Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. I hope this year was as much fun for you as it has been for us! As I sit to write this and think back on the past year I think wow what a year we have had. This could turn into an epic novel if I go through everything in great detail so I will not do that....so you can continue to read. I am going to break the year down into quarters.
First off I will tell you that we are still in Olympia loving it here. Leyton is growing like a weed and is super active and the joy of our lives. Trent is still working at Madigan Army Medical Center as a Security Officer. He has started the hiring process for WA State Patrol so next year may bring a very different update on him. I am staying busy with my salon and still being a nanny for the same family for the 9th year now. I never have a lack of things to do, anyone who knows me knows that. My mom is still living with us. I love that Leyton has so much access to one of his grandparents. She is loving the weather and keeps busy with her sewing business.
So now let's start with the first quarter being January, February, and March. We kicked off the new year which would hold many adventures for us. Leyton started swimming lessons, which he loved!!! He also started gymnastics another beloved pass time. He loves to be on the move and doing things....I think he gets that from me. February brought an addition to our family in the form of a sweet as can be puppy whom we named CJ. Trent picked the name and as most of you would not be surprised she is named after a 4wheel drive vehicle the Jeep CJ. What would surprise most of you is that he picked it because it was the first picture in a magazine that Leyton could identify as a Truck...big deal for daddy!!! So CJ it is she has proved to be an absolute perfect dog and fit for our family. Leyton and her are best friends!! March brought a lot of rain and Leyton learned all about puddle jumping.
So our second quarter moves us to April, May, and June. April was fun month with Easter and Leyton's birthday. We had two Easters really because of family activities. One of which we lovingly name Naked Easter...no, no, no not what you think. We named it that because it just happened to be the weekend we decided to potty train Leyton. He had to run around for the weekend with no pants on. He did amazingly well and we were able to say goodbye to diapers other than when sleeping in just about a week. He loved dying eggs and doing the hunting and getting Easter baskets. He did not however love the Easter Bunny. His birthday brought us a 2 year old....I can't believe my baby is 2 all ready!! In May we celebrated with a Puppy birthday party in honor of CJ. She even provided the picture for his birthday invitation and also a pin the nose on CJ game I came up with. It was a great time and always fun to get our family and friends together. At his 2 year check up the doctor told me she had good and bad news. Good news developmentally and speech he is were he should be for 3-4 all ready. Bad news now I have to keep him entertained...that made me laugh because I all ready knew the bad news. The end of May we packed up and headed out on a road trip to North and South Dakota to see my dad's side of the family. Now this is an 18 hour trip and I was very unsure how our newly potty trained and very active Leyton would do in the car that long. To my surprise he did amazingly well. He never lost it at all and was ready to go with grama and grampa when we go to North Dakota. We got to spend a lot of fun family time and do some swimming in Dickinson. Then we drove to South Dakota to see the rest of the family. There we got to be on a big trampoline, chase some chickens, go rock hunting in the Bad Lands, and go to Story Book Island and Old MacDonalds Farm in Rapid City. We also got to see the land for my dad and Ginger's new house they will be building in the next few years. We can't wait to go visit them there. I can't lie that I did shed some tears as we pulled away to head home. I love being with my family out there. It makes me sad when I think that Leyton may not have as much access to it as I did growing up. So I decided we would make sure he gets to go out there as much as possible. Now that we know he is such a trooper in the car it makes it much easier. On our trip home we stopped in Montana to see my sisters and pick up a new to him truck for Trent. Then home to get settled in for summer.
That brings me to our third quarter July, August, and September. July was filled with trips to see Grammy and Papa in Bellingham and the 4th of July at home with friends. Leyton loved the fireworks this year. He had a blast "helping". We also spent a week at a Church summer camp called Summer Hummer. I have been a counselor for 5 years now and Leyton has been going since he was 3 months old. However this year he was able to really have fun and loved it. He liked all the singing at the end of the day. August started off with a bang into fall sports. Which isn't just for the kids. I coached a 2nd and 3rd grade cheer squad again this year. I had 10 of the sweetest most amazing little girls to love. And I was blessed with the best assistant coach anyone could ever ask for. I love you Erin!! Now when I saw them the first day of practice I was slightly worried because they could not even clap together. But after many hours of hard work they started doing very well. I also made a trip to Montana to see friends with my little seasoned car traveller. We spent 4 days with my best friends in the world and got to meet three baby boys that are the loves of my life. September brought the kids back to school which meant High School for Jared (14), Middle School for Nathan (11) and 4th grade for Leah (9). It also brought our first games for football and cheer. My squad turned it all around and showed everyone why we work so hard and did an amazing job. September most importantly brought a shiny "diamond bug" into our lives. We got ENGAGED!!! I thought we were going to have a fun family day at the park. But little did I know that when Trent told Leyton to show me what they found it would be something so cool. Trent had Leyton help with the proposal and he told me it was a "diamond bug mommy" so so cute!! It was very special to me to have two of the most important men in my life there and be at a special place. I am so happy to be Trent's fiance. September was rounded out with an amazing weekend of wedding festivities for my dear friend Kirsten. Her wedding was so beautiful and I was honored to have been part of it!
And finally our fourth quarter...October, November and December. Wow I can't believe how fast it went. October rolled around with unseasonably nice weather which made the football games more fun. Leyton and I travelled to Charlotte, NC to see our besties the O'Hare family. It was a ton of fun. We spent a week eating cupcakes, playing at parks, trying on wedding dresses, play dates, and the going to the pumpkin patch. I have a whole post to write about this cause I could go on forever. Best of all we got to spend much needed quality time with friends. Our annual Cheer Competition was the goal for the month and I was the most proud of my girls for going out and doing the best they could do, being good sports, and having fun. The second place medals they brought home was just icing on the cake. That would be the blue velvet (yummy) cake I made for our end of season banquet. The banquet was such a bitter sweet day for me. It marked the end of this season which on one hand meant I got about 6 hours of practice time, games early every Sat., and countless hours that go in other times back to myself and my family. On the other hand it meant that I wouldn't be able to see these 10 amazing little girls that I love dearly almost everyday. Or their families who in my opinion are the best there are. Then we paused for just a minute for Halloween. Leyton was so much fun this year. He really is in to holidays this year. He got to be the cutest dragon ever for a Halloween party we went to with Trent's work friends. Then Bob the Tomato (from VeggieTales) for trick or treating. He had so much fun he was running off with Leah say Trick or Treat!! And as a proud mama he followed that up with Thank You!! That brought us right into November where I had to kind of find things to do with myself. So what did I do but find the most amazing website ever (pinterest)...Thank you Kirsten....and start wedding and holiday planning. We spent a few weekends in Bellingham including Thanksgiving. It was so great to be in a house filled with family. Leyton loved it and most of all pumpkin pie. Now onto December which seems like it snuck up on us. I was so happy to put out Christmas decorations this year!! Leyton had tons of fun decorating our 2 Christmas trees. And our house has been littered with the plastic candy canes that I can't seem to keep on my tree. The reason they are plastic. We are spending this weekend in Bellingham. We have the Jingle Bell Run a family tradition and also Trent's sister Tia's 80's costume party Sat. Then recovering and heading back on Sunday just in time for my dad and Ginger to get here Monday. They will be here for a week long visit. I am very excited to see them since it's been almost 6 months. We have a ton of fun stuff planned...Zoolights, visiting Santa, my birthday, our engagement party (casino themed), and an early Christmas Dinner with family and friends. Then Christmas and New Years in Bellingham.
We have had an amazing and blessed year and we hope that next year will bring as many fun adventures for us as everyone we love!!!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Love Barb, Trent, & Leyton (BLT) just realized that the other day...haha.
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