This year's theme was "friends and family" and I could not have asked for better memories, better trips or better adventures... 2019 was definitely good to us and I thank God every day for the outpouring of blessings into our lives. I also thank every friend and every family member who was part of our life this year; you all are the reason was 2019 was so memorable.
Here's a brief wrap up of our year, as told by month to month pictures.
January: We started the year with a bang by spending the first days of January in NYC, a place full of life and adventure. It was the kids' and Iggy's first time at the Statue of Liberty, so definitely a month to remember...
February was another great month; thanks to my cousin and his family, I was able to fulfill my lifelong dream of visiting Venice as I took a week off from my motherly duties to fly across the Atlantic to spend a few days in Switzerland and Italy. This trip did not disappoint; I visited beautiful places including Venice, Verona, Milan, and Zurich.. what a trip to remember!
Also, Erika turned 12, Mariana turned 2 and the whole month of February was very festive!
March was a quiet month, we spent some time outdoors and attended the Miami Open at its new location (Hard Rock Stadium) and we also adopted our new cat Maggie, who settled right into our home!
In April we visited dreamy places with dreamy people as we explored amazing cities in Denmark, Poland and Sweden. I was happy to be able to finally visit my best friend's home country of Poland and its many cities. I can't believe I waited more than 20 years to take that trip with her, but I'm glad it happened when it did. That Europen trip is definitely among the best ones we have taken and I can't wait to make more memories in 2020.
May was all about friends and family as we greeted many visitors from all over the world, including my dear friend Mari and her husband who came from Ireland and some of Iggy's family from Venezuela. We also went to Disney a few times, including Memorial Weekend in May.
June brought the end of a challenging school year as well as early birthday celebrations for the girls..
We spent the whole month of July in Argentina and invited my aunt Laurita to come along. The girls had the chance to participate in a "winter" camp while we were there and we even visited some dear family in Santiago, Chile.
Living in another country for 5 weeks was such an enriching experience for our family. We enjoyed cold weather in July and visited incredible and unforgettable places. Of course, goodbyes were really hard but I'm hopeful we'll be able to see our family again very soon! We absolutely loved our time in Argentina!
As soon as we got back from Argentina the first week of August, we left for Ohio to visit Iggy's brother and family. We spent a week in Nashport enjoying the company of our niece and nephew and we even got a chance to visit Falling Water House and Pittsburgh during a day trip to Pennsylvania. It was such a great week and also a wonderful way to end our summer with a bang! Oh...we also snuck in a beach day upon returning to Florida! ;)
In September, Iggy and I took a short trip to Punta Cana, DR to attend Harold and Heivi's wedding. It was a wonderful weekend celebrating our friends and also relaxing during a child-free getaway!
September was also a month for family time as we took a Disney trip with our family from Switzerland. It was such a great opportunity to get all the cousins together and to take millions of pictures, of course.. here is my favorite!
Oliver turned 4 at the end of September and had the party of his dreams...he is still raving about it 3 months later.. I'm so glad we could give him this party!
October rolled around and it was all fun and games.. pumpkins, costumes, trips to Disney with friends, cheer competitions and of course Nolan's 1st birthday and baptism. I became the proud "madrina" of my favorite baby and I am so happy to have been part of such a great moment in this little guy's life!
I also took an all-girls' trip to Universal Studios with some of my high school besties and that made for some great bonding and reminiscing...
In November we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with a trip to Mexico City. We had such an incredible time walking around the city and even got the chance to take a day trip to the pyramids. I loved having that much needed one-on-one time with Iggy.
We finished November with a visit to see Santa and also honoring our yearly tradition of Disney Thanksgiving and turkey leg eating. We always have so much fun at Disney...it really never disappoints.
The biggest event in November was me going back to work after six years at home. After much consideration and definitely as a divine calling, I took a job with the Archdiocese of Miami and started working on November 18th. I work for the Department of Marriage and Family life and ever since taking that job, I have become an even bigger advocate for married couples and Catholic families. I know God put me there for a reason!
December had a very rough start with my mom being hospitalized for half the month and our house being broke into. We had a few rough weeks and I really thought I'd spend the month curled up in a dark hole but I'm happy to report that after a couple of hospital birthday celebrations (Claudia's and dad's) things did turn around and Christmas ended up being a wonderful time...
Oliver went to the Polar Express with Claudia; I celebrated my 38th birthday with my closest friends and we even attended my brother in law's wedding on my birthday. It was truly a wonderful month...
...and last but not least, December also brought the adoption of our newest kitty, Maui, who joined the family on 12/21 and was a Christmas gift for Gaby. He's the sweetest little thing and we're so happy to have him...
All in all, 2019 was a good year. We were blessed with precious moments with our wonderful friends and family; we took a few great trips, spent an amazing time together and fell more and more in love with each other. This was a year of growth, a year of adventure, a year of new experiences but especially a year of blessings!
I can't wait to see what 2020 has in store for us!
