Farewell To 2014, Hello To 2015

I really want to write this out before it turns to February.  The Wife also posted a great Christmas post here, and also here.

Christmas!  It was wonderful.  I was able to take advantage of two full weeks of vacation time/holidays off, and we made the most of our it (not like last year when I lost some of my vacation days due to miscalculation on my part...).  We went to the dinosaur museum and enjoyed some very well-timed snowfalls, saw Into the Woods (YES) and The Hobbit part 17 (NO), rewatched the Lord of the Rings movies (YES), watched a LOT of The Amazing Race (yes AND no), finished our Year of Disney Animation Marathon, took the train up to Temple Square to see the lights and visit some friends, and generally enjoyed being together.  So the big day finally came upon us.  We had a great time with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but also having our first Christmas at our new place.  The Boy was suitably pleased with the festivities, and over time gradually stopped pulling ornaments and beads off the tree (o, Glamdring!).  We made sure to spread out his presents throughout the day, and even the week in some cases, to maximize the excitement for each and every thing.  The Fisher-Price garage was the biggest hit, and one of The Wife's handed-down stuffed animals has been pretty well-loved too.  We both felt like we hadn't thought of anything nice or creative to give each other, but of course we were both surprised and delighted, even with things we were expecting (some long-lost Disney piano books, new running shoes, some great new music to listen to for me, new pillows, knitting supplies, the latest Just Dance, a mini food processor for her, and new phones all around!  Our bill was just cut by 2/3).  We missed Julie's family, but we were glad we had just been able to spend a nice long Thanksgiving with them, and talked and webcammed with them to fill the void, and let them get their Bobo-fix.

It turned out to be a perfect night for it.  We'll go on weeknights ever more.  And maybe not take the train.  But if we do, not miss the train.

So many saurs!  Also a good day to go, I think people were still in school.

"CaaaAAAARrrrrr!"

"SnoooOOOOoooow!"

Yeah, we can totally rock this look.

Then of course with the New Year came the now-annual Epic Shave and a Haircut, which The Boy thought was hilarious.  Our new ward was all a dither about the new look, and I missed it more than I usually do, but it's a nice change (though odd to shed the winter coat just as January starts), and it's already growing back in.

And now here we are in January.  2014 turned out to be a busy but really great year.  We actually took the plunge and made the move from renting to owning, I switched from conducting adults (after years, mind you) to conducting children (a change I gladly welcome), our boy grew more than we could have expected, and our girl magically appeared and continually makes her presence known.  Her checkups have been going really well and she's healthy and seems very active, and looks like she really is in the right position (not just the doctor pretending she's in the right position...) and in general it's a good way to be as we're making our way through the third trimester.  We definitely started to realize that our time as a family of three is fast coming to an end, so we want to enjoy it as much as we can before our eagerly-anticipated Poppy* arrives and turns our life and family blessedly on its head.

Whatever happens, this wife of mine are in it together.  It's interesting how we've been married for over five years.  We remember when we used to say things like, "won't it be weird when we can say we've been married for five years??"  Well, it is and it isn't.  Now we say that about ten years, but that will be upon us before we realize it too.  I was scheduled to take a business trip this week, but it didn't really turn out, which is just as well, since now we don't have to break our record of never having spent a night apart.  2015 is off to a pretty promising start so far.

Ooh, mushy stuff.  I guess we ARE leading into February after all.

* No, that's not her name.  We call her The Poppy (a la The Speck of olde), originating when we learned she was hanging around, and was at that time the size of a poppy seed.  Just hang tight, The Name will be revealed before long.