As this year comes to a close, I will attempt to do a bit of a review of all the wonderful experiences we had. It will be more of a photo dump than anything else, because..well... pictures are worth a thousands words and they are just more fun than a bunch of writing....
So here it is...
January..fun month with all our family members...
The girls celebrated 100 days of school and did a bunch of crafts.. more than I can count! ;)
February was full of celebrations, including Erika's 7th birthday... wow.. time flies...
This is, ironically, the last picture we took of Grandma before she passed away in March. She was so happy celebrating that day. I will forever cherish this picture....
March was a great month! I finally lived my dream of "re-living" our honeymoon with our kids. We had a great time during our first family trip to San Francisco; undoubtedly one of my favorite cities in the US.
I even recreated some of the pictures I had taken... with kids this time around! :)
April was AMAZING (and that's a serious understatement) as I lived yet another of my dreams, the one of taking our kids to Europe for the first time. We visited Paris, Helsinki and Barcelona and introduced the girls to "transatlantic" traveling. They had such an amazing time and it was one of the greatest family experiences to date... we hope to be able to do it again soon! :)
Here we are with our family in Finland! :)
During our trip, we had the opportunity of spending quality time with some of our favorite family members and the girls will forever remember this trip....
We also moved to a new house and get to enjoy this wonderful view every day! :)
May was full of great memories too.. We celebrated Mother's Day and the blessing of being together!
Olivia received her first official school award, "Wonderful Writer Award"; she makes me so proud and I love reading all her wonderful stories! :)
In June, little Gaby had her first dance recital. She danced ballet and tap and did such a great job. I discovered Gaby isn't shy at all and she really loves being on stage!
The kids also finished off another school year. Olivia finished 1st grade and Gaby did her last year of pre-school.. by the end of the school year they had both learned so many new things...
July was full of summer fun. They had a great time with friends before we set off to spend 3 weeks in Panama...
We celebrated daddy's and the girls' birthdays in Panama. What a great opportunity we had to get to know life in a different country. While in Panama, we reunited with my aunt Laurita after a few years and visited the Panama Canal and other important landmarks in that wonderful country.
As soon as we came back, it was time of some "summery" fun. Olivia started her golf camp again and we had some great times at the pool. Summer was almost done so the girls made sure to squeeze in all the fun before going back to school....
August was also the month when we got another kitty, "Stella". She was a 6 week old tabby who took to our home right away... she has been great!
By the end of August it was back to school time. Here are the girls on their first day of Kindergarten and Second grade!
September rolled around and it was time to hit the road again.. Disney it was! We purchased annual passes (again!) and enjoyed some amazing times at the happiest place on earth! ;)
Gaby's first time on "Splash Mountain", which she absolutely LOVED even though we sort of "tricked" her into getting on! Way to go, Gaby! :)
October was the time of pumpkin patches and costume parties. The weather was insanely HOT but we sure had a lot of "fall" fun! :)
During November we went on our second Disney cruise..what fun!
This time we visited Cast Away Cay, Bahamas and had a great time on the ship, which happened to be decorated for Christmas!... we LOVED it...
...and then came December, my favorite month of all.
We got a visit from grandpa and the girls loved having him around....
It was also time to celebrate another year of life with friends and family... I had a good 33rd birthday with not one but TWO amazing celebrations....
We also traveled to Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA and St. Augustine, FL. The weather wasn't always perfect but we had a great time...
This was the first year we celebrated Christmas "alone", meaning just the 4 of us. We were in a cabin in Hilton Head, SC and even though it felt a little lonely, it was great to have a quiet Christmas for a change....
And with that I finish my review of 2014. Even though it was the year I lost my beloved Grandma, it was also the year many of my dreams came true and when I experienced, once again, the many blessings of God in my life. I am forever grateful for all the experiences of 2014 as well as all the people in my life. Not a day goes by that I don't thank our creator for always looking out for my family and I and for allowing us to live the fulfilling and incredible life that we have!
Here's to another happy year! God bless you all!
