2014 has come to a close...

Here I am, closing another chapter.  And what a sweet year to have to say goodbye to...Micah's first year, filled with baby snuggles, lost sleep, and lots of laundry! Our excitement when he learned something new each month--rolling, crawling, clapping his hands--oh, how can 2014 already be complete?

This was also the year that Gracie transitioned from half to full school days, and Joshy started going to Wacky Wednesdays at preschool with the other 4-year olds this fall.  Grace lost her two front teeth; Joshy became a terror on his Hot Wheels (at least down the hill by Kyle's--around the block didn't really happen...).  Gracie started basketball and decided she "was made for basketball," while Josh started Soccer Tots in the fall and after scoring a goal in his first practice, didn't want to go again, for fear that he would NOT score a goal at practice #2.  The Frozen Soundtrack was played probably hundreds of times this year, and How to Train Your Dragon TWO was seen in the theater and then on DVD.  Both kids loved on their baby brother--first laying beside him under the play mat, and by the end of the year pushing him on his Dusty the Crop-hopper plane.  (Gracie loves to carry and mother, Joshy loves to get "too close!")

We continued meeting with our Bible Study group, though the Huggins family moved, leaving just the Templin/Harper/Morgan families with us, and they prayed us through Jeff's 2nd half of Nat'l Boards.  We left him at home over Spring Break to get a lot of work done (Heidi and Ellie escaping to Auntie Julie's house with six kids!) and celebrated in May when he took his final test and turned in his portfolio.  We waited patiently (and not-so-patiently!) to find out in November that Jeff DID IN FACT PASS his boards.  We celebrated our hard year by seeing the Decembrists in Portland in May and giving Jeff a Guinness in November.

It's the year I had maternity leave, taught without Melissa at the end of the school year, and then welcomed a "normal" year of teaching with her this fall.  Our childcare was filled with a beautiful tapestry of faces--G'ma Colleen, Annie, G'ma Dianne, Linnea, Heather, Heidi, Mimi, and Bridget.

It's the year my two BABY cousins (Levi and Luke) graduated from high school and the first year we lived through without Uncle Tom.  We celebrated with Granny as she turned 80 and with Papa LeRoy as he turned 90--and found lollipops in G'ma Trudy's yard on 4/1.  Mom and Dad took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Israel (Did you have fun?  Good.  Because you're never doing that again!) and our families welcomed THREE new baby cousins:  Alexa Largent, Lauren Moser, and Nels Lochhead.  It was the year that we almost lost Annie and faced devastating fear.  His mercy washed over us in waves and we were left thankful, to our core.

We are so blessed.  Help us never to forget! Goodbye 2014 …now off to print the blog-book, the year recorded for all of posterity! (In our family, "posterity" means the moments when kids with icky fingers leaf through the pages of our blog-books, looking for pictures of themselves "when they were little."  So sweet.)  :)

Goodbye, 2014...am I actually saying that? Wasn't it 1998 just yesterday?

When we returned from the farm, we had Auntie Julie staying with us to look forward to...we filled a couple of days with lounging, catching up, and a lot of snacking!  Julie and her mom make this amazing Chex mix called TRASH, named this because of the tedious week it takes to mix it in a giant trash bag.  She left us some and we literally ate the last crumbs up with spoons.  And that was just the trash.  Don't get me started on the Sticky Balls! The same night Julz arrived (with her broken foot, I may add) Jeff had Colin over to play FIFA Soccer in the basement.  Good thing Julz and I had plenty to catch up on, b/c her basement was being overrun with soccer hooligans.

On New Years' Eve, we had the Van Sickles and Trina over--and although we had a good time puzzling and Catan-ing--our hearts were heavy.  Heidi's good friend was fighting cancer and Julie's family was going through a hard time.  So even though we didn't feel much like celebrating, we enjoyed our time together, on a special night.

Taco Bar--McInturff Snack Buffet--Alea's Chocolate Strawberry Cake

We pretty much ate our way into 2015.

 Their first night staying up until midnight...do you see the toothpicks holding their eyes open?

 Happy New Year!!!

We started out the new year very sleepy, very full, and surrounded by people we love.

Not a bad start to 2015!

