A Year In Review.

I realize that New Years has come and gone, but I'm a bit behind on my recaps, as you have probably noticed.  Christmas week was a full 7 days of fun and then the four of us caught the flu right after.  So, though we've been back home for a week, our house is still in shambles and I'm trying to blog in between wiping runny noses and cuddling recouping babies.  I did manage to get all the decorations down though, so I have that going for me.  As much as I love our tree and the gloriousness of it's glow, I'm always ready to see it go once Christmas is over.  And I'm always surprised at all the room we have once we get that thing back in the attic! :)

So.  2013 is gone and in the books.  It was a good year.  It was full of great times and hard times and with the past couple of months behind us, I'm excited to welcome a new year.  Through the joyful moments and the confusing moments, God proved Himself faithful.  So very faithful.

January!

Januarys are always quiet months for us.  The hustle and bustle of the months before come to a screeching halt and we rest.  Quietly.  No big events or holidays, so we kind of hibernate into our little home and refocus.

Nothing very noteworthy happened in January.  But we had plenty of precious moments.





January is good.

February! 

February is one of my favorite months.



We celebrated Valentine's Day and smothered one another in kisses!





We had our first snow of the year and it was far from impressive.  The boys scraped up all the snow from our yard and managed to build quite an impressive snowman!



It was a mild winter, but we still managed to have some snow fun ... until I pulled a muscle in my NECK having a snowball fight while holding Ezra and was down for the count for an entire week.  It was literally one of the worst weeks of my life.

But I healed and life was good again. :)

March!

March is always a welcomed month.  The sun starts the shine, the boys get to go outside every day, we have lots of picnics and life is full of fresh air again.



Levi and his cousin Maxwell had their first theater experience in March - Peter Pan!



Which led to a total obsession of PP for my Weebie!



April! 

April was a BIG month full of lots of fantastic things .... starting with my little babies FIRST birthday!!



He is just my angel.  The LOVE!



We had the best time celebrating the precious JOY that God so graciously gave our family.  A few days after his 1st birthday he took off walking like a pro, and the rest of my days from then on have involved me chasing him.  Haha!


(Check out Levi in this photo.  Kills me every single time!)





The same weekend as his party was Easter!  It was one busy start to April!







And then I redecorated our bedroom.



And then we took a trip to San Diego for a conference for Husby.  Good GRIEF, that was a busy month now that I look back on it.





It was such a refreshing time away with my guy.  We always have the best time together!



Oh, and apparently I redecorated the boys' bathroom, too!  Goodness, I wish I could be "April Whitney" every day!



May! 

May was just as big as April and just as exciting!  This month was definitely the highlight of my year because of our big family trip to Disney World!  Experiencing that through the eyes of a child is absolutely MAGICAL! I'm forever thankful to my parents for that trip.  Forever!







Good GRIEF, looking through these pictures makes me want to post every picture all over again, AND GO BACK!!!!!! Goodness, that was a wonderful week.

The boys also got to experience the ocean! Levi for the 2nd time, Ezra for the first!



I slipped into a state of depression when we got back.  Haha!  Post-vacay blues are a real thing - especially when you leave some place as magical as Disney!

And then the boys caught hand-foot-mouth and it was a really hard week.

But then, my Weebie Boy turned FOUR!!



We had a low-key birthday with just family but I still did the table up big for him! And he loved it so much.  :)



He truly is an angel, that boy of mine.



May was an amazing month.

June!

June was full of fun summery things.  We took the boys to another play.  This time, The Lion King!





We did mundane things like clean the garage.



But also really FUN things like small town summer festivals.  They're not QUITE the same right after Disney World, but they sure are fun and hold a special place in my heart. :)



We did lots of swimming in Levi's new pool he got for his birthday!  The pool that made our summer days fantastic.



June was a huge month for Levi.  Just a week after turning four, he learned to ride a bike on his own without training wheels!  Such a monumental moment in the life of a little boy!!!





Our whole little cul-de-sac was in on the action - cheering and clapping and screaming for him.  Oh, it was just so precious!  So proud of him.

He also took swimming lessons every day for 2 weeks and that was wonderful for him!



July!

July is always a good time.  We had a great 4th and took a few fun little day trips!









Husby and I celebrated our 8th anniversary and he began his 3rd and final year of residency.  He was elected Chief medical resident and I couldn't be more proud of him!  We were able to escape for a little anniversary getaway to Dallas to see Phillip Phillips and John Mayer in concert and it was wonderful.



We had a fun rest of the month doing all the summery things we could fit in, like making pickles and picking berries!





Oh, and my blog was named in a magazine! Haha!



August! 

In August, I turned 30!



Husby turned 31 later that month, and we spent the month doing fun things like the zoo, more swimming, and bike riding.





Oh, and a good down home countrified haircut.  Of course.



September!

In September, the air started to cool again and little Levi started his first little sport - soccer!



It was hilarious watching them play, and super fun for him.  Husby ended up taking over the coaching position, so that was very special.



We also started homeschool and Levi absolutely LOVES it and is most definitely thriving.  He and I both have learned so much through this experience.  He is such a little delight!



September also means Tulsa State Fair time!



As usual, we had a blast.



A definite highlight for the boys was going to see Thomas!





Levi also joined the AWANA program at Church and Wednesday nights are most certainly the highlight of his week.



It was a good month full of good things.

October!

October is the month where it all begins.  The activity!  October is chock full of F-U-N!



Pumpkin patches, hay rides, Halloween ... all such fun.  Also, October brought a lot of stress.  Stress about our future, what God wanted for us, what to do, where to go .... s.t.r.e.s.s.



We had our annual trip to War Eagle, and as always, had a blast.



And the boys had a fun outing with Grammy & Poppy doing all things Autumn.





We ended the month with Halloween, and Husby off in PA beginning the first of several interviews.  I should have known then that him being in ERIE on Halloween was some kind of sign.  ;)



November! 

The first week in November, we took a trip to Branson, MO. with my family for a fun Christmas getaway.  We went early because of schedules and it ended up being a great time to go.  We had so much fun, and I can't TELL you how much we needed to get away from it all.





Husby traveled to Virginia for another interview and on his flight there was called & offered a spot in Pennsylvania.  Oh, the conundrum.  Oh, the stress.  Especially since he wasn't scheduled to go to Texas until December ... to rotate, interview, etc.  And that's where we thought we would go all along.  Little did we know that he was going to love and prefer the program in Erie.  WHO KNEW!

We had a lot of praying and decision making to do.  So we enlisted our prayer warriors and fell to our knees.

And one weekend later, we knew our answer.  Husby accepted the spot in PA, declined an offer in VA, and ruled Texas out completely.  Although he was still set up to do a 2 week rotation there in December that he was committed to.

Another fun weekend event was seeing White Christmas with my Mom & SIL.



This was the night we settled on PA and told everyone.

December!

Husby headed out to Texas on Dec. 1, and would be there for two weeks.  He knew within the first few days that God led us in the right direction when He led us to PA.  That was a relief!

We had a huge snow storm and my parents had me down to their house!  We had a great time and made lots of yummy food.





The rest of the month should be fresh on your mind because it's fresh on the blog, but we had lots of family time, saw Santa Claus, watched dozens of Christmas movies, and had a wonderful Christmas.



***

Wow! Though I couldn't possibly cram every single thing we did this year into one post, doing this really paints a clear picture of God's goodness and faithfulness to us over the year.  I am humbled by the blessings He has so graciously poured over us.  My prayer for 2014 is that we honor Him with our words, our actions, our thoughts, and our lives.  To give HIM glory each and every day.

Thanks for reading along in our little journey!  LOVE!