Summer Catch Up: Ali's Wedding!

We loved visiting Utah in June for my sister's wedding. She was so beautiful! And we are so happy to have Matthias in the family. Their wedding was such a happy celebration, and we were grateful to be there with my family.

They were married in the Payson, Utah temple on June 20, 2015. That temple is incredibly beautiful! It made me so excited for our own Indianapolis temple to be finished soon. I'm grateful for that sweet day this summer when my family could all share Ali's special day, and be reminded about what is truly important in this life. Family! I think about my family members so much. Their happiness means the world to me and I just want to be with them forever. I know that we can be, through Christ.

Congratulations, Alison & Matthias! We love you!

Spring Break 2015 | The Utah Part

Michael spent a week in Boston doing an oral surgery externship, so Westin and I decided it was time that he met the rest of his mama's family in Utah while his dad was gone. I was so nervous to fly with this kiddo by myself the first time, I won't lie. But now I'm grateful that the first time was solo, because now traveling with Michael feels so easy. We flew from Indy to Vegas on a Monday afternoon, and my sweet parents picked us up.

I was so excited for Westin to meet his Grandpa Miner. He looks like my dad to me (and Michael's dad too, this kid is his grandpas' grandkid), and it was just so fun to finally have them meet. Westin did great through the entire plane ride and for most of the ride from Vegas to Cedar City. Then he woke up every hour for the rest of the night... :) Poor guy. Switching time zones, throwing Daylight Savings Time in there, and then TEETHING (what??), kind of messed up the little routine he was finally getting down.

I had a crepe night while I was in Cedar City with friends from high school. It was so fun to catch up and introduce Westin to some of my favorite people! My friend DaNae had her little baby Sawyer just a month after Westin, so we loved seeing each other's sweet boys.

Westin had quite the early morning during one of our Cedar City days, and my dad was awake early as well. Mornings are Westin's happiest times, and that one in particular was special. I loved seeing him with my dad.

This boy is so cuddly. I hope he stays that way as long as possible!

We drove up to Lehi to spend time with my brother's family and my sister, and we had a blast all together. Westin's cousins were so cute with him. We went swimming one day and Westin surprisingly enjoyed it. He didn't cry until we'd been in the pool for over an hour, and then he instantly fell asleep when I wrapped him up in his towel. 

Overstimulated, sweet, sleeping baby boy. The first swim after a long winter is always the best. I am so ready for spring and summer!

My sweet sister Alison is ENGAGED, so we had a girls' day of ice cream and wedding dress shopping. Lydia loved all those princess dresses. We can't wait to go back out to Utah for the June wedding.

Westin and Jonas are about four months apart. That's quite the difference at this stage, but it won't be long until it's no difference at all. I'm so happy he has cousins close to his age on both sides of his family, my memories with my cousins are such treasures. 

My friends Kendra and Brianna (from high school) came to visit and I loved seeing them so much. Don't mind the blurry picture or the zonked out baby. 

Sunday best! Church is a whole new ball game with a little one, I feel so exhausted when we get home. He's entertaining though, too. Like when he filled his diaper very loudly and for a full 40-ish seconds during Sunday School and caused an entire row of people to turn around and look at him....

Sweet Westin with his grandpa. I love this picture.

Check out our get up -- and I considered this "traveling light" with a baby. This is us just after landing in Boston after the Utah leg of our Spring Break. We met Michael there after his externship for his three-day research conference. More details on that soon!

A Blessing for Westin

A couple weeks ago we had a special day for our little family at our church. Children in our church are baptized at the age of eight, but it's tradition that they receive a blessing when they are a baby, typically from their father or another priesthood holder. Michael gave Westin a sweet and simple, heartfelt blessing and it was a really meaningful day for us.

We also felt lucky that Michael's parents were able to be there that day. We are far from all the rest of both our families, so we especially love when we get the chance be with Michael's parents. They spoke in our ward that day and gave great talks about families and temples.

Family means so much to us. I am so curious to know where Michael and I will move next year, and where our family members will all end up. It's hard to be far away from most of them right now, but we have fun reunions here and there, plus great friends that feel like family in the meantime. Nothing beats those things.

