As 2015 comes to a close, I will attempt to do a photo dump to document our year and reminisce of the wonderful memories we made.
This was an amazing year for our family and we can only hope that 2016 is at least half as good as this one.
Again, I thank God for every blessing we received and pray that we can continue to share our happiness with friends and family.
So here's 2015 in review.
We kicked off January in Tampa with family; the girls spent some time with their cousin Isabella and Gaby got sick on the first day of the year..quite the start!
At school, the girls celebrated 100 days of school with the usual crafts and fun activities.
In early February, Iggy lost his beloved grandma Yolanda; it was such a sad time for our family and we are thankful for all the love we received from our friends during this terrible time.
Shortly after losing Yolanda, our family was blessed with the birth of Eduardo Ignacio, born on February 6th to Iggy's cousin Gustavo and his wife Alexandra. He was such a cute baby and came to brighten our family during difficult times.
A few days after the birth of Eduardo Ignacio, we found out we were expecting our 3rd blessing. I was about 10 weeks along by the time we found out and even though we were VERY shocked, we were incredibly happy with the news...
In February, we also celebrated Erika's 8th birthday and had a blast in Orlando with the whole family.
In March, Gaby got her debut as a lector at church. She read the 1st reading during her class' mass and did a wonderful job. I was so proud of my little Gaby and her wonderful reading skills.
We went strawberry picking for the first time and the girls had so much fun with their little friends.
The long awaited movie Cinderella came out and the girls dressed up as princesses for the premiere. It was so much fun to see all those cute girls in costumes!
At the end of March, Olivia completed her First Reconciliation in preparation for her First Communion. It was a great experience for her and all of her classmates and I was happy to witness such a memorable moment.
In April we traveled to Europe and visited Barcelona, London and Lisbon; three amazing cities with beautiful scenery and incredible foods, buildings, etc. It was a great family trip and we hope to do it again this year (or next!)
During our trip we met up with my cousin Renato and his wife Anastasia and spent a few great days with them.
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| London |
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| Lisbon, Portugal |
On April 25th, Olivia had her First Communion; she looked so beautiful in her white dress and was so radiant during the whole day. We were so proud and happy! :)
The girls also had their Flamenco recital in April and they did wonderfully
We were also happy to see some of our good friends that were visiting from Connecticut! That was a blast! :)
In May, our niece Erika had her First Communion and that was also a happy day for our family!
We traveled to Disney with some friends and this would be the last time I visited the parks before the arrival of baby Oliver
At the end of May we spent a few day at Ft Myers Beach with some friends. We rented a big house and had the time of our lives; so much so that we are planning to make it a yearly tradition!
In June, Gaby completed Kindergarten and had a great graduation ceremony; she looked so cute in her little cap and gown; it was so emotional to see her all "grown up"
The girls finished Kindergarten and 2nd grade and here they are on their last day of school
When school was over, Olivia got braces; it took me a while to get used to her new look, but I think she looks adorable and hopefully her teeth will be perfect after this round of orthodontics.
In June we also got to finally meet Eduardo Ignacio, he was almost 5 months by the time we met him but it was such a wonderful feeling to finally be able to hold him.
We celebrated Father's Day (Iggy's last as a father of 2!)
I got to see my friend Susan who was visiting from Atlanta and even though we were only able to have one quick lunch, it was great to catch up!
At the end of June, we traveled to Ohio to visit my brother in law and his family. We got to celebrate Isabella's 3rd birthday and the girls had a wonderful time with her.
I also met up with my friend Jenn and her son Maddox, whom I hadn't seen in years. They live in Ohio about an hour from my brother in law so it was a no brainer!
We visited the Columbus Zoo during our trip to Ohio
After spending a few days in Ohio, we drove up to Canada to visit our friends the Feggi family (most awesome Canadians we know!). We spent about a week there and got to celebrate the 4th of July Canadian style. We also celebrated Iggy's birthday while in Canada, met up with family and visited the Niagara Falls... it was such a fun summer trip!
In July, we celebrated Gaby's 6th and Olivia's 8th birthdays. No big party this year but they made sure to have a blast with their little friends...
At the end of July, we said good bye to our friend Claudia who moved back to Peru; I was so sad to say good bye and miss her so much every day!
The day Gaby said bye to her friend Lucienne (Claudia's daughter) was probably the saddest day of the summer. These two little girls LOVE each other and they were heart broken when they had to say good bye. We hope to see them again this year!
In August, the girls completed their annual golf/tennis summer camp; they always have a great time with sports and this year was no exception.
I celebrated my baby shower with friends and family and was so grateful for such a great time with my loved ones. Thank you, mom and sister for such a beautiful shower.
By the end of August it was back to school time! The girls started 1st and 3rd grade and were so happy to be back with their friends and starting a new year.
By the end of August I was feeling incredibly sick and was experiencing the worst sciatica pain in the world; I spent a lot of days and nights cuddled up with my cat in bed
In September, my friend Jenni came to visit from Venezuela and we were so happy to spend some time with her.
We also spent a lot o f time with family as we got ready for the arrival of baby Oliver.
The girls painted my belly just a few weeks before Olivier was born, this is their finished product.
This is my last belly picture, taken just a week before the baby was born
A picture from one of my many visits to Labor & Delivery triage!
Balloon release on Grandma's birthday (this is now a family tradition, which I really love!)
On September 25th, our baby boy arrived; it was the happiest day of the year and I will never forget the joy I felt when I held him for the first time! Here's one of his first pictures...
First stroll around the neighborhood...
In early October my friend Lori and her family came to visit from Louisiana; such a fun time!
High school reunion! I love you girls!
We visited the pumpkin patch and spent some time with friends. This is our first picture as a family of 5 since we totally forgot to take one at the hospital!
By the end of October, I had lost almost 30lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight so that's an accomplishment worth documenting! ;)
Oliver turned a month on October 25th! ;)
All Saints day at school
At the end of October, we met up with friends in Orlando. I hadn't seen my friend Kim and her kids in over 4 years so it was great to see them again even if it was just for one night!
Oliver's First Halloween! The cutest Minion ever!
I took the girls to the Taylor Swift concert in Tampa.. their first ever! They LOVED it!
Oliver met some of his cousins while we were in Tampa...
On November 1st it was Oliver's first time at Disney; such a fun time! He loved all the colors, music and characters and he met Mickey for the first time but he was more interested in breastfeeding than we was on meeting the mouse! oh well!
We celebrated my sister's bridal shower in early November...
On November 8th, I cut off 12 inches of hair and donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.. one item off my bucket list! :)
On November 18th, Iggy and I celebrated 10 years of marriage..what a happy day!
Gaby's Thanksgiving luncheon at school..
Oliver turned 2 months on November 25th...
...and he celebrated his first Thanksgiving!
We bought our Christmas tree!
Our first Christmas as a family of 5! :)
Oliver turned 3 months on Christmas day...
..and the month of December has been all about family. We are lucky to have some family visiting so our days have been filled with lots of gatherings and fun stuff.
And just like that, another year came and went and we made sure to make amazing memories for our collection. I am so happy the way this year turned out and I can only thank God for such wonderful blessings. Here's to another wonderful year!
Happy blogging!
