As we end 2013 and bring in 2014 I thought I'd share the year in review, in photos. I have more than a thousand photos but these were some of my favorites and some of my favorite moments of 2013.
I continue to be extremely blessed to have a supportive and loving husband and a child who knows no limits with the love that she shows and who's intelligence amazes me daily. (I give that credit all to her Daddy!) More and more frequently as she does or says various things we find ourselves looking at each other saying "all you!!!" Make no mistake though... she is her own girl! And we love that!
Some of my highlights of 2013:
Katherine graduated from Primrose. We had 3 amazing years at Primrose and made some fantastic friends. We continue to stay in touch and schedule play dates and parent get togethers.
Katherine started Kindergarten in July and is doing very well. She's made some new friends and is learning by leaps and bounds. By the end of 2013 she was reading short stories, doing addition and subtraction, counting by 2s, 5s and 10s and continues to astonish us by what she has learned. She's identifying the phase of the moon... Phase of the moon? Whahuh? If this is kindergarten I'm totally screwed in 1st grade.
We welcomed a little niece into the family (Isabella) and a new brother (Danny). We love both immensely and are so excited to have grown the family!
My sister in law Sofi officially became a Sands this year too! Sofi and Nikki continue our tradition of Sunday dinners. We love being able to spend time with them. They welcomed little Phoebe into the family this year too. ;)
Stephen celebrated 15 years with the same company. I'm so proud of all he's accomplished and continues to do so. He continues his education pursuits and has done exceptionally well. I think he and Katherine are battling to see who gets better grades. (It's pretty even at this point!! Both have straight A's!!!)
Stephen and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. One of our dear friends kept Katherine for the weekend while Stephen and I headed to the mountains for a little weekend get-away. It was amazing... We were completely disconnected. (Albeit that brought on a little angst because we weren't able to call/check-in with Katherine but we knew she was in good hands.) We took a train ride, hung out and watched far too much HGTV for our own good, visited a winery and spent some quality time together.
We spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey and had the opportunity to visit much of the family over the 4 day trip. We made it to our nephews Senior Night football game, visited our new little niece Isa and my sister and brother in law, visited my brother in Cape May and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner celebration. Black Friday shopping was done primarily online but we did manage to wake up a bit early and head out for some "shopping in the dark" with the whole family. Katherine finds it quite entertaining! And she's a great helper!
We continued many of our other annual traditions like heading to Williamsburg for family vacation, hitting Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg (+ cheese shop & Williamsburg in for beverages), 4th of July in Myrtle Beach, Orlando in September, Christmas tree shopping in the mountains and spent New Years in South Carolina.
2013 was a wonderful year filled with new additions to the family, lots of memories and love all around. I'm looking forward to 2014 and what He has in store for us.
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| Orthodox Christmas 2013 Gingerbread house making fun with Katherine's cousin (our niece) Tasha |
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| Cousins hanging out at dinner... Pizza anyone? |
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| Enjoying a little "cold hot chocolate" from Starbucks. A favorite beverage of our girl. |
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| Annual Trip to Williamsburg! Laying on the grass after our tradition go wine & cheese at the cheese shop. |
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| She's not competitive at all... (winning at CandyLand) |
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Williamsburg Busch Gardens
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Tea Cup craziness!!
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| Beach time with my girlie!! |
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| Building dinosaurs on the beach with Daddy! |
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| Making some cake! |
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| A family favorite... Watching the Hurricanes!! |
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| Goofballs?? No. Never. ;) |
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| Mean face!!! |
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| Katherine & her BFF Mia |
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| 2013 Ballet Recital |
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| Our little Graduate: Primrose Class of 2013 |
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| Durham Bulls Game... They announced her birthday at the Stadium. She'd had a *bit* of sugar. ;) |
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| Bye-bye toddler bed.. Hello Big girl bunk beds in Myrtle Beach |
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| Enjoying some Kohr Bros ice cream (with JIMMIES) in Wildwood |
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| Katherine's birthday party at the bowling alley... The cake came to get her nose. Or Daddy stuffed her face in it. :) |
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| Uncle Stephen cuddles with little Isa |
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| Goodberry's ice cream picnic? Yes, please!! |
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Our little girl at her new school... Kindergarten here we come!
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Kindergarten diorama of the book There's No Place Like Space!
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Katherine's first pony ride... at the NC State Fair
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Cookie Making!!!
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| Gingerbread house 2013 |
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| Special Christmas Eve visit from Santa... A memory we hope she'll never forget. |
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| Many blessings and love in 2014!! xo |
