Morning Boys

I am a morning person. I love the promise of brand new day filled with endless possibilities and I love getting a bright and early start on the day. No joke, I'm crabby if I sleep in much past 7:30. Eli is right there with me waking up and popping out of bed ready for the day. Usually his quilt is in his hands and he's asking us if "it's a stay at home day" or "show and tell" at preschool (his two favorite kinds of days), Adam is more of a mosey out of his room, lay on the couch and wait for the rest of the family to rise before he even makes a peep. Dave is the same way- I joke that he wakes up just to fall back a sleep on the couch most weekend days. And well for Isaac it's too early to tell. He won't get out of his crib without gathering his "na-na" (nuke) and two muslin blankets though. But this picture is morning perfection of smiley boys ready to take on whatever the day brings!

2015 Recap

I'm a month into 2016 and I haven't had the time to do a recap of 2015. It was a big year for our family- we moved to a new house, Adam started 1st grade, Isaac went from baby to a toddler and Eli is in his last year of preschool. Every year I scour my pictures for the best of each month, the ones with the right lighting, composure that I find visually pleasing. This year I'm choosing the pictures with the real smiles that bring back the happy memories that may be a little blurry or have bad lighting.

January:

February:

Our last Tech hockey game with the Wright family before they moved. We started when the twins were just babies and went to probably 8 hockey games together and weekend hotel stays.

March:

Our trip to see Michigan Tech play in the NCAA tournament! Tech had an amazing year and we had fun watching hockey!

April:

Turtle 4th birthday:

Cousin time in Chicago for Elliott's first birthday:

May:

This hike is when we decided it was time to buy the new house and move! Plus it was the most beautiful spring day with bright green and a picnic snack (with wine, because why not).

 June:

Birthday boy in the new house:

Fishing off the dock in the new house:

July:

4th of July with fireworks over the water:

We celebrated the 6 year old a month late again this year, not because of a new baby but because of moving to a new house the weekend he turned six.

We lost my Grandpa Arne in July. It feels strange that I am no longer a granddaughter and I don't have any grandparents left. My grandpa was an awesome strong finn that had a lot of Sisu. My uncle Pat bought Grandpa Arne a shirt that asked "Got Sisu?" for fathers day and he wore it often throughout his cancer treatment and even had it on under his suit at his funeral. So we all wore "Got Sisu?" shirts after the wake for Grandpa Arne.

August:

A family vacation on the shore of Lake Michigan for Shanty Days:

A big 24:29 PR by 30 seconds in the Shanty Day's 5K! (must have been all the speed work outs I did with the 3M running club):

 Relaxing coffee on the beach on my birthday. We had so much fun with the boys while they swam in the lake!

I went to my sorority reunion in Houghton- so fun to see these girls again!

A trip to the Dells with my family and a wonderful hike in the woods:

Cousins on the rock:

September:

 I did the MS Muckfest with my cousin ReAnn who was diagnosed with MS in 2015. We had a huge team of nearly 32 members do the muckfest on the team ReRe's Racers and we all had so much fun  we are doing it again next year.The picture below is with my cousin Vanessa:

Dave and I also participated in the baptism of our Godson Evan.

October:

We went to Chicago for MEA break this year and got to get all the cousins together in one place:

A refreshing stop for a hike at a Wisconsin State Park on the way to Chicago:

 I saw a speeding train go by racing for candy on Halloween:

November:

Now we have two mites in hockey and this is right before his first practice getting his stick measured to size:

I was asked to be the MC for the Raingutter Regata and Dave did the brackets. This is my favorite behind the scenes picture with Isaac sleeping on my back:

Isaac waiting for a tractor ride from daddy. We had more leaves to deal with this fall than I ever imagined was possible, but it's worth it for the shade and wildlife we have in our yard!

November ended with an epic trip to Iceland for Dave and I. Someday I'll write a full trip recap post:

December:

I was in charge of decorating the tea table this year. I got to use the Christmas plates I inherted from my grandma Shan and that was really special:

The ladies I tea with:

Matching Jammies picture 2016:

Eli's Christmas Concert in the mall.

Proud parents with our singer:

Christmas morning with my boys:

More cousin matching jammies pictures:

We ended the year with pneumonia forcing us to cancel our New Years Eve plans with the Thralls. Why did each one of our boys have pneumonia around 18 months old (Adam and Eli)?