Westin's personality is shining through more each day, especially as he discovers his voice and "talks" to us pretty frequently. Nothing too new is going on in terms of milestones, this kid is pretty content just hanging out as is when I put him on his tummy. He did discover his hands recently though, and watches them with such rapt attention that I can almost always wash an entire load of dishes before he becomes bored of watching his fingers move. But somehow he always gets bored and cries right before my last dish. I think it's one of Murphy's laws.

Westin is growing fast and I really truly do love him more every day. It's pretty incredible to feel how that works. I love getting to know him more all the time while also getting to know myself as a mother. This is a new role and routine for me, and it feels sacred. I love being Westin's mom.

And I think I'm going to love being Westin's mom even more when he doesn't eat three times at night. :)

Westin Enters the World | A Birth Story

Short version of the story:

He's here!

Westin Michael Daetwyler

Born at 1:25 a.m. on November 25th, 2014

9 lbs 1 oz   |   22 inches

32 hours of labor, 4 hours of pushing, then ultimately a c-section.

And now the long version, if you want to stick around for a little while...

(It's pretty detailed, for two reasons: I want to always remember everything about this event.

And, I kind of couldn't get enough of reading other people's birth stories in my twelfth hour, er, ninth month of pregnancy. So I figure I should offer mine to the world as well.)

Here we are at 39 weeks, the last of the belly shots. Westin and I were visiting the doctor twice a week at this point because of one random high blood pressure reading, so we were getting pretty sick of going in for those non-stress tests that he kept passing just fine. To be honest though, I never felt a huge desire for him to just GET HERE like so many 39-weeks pregnant women out there. I was so excited to meet him, and so happy to be done being pregnant soon, but I wasn't wishing away any of our final days as just me and Michael. We went to the Hunger Games premier, ate at Tucano's with a lot of friends, hit up the Cheesecake Factory -- we made the most of that last weekend as just the two of us. Then when Sunday morning rolled around, I could tell things were about to happen.

I stayed home from church that morning because I just felt so off. And maybe I had Michael leave early and come home too -- don't judge me. That afternoon I fell asleep, and woke up at 5pm with my first regular contractions. Braxton Hicks had been around a while, but these were different and so regular. I timed them at 7 minutes apart, and they stayed like that all evening and through the night. I had planned on calling my doctor when they were 5 minutes apart, but that never happened. Instead I spent the night wandering around my house finding different positions and distractions to deal with the intensifying pains. Sometimes I would fall asleep for those sweet 6 minutes between, then the 7th minute brought another painful contraction. I knew Westin was on his way, but I really didn't want to go to the hospital just to be sent home, so I kept waiting and waiting for them to get closer together.

Finally at 6am, after what was easily the longest night of my life, I called the hospital and woke Michael up. Contractions were still 7 minutes apart, but they were getting so much more painful. We took our time packing bags, tidying up, and getting ready to go. I knew they wouldn't let me eat at the hospital so I tried to get some breakfast into my nervous stomach. Before we left for the hospital, I threw up. I could feel that my body was saying, "I don't need anything else to worry about right now, this is baby time." So, we went to the post office (errands wait for no one). And then we went to the hospital. Long drives.

When we arrived at the hospital around 8:30am, they checked me and I was dilated to a 6 and 80% effaced. I was so happy! No going back home for us. We went straight to labor and delivery, and by 12pm I had an epidural and was finally ready to sleep for longer than my 6-minute stretches from the night before. We were feeling great at this point -- I thought I'd be holding my baby by early afternoon.

At 2pm I was dilated to a 7 and 100% effaced, and at 3pm they broke my water to see if things would speed up. Things still progressed slowly -- at 5pm I was at an 8, but Westin had moved down and things were still looking good. By 9pm I was finally to a 10, and more than ready to start pushing. I wanted to meet Westin so badly at this point!

