a look back at 2016

I really love these Look Back posts of each year. It’s taken me awhile but I wanted to pull this one together because it’s about the only way I remember most of what happens some years. And I don’t want 2016 to become a black hole of my momory.  (what started out as a typo is now starting to seem quite fitting for the sieve like mental capabilities of the mom brain at remembering.)

January

Looking back on January, all the pictures started looking sort of like this. In summary: We didn’t leave the house much.

February

In February we hit this big milestone of Brian submitting his Permanent Resident application. Still waiting to actually receive it, but after our long uphill battle with constant immigration efforts, it was a momentous day to finally sign those hundreds of pages.

March

March was a month that seemed I really was on the ball, we celebrated St Joseph’s day with something I have always wanted to do – eat pasta off the table like Kendra’s family. We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, Worked hard to live Lent with kid friendly Stations of the Cross around the house and of course Easter with home grown easter grass and basket blessing and brunch and road trips and outings. My Gramma helped us prepare our Easter basket and bring it to the Church to be blessed, and also helped the kids dye easter eggs and spend a lot of special moments with us.

April

April had nice weather, weekend trips away, a beautiful weekend retreat for me, and then Brian slipped down the stairs and dislocated his sholder 😦 Very sad and painful experience for him and  we had to cancel a trip we had been planning to the coast to visit our good friends.

May

May was SO NICE! It was good we enjoyed it because the summer was not very nice. We went to the lake for the day many times. Spent a long weekend at our friends ranch, lots of play outside because it was a beautiful spring, we also sew the circus and the dentist for the first time. Wahoo

June 

Lots more play outside, camping, trips to spruce meadows, the zoo, walks in fish creek park.

July

Clara’s unicorn birthday, our 5th anniversary and a night away, concerts in the park, but this picture was deceiving because most of July and August were rainy and cool.

August

So much fun, many messy faces from trips to Fort Edmonton (above) and the Corn Maze with friends. Also the Zoo (wow we go a lot in warm weather!) I had a getaway girls weekend with my good friend which was AH-MAZING! First ever trip to a spa and so many good meals uninterrupted at non chain restaurants. Clara went to a CGS day camp and my sister and her husband had a pig roast.

September

I terrified my children by taking them on a log ride at an amusement park. #bigmistake. Our epic houseboating trip and a few days in the mountains, going to see the Enchanted Forest and Three Valley Gap, Ice Cream at the Dutchmen Dairy Darn (pictured) with my sister who came to town for the trip, And a good friend’s wedding and fall colours on our trees. Bye Bye summer.

October

The double birthday of Brian and Tessa, the first snow of the winter, Tessa’s first steps. Brian and I spent a lot of time picking paint colours, we took the kids on a trip downtown to ride the LRT train and see the firetruck. Clara took swimming lessons and we used the lessons for an excuse to take the kids out on lots of one on one “dates” which was so fun, a trip to edmonton and our first trip bowling and seeing a real live active Bee hive sandwiched between glass and of course, Halloween.

November

The saga of house painting and our efforts to be out of the house all day every day, including going to the kids first movie (finding Dory, pictured). Clara’s week away from us when she stayed with my sister, our trip to visit my cousin and her family, lots of projects and cleaning and moving things for painting. We visited the Zoo again, and the graveyard to pray for all the souls.

December

December seemed like mostly a month of Sick (which in some ways is still ongoing….:() We decorated and celebrated St. Nick’s day and Advent and prepared for Christmas, The kids got cute hair cuts and we had Brian’s parents visit for the Holidays, We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and spent time with my family and extended family and we wrapped up the year with most of us still sick and never leaving the house…