While I didn’t plan to kick off our 2023 Christmas letter by reveling in the goodness of 2022, I can’t help but share: right after mailing out last year’s Christmas cards, both Harper and Scarlett were assigned roles as angels in their respective class nativity programs. *cue the angel choirs* This casting carried over into our home life, and we have been parenting cherubim and seraphim ever since! L to the O to the L….if only.
The New Year came in with a bang; we hit the ground running and have been going.going.going ever since! After Scarlett’s 5th birthday party in early January [theme: unicorns, “pink”] fancied up with bright lipstick, fake nails, and all the girliest girly girl thangs, the following month of love brought the annual Father-Daughter Dance! It was the dancing trio’s first year in attendance, and it was #allthehairspray and #alltheglitter #allfordaddy. Memories were made and photos were [not] taken and so many hilarious stories came from their evening out!
The first half of March was Harper’s time to shine as she celebrated the sacrament of First Reconciliation, earned the highest score/rating at her very first piano contest, and then blew out 8 candles on her sewing-themed birthday cake! Soon to follow was St. Patty’s 2023, which was truly THE LUCKIEST DAY as we brought home a long-awaited puppy. Welcome to the family, Arabella Rose; we promise to love you furever! <3
In mid-May, I sat misty-eyed at the preschool graduation ceremony as Scarlett turned the tassel alongside her very best friends. There’s something about “lasts” that gets me every time! But no time to wallow in sentiment; sweet summertime was upon us and sang the tunes of Totus Tuus, Cardinals games, pool days, Camp Invention, Camp Joey, park dates, [cont’d] puppy potty training, Grant’s Farm, boating/lake life-ing, and so much more! Two huge highlights were the kids walking down the aisle as flower girls in their babysitter’s beautiful wedding and also taking a train ride to Chicago to visit the coveted American Girl Doll Store with Grammy Resa and Mom! For one final summer hoorah, we took a family trip to Michigan to meet up with two of my college friends and their families. 3 husbands + 8 kids + 12 years later …this trip proved that true friendship knows no boundaries!
Soon after our return home, it
was BACK TO SCHOOL time the second most wonderful time of the year [3rd grade for Harper,
kindergarten for Scarlett, and the most ever 1:1 time with Mommy for
Juliette]. Juliette celebrated her 2nd
birthday on the last day of August with a “TWO SWEET” breakfast-for-dinner
donut party; she loves sugar in any/every form, which I suppose is what makes
her so extra sweet! She is currently crushing potty training and
misses zero opportunities to pull up her new Cocomelon “unnies” all by herself
and grab an M&M reward before FaceTiming all of her grammies to share her
success!
Around the time of our anniversary in November, I reflected on how the vocation of marriage and family life is such a HIGH CALL that, all in all, I had a veryyy loose grasp on on the day we said, “I do!” Our family still has so much to learn about each others’ needs and plenty of room to grow; but every single day, I am thankful for the graces that flow just from loving each other and grateful for this tiny tribe of people I get to call mine!
Right before I clicked “save and print” on this letter, Brian boasted that he could’ve snapped his AI-loving fingers and had Chat GPT spit out something very similar in 1/20th of the time….. *sigh* Hold your breath for next year; it’s very likely I’ll hand over the reins and give him a shot! ;) :)
Merry Christmas, beloved family and friends! Know that we count you among our greatest blessings!
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