Monday, January 12, 2015

Best of 2014


This past year was full to the brim.  Our days are naturally packed with schooling and chores and children.  Our weekends are packed with family events and trips and church and out-of-town company.  Our months and seasons fly by, and before we know it, another year is done.  This year was so good.  So busy, so tiring at times, but so good.  We added another member to our family, we took several trips together, we moved to a new "miracle" house, and we grew more in love and gratitude for one another.  I picked out my favorite photographs and/or moments from our year.  Here goes!

Ella took her first dance class.  This picture is one of my favorites of all time.

I think I love this picture so much because it just captures our day-to-day.  Still finishing math late in the day, cutting carrots to steam for dinner, sitting together at our old, worn table, doing our homeschooling life.  Those are  moments I love.

Sophia turned TWO.  She drove us crazy and had us pulling our hair out and counting the hours until bedtime many, many days, but man, does this girl have our hearts.  She is precious and brilliant and hilarious and such a little communicator.  We know exactly what she is feeling, thinking, wanting at ALL times.  She is amazing.  Love this girl.

My niece, Addison Jo, was born on Zach's birthday!  My girls love and cherish babies.  Addy is probably one of Sophia's favorite people in the whole world.  Precious.

Sammy turned FIVE this year.  His smile just melts my heart.  This year he learned to ride a bike without training wheels, he took off with his reading, and he continues to be into maps and calendars and numbers in an amazing way!  He adores his big brother and wants to do everything with him!

Zach and I got on a plane for the first time together in years and headed to Napa Valley for my sister-in-law's gorgeous destination wedding.  Zach and I just soaked up every bit of our five days from home!  It was lovely in every way!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the year because of its amazing memory!  At Leah and Danny's wedding, Zach suddenly let loose, threw all self-consciousness out the window, and danced like a crazy man in the middle of the dance floor.  I laughed so hard my poor pregnant belly was working overtime!  Best. Moment. Ever. 

I just love this Easter picture of us being silly.  We laugh A LOT in our family and I can't imagine it any other way.

It was a rough pregnancy with Miss O but I do so treasure pregnancy and its miraculous process.

Ella's first dance recital.  I mean, there are no words for the cuteness of these two on stage.

Highlight of the WHOLE year - Miss Olivia Grace Schmidt's birth on May 6.  How I love our precious, baby girl!  She is joy and peace wrapped up in one tiny little body.  Babies are the most amazing of gifts.

My mom grabbed her phone and snapped this picture right before taking the kids to the hospital to meet Olivia.  One of our favorite pics of all time!
Our other kids arriving at the hospital to meet Olivia was one of the most tender and special moments of my life.  Love.

One of my favorite pictures of the year - sweet Olivia as a sleepy newborn.



Love this pic because this shows the kids at a musem with our homeschool besties on one of our many adventures.  We are so blessed to have friends to do field trips, science projects, and service projects with!  

This picutre was from our Open House we had at the end of our homeschool year, where they got to present some of their work to their grandparents.  We are so thankful for the gift of homeschooling!  It is becoming one of life's greatest callings and adventures of my life!

There is SO MUCH to say about this, but this is the MIRACLE house that we moved into the end of July.  My in-laws moved out of state this summer and are renting out this incredible house to us for an amazing rate.  I told Zach a couple of years ago that, on paper, we would never be able to move out of our 800 square foot townhouse.  I remember saying, "It would have to be a miracle from God."  This, friends, is our miracle from God.  And we love EVERY single thing about it.

This summer brought lots of fun play time, beach time, family time with my kids' best of friends, their cousins.

My girls.  We had a summer cooking club night and I savored every moment!  SO thankful for these girlfriends in my life this past year.  Ones who let me laugh and cry, who helped me move, who cheer me on, who hold my baby, who love me well!

Ella Jo turned FOUR this year and this picture is my all-time favorite of her.  She could not exude more joy if she tried!  Oh, this girl.  Bless her sweet, full-of-passion heart.

At the end of the summer, on our annual camping trip with our church family to Wisconsin, Zach AND Micah were baptized.  So sacred and special.

This year was all things Harry Potter for our Micah, who turned EIGHT this year.  I can't believe I get to be the mother of this kid.  He is amazing.  And he adores his baby sister in the most remarkable way.  I am so blessed to have his help!  (Also, thsi picture shows Micah's hematoma from his scary bike crash this summer!  We were so thankful he was okay!)

One of my favorite pics of these sisters and besties.

Olivia's smiles lit up our 2014!  Literally!

The Frozen/Potter Birthday party was a success!  It was also extra special because it was our first party in our new home, and it was something we never could have done in our old house!  So fun to fill our home with family and friends!

If Micah's year was all things Harry Potter, the girls' year was all things Frozen.  I think "Let it Go" could be deemed the theme song of our year.

Couldn't leave out the first day of school pic!

The annual scarecrow growth chart pic at our favorite apple orchard quickly became my most favorite of our 5 kids!

Zach and I got to attend our 10-year college reunion at Bethel University.  We also got to show our kids around the place where we met and first fell in love.  Such a sweet time!

We got a FREE swingset and had help setting it up in our backyard!  Excited for the many memories that will be created on these pieces of wood!

Olivia and I got to travel to Grand Rapids to meet my niece, Anna Joy, and to spend a few precious days with my best friend, Kim.  Praying for a sweet friendship for our girls, too.

This picture was taken on a little family getaway to Milwaukee where we had such fun together and just LOVED escaping the busy pace and endless chores to just BE together!

Halloween, of course!

Again, one of my favorite pics of this year, taken on a special trip downtown to the American Girl store when our dear friends from Minnesota were in town.

Love this crazy pic of all 13 cousins!

Love this one of the kids making toilet paper mummies after reading in our history book about the ancient Egyptians and their pyramids.

I love this pic because it is a candid of my husband and his huge smile.  I could not love this man more.  He is one of life's greatest gifts that leaves me totally humbled.

Brothers and best friends

Out to our annual "fancy" dinner in the city on our Christmas date as a family!

Can't resist the matchy girlies!  

And our last family picture of the year!

I know there were hundreds of moments and people and gifts that are not captured in this post, but I wanted to capture some of our highlights.  There were days that were so stressful I just cried.  I thought our house would never be unpacked.  I felt like our kids would never catch up on sleep or like I would never be rested again.  There were many days that I felt like a failure and didn't know how I would get to the end of the day.  But I love looking back on all the GOOD that happend.  Our lives are full and rich and I am truly celebrating the year that was 2014!!!

Here's to 2015!

Here's to more love and less judgment, more messy and less perfection, more gratitude and less comparison, more laughter and less tears, more faith and less fear, more contentment and JOY and peace!!!! 

Here's to ALL of this in 2015!!!!