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Tuesday, December 31, 2019

It's A Wrap!

2019 is ending. 2020 is about to begin. 

I love fresh starts. I love how the new year doesn't just offer a "clean slate" my birthday is the day after and that always doubles it for me.

I'm a fan of looking back and then looking ahead with new goals, excitement and plans. 

This is going to be a looooong post of pictures...just like last year. Here's to looking back! 

January-

My brother and I took Easton to his first Monster Truck show. He LOVED it and asks often to go again. No concept of tour dates or tickets- lets just do it again! Ha.






 Cale became goalie for his sled team! This is the BEST. He enjoys it so much. I'll be posting more soon about sled hockey!  



Nora started Science Class. We did this for 6 months and it was PERFECT for her. 



February-

We spent time with friends before they moved across the country...


We went ice skating! We love going. I always say we're going to go more often, yet it is never on my radar.



 I went to Disney World to run a half! SO fun. 13.1 around Disney...ok!





We went to Nora's LAST preschool dance (insert all the tears)... I'm sure she'll be coming to Easton's dances now! 



March-


I took the kids and left for the day while Mama stayed home and in ONE day completely painted the kids room. The next day we set it up and it's one of my favorite rooms in the house now! 


I could have touched Bob Goffs head. Like, I really could have.



Me & the Mr. celebrated being married for 14 years!


I found a monster in my room.


I also went to Target with a unicorn...so...


aaaaand March led me to a Lauren Daigle concert which was amazing. 


Cale and I went to Texas with OHOP. This ministry is a GIFT to our marriage. I don't even think they realize how much. SO much. 




April-

We decorated eggs...


We went on dates with friends <3 p="">



Juliet's face in this picture cracks me up every time I look at it. She is such a great best friend to wild Nora...


Auntie Ber and Papa Phil came to visit. It always means so much when friends and family travel to see us! We love getting to have some quality time with them. 
Papa Phil came for a few days and we celebrated Nora's birthday. After he left, Auntie Ber stayed and we celebrated a little more...


While they were visiting, Nora visited Mrs. Holly and Miss Faith to ride a horse named Rose. And feed a couple donkeys :)










...with DISNEY WORLD!!!!













May-

We went to our friends house and made yummy donuts! All of the kiddos were caught tasting ;)




Graduation from Preschool!!! 



I had a few ladies over for an end of the BSF year lunch... I burnt the bread. Whoops! 


Us :)


I had the most special friends come for a visit! What a treat! They both live in different countries now...so thankful to hug them! 


BaPa and Nana came to visit! The weather was BEAUTIFUL and so was our time with them :)








June-

One of my closest friends here had a sweet sweet baby boy, Matthew. I was able to hold him twice before leaving out of town...love.



We took our family back to WA for a visit. This was a hard trip you guys, whew. You'll have to ask me sometime about our adventures-crazy. As hard as it was, it was even more wonderful. SO wonderful. We had what felt like not near enough time with family and friends and we spent the whole time soaking it all up. 











Owen and Nora had their first one mile color run together and Rae and I may have had more fun than they did. Haha! It was amazing to be running together and with our littles!!! 















Cale & Easton!




















Once back home, we went to a movie night...with goats. They weren't quite as small and cuddly as we pictured them being. Ha! 





July-


Sweet Matthew...


4th of July! 







More Matthew...


Time together before Sissy starts school! 





Cale played in his first hockey game! He did GREAT! 




Nora started school in July. This was an adjustment for all of us! And...Easton...??



We started having fun with friends while she was at school learning all the things...




We had a SUPER fun watermelon shoot done! 








August-


Waiting at the bus stop for Sissy! 


Snow-cone date :)


I love Nora's pictures :)



Easton and Mimi had a date! 



Family :)


I LOVE this girl! She was able to pass by and have lunch with me! Since I knew our time was limited, my head was spinning! We had SO much to get caught up on! We scratched the surface. Haha. 


I recently told a friend that often when something really good is coming up, we end up having a really hard moment with Cale. I can easily get SO frustrated because "this" happened right before "this" but with time, I'm learning so much about how because of God's kindness, He knows "this" is going to happen, and has allowed "this" as a gift for my heart. This picture was a couple days after a REALLY difficult situation in our home that felt like it was continuing to get more and more challenging. A dinner date with Semper-Fi  Fund was already planned. I wanted to cancel because I was so frustrated and hurt BUT after encouragement from a friend, we went and it was exactly what we both needed. So thankful.



Easton started preschool!



We went to the Hurricane's night at the Durham Bulls game. 


...and more Matthew! <3 p="">

I love these moments. SO much.


On Nora's first day of school, we met some friends also starting school. These two have become sweet friends and it makes my heart so thankful! 


Adventures at the bus stop! 


Mama and I had a date! Praise! 


My niece had her baby boy! He is SO sweet!


Cale had another game! He did great again! 


<3 p="">



September-


#hero 


It's how we do life...


Meeting my Niece's baby boy, Miles!



Friend date :)


Sled Hockey fundraiser. This is a GREAT date night!!


We ran the Canes 5k again! Cale walked it, I ran it, Nora did the 200 meter and Easton did the 100 meter...this was SO fun!!!







Please note his choice of shoes...


September is Cale's birthday and this year we had a HUGE surprise. His mom came to visit! This was her first time to come visit and somehow I managed to keep it a complete surprise for Cale! We had such a fun visit with her. Definitely a highlight of 2019!  
























Oh Matthew...


Downton Abbey with friends! 


Nora asked, "Mommy, can I send daddy a text?" 


Pictures! Oh wait...isn't that what this whole post is?? Ha! 















We were done taking pictures and before walking to the van, Nora asked Ann if she could take one more of her. This was her pose. I feel like in 20 years she is going to love this picture so much. Love & peace.



