2014 recap

 Hello!  I'm blogging!  I have to say my sisters Shareen and Shannon inspired me to blow off the dust that has settled and rev up the ol' bloggy blog.

I loved my sister's 2014 recap so much I decided to do my own.

January.
Snow.
FREEZING.
That about sums it up.

February.

I was large and in charge.  A few weeks from my due date in this picture.  Also, a lot of snow and no school due to the large amounts of snow.

 March.
Sawyer Leigh Kelly joined our family.  9 lbs 9 oz of perfectness.  Oh we love him.  We also put our townhouse on the market a week after Sawyer was born.  Also, it was still freezing/  And snowing.

 April.
Spring!  I will miss the cherry blossom trees on the rail trail along the Monongahela River.  We sold our house after only two weeks.  What a huge blessing.

 May.
Dental school graduation.  Jacob did it!  We did it!  And can I just say I HATE my hair in this pic.  Ha!  I was also diagnosed with a malignant melanoma.  Go have your moles checked people!  Do it!

 June.
Moving across the country.  Jacob and this uhaul become great friends.  The kids and I spent most of June with my parents in Utah.  It was a special time to be able to spend mornings walking with my mom and be there when we got the crappy news that her cancer had once again returned.  I will always see it as a tender mercy that we were able to hug and cry and be there for each other.  Cancer is dumb.

 July.
All the Kelly's together.  19 grand kids.  14 adults.  It was so great to  see everyone.  We moved into Jacob's parent's house with his sister's family.  It was cozy.  We are so grateful for Linda and Sid's willingness to take us all in.

 August.
Lots of swimming and Grandma's and Grandpa's.  We also moved into our own place.  Jacob started working and Loraya got braces.

 September.
New school year.  New school.  New friends.  New church callings.  New. New. New.

 October.
I decided to make a change with how I was taking care of my body.  I got my melanoma removed.  I now have a scar on my left arm that will serve as a reminder to take better care of myself.   I also started running regularly.  AND the best news was hearing my mom's cancer was adios.

 November.
I loved spending Thanksgiving with all my family.  I ran in a 10k.  I also couldn't feel my toes for the first half of the 10k.

 December.
This is probably my most favorite picture ever.  We adore Sawyer.  Well, I adore all my kids.  It was also a pretty awesome Christmas, being able to spend it with so much family around.  But, we sure miss our East coast friends, family and friends who are like family.

Here's to a very boring 2015!

WVU Dental School Graduate!

It was such an exciting last weekend!  2014 has been on our brains for many years, marking when Jacob would graduate from dental school.  Well, it happened!

The kids were so excited to have their Grandma and Grandpa Kelly visiting.

 We had to be up and ready and out the door by 8 AM.  It was a bit chaotic, but we made it in plenty of time.  Here Macey is waiting for the ceremony to start.

 Here they come!!

 It was extra cool that Jacob's dad got to 'hood' Jacob.

 Jacob and his best friend Justin.  (and Sawyer)

 We did it!!  I might have cried a lot during the ceremony.  I just can't believe that this chapter of our lives is done.

We are so proud of you Jacob.  You worked hard.  You still made time for myself and your growing family.  You are going to be a wonderful dentist.  Love you babe!!

Macey gets her ears pierced

This cutie got her ears pierced a few weeks ago.  She was so excited, but very nervous.  

 Anxiously awaiting to begin.

 Putting the dots on her ears in just the perfect place.

 Here we go....they pierced both at the same time.

No tears!  She loves the earrings she picked out.  It's actually her birthday month's birth stone.

Pretty girl!

Cooper's Rock

I love new adventures, especially new adventures with my little family.

We headed up to beautiful Cooper's Rock and walked to Rock City, a little hike that we've never done before.

 Do you approve of Macey's hiking outfit?

 Sawyer slept happily the whole time.

 My beautiful girls.  Macey was a trouper and only complained once every 5 seconds about walking....but she kept going!

 The kids loved the huge rocks and caverns to explore.

Back to School

Summer ending was a very touchy subject at our house.  Often times I would hear Isaac crying in bed at night.  When going up to see what was the matter he would state, "summer is going by too quickly."  This happened on at least 3 separate occasions.  It was heart breaking as a parent.  I tried the usual 'enjoy the moment' pep talk, but I could see almost panic in Isaac's eyes when we would discuss back to school plans.

But,as time usually does, it marched onward and eventually school was right before us.  A few things greatly helped Isaac's panic.

1.  Receiving a Father's blessing.  Jacob was able to lay his hand upon Isaac's head and give him a father's blessing.  I felt peace and comfort and knew Isaac felt it too.  Since the blessing I have only heard positive and happy things about school...for the most part.  We are talking about my son after all.  But,  no more crying fits, and that was a HUGE blessing.

2.  Meeting his teacher before school started.  I LOVED his teacher!  Phew, what a relief!  

3.  My own enthusiasm for how awesome his teacher was rubbed off on Isaac.  I wasn't exactly excited to be sending my kids off all day once again, but I can pretend.  If I feel really strongly about something, more often then not my kids start believing it as well.  I really did like his teacher, so I didn't have to pretend that at least.

 Isaac started 2nd grade in Mrs. Pisegna's class

 Loraya is in 4th grade and has Mrs. Barnes.  I really was impressed with Loraya's teacher as well.  I feel so lucky to have both kids have such great teachers.

New shoes.  I always have to splurge on one pair of shoes from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

 Silly kids waiting for the bus.

Loraya has a beautiful natural wave to her blonde hair.  She wanted to straighten it for school and look how lovely it is!  I'm continually jealous of her beautiful thick hair.  

Blog Revival

While summer isn't officially over, it always seems to vanish with school starting.  This was our last summer here in Morgantown, if you can believe it.

 Our top ten summer memories include:

1.  Valley Fair in Minnesota

2.  Visiting The Rose Family and meeting baby Preston

3.  Lots of disc golfing

4.  Lego Building

5.  Library Trips

6.  Being Brave

7.  Kayaking in Georgetown, SC

8.  Myrtle Beach

9.  Spending Myrtle Beach with Josh and Alexis and family

10.  Rec Center mornings.

It's hard to just pick ten.  I love summer.

BUT

Fall isn't too bad either.  

Thanks for the memories Summer of 2013! 

Going, Going, Gone

 

Learning to ride: mission accomplished.