But, it didn't go so smoothly from then on. At that point we learned that Westin was face up, which would make things more difficult. I pushed for two hours and he never moved. They turned off my epidural to see if feeling the contractions more would help with the pushing. But it really just made me throw up and gave Michael a taste of what labors are like in the movies. Poor guy, I look back on that part of the process and feel pretty bad for him. But worse for me :)

My doctor did not like how things were progressing at this point. Well, that's because they weren't progressing. After three hours of pushing he told me, "I don't know the reason this baby isn't coming, but it's obvious that there has to be a reason. We're kind of getting into unknown territory here." I knew he wanted to do a c-section, and I was feeling so heartbroken. I can't describe how fiercely I just wanted to hear my baby cry and have him handed to me like I've imagined my entire life. I've never prayed so hard or worked so physically hard for anything than in those hours of pushing. So, I asked my doctor for one more hour. Westin's heart rate was fine on the monitors and had been the whole time, so he let me have my one last try.

And so began that final hour of pushing, at midnight. We tried all sorts of positions, giving it one last effort. I worked so, so hard. It still makes me cry to think about how badly I wanted it to just work how I had always pictured. But by 1am we all knew that this needed to be a c-section. There was no frantic rush or hurried prep -- Westin's heart rate was still looking good, so it was just a calm change in procedure. I wish I would have learned more about c-sections beforehand so that I didn't have to listen to the resident explain all the risks to me right before having one with pretty uneducated ears. I just never thought that would be the route we'd go. But I'm so grateful I live at a time when my baby was still able to be de safely delivered, even if it wasn't how I anticipated.

After laboring Sunday night and all of Monday, I was so incredibly exhausted as they wheeled me into the operating room. I was no longer an active participant in this process, and my mind and body collapsed. I even fell asleep when they were stitching me up. They whisked Westin away to the NICU right when he was born because when they broke my water there was meconium there, so they wanted to check for respiratory issues. I slept for four hours, then they brought him into our room to meet him for the first time. What a precious little soul! That was an emotional time. I can't really describe how odd it felt to work so hard to get my body to do something, something I knew in me was so natural and right, and then just not have it happen. It felt so surreal that he was there in the world, there in my arms -- it was like I couldn't physically believe that he was really there. But I'm so glad he is here, safe and healthy, no matter what route he took.

When they brought him into our room we learned that he was 9 pounds 1 oz... we never saw that coming. Where in the hell me was that baby? I just don't know. But he was healthy and big and pink, and so stinkin' cute. Also, during my c-section they saw that I have a platypelloid (translation: odd-shaped and inconvenient for babies) pelvis. So that, combined with his size, and his face-up position, meant he would have just never come out. Westin's head was so bruised, as well as the backs of both of his arms. Being stuck that long could not have been easy.

We brought Westin home on Thanksgiving Day. So fitting, right? We are so grateful for that little man. It's crazy how special a newborn baby's presence is and how it fills your home. We really love him.

This transition hasn't been all rainbows though, obviously. But in the big picture, it is so wonderful. When I look at this whole new phase of life with an eternal perspective, I just can't believe that I have actually met one of my sweet, dear children. He's here, and we get to spend life getting to know his personality and helping him grow and learn. I am just so grateful he is ours.

Welcome to the family and the world, little Westin! 

We plan on having a good, good life with you.

Fall Break in Utah

We have been looking forward to our Fall Break in Utah for a while now. Michael's little sister Rachel was married last Friday in the Salt Lake LDS temple, and Michael had two glorious days off of school, so we were so excited to take one last trip to see our families before this baby comes.

We made it to Salt Lake late last Wednesday night after a series of crazy events... this trip just came at a busy time and we were not prepared for it. Usually I just stay up as late as necessary the night before a trip and get all ready to go, but I feel like I have 40% of my regular energy level and 7 hours of sleep (or attempting to sleep) is my minimum requirement these days. So, I did what I could to get ready but we ended up not being able to pack until after work/school the day our flight left. Michael was with a patient that afternoon and the appointment went long, so suddenly we found ourselves getting home with 15 minutes to pack and leave for the airport. It was a scramble. When we got to the airport I realized I forgot my temple recommend, which I needed to go to the wedding, so our friend Brian rushed to our house after dropping us off to find it. Then we realized Michael didn't have his wallet, so he couldn't even check in. He called Brian to tell him to get that too, but then found it a couple minutes later deep in his backpack. When I was about to go through security, Brian called and said my recommend wasn't where I said it was - so I searched and searched again...and found it in my wallet. We felt like we were losing our minds. Poor Brian, thank goodness for patient friends.