Moser Christmas

This is the second year that we had Moser Christmas the Saturday after the 25th.  By ten, everyone was here for breakfast and mimosas, and soon after, we settled down in the living room for the giving of gifts. (Isn't little Lauren cute in her new outfit?)

This was the year that Millie just wanted to play with her little princesses.  Or whatever she had just opened.  :)

Micah loved his new blanket and immediately laid his cheeks on its softness.

Jeff got THE math clock from KT.

And Dad made Ben a lamp!  He really had Ben going, thinking that the saw that Ben had bought that month to help with the new deck was his non-surprise present.  Dad even called him a couple of days before, asking Ben where the box for that saw was...all the while, sneakily making Ben this steampunk lamp with all of Dad's favorite pieces.  Ben was TOTALLY SURPRISED.  "Dad really does love me!  He made me a lamp!"  As if there were any doubt...

Uncle Ben was also into scaring babies...good thing his own babies are used to him...

Crab dinner was followed by Up and Down the River!  I'm pretty sure I won.

I love these boys.

...these girls, too!

A sweet first Christmas with Lauren--puzzles in the living room--nap with Micah in the basement--snow on the ground and people complaining about someone putting another log on the fire in the basement--snow play with cousins, trekking all the way over to Davy's hill to sled!

Don't be sad...we still have Christmas at the Farm!

Oh, did I mention that we worked into Christmas night on corn hole boards?  Yeah, nothing like a deadline.  :)  It took us all morning on the 26th to pack up the presents--and everything that it takes to make this family "tick" for a few days--before heading to the farm.  And Micah provides great pictures amidst the craziness...

We were so excited to get to the farm that night.  Mom and Dad went over to Jerry and Sheyanna's for crab cake dinner, while we stayed to get kids to bed on time (for parents!) and wrapped Dad's presents he had set aside for us to wrap.  Micah was quiet for 30 seconds and I knew he was into something--his favorite fake grass at the base of the ficus tree.

This boy is super cute.  He is NOT so cute in the middle of the night.  He's going through an "I'm having so much fun at the farm that I want to wake up in the night several times" stage.  Jeff and I are not fans.  How in the WORLD did we survive 3 newborns?  Just enhanced the holiday sleep-deprivation...

It's Here! It's Christmas!!!

Poor Micah had to be woken at 7.  The elders could NOT wait any longer...

Santa brought Micah a chair, Gracie an Elsa doll, and Joshy his Paw Patrol guys.

                                         

This year Grace and Josh bought each other presents.  Without knowing it, they both got each other a plush toy and a Lego set!

It was a great, lazy morning, culminating with brunch here with GG.  We stayed home the whole day, mostly in jams.  A sweet culmination to a joy-filled month!

Lochhead/Birchill Christmas

It's Christmas Eve!  We've waited all month for this special time.

Christmas Eve Service with G'ma and Papa and GG at 4pm...delicious egg-dish and cinnamon rolls for dinner...a full house and a cozy basement...excitement oozing out of childrens' pores...

After a fun evening with family, kids left with pajamas on and starry twinkles in their eyes.  Just an overnight lies between them and the glorious finish to their December pilgrimage.

Not a Creature Was Stirring...

Very fitting that the only letters from Joshy's name on the wall are SHHHHHH...  Out like lights.  And I'm sure they're dreaming of sugarplums.

G'ma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Favorite holiday video, by far...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Christmas WEEK had begun...and we stayed two nights after Weber Christmas to help G'ma decorate the basement for Moser Christmas, coming up on Saturday.  Josh and I did a GREAT job stringing lights--but this was the year that the cords had mind of their own and only 1/3 of them worked for the rest of the week!  Boo, HISS!  We were quite unhappy with the pre-light NON-wonder.  But I suppose these things happen, G'ma Trudy, so that you can remember specific Christmases.  This was known as the year the tree was half-lit.

And now that Micah knows where there's another ceiling fan, he's back and forth between the living room and G'ma and Papa's room.

Locomotive Park! After one of Brooke's basketball games, we stopped to see the Winter Spirit Express.  It's always quite magical.  And even for the Lewis/Clark valley, it was COLD!