It was eye opening going through photos from 2016 for this collage. I honestly had a change of heart, and it almost made me forgive the year for all the hard things it brought. Ok… so I have totally forgiven the year and we have completely made up. This was a big year for us! Sure there was a lot of excruciatingly hard stuff to deal with, but we really have had about a zillion blessings and miracles and tender mercies happen for us too… and that that's the stuff I choose to remember. We are so blessed. Didn't think I'd be saying this at the close of this year, but thanks 2016! I really mean it.
We got to have Tessa here with us on New Years Eve since her flight back to Hawaii was early the next morning and we live closest to the airport. Score! We had such a fun time…
You can tell I love this girl by how many photos of her I'm sharing in this post. But seriously though, isn't she sooooo CUTE!!?? I can't believe my baby is already two… she's so big and tall and smart now. I love her long, straight hair. It's so fun to finally be able to braid it and do fun hairstyles when she lets me. Alice is the sassiest little thing you've ever met, she will scream and whine about something for hours before ever simply telling me what the problem is… every time. There are just so many injustices in her life to whine about, you know? It's hard to be a two year old these days.
Alice was so excited for her birthday cake, she was even willing to sit by it for some photos. So many photos. (I'll write more about the cake at the bottom of this post)
Time for presents! She loved this of course.
We can safely say she was sufficiently spoiled.
Blowing out the candles with her weird, hovering, Mom:
Official cutting of the cake ceremony (being dorks):
And the eating of the cake:
And just for memory sake, here are some photos from the day before her party (which was her actual birthday, but Air was working). I took the kids to the indoor playground:
We met up with the family to watch Tiana's volleyball tournament in Sherwood Park and then we all ate at McDonalds afterwards (Alice's favorite).
It was a good day!
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And now…the cake.
So I actually spent too much time mixing all the frosting colors (I wanted them perfect) and didn't have enough time left for decorating, which is probably the most important part of this Mexican fiesta style cake. So I had to rush and it turned out pretty lame…but good enough for us.
So… I wasn't going to share this, because the comparison is pathetic, but this photo (found online) was my inspiration:
I immigrated to Canada as a newlywed in 2008. We drove our little white Toyota Camry packed to the ceiling with my things across the border one day. At the time, I had never expected to be living away from my family again after I had already lived in Illinois for three long years working as a nanny for my sister. I was telling myself (and everyone else) that it would just be for a little while. Only a year or two in Canada. I could handle that thought. It was a little scary and I didn't know what to expect the rest of our life to be like.
I was scared to pay for things with Canadian money... it looked different. I didn't know what all these weird stores and restaurants were... Canadian Tire? Superstore? Earls? Tim Hortons?
It didn't take too long before I started to realized that Canada is not very different from the States AT ALL... Plus I made friends and I got to know my in-laws better.
After 8 years here and 1 full year since I became a citizen I am happy to report that I am fully comfortable, immigrated, at-home, and thriving in the Great White North.
Thank goodness, because otherwise this would be really awkward.
Independence Day 2008
Canada Day 2009
Canada Day 2010
Canada Day 2011
Canada Day 2012
Canada Day 2013
Canada Day 2014
Canada Day 2015
Canada Day 2016
These years of my life I've been more blessed than I've ever been before. I've always had such amazing luck with such a great family and friends; but the moment I married Air, my luck doubled and overflowed. And life has never been better. I have more incredible family members now than I even know what to do with.
Seriously though--What do I do with all of them?? What!?
How can I be so lucky? It's bewildering. I know I couldn't have done anything to deserve these people in my life.
Air's family is just as dear to me as my own. Ever since I've been here they've been incredibly kind and loving to me. They are the kindest people in the world for taking me in like they have. I immediately felt like I was one of them, and instantly fell in love. I can't even tell you how much they mean to me...
I'll always be an American... but I am so glad I also get to be a Canadian!
Bubs turned four years old while we were in Utah this year. This post is dedicated to him, and his big day.
I can't tell you how lucky I feel to be the mother of this amazing child. Ames has always had a conscience stronger than any desire to be naughty. He doesn't like to be in trouble, and he really seems to understand how to stay out of trouble. He isn't perfect though, sometimes he gets in a bad mood and pushes all of our buttons for fun… but he knows exactly what he is doing.
Ames is friendly. He talks about all of his friends and makes new friends everywhere we go. He invites random kids at the park to come over to his house "sometime" to play. Every day he is asking if he can see his friends or if we go somewhere he wants his friends to come too.
He's a lover. He tells me every day that I am beautiful and how much he loves me. He tells me that I will always be in his heart.
His goal in life is just to make anyone and everyone laugh all the time. He lights up to the roof when he sees someone laugh at something he did, and then he will do the exact same thing again ten times (for good measure) to see if he can get another laugh.
He loves all superheroes and knows way more about them than I probably ever will (thanks to Aaron's wealth of comic knowledge). For this reason I made a superhero themed cake this year.
He loved his cake so much! Seeing his face light up like this really makes the late hours of cake decorating worth every minute.
But what he loved more than anything this year was being completely surrounded by his many Leary cousins and Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents at his birthday party for the first time in his life! This was my favorite thing about his birthday this year too!
I love this boy so much it makes my heart hurt. He has such a sweet and tender spirit and he gives his love freely to anyone who wants it. Who wouldn't want it!? I love seeing him grow and learn and experience everything for the first time…His memory of everything amazes me. His attention to everything amazes me. His ability to be a good big brother amazes me.
Ames, you are an amazing four year old! I hope you never change…but if you do, I have a feeling you will only be getting better and better.
Here are a couple of birthday interviews that we filmed:
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And here are some close ups of the cake!
I made buttercream frosting and then I bought edible paper and cut out all the comic logos etc. Alice helped by attacking it before church while nobody was looking…so I had to redo the whole Spider-Man portion and also Photoshop helped to fix those parts, thanks Alice.