Then I went through security and had way too intimate of an experience with the security guard since I can't go through the x-ray machines in my current pregnant state. That was, weird. We rushed to our gate and suddenly the straps on my bag broke and I almost dropped Rachel's very breakable wedding present. I would have been so sad! Then we were finally on that plane, one of those hurry-up-and-wait feelings, and a little way into the flight I got out my water bottle for a drink. That air pressure, though. Suddenly my water bottle was like Old Faithful, and water sprayed the ceiling and our nice neighbors in front of us and soaked me. It took me way too long to stop it from happening, too - I was too shocked, and just stared at that spraying fountain in front of me. Then I told Michael that my water broke. On the bright side, I was happy to be soaked... I am almost always hot these days!

After all that craziness, we made it to Salt Lake City and met up with Michael's family. On Thursday we hiked Ensign Peak and I just soaked up those mountain views. Mountains are so incredibly beautiful and comforting to me. It's crazy how much I miss the feeling of getting up high on a mountain and getting a good view of what's around me.

Doesn't Rachel look beautiful? Michael's sisters are so gorgeous, inside and out. It was so fun to celebrate with her on her wedding day. Spencer is a lucky guy, and Rachel lucked out too. They are both so great.

Our little baby hit 32 weeks just before the wedding, growing every day! I think he loved his first trip to Utah. I love being at weddings with Michael and remembering our own wedding day. I love him!

Our baby boy has two cousins following close behind him - me and two of Michael's sisters are due in November, then December, then January. We were quite a sight climbing Ensign Peak together, especially considering that we somehow all followed the kids up the steep side of the mountain rather than the actual trail for the last part of the hike. 

My nephew Ben. He entertained me during the reception with all his tricks and jokes, which are many. I just love having nieces and nephews, and they all LOVE having an Uncle Michael. He is constantly surrounded by kiddos whenever we are with either of our families. He would rather play on a playground than sit and chat any day, so it's a win for everyone.

After all the wedding festivities we spent Saturday with my family in Lehi at my brother's house. They have a sweet new little boy, Jonas, that we hadn't met yet so we were so happy we could have a quick visit with them. 

I'm considering just borrowing my brother's family for my Christmas card this year. I mean, look at that picture above. We're even spontaneously and perfectly framed by foam swords. With the dog, too. Picture perfect.

One of Jenny's friends was so nice to snap a picture of us all together on Sunday morning before Michael and I flew back to Indiana. It's hard to get a current family picture these days - this one will already be outdated once our little man joins us next month! But I love having pictures of all our different stages, even though once we have a new member of the family we can't really imagine life before or without them.

Family is everything to me. Sometimes this blog is full of things we're doing or places we're visiting or any other random but happy part of life. But in the end, this is all that matters to me. Michael and I are both so lucky to have wonderful, loving families. We are so lucky to now each be a part of both of our families. I believe that the entire reason I am on this earth is to do what it is I need to do so that I can be with my family forever, including with my Heavenly parents. I believe making it to that point comes from trying to be like Jesus Christ, and following His plan. If you want to know more about what I believe about families, you can read THIS, or watch THIS, or ask me anytime. 

Thank you, Daetwylers and Miners, for our fun weekend together! We love you!

Two Years Today

I'm interrupting this month of blog-silence for a happy celebration. Today we have been married for two years! It's hard to believe we were married for just two months when we made our move to Indiana, and now our four years here are already at the halfway point.

Look at that beautiful spring day at the Jordan River Temple. April 21, 2012 was just perfect all around. It was the bluest sky I think I've ever seen, brightest flowers, happiest people. We are two lucky people.

You should know, my blog-silence is stemming from the oh-so-long post about our spring break in Tokyo that I need to finish putting together. Can't skip that. So, everything post-Tokyo has been put into the waiting line. Which is a shame, really, because we've been really living it up around here. Paint ball excursions, Thunder Over Louisville, Easter fun, and some hard core spring cleaning. But I won't blog about that last one.

