Happy Birthday, My Love

Happy Birthday, Bryan!

I am enjoying growing old with you.

I hope you enjoyed your night out with your girls!!

I love you!

Celesta

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, Bryan, Kaeli, Avery, and I packed up our things one last time before heading to the airport for our big move to the Netherlands. It has been quite a year! After the first few months when Avery was quite sick and we were all getting used to the new surroundings, things settled in very well. We celebrated Avery's first birthday just one month after finally getting into our permanent house. Our first adventure was to Brugge, Belgium, where we decided never again would we go on a trip and not get at least two rooms to separate the girls so they would both sleep. We also went to Amsterdam and visited friends. The weather was gorgeous this summer and we couldn't have asked for better days to spend at the parks on the weekends. We went to Paris & Normandy, France with Nana and Pa. Then got to hang out in the Hague with Grandma and Papa. We visited Noah's Ark in Texel, NL, and then got to go to Arnhem during a surprise visit from some friends from Houston. Back to Amsterdam a couple of times before Kaeli started her "4 school" and then celebrated her 4th birthday in October. Our big adventure of the year was going to Malaga, Spain, as a family. The weather was absolutely perfect and we spent every waking moment either at the pool or by the beach. The last 3 weeks of December were spent in the US trying to see anyone and everyone we could in a very short amount of time. We spent New Years with friends in Houston and a week with more friends and a little work before heading back to NL the first week of January.

We are glad to be "home" after the holidays and back into our own beds at night and for naptime. We are excited that the sun has come out today since we have not seen it since we got back a week ago. It was fun to have a week of real snow, but glad now that the ice has melted and we no longer have to worry about whether or not the streets are too icy to take the girls in to school on our bikes. All in all, it's been a very good year and hope that this year will be even better as we try to do everything we want to do with the girls in Europe before we head back to Texas for good some time late this year.

As you might have guessed, this is essentially my New Year's letter that I didn't get to write and send before we left the US in January. Hopefully, most of you reading this got your Christmas picture of the girls. If not, please don't take it personally. We were addressing them in the airport while we waited for our flight to leave. I am hopeful that the KLM Lounge receptionist actually took them to the mailbox for us!