to the Hoover Dam and went to see the Grand Canyon. 
• Kate was in a Thanksgiving play, and played the part of an ear of corn. Ha!
• We hosted Thanksgiving at our house and did not burn the house down.

• We filled the month with LOTS of Christmas fun.
• Kevin and I attended my work Christmas party.
• The girls visited Santa (Karsten was not impressed, yet again)
• Kate helped me with some Christmas shopping and got to get a red cup full of hot chocolate from Starbucks.
• My parents came to visit for Christmas, and we went ice skating.
• SANTA stopped by our house and left lots of goodies.
• Clemson played in the college playoffs and WON, so they were bound for the National Championship.

And that, friends, was a wrap on 2016.  Each year I am beyond amazed at the ways that God has blessed me, and this year was no exception. I am so thankful to have a life filled with an amazing family, great friends, and so much love, laughter and fun. 

2017 - let's do this!