But I couldn't let my procrastination skip over this happy day - two years is exciting stuff! And this Sunday will mark four years since the first time I ever met Michael Daetwyler, in the Salt Lake City airport. Love at first sight. Except not really because we spent a couple years making things way too complicated, BUT, now we get to look back and remember it as love at first sight. And he's still just as dreamy as ever. We're having a good time over here.

Happy Anniversary, Michael!

A New Year's Post | 2013

We ended 2013 over here in pretty meager fashion. I've been living on one corner of the couch for the last four days, with a few transfers to my bed and back. My body is rebelling, and my sinuses are leading the coup. Michael has been on the other side of our couch with a stack of 2,000 flash cards for his boards. Our house was not the place to be for a rocking New Year's Eve ... but we did bust out some sparkling cider and discuss whispered resolutions (because my voice is gone - not because they are mysterious). (But now I think I want to add a "mysterious" category to my resolution list.)

I had a strange feeling last night. The only thing I can compare it to is the way I feel when we're locking the door as we leave for a vacation, and my mind is fiercely trying to remember what it is that I'm forgetting. That's how I felt leaving 2013. Like December was shutting the doors, close of business, and I was trying to grasp on to what it was I forgot to do. I don't really know what that means. Maybe I have some unfinished business with 2013 that will come to my mind on this side of January. Maybe it was just an effect of my body forgetting how to breathe this week. If I sort it all out, I'll let you know.

For now, I'm ready for a rewind of 2013, because last year's review sure gave me a grateful pause and better perspective. Ready?

I started off the year with tedious projects that were actually well worth it. I've significantly increased the joy I feel when I see my fridge since I made these cardboardy Instagram magnets. And we all remember this dear project, endearingly referred to as thatdamnwall. To view a completed version of the project please see: June.

And let's not forget who adopted us in January - this little Kitty. After reading some past posts about those initial interactions, I see that I was very wrong in thinking this was a temporary visitor. When we leave Indiana she'll be coming with us for sure. But, the logistics of that will need to be worked out. Girl is crazy in the car. She used to be so small!

February marked the month I got in touch with my inner child and brought the bangs back to life. That was hard, you guys. The length of my hair has a direct correlation with my inability to take (hair) risks, so that was a scary day. But, the bangs are still here and life is good. Maybe this year I'll go blonde.

Kidding.

We also made our quick trip to Cincinnati in February, and had our first married Valentine's Day. We've decided to make sushi our Valentine's tradition, so I'm already excited that February is about to make its rounds again. Cincinnati was such a fun little city, full of hills (!) and a great farmer's market, cathedral, arboretum, and we hear the aquarium is great, too. We need to get back there this year.

March gave us these delightful cupcakes, which may need to be baked again soon. 

This was a busy month, and such a good one. All of us ladies out here spent a lot of time together getting ready for The Everything Sale, and I am grateful for the way that helped all of us grow closer together.

Helping with The Everything Sale was a huge reminder that there is so much good to see in the world when you look for it. We saw such wonderful acts of kindness that day. I know that I am just one of the countless people that loves The Farar family so very much, and I think about them so often. Even though The Everything Sale is long over, this family is still in the minds and hearts and prayers of so many. They are loved.

We experienced Kentucky's Thunder Over Louisville last April, and it was so memorable. Probably the best fireworks I'll ever see in my life, if we want to get dramatic (but truthful). After waiting all day for the show I had decided that this was a fun but one-time deal, but then after the fireworks... you know I'll be back there come spring. I just really loved that day.

That was also the weekend of our FIRST wedding anniversary. Holla! Can you believe it? That first year sure flew. We packed in enough changes to keep things blurry and exciting and before we knew it, it was time to slice that first layer of cake. Except we had to substitute Oreos for said cake, which just didn't make the move with us.

Speaking of cookies, 2013 marked these as my favorite recipe. This was routinely, methodically determined, and it was actually the first recipe I started using months back. I just didn't think it was my favorite UNTIL I started making my cookies twice as big but cooking them for the same amount of time. That's the ticket, friends. Go enjoy a few (dozen). And ignore the bad picture on the recipe page - why do they show a burned batch? Bugs me every time.

Also, finishing Popsicle Stick Table #2 was put in the books as a great success in this house. I'm thinking we would be a lot more emotionally invested in these tables if we actually ate the popsicle off of every stick that went into these guys. That would have been true dedication. Maybe next time. (a.k.a. never again.)