October-

Encouraging their relationship is one of my greatest honors and joys in life. I love love love watching them bond. I love watching them love each other. Such a beautiful gift!


This little guy loves firemen and police. In preschool he was able to help shoot the water! 


Did I already mention that I love her drawings?


What can I say?





His snuggles are the BEST. His diapers are gone. His paci is gone. The snuggles are still here and I hope for much much longer.


Oh how we love Octobers! 











I mean...I can't help it! Matthew is my buddy! 


 




Nora and I have gone on a fair date every year we've lived here. We LOVE it. We always go with the Kendalls but didn't think it was going to happen because they moved BUT they came back for a visit during fair time! SO much fun riding rides and eating food! 













These two are little buddies too! 



Nora had her first Kindergarten field trip!





I went back to the fair but with Easton this time! We had a BLAST. I think I'll do the same thing for at least one more year. I enjoyed getting to experience it differently with each kiddo. 








We also celebrated Mr. E turning 3!!! This little guy loves him some trucks...and trains...and buses...and cars...and planes. Out of all of those, we had a dump truck come as a surprise! I'm not sure he completely knew what to do at first. Haha. 


Matthew even made the family photo...maybe I secretly adopted him...






Nora had her first big fundraiser for school. She was SO pumped about this. She thought of people and we made little videos that we sent out to who she wanted to ask. She had to run 35 laps and it was exciting for her to run even more than that!





We had our Trunk or Treat at church the night before Halloween. Because of weather they moved it inside. It was scorching hot inside! Cale was determined to have all of his gear on but we ended up striping some of it off before too long! He went as a goalie, Easton went as Slavin #74, Nora and I were the Storm Squad and Mama was the Canes biggest fan :)




The night of the trunk or treat, Nora lost her first tooth! 


Our neighborhood does a parade on halloween which the kids enjoy!







November- 

We started November off with a hike! 3 adults...5 kids...and it was a blast! The kids did great. On the way home, Courtney and I were saying, we've done a lot of things with these kiddos and that was definitely a win.









While the kids and I hiked, Cale was goalie :)


Nana and BaPa came back for a visit. I was sick the whole time and felt miserable. I was not myself and hated that I just didn't have energy. 






Miles :)


Friendsgiving with Community Group. This one will leave a mark in my memories...for sure. Haha. 


Happy Thanksgiving! 


This was our Thanksgiving morning workout group! 



Nora made herself a calendar because Mommy and Grammy have calendars.


At the Sled Hockey Fundraiser in September, Cale and I won dinner for two at the Angus Barn (aaaaamazing restaurant here) and a one night hotel stay...it was perfect. The weather was beautiful so we went for a walk on a trail and then ate a lot of food. Wonderful.






Do you see his suit? Yep. Yep.





December-

We went to see Frozen 2. I thought it was excellent. 



This is the kiddos celebrating because the Canes were playing that night AND daddy was going on the ice!!! Sled Hockey was all over the arena that night- SO awesome. 






This is Shane Willis who played for the Canes. He's a gem. He talks to Cale and makes the extra effort to connect with him in different ways. It just means so much to my heart. 


We went downtown for the Christmas Tree lighting!



I ran a Christmas season 10k


We went to the parade downtown. We love our parade! It keeps getting better, especially with Easton being more a part of it. 





We made Christmas cookies with Mimi! I love that we do this every year :)













Us four moms went to the trampoline park one night...and had a blast! 






Our church puts on Journey to Bethlehem every year. They do an amazing job. We've gone as a community group the last few years which is so neat to see how the kids respond each year.


And this year Nora was an angel for it one night. 




Disney on Ice comes through our area this time every year and we love getting to go! This was Easton's first time!





We did the Santa train right near us again. We always love this! It was a little more crazy this year... which is fine and normal and all the things...but I think it set me in a spiral with Nora and Easton for a couple weeks. I felt myself being less patient. I think we're all back to our normal now!





We celebrated the birth of Jesus during Community Group :)



In July I was interviewed to be on a podcast. It aired this month...so crazy. I am truly honored and so thankful for the opportunity.


We spent an evening  with my brother and his family at a farm near them. The lights are amazing!





Auntie Ber always buys Nora's Christmas dress. This year she added a suit for Easton...well...we needed pictures of them! 




I will not smile... hahaha.










This year to make it not as crazy, just Nora and I went to our Christmas Eve service at church. She wore a dress that I wore when I was little! This was so special for me!! 






Well...I meant for this post to be waaaaaaaay shorter as always. I actually started it thinking I was going to go through each month and pick out the top 20 pictures for 2020 but obviously I sunk that ship. 

If you're still here, I am so excited you are. 
I'm excited to see what this next year holds. 
I'm excited to share it with you even if it's only through this blog :)


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Love, 
The Darling Family



p.s. Nora and Cale had no clue what each other was going to do in the picture...notice how they did the same thing?! This happens so often! 




























































5 comments:

  1. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

    What a delightful way to start the New Year, with a photo show from you. I love them all and am honored to share a bit of your journey with you.

    Father has glorious plans for you this year, plans for your good...and His Glory.

    I love you,

    Marion

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was a LOT of pictures for sure! Haha! It was fun for me to look back and be reminded of the last year!

    Happy New Year Marion!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy new year to you Kathleen! Stay blessed with these beautiful souls around you. Nora and Cale are too nice and sweet sibling pair. Its nice to see them after a long time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year! Thank you for walking this journey with us!

      Delete
  4. What a delightful way to start the New Year, with a photo show from you. I love them all and am honored to share a bit of your journey with you.
    Best educational consultancy in birgunj

    ReplyDelete

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