The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Moving is hard, but moving with three little ones is just plain crazy. Even though it's been a bit overwhelming, our move went very smoothly. We have the house unpacked and put away and just need to hang things on the wall. The garage is still unorganized and has unpacked boxes but that's going to have to wait for a sunny day.

Saying goodbye to the old rental was really hard for Mia, which made it a little hard for everyone. Thankfully, everyone has adjusted to the new house really well! I think it helped a ton that we are still in the same neighborhood so all of our surroundings are very familiar.

Maxwell slept in his car seat as the movers filled his room with stuff. He is super baby!

We moved out of necessity (our lease was up and renewing wasn't an option). We wanted to buy but that didn't work out so we decided on a rental based on location and price but we have been pleasantly surprised at how much we are loving the new house!

It's a little smaller than our last rental, which required us to get rid of a lot of furniture (we were still storing some stuff from our house in CO) but the spaces work really well for our family in this season. I'll post pictures of the new place soon. 