Remember our dog-sitting days? As do I, as do I. Part of me actually kind of misses (parts of) those fun times. Maybe we'll get back in the business as we get into 2014. This little guy made quite a few visits over here last year.

We fit some good music into our April last year - here we are at the Josh Ritter concert at The Vogue. What a fun night with the Toblers! And his albums have become our road trip music of choice since then. This man was a big part of my musical year. You should watch this, and share in our enjoyment. Yeah, I know it's long. Don't judge.

And who can forget this epic "Secret" experience last April -- the Taylor Swift concert. Oh what a night. I loved being there so much; her concerts are awesome productions.

I still can't believe that all played out the way it did. For the record, I have since used the Secret in all the right ways (in an extremely dedicated fashion) for another "aspiration" and failed, hard. I didn't just dabble in this Secret use either, I dedicated myself to this goal even more than this T-Swift experience, and came so incredibly close to success that I was sure the Secret worked again. Until the complete failure part. So, the point is, I'm still on the fence about this whole cosmic concept. I think the obvious bottom line is: God gets final say. (And I don't think God cares too much about Taylor Swift concerts... and I mean that in the nicest way possible.) Have you tried the Secret? I so enjoy success stories. Send them over.

And April ended on such a somber note, when the world cried with Boston. That stung so much. I was glued to the news that week, and I felt so offended by those cowardly actions at the marathon. There were multiple 2013 newsy moments that could have justifiably ruined perspective and killed hope, but this quote helped me through that event and others since. I don't want to ever stop believing in the power of the good in the world.

May brought some beautiful days to Indianapolis, and the benefits of working downtown came back. I love working right by the war memorials and being able to catch parts of the ceremonies that take place there throughout the year. 

May also brought a tiny reminder that I married the right person. Those tiny reminders are everywhere when I watch for them.

Aaaand my first, and last, completed crochet project. Should I pick this back up in 2014? We shall see, we shall see.

And my favorite part of May was a surprise visit to Utah, for Mother's Day and Ali's birthday. That was so.much.fun. I love being with my family and with my mountains, and we had such a fun weekend all together. Oh how I loved and needed that quick trip.

We soaked up the sun as much as possible in June. We were both so ready for summer. The Monon Trail is a favorite up here, and our Craigslist bike finds got some good use. That sounds so nice right about now!

In June my sweet, sweet grandma passed away, and I sure miss her. She was such a wonderful woman. I was so grateful to be able to make it out to Utah for her funeral, and be with all of my family while we remembered this woman we all love so much. We all think about her so often. 

Right after that Utah trip was our Daetwyler reunion in Florida. All of Michael's sisters were there, and we had a blast being all together that week on the beach. 

We did fit in a few days of nothing but summer stuff, like this bike-in movie. What did we do with our summer breaks growing up? Three months of just summer, to fill however we wanted? I totally took that for granted.

Alison made her first trip out to Indianapolis that month, and we caught the Indy 500. We picked her up in Chicago, and had a great weekend. We were surprisingly entertained by those 200 laps of speeding cars that day. Definitely a unique sporting experience.

Aaaand my first, and last, completed sewing project (post-8th grade sewing class). Should I pick this back up in 2014? We shall see, we shall see. (Doubtful.)

July marked our first full year of living in Indianapolis. We were finally using Google Maps a little less as we went here and there, and we were becoming experts on how to experience this city on the cheap. I documented our day to day routine for the books, because this is just a fun time of life. 

The kitchen. Finally finished. Not the most aggressive project timeline in my history, but... it is finished.

And the highlight of the summer was the Miner Road Trip in July, when Logan, Jenny, Ali and the kiddos all made their way out to the Midwest for an adventure. I loved having them here so much! They met us at Michael's parents house, and we loved being with them for the fourth of July. We watched fireworks along the Ohio River, and Lydia sang all the words to Party in the USA. Just a good, good time.

The crew came up to Indianapolis for a few days after that, and we hit all the sites. The kiddos loved the zoo and the Children's Museum. Jaren had his birthday while he was here, so that was the best bonus! I sure love our families. The times that we are together are the highlights of every year.

