2013 in review

Well, here we are, it's the last night of 2013. I was supposed to go to a party with friends tonight but Clarissa isn't feeling well and I didn't want to infect everyone, so Clarissa and I are hanging out at home and Shawn and the boys went to the party. They'll be back well before midnight and we'll celebrate the new year together.

So I'm sitting here thinking about what happened this year. This was the year of the recarpeting. Between the spring and fall we recarpeted the entire house from top to bottom. It looks great, I'm really glad we did it. We also did a ton of repainting and redecorating. From Josh's room, to the dining room to the basement, we did all sorts of updating. The house feels nice.

This was a year of fun vacations. We played at the lake in beautiful McCall, we spent some time exploring Yellowstone Park, we enjoyed spending the 4th of July in my hometown and had a couple of other fun little adventures along the way.

This was a great year for the kids. Josh had an amazing year of change and growth. And when I say growth, the kid grew three inches and two shoes sizes between September and December. This is the year I kept replacing his wardrobe as he kept growing out of his clothes like the Incredible Hulk, lol. He also got into the National Junior Honor Society, won two film competitions, joined the yearbook staff, got ten merit badges closer to his Eagle Scout and is doing an intense PE class at school where he is loving weight lifting and running. He really transitioned from kid to teenager this year and I couldn't be prouder of the man he is becoming.

Matthew had an awesome year this year too. He's in the gifted program at his school and is loving it. They did a big salmon research project this year and the highlight for him was getting to actually go on a field trip to a salmon hatchery and get in the water and catch fish and study them. Matthew is loving cub scouts, read a ton of books this year, spent every spare second after school with his best friend down the street and is the family video game champ. I love that kid.

Clarissa is loving preschool this year. She has an amazing teacher and is really thriving there. I have loved watching Clarissa grow and learn. Raising a daughter is so different from raising the boys and it's been fun to watch her personality and talents develop. She is starting to read, she is in a ballet class that she loves and she loves to draw and sing. She's also obsessed with Play Doh and princesses.
She has quite a dress up collection of princess dresses that she wears most of the day when we're home. That kid LOVES clothes. I love spending time with Clarissa. I'm going to miss her when she goes off to kindergarten in the fall!

This was a year of fun and adventure and mostly positive things. I will look back on 2013 fondly, as a year of growth and positive change in our family.

So goodbye, 2013. I will think of you fondly and I look forward to more adventures ahead in the new year.