merry christmas and happy new year!

i'm super late in getting this post out...story of my life these days.  three kids and christmas time is no joke.  not to mention we were having our floors redone which meant cleaning up christmas and everything else one day later.  it was kinda sad to see everything come down so quickly but also nice to have it done.  so, even though it's a week late we would like to wish everyone a merry christmas and a very happy new year!  2016 feels like it just flew by.  going back and looking at all the pictures on my phone we had some really fun times this year.

january we got our first "snow" at the new house.  i use the word snow very loosely.  

february brooks had his annual heart check up which he passed with flying colors.  

march brought carson's favorite day at school, dr. seuss's birthday

and also lots of spring baseball for brooks

and easter

in april i took the kids to orlando for spring break and "shared" megan's hotel room she had for a work conference.  we got to see all our favorites.

megan and i also took brooks to our favorite place, universal studios!  we're hoping the next time we go he'll be tall enough to do some of the big rides.  poor kid was just a few inches short.

may concluded the special olympics for carson and his class.  they competed in track and field and had a great time!

it also concluded spring baseball for brooks.  you can see the excitement in these two.

and then as quickly as school started it was over and the boys were done with their first year in their new school.  

june brought on our favorite time of the year...lake season!

we also traveled to illinois and went to the great wolf lodge with our cousins. 

and then we celebrated grandma white and her incredible life.  family gatherings just aren't the same anymore but we know she is holding her cup of coffee and a few special ones with her watching all of us.  this is almost all of her great grandchildren.  it was like herding cats for this picture.

and then all of the grandchildren.

and all 6 kids and some of their cousins

in june, carson got to take part in a robotic rehab program at children's healthcare.  we are so fortunate to live near by one of the top children's hospitals.  people were traveling from all over just to come to this program.  we are already signed up for another round this summer.

and another anniversary down.  13 years and going strong.

july looked a lot like this...

it was a hot summer and with a neighborhood with no pool we spent lots of time inside places like the aquarium with friends.

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and then in august we caved and decided to do this.  eek!

the almost finished product in september!  we got to get in a few times up till mid-October  but we can not wait for summer this year!

at the end of september this little bit turned 3.  3!  where is my baby at?

we took the kids to our favorite spot in october on the way to the beach.

and then headed to seaside with my parents for a long weekend.

in november someone wanted to go see a real football game so we of course took him to the loveliest village on the plains...

perfect day.  tigers with a win and the trees get rolled at toomer's corner.  it was awesome!

and that brings us back to december.  closing out another year with my favorite people.  life with these 3 is more than i ever could of imagined.  andrew and i are so lucky we were chosen to be their parents.  don't get me wrong, it isn't always easy.  in fact, it's hardly ever easy.  but it's worth every second of the 365 days in every year.  here's to an excellent 2016 and an even better 2017!  may this year be filled with happiness, love and joy (and you can really feel all of that in some of these pictures i tried to get for our card this year...)