This year saw the girls joining the ski team and Grace joining the Center Stage Dance Team (complete with sparkly jacket)! Emma was thrilled to receive her much looked forward to fountain pen and begin cursive when morning lessons began this past September.
We sent Emma on a fun-filled birthday scavenger hunt which began at church and ended when she discovered a new bike in the upstairs bathroom! A bike! In the bathroom! She's still giggling about that one!
I turned forty and Grace turned ten, and while we didn't end up having the party we had been thinking of ,we both had lovely and perfect for us celebrations in the end. Grace's flower shop birthday gathering will forever be a favorite!
And while the year for our family was generally good there were some sad spots, too. Early February saw us saying good-bye to our sweet guinea pig, Ginger. They handled her passing with such grace, compassion and poise, and as a result I do believe I watched the girls grow-up a little more that day, too. And we were incredibly disappointed when Hurricane Matthew messed with our amazing surprise for the girls- a much longed for Disney Cruise. For as sad as we were we all agree that we can't help but feel that Hurricane Matthew may have done us a favor in the end as the re-booked cruise sounds even more amazing and magical than our original one would have been!
The four of us are excited to see all that 2017 will bring for our family. Dave will turn forty. Emma will turn nine (the last year our little family have someone with an age in the single digits). Grace will compete in her first dance competitions. And (knock on wood) we'll be cruising to the Caribbean before the end of the year!
And so, this brings to a close, the sixth year of sharing our many adventures and daily goings-on in this, our little piece of cyberspace. We offer many thanks to those who have supported us, walked with us, encouraged us and loved us this year (and always). You all make the journey (and our world) that much sweeter.
Happy last day of 2016! May 2017 be full of peace, love, joy and understanding. xo
