Here we are the week before Christmas already, I cannot believe how fast the past few months have flown by. It seems like yesterday I was shopping for Halloween candy and putting away the summer toys and now here we are with Christmas walking through the door. It's been a busy year for the Penner family, this whole year seemed to pass in a blur.
Jeff and I started our year with a winter holiday, we spent a week in the Mayan Riviera. This was our first tropical vacation together and what a beautiful trip it was. We climbed the pyramid at Coba, took a zip line through the jungle, repelled into an underground river and of course relaxed with some tropical cocktails beach side. It was a fantastic trip and many thanks go out to Jeff's parents for spending the week with our kids in the -30 weather back home.
In May Jeff and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We also began the finishing touches on our new home. Jeff completed our back deck and we had our yard fenced. You've never seen such a happy dog as Jessie the day she was finally able to run free again. The kids and I spent a lot of time out doors during the warm spring days and got to meet some of our new neighbors.
Summer was also spent out of doors. We were very happy in mid July when our builder put in our sod. The kids loved jumping through the sprinkler and we surprised them with a play structure in the backyard. Morgan's response was "You mean we get to have our very own playground in our very own yard?!!". They spent countless hours with their new friends enjoying the new toys. We also did a little fishing and golfing and enjoyed our new home to the fullest.
We also took our first family vacation this year. We took a short trip to North Dakota and the kids had a blast. I was amazed at how good they were in restaurants and even shopping. They loved swimming everyday and really enjoyed the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised it went as well as it did.
In fall Morgan started her second year of Pre-school. She loves school and enjoys seeing her friends twice a week. I decided to return to work this fall. I took on a couple of projects with an interior designer and have been enjoying working from home. I plan to take a few more contracts in the New Year. It sure is nice to talk to adults again about something other than cleaning and kids and the extra spending money doesn't hurt either. Fall also brought some good news. John had his return visit with the urologist and we are happy to report that his kidney is doing fantastic. Although he will always live with decreased kidney function he is in great health and will only need to return for annual ultrasounds from here on out.
November is birthday season at our house, John turned two on the 4th and Morgan turned four on the 11th. We had a family party for the kids and Morgan had her very first 'friend' birthday party. We were joined by four little princesses for an enchanted evening. All the girls seemed to enjoy themselves and Morgan was in her glory. Sadly in the midst of our week of celebrations we were very sad to hear that my uncle Jerry (my dad's brother) passed away. He was a wonderful man and will be greatly missed by the Neumann family. Our November ended with Jeff enjoying a short trip to Toronto to watch the Grey Cup, as disappointing as the outcome of the game was, he thoroughly enjoyed his trip.
Here we are in December and looking head on into the New Year. This year will bring one more family member for us, Jeff's sister Shelley is expecting her second child in June and we are looking forward to adding another niece or nephew to the family.
From our house to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
"There's more, much more, to Christmas than candlelight and cheer; It's the spirit of sweet friendship that brightens all the year."
No comments:
Post a Comment