2017 Recap - Part 2

I'm finishing my wrap up of 2017 because, well, it's almost February 2018. Pitiful, I know. Such is life. It just keeps flying! Here we go...

• August is one of the most packed months of the year for us, and of course this year was no exception. 
• Our church wrapped up our yearly mission trip to Wears Valley Ranch. Kate got to go again, and I was so proud of how she SERVED and WORKED while we were there. 
• We had a few lake days and the girls tubed. They somehow talked their Mama into tubing with them! 
• Kate turned SIX and got to go eat at California Dreaming. 
• We celebrated her birthday with a gymnastics party. 
• Kate started first grade, so of course there were lots of school related things going on - buying school supplies, attending Meet the Teacher, and just gearing back up for a new school year!
• We played outside a lot!
• Kevin turned a year older (and he can thank me for not mention which year older he turned!)
• Last, but most certainly not least, Kevin and I celebrated our TEN year anniversary. We celebrated by just going out to eat.  This is the time of life we are in. We planned to do a trip for our ten year anniversary but August is just not a good time for travel with school and birthdays, etc. SO, we had a trip planned for December to celebrate our anniversary.

• Karsten started Parents Day Out. 
• We took the girls to a Georgia football game and Kevin finally broke his streak of Georgia losing when he goes to games because they WON! 
• The girls and I went back to my home town to attend a baby shower for Kristi. 
• While we didn't go to a Clemson game, the girls sported their jerseys to show their support. We are definitely a college football loving family.  At least, Kevin and I are.  Karsten will sometimes come into the room, see what's on TV and say "Oh..... not PBSPN!" 
• My mom, sister and I went to a Tim and Faith concert that we'd been planning for months. 
• Towards the end of the month, we went to see my parents and Karsten got to open an early birthday present - Teddy Ruxpin.

• Karsten turned THREE! My baby is getting further and further away from being a baby every day. 
• Karsten's birthday request was to go to Carowinds, so that's just what we did. She and Kate had a blast, even though it rained on us most of the time!
• Kate was tested for allergies and was allergic to every single item that she was tested for, except for cockroaches. She is allergic to trees, pollen, dust mites, animals, and basically about anything you can think of. Poor girl and I hate that it took us until now to figure all of this out. She started weekly allergy shots this month and we are praying that this will get her some relief! 
• We went hiking with friends one weekend and saw several waterfalls. It was a perfect fall day to spend outside. 
• I found a great deal on Zulily.com a few months prior and we spend a few days at the Great Wolf Lodge over Kate's fall break.
• Kate had her first field trip of the school year, and Kevin chaperoned! 
• The girls dressed up for Halloween as Pocahontas and Rapunzel and we went trick-or-treating with friend.  

• We met Kate's birth mom and her family at the zoo and spent the day seeing all of the animals. 
• We celebrated World Adoption Day by drawing smiley faces on our hands and taking a picture. The girls love this tradition and Karsten often asks for a smiley face on her hand just because of this. 
• Kate got signed up for basketball and had her first practice. She is in love with basketball and told us after her first practice that she is going to win the National Championship. 
• We met up with Karsten's birth family at the mall.  We all ate dinner together and then spent some time in the play area while the kids ran off some energy. 
• A friend and I went to a Clemson game. It was military appreciation day, so there was a flyover and Lee Greenwood sang. This was actually the 2nd time I'd heard him sing in the month of November, since he was at a work event a few weeks earlier.
• Baby Rylynn was born and the girls gained a cousin and Kevin and I gained a new niece. 
• We celebrated Thanksgiving, and the girls sang with our children's group during our Thanksgiving weekend service. Karsten knew every single word to the song, but when she got on stage, she didn't sing one single word.

• December! The month when we celebrate Jesus' birth. And what a special month it is.  
• Kevin and I went on a cruise to celebrate our 10th anniversary. While we had a great time, it was hard being disconnected from our kids for 5 days! 
• We had lots of Christmas activities - parties, gingerbread house building, driving around looking at the lights, and more. 
• We saw Santa and the girls got to give him their wish list. 
• The girls sang 2 songs with lots of other kids one Sunday morning. Karsten did so great this time! She must have gotten over her stage fright. 
• We celebrated Christmas with family.
• Santa came!  The girls got lots of toys, but Kate's favorite by far is her new basketball goal.  Nearly every day when we get home she asks if she can go shoot basketball. 
• After Christmas, Kate asked if she could use her own money that she has saved from birthdays and allowances to buy her very first American Girl doll.  Welcome to the family banjo-playing Tenney. 

And THAT was 2017.  There's no doubt that it was full. It's easy to go through life, and not take time to look back because you're so concerned about what is coming up.  It's true that life is busy.  But just going back through pictures and putting these little recaps together makes me that much more thankful for the things that I have been able to experience each year. You really do forget a lot of the things that you've done and been a part of!  It's fun to say "Oh yeah - I remember when ______."  Or, "Wow, do you remember how excited the kids were when we __________." It's so rewarding to be able to have these reminders of God's earthly blessings. 

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.

Hebrews 12:28