2014 Year in Review

Despite the fact that it's already mid-January, I'm doing a 2014 Year in Review.  Mostly in pictures.  Enjoy!

The first time James went to Sojourn in January 2014 was in style.  I only wish I had this same outfit in every size so we could continue enjoying Hipster James.  Alas...

 2014 was filled with lots of good family time.

James went to his first wedding (our friends Merritt and Mary) and he was thoroughly traumatized when Patrick put him on his shoulders.  

 I had so many great times with Claire last year.  This picture kind of sums up all of them.  :)

James is always getting piano lessons from Patrick, and here is his first piano tuning lesson from Grandpa.

We celebrated Mother's Day with my whole family.  It was great to have everyone together.

 My Dad, Seema, and Anika visited this summer.  It's not a great picture I know, but doesn't James look so much like Dad?

Our VBS theme at Sojourn last summer was Proof Pirates.  I got to teach my 4th and 5th graders and we had a blast.  Clearly, we went all out when it comes to costumes.  Go big or go home.

 We flew out to Colorado in August and James got his first taste of hiking in the Rockies.

 After Colorado we headed to California and James went to the beach for the first time.  Too bad the water was too cold to go swimming.

 We had a great time with John, Sarah, and Esther in beautiful San Diego!

This is one of my all-time favorite videos of James.  Apparently trampolines are hilarious.

With James, everything is complete silliness.

 Fun times at the Sister's Tea Parlor with good friends.  (I'm going to try to recreate the experience next weekend with a tea party for all our CG girls.  Wish me luck.)

 James got to meet Pax, his CG buddy.  (Even though James is always sleeping during CG.  They'll be good buddies as they get older though.)

 For my 30th birthday we went to Sky Zone.  It's this amazing trampoline park, and believe me it's a good workout!

 James and Pax patiently waiting for their dinners.

 We went paint balling with some friends.  It's intense.

Leading community group continues to be the highlight of our week.  What an awesome group of people!

Our community group spent a day pumpkin picking at Galrein Farms.  Beautiful day.  Awesome friends.

In November I was asked to attend a writer's conference at LifeWay.  We spent 3 days writing a new kids' curriculum.  It was so inspiring to work with such creative people!

 The Freibergs came for a visit to Louisville and finally got to meet our family!

 We have a ping pong table in our basement that gets put to good use.  One night we had our whole CG downstairs playing Round Robin.  Awesome.

 We celebrated Thanksgiving in Mt. Vernon, MO with Patrick's grandparents and extended family.

 Holly is home for a couple of months from Zambia and we've been enjoying taking twin photos.

 December 16 was James' 1st birthday.  I got suckered into having a birthday party for him, but it turned out to be really fun.  The birthday boy was pretty tired but rallied halfway through and enjoyed himself as well.