February

Ryan sent a text one day, asking what we were up to.  I sent him this photo as my reply: all of us squished in the small landing at the top of our stairs with legos and our out-loud reading

Sunset view as we drove with friends to see opening night of an adaptation of Huckleberry Finn (pay-what-you-can!) 

Another opportunity to see a play - Uncle Steve had a major role in the Annapolis Shakespeare Company's performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.  He was fantastic!

Meanwhile, the kids were having a blast downtown with Aunt Vallerie . . .

Bridgette spent a morning with friends at the Botanical Gardens

Happy Valentine's Day family dinner!

A spontaneous Saturday outing to the Air and Space Museum with friends 

We celebrated God's goodness in the one-year anniversary of Cheverly Baptist Church starting!  Several members shared evidence of God's grace through the ministries of the church, and our pastor asked Gretchen if she would share how CBC has been a blessing to her.  She spoke with confidence and clarity about why she is thankful for our church!

I got to spend part of a Saturday with this handsome dude, doing some shopping and eating and being goofy!

 Sister twins!

Pep talk from Dad after a hard loss during Rooke's basketball season

Isn't she cute?!  Fake glasses are so fun for a nine-year-old =)

Ryan surprised me with this very special treat for my birthday morning.  Did I share the pastry with my kids?  No.  I did not. =)

Ryan and the kids gifted me with a hand-painted journal by a dear friend.  Even the wrapping was beautiful!

And the month ended with a huge string of fun and special days - Jessie came to visit!  She is so good to slide right in to the normal happenings of life here, helping and encouraging and bringing her positive perspective and wisdom from similar life experiences.  Then we snuck away for 24 hours of sweet time just the two of us, which started with my favorite salad spot and included electric scootering around downtown DC!  I seriously don't think we stopped talking for our entire waking hours!

Did we eat that entire bowl of delicious guacamole?!  Why yes, we did.  

I love him!

January

Happy New Year!  This was the first year we let the kids stay up to see the ball drop!  We enjoyed sweet fellowship with friends, and then promptly went to bed =)

We enjoy celebrating our anniversary just a few days into the new year.  Our 16th anniversary morning looked like this:

And then we reminisced with the kids and our photo album!

Anniversary Date at a deeeeelicious tapas restaurant (thanks for the gift certificate, Sean and Jessica!)!  Would have been better had Ryan and I taken a photo together!

Adventure passes from Kaye K and Big Daddy got us in to see Madame Tussauds wax museum, which worked out well for our U.S. History studies!

  

 Gretchen received two cookbooks for her birthday and has been making herself comfortable in the kitchen.

The deviled eggs were her appetizer.  She insisted on making dinner for the entire family by herself, allowing her friend to help a little. =)

Dinner is served!  She made everything you see here, and it was all very good!

Another day, another recipe

Saying goodnight to my ten-year-old for the last time . . .  

Happy Birthday Rooke!!  This is my new favorite photo of our three

The birthday boy wanted meat pie for the sixth year in a row!  Why break tradition when you love something so much?! 

Rooke was pumped to open this gift from Grammy Deb and G Daddy! 

Instead of a friend party, Rooke wanted to go to the indoor climbing gym with our family for his golden birthday.  We all had so much fun, and thanked Rooke multiple times for choosing that as his birthday activity!!  We took the cake with us for a mid-climbing treat break, and since we basically had the place to ourselves, no one seemed to mind us singing Happy Birthday to our special guy

Snow!!  The snow came down heavy and stuck around for a few days.  I celebrated this being the first year that all three of the kids could mostly get all their snow gear on and off by themselves!

Using the snow for a science lesson:

Another fun adventure with our DC passes: the Capitol Wheel!  It was super cold, but the capsule was warm, and there were no lines!  

A random photo of our front room, which is currently my favorite room in the house.  Still a few more updates I want to make in decorating, but I really like starting my day in this room with coffee and my Bible

Rooke and Big Daddy reading together

After playing hard in the snow, we love to quietly relax and read

Hard at work . . . 

I had the special opportunity to keep our little friend for the day.  This was my favorite part of having him! =)