2015 proved to be top-notch in many ways. We checked off lots of fun things on our to-do lists, and that's always a good thing. Here are some of the highlights:
2015 started off quite shiny and bright for me personally! In January, I got to model a couple bridal gowns at a wedding fair in St. Paul! I think the only thing better than dress-up as a kid is dress-up as an adult. Yes. Yes. I am right.
In the winter, Cece got the hang of using her new ice skates and Rosie figured out walking and standing, no big deal.
Also, over the winter Joe and I (and the girls) ended up discovering and making lots of trips to Vertical Endeavors. I love that Cece now has a little rock climbing vocabulary and and I love that this has literally made us stronger as a family!
Rosie turned one in March and fortunately figured out the whole smash cake concept right away.
Also in March, Joe and I finally went on our honeymoon! (Only 5 years after the wedding.) We spent a week in Huatulco, Mexico and it was incredible. (Tacos and sunshine everyday, I mean, hello! HEAVEN!)
In April, our spunky Cecelia Ray turned four! We celebrated her birthday Frozen-style in St. Cloud. Robbyn came in for the occasion made a beautiful Elsa cake for the party. Cece also received a Frozen bike as a gift from her aunts. Not too shabby of a birthday!
During that same time that Robbyn visited, we took her newly-engaged self bridal dress shopping. And we also got tattoos with our brother among other activities. Sister time is THE BEST.
In May, we also ran a 5K with the Olsons and the girls completed a fun run and were awarded with medals and popsicles. I had never run an official 5K before, so I was just feeling proud that I finished!
In June, the girls and I made a trip up to Chicago and got a chance to celebrate my bestie finishing her undergrad!
We spent the Fourth of July at Joe's parents' cabin. As we always should.
In July, Joe and I got to live out some of our American Ninja Warrior dreams and also ran/survived 10.1 muddy miles of the Tough Mudder. (This we trained a tiny bit for, but not really much. We are kind of bad at training.) Even though I clearly remember being extremely sore for days after, we are still hoping to do it this year again!
Cece very excitedly returned to preschool in the fall!
Fall was for weddings! We celebrated my lovely friend Rachel getting married in Minneapolis. Then the girls and I made a trip to Chicago to watch my beautiful cousin Joanne get married as well.
In the fall, Joe and I also took a flying trapeze class! I had asked for this as a birthday present and was thrilled when we actually made it happen. This was easily the most exhilarating and terrifying thing we did this year and I highly recommend it to ANYONE who enjoys having fun!
Remember how I said I'm not a runner? I'm not, but I do happen to be plenty crazy. One week before the Monster Dash, my sister-in-law asked if I would be interested in taking her bib. I'm always compelled to take a bucket-list opportunity when it is offered, so I did it. In true Rachel fashion, I did not train at all (not that I could have in a week's time), but I DID complete the half marathon. I'm still extremely proud of myself even if I was extremely slow.
Post-Monster Dash, we made it to a Halloween party and trick-or-treating with Office Girl and a little monster.
We spent Thanksgiving in St. Cloud and actually managed a family picture of everyone.
Cece began taking dance classes in November and performed in the Christmas show in December. We were so proud of our little show-stopper!
We had fun in December baking cookies, decorating, visiting Santa, reading Christmas stories, and pretending there was snow outside.
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In addition to all those above activities, Joe also bought a new motorcycle and had a blast playing flag football on the weekends in the summer and fall. I continued growing my photography business, finally publishing my own website and taking many pictures of babies, families, and even two weddings last year. I also signed up to be a Jamberry independent consultant, so if you follow me on social media, you were probably spammed by me posting pictures of my nails, What else? We attempted to do The Whole 30 (we may try again this year), We had a month of technological failure (our hard drive crashed and I shattered my phone screen not long after that... so there was a lack of blogging for a little bit there.) And let's be honest, we had a few more sushi dates than I'm willing to admit.
The girls have been wonderful little weirdos and it's been such a joy to watch them grow. There were moments where I was nearly tearing up out of delight. (Like when the hug and kiss each other good night unprompted? I just melt.) And then there were moments when all three of us were crying in the parking lot at Target because, well, being a mom is hard and I'm sure someone was sad because of lost mittens, and someone else was tired... but that's all part of the package. Cece is very much into art projects, dancing, educating us about nutrition, and planning fun dates with her friends. Rosie loves Cece and whatever Cece is doing. She also has expanded her vocabulary big time and can command most things that she wants (SNUGGLES! BLANKET! COOKIE!)
I have a lot of good feelings about this upcoming year.
That about wraps it up! I hope 2015 treated you well and I hope 2016 treats you even better!
What a great blog post and year summary! You guys had such a fun year!
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