Favorite Captures from 2015...

Of all the posts I write a year, my look back posts at the end of each year are my favorite.  I love looking back at the milestone moments that each year brings, of the big years with growing bellies and new babies, the places we've traveled to, and all the ordinarily beautiful moments in between.  There have been years with big changes and transitions (hello, 2014), and other years of simple and sweet.  But of all the years I've kept this blog, the theme that emerges the most is of family.  Growing together, learning together, making mistakes and messes together, and having so much fun in it all. 

Besides our move to our new house in March, this year has been one of getting settled, of chasing two kids, and balancing our family life with jobs that provided many blessings, and many projects this year.  I turned in six years of tenure track artifacts, and made it through part one of an intense doctorate class.  We deepened many friendships, started Cruz's last year of preschool, coached t-ball, and flew to the Florida coast.  We turned 1, 34, 31, and 5, and celebrated with caterpillar parties, new guitars, date nights, and a Cubs' spot in the National League Championship.  We watched sunsets on the Gulf Coast, watched Mumford under a sea of stars in Waverly, and watched all six Star Wars movies.  I developed a love of charcuterie and a good red blend, Chip and Joanna Gaines, and nights on our new back deck.  We grew hair (mostly Mila), grew grass, planted roots, and learned how to write (mostly Cruz).  We called a new place home, and look ahead to starting a new year here together.

But before we look to 2016 (and a hopeful Rose Bowl win), a few of my favorite captures of 2015.   

Mila girl turned the big ONE.

We watched this place take shape, and spent a lot of time making decisions!

Our last family picture at our temporary home at Mom and Dad's...

And our first family picture on the front steps of our new abode!

A spring of getting settled...

And a summer of planting some roots...

Take me back to Florida!  June 2015 

Or to our amazing weekend with Mumford...

The rest of our summer, filled with birthdays and holidays, great tans, and nights at the ballpark.

Cruz's last year of preschool and first year before a new school, a new teacher, and new friends.

A weekend getaway with this guy. 

A really pretty fall, complete with our favorite apple orchard, a fifth birthday party, Halloween, a new baby niece, and our first Thanksgiving at our place.

And Christmas!

Another year in the books, and another year ahead!  We're ready for you, sixteen!

Christmas 2015

(A new favorite picture of these two, and one of many favorites from this weekend.  She's a daddy's girl, through and through)

It's late Monday night, three days after Christmas, and we are in the midst of a perfect snowstorm.  It started late last night after the last of our Christmas guests had left our house, and as I curled up deep within our cloud bed and listened to the wind blow outside, I felt so content.  Another Christmas passed, our first one in our new home, and I now look ahead to a wonderfully calm week of being home with my kids.  We have a fully stocked fridge with leftover lasagna, soup, and lots of Christmas sweets, the kids have enough new toys to keep them occupied for weeks, and we have nowhere in the world to be but tucked inside our nook with a fire going and our pajamas on.  All day long.  

Today was a good one.  Mila slept until 9, a record sleep for her, and we stayed in our pajamas all day long.  We had sugar cookies and cocoa for breakfast, played Doctor Dora with Mila's new babies, and cuddled up on the couch with popcorn and Inside Out when Beau got home from work.  Plans for the week involve nothing more than a trip to the book store, a morning matinee of Star Wars, and Kiwi Crates, and I couldn't be more excited.  While I'm always a bit sad to see the magical season of Christmas come and go, I have been looking forward to this week so much and have every intention to let it drip slowly and reset my clock as a new semester approaches.

And now, the kids are in bed, the wind is blowing outside, and my desktop is bursting with pictures of our Christmas.  It was a special one - our first in this house with two kids at wonderful ages for all things Christmas.  So, like my intentions of a slow drip week, I'm going to follow suit with this blog.  A few of my favorites at a time, with simple memories and captions to accompany them, before looking ahead at a new year.

Christmas fell really ideally this year, allowing me a few days to myself in between end-of-semester grading and Christmas vacation.  I listened to a lot of Jack Johnson holiday, made a lot of food, and wrapped a lot of presents, and by the time Beau and I picked up the kids after their Christmas parties at school, the house looked like a Christmas card and was more than ready to welcome us in a great big hug. 

Beau got off work early Wednesday and we picked up the kids together, a rare occurrence that always leads to double the smiles and double the hugs.  Their teachers were good to them and we left our center with stacks of wrapped gifts for them and us to open on Christmas morning.  We also received a month's worth of handmade paper plate manger scenes and one adorable personalized Christmas story, with words and illustrations by Cruz.  My favorite is his first page that reads: "Gabriel telled Mary she was going to have a baby and she was suppose to name him Jesus.  He was the holy son."  Mila had a pajama party and got to drink chocolate milk and watch a Veggie Tales Christmas - needless to say it was a good day for Cruz and Mila.

Wednesday night was a perfect and peaceful night at home.  I made supper, we drank wine, listened to Christmas music, and played cribbage while the kids watched Rudolph.  We played games, read Christmas books, and hung out around the tree before bidding Boone farewell and tucking the kids in their cozy beds.  I ended the night with one of my very favorite traditions of Christmas - Jimmy Stewart and It's a Wonderful Life in front of a fire.  

Fully engrossed in Rudolph, always happy to hog our bed.  

Some of my favorite pictures from our night.  The kids in their flannel jammies and Mila's piggies are just about the sweetest thing.