We took a mini road trip to Nauvoo in August to meet Michael's sister Pam and her family, visiting from Texas. They came back to Indianapolis with us and we had fun showing them around.

  

Then, another mini road trip! This time to see our Iowa family. We met them in Milwaukee when Danny was there for work. We had never been there before, so we had fun exploring with them. Cheese factories, markets, all that good stuff. Cheese is the best stuff, actually. 

We ended the month with another concert in northern Indianapolis. John Mayer played at an outdoor venue and summer never felt so good. His voice will always be one of my favorites.

September. The greatest month. The transition into fall is the best time of the year, and it seems like I enjoy it more every year. Running errands downtown for work in fall weather just makes my heart happy. Running errands for work in snow or blistering heat just makes my heart feel ok. So, September takes the cake.

Our dog sitting adventures got a whole lot bigger. I took these pictures while safely stationed in a corner, and stayed in my selected corners throughout our entire visits to these small horses' dogs' home. Those things, you guys. Nice as puppies. Big as baby elephants. Bad combination, if you ask me.

September meant hitting the big 2-5! And it has been a good age transition. It's at least one that I remember rather than still feeling like I'm my same age long after my birthday has passed. Do you have those?

Color came to our bathroom. That was a big deal.

But this discovery was the biggest deal of all. 

Obviously.

October was time for spooooky stories and busy days. We never even carved this chosen pumpkin you see here. He just sat idly by on our porch, a symbol of our more passive enjoyment of Halloween. 

But we did have a wonderful fall break in northern Michigan, just us and our bikes. It was probably one of the most seamless trip experiences I've ever had. We had no time to plan until the night before, but everything came together and everything went smoothly the whole weekend. That trip was so great, and so was Mackinac Island.

Part I / Part 2

And the month went out with a haircut and an epiphany.

Michael hit the big 2-6! Always one-upping me. He has worked so hard this year, on both written and practical tests. Doesn't he look so legit up there flaming those dentures? I'm sure there is a more technical term for that. But, still. He's flaming those dentures like a boss.

His birthday present was a trip to the Notre Dame game, and his friend Jason flew out to come with us. We had such a good time catching up with him. And freezing with him at the game. Seeing that campus made the trip worth it, even if the scoreboard was a disappointment... #gocougs.

Ali came out for another visit, and we were able to go to Louisville and meet Michael's dad. We went to the temple and then rode bikes along the riverfront. Bikes are just the best way to see a city. Don't you wish we all rode bikes more? We would all be happier. I'm sure of it.

Then it was finally time for our long-awaited date to Wicked, which was my birthday present two months prior. Talk about anticipation. I so love Wicked. (Also, don't you love Elphaba Idina Menzel in Frozen? I so love Frozen. I'm just full of love.)

And then it was finally time for Thanksgiving. I haven't checked 2014's November yet, but I hope Thanksgiving is a little more timely. I needed more Christmas Tree time in my life. We loved being with family in Evansville, and eating so much food with them. Some of us learned how to make tamales one afternoon, so here's Ethan sitting on them. Cutest tamale guard I've ever seen.

And then December. Too soon to review December? You're right. We'll stick to the highlights version:

Frozen, round one.

Cute visitors.

Just the right gifts.

And our little tree, who is still up, standing tall.

Well, just a little bit tall.

What a year we've had. To be honest, I have gotten in the habit of measuring years by places I've flown to or big accomplishments I've made. This year, in those terms, was semi-uneventful. But those aren't the right terms. I'm realizing more and more that years, and months and days, should just be measured by the way you live your life and the perspective you keep. And in that sense, 2013 was its own kind of eventful. It sinks in more all the time that Michael and I get to be together for eternity. I realize more all the time that the most important thing I can do is just try to do what my Savior would do, in all situations. And I realize more all the time that true happiness is intrinsic, and all up to me. All up to you, for you. Working through this concept overwhelmed me at first, but now it is beginning to empower me.

I'm excited for 2014. I'm trying to make the right kind of resolutions.

Look for God's hand in my life more. Be God's hands in other lives more.

And get my dresser and closet under control.

Maddie from the corner of the couch, out.