Welcome, 2014!

We have developed a little tradition of ringing in the New Year at our home with our little ones (albeit a little earlier than midnight Eastern Standard Time).  After I got home from work, we went out to pick up some fun New Year's hats and some sparkling beverages and ate dinner at a local pizza restaurant.  We returned home and got in our pajamas and prepared to ring in the New Year at 9:00 p.m. with a little trip to Rio de Janeiro via a live broadcast of their celebration online.  We also watched some other celebrations around the world and really enjoyed the awesome fireworks display in Dubai.

The boys enjoyed drinking their sparkling grape juice from "fancy" glasses.  

Cute smiles from Brody as he was quite happy to down a sweet liquid beverage right before bedtime.  

Brody knew exactly what he was doing with his champagne glass. 

They are a couple of party animals! 

Evan picked out their hats and some colorful beads for us all.  The hat selection was extremely limited.  We have got to remember to buy the hats a little in advance next year.  Evan also convinced me to buy him some cool glasses too. 

My New Year's baby!

Watching the celebration in Rio online.  

Good to the last drop!

Making sure he got it all.

Drunk baby?

And I got New Year's kisses from all of my men, but this is the only picture. 

While 2013 wasn't everything we hoped and planned it to be, we are thankful to have made it through the year together and to have grown closer as a family through all that we have experienced!   As tradition, here are some of our memories from 2013:

January

We rang in the New Year together.

Celebrated our favorite daddy's birthday. 

And shared the news of little girl's pending arrival.

And her first baby pictures.

February 

The boys enjoyed going to the circus again.  And this has become a bit of a tradition as we purchased tickets again this year.  Ha!

The boys enjoyed getting some Valentine's goodies.

And they made Mommy her favorite, chocolate covered strawberries.

I shared this post about our Valentine's proposal story in 2002.

We took a little trip to the Jurassic period to see some dinosaurs.

Brody got to see his first snow!

March

The boys got a new bunk bed to begin the journey of sharing a room. 

And we enjoyed some early Spring weather. 

We proudly wore our green for St. Patty's Day!

And Evan, our very own little leprechaun, finally joined us. 

We had a little family Easter egg hunt.

And we met the Easter bunny in our neighborhood.

And we had a fabulous day celebrating Evan's 6th birthday!

April

We took our annual Spring family pictures.

And got another sneak peek of Baby Mattie.

Evan had his first baseball game of the season.

And lost his first tooth!

We celebrated the boys' birthdays with a joint celebration at the Lazy 5 Ranch.

Our baby turned 2!

And we had to say goodbye to my sweet and much loved Grandma.

May

Evan and Daddy attended the annual Quail Hollow Golf Championship and got lots of autographs. 

I FINALLY completed law school. 

And I celebrated a special Mother's Day with my two sweet boys and my little girl on the way. 

Mommy was looking pretty large those days. 

June

Baby Mattie got lots of pretty new things.

Brody ended the school year with a little indoor picnic with Mommy and Daddy and his class.

And Evan ended Kindergarten with a little parade making a splash into First Grade.

Evan got another trophy for his youth sports career.

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary just as we were ready to welcome our little princess into the world. 

We revealed Mattie's finished nursery. 

Daddy celebrated Father's Day with his little mini me's. 

Evan had his first swim lessons.

And we welcomed the arrival of the most beautiful little angel and said our goodbyes as she went to live in heaven. 

July

Evan learned to swim and started doing cannon balls all in the same day!

We enjoyed some much needed beach therapy.

We celebrated our nation's Independence Day.

We held a special Memorial Service for our precious Mattie.

Evan made great strides in his bike riding.

August

And in his diving too.

We had fun at the park with cousins.

And enjoyed our annual beach vacation.

We took our annual beach family photos.

Evan started first grade.

September

We took the boys to their first NC State football game.

And on a tour of our college campuses.

We toured our state capital. 

And saw a real dinosaur skeleton!

Brody started preschool.

And I turned the big 33.

Daddy gave Evan his first shooting lesson.

Evan started his 3rd season of soccer.

October

We went apple picking. 

And enjoyed our trip to the pumpkin patch and corn maze.

We finally got a fall family picture.

Brody "caught" his first fish.

And the boys were an adorable cop and convict duo for Halloween.

November

We celebrated cousin Grady's first birthday.

Evan finished up another great season of soccer.

And got another trophy.

We had fun playing in the leaves.

And had another sad goodbye at Daddy's grandma's funeral.

We celebrated Thanksgiving together.

December

And spent a fun Christmas together.  

As we embark on the journey into 2014, we have a few "resolutions."  Eddie and I both plan to get healthier physically and spiritually this year with improvements in our diet and exercise.  Evan resolves to read all of the Magic Treehouse books, and he is off to a great start as he is on the fifth book already!  Brody, of course, resolves to keep up with his use of the English language and to be fully potty trained.  Here's to a successful year for us all!