Us in 2012

I gave up on doing Christmas cards years ago and switched to doing a blog entry about our families year.  2012 has been a really good year for our family.  It has been very busy too, but we had so much fun.  above is a picture of Vi last January.  I am amazed at how much she has grown this year.  

 We adopted Zelda this year.  I can't believe we have only had her a year, she is such a big part of our daily lives, it seems weird to think about what it was like before her.

We also adopted Irma in October.  We love having a cat.

 Here is Claire last January.  She has changed from a baby into a little girl this year.  She is growing up so fast.

 Claire finally gave up the bink this year.  In other news she is also 100% (even night time) potty trained!  That's right, we are a diaper free household!!! HALLELUJAH! Now that is something to celebrate this new year.

 Vi rode the bus for the first time.  She now rides the bus home from school every day and she loves it so much.  Her bus driver is named Mario, and I think she really loves riding with a Mario brother every day :)

 We did a lot of painting this year.  And we took lots of baths and used up lots of cleaning supplies.

 We renewed our Zoo membership and spent many days at the Zoo and NW trek.  The girls love taking their friends with us.  These kids are animal lovers!

 We went to the Tulip festival again this year.  I highly recommend it.  The girls love it.

 We went Camping several times this year, we camp in cabins, trailers and tents and the girls love it all! They love spending special time with Grandpa David and Grandma Jeanne.

 We went to a few parades this year, the Procession of the species ( an Olympia fave) the 4th of July (not going to lie...kind of a dud) and the Montesano christmas parade ( a new family tradition)  The girls love parades and they talk about the parades every time we drive down the parade routes.

 We spent a lot of time at the beach.  The girls even asked to go to the beach yesterday...no...it's literally Freezing out!

 Violet turned 5 this year!!  She is such joy to have in our family.  She also tested out of her speech therapy this year.  I am so proud of her and all the hard work she has done to improve and she has made so much progress it is amazing.  I am also grateful that we have such good insurance that allows us to do things like speech therapy without going broke.

 Vi Graduated from Preschool in June.  She loves school so much.

 Vi did soccer this summer for the first time (definitely way more fun that T- ball).

The happiest place on earth for our girls is the beach.  They love to run in the waves and dig in the sand and run all over the beach.

 We are so lucky to live in a town with so many great parks.  The girls love to explore the parks and play on all the toys. I love that my girls love to play outside.

 Much to Claire's dismay you have to be 3 to play soccer, and she did not turn 3 until the season was over.  Next year kiddo!

 It never hurts to prepare for next year though :)

 4th of July picnic.

 Vi and Claire grew carrots this year!  Carrots are one of their favorite snacks...we may need to grow some more.

 Claire loves to garden and Loves uncle John.

 At the beach with Grandpa.  She loves to hang out with Grandpa.

 Claire also loves to yell at the dog.  Zelda loves to ignore her.

 Vi in heaven.

 Our annual Corier reunions were a blast this year too.  We spent a few days at Lincoln City with the Timm Corier group and then at Ocean Shores with the big group.
We always love these special trips with our family.

 Claire turned 3!!

 Claire is our rambunctious child.  She loves to climb things and then jump off of them.  Just last night we went to the ER for our first time ever (vi has never been)  but surprise surprise (I always assumed it would be a broken bone or a head injury) it was for something Claire had shoved up her nose ( a Jingle Bell)  She was a brave girl and very patient and told the dr and nurse all about the bell up her nose.  She loves to color and loves to paint.

 Vi started Kindergarten this year.  She goes all day long, and loves school so much, she has some new friends at school and they all love to play during playtime.  Vi is doing such a great job on her ABC's and numbers and she hopes to start reading in a few months.  We have really been blessed to have Vi in this school program that has helped her so much in overcoming her speech delay and helping her catch up and be ready for 1st grade next year.  By all predictions she should be all caught up and ready to go by the end of the year.  She has come a long way and I am so proud of her!

Claire started preschool this year.  SHE LOVES PRESCHOOL.  They sing and dance, and play outside and color a bunch.  oh and she loves Snack time, she tells me about it every day when I pick her up.

Well that is what are kids have been doing all year.  Sorry there are no pictures of Peter and me, but we figured our kids were much cuter than us.
 
Peter switched jobs this year.  He is still with Department of Licensing but works in the title division.  He likes this job a lot more than his old one, so we are all happy about it.  Peter is still in school at Evergreen and will graduate in June with his Masters degree.  He has put in so much work to get this degree and I am so proud of him, he also makes time to spend with the girls.  They love their dad so much.

I started school this fall. I am going to SPSCC (again) to get my paralegal certificate.  I just finished my first quarter and I am loving the program.  It is a little weird to be back in school after so long ( I graduated from WWU in 2005) but I really enjoy it.  I also did my first Triathlon this year and ran my first 5k.  I'm not very good but I am getting better.  Our church has started doing a triathlon every year...anyone want to join me?  I am also planning on doing a fun mud run this spring.

Well that is our life for 2012.  Happy New Year everyone!  I hope 2013 is your best year yet!  I'm banking on it being a good one for our family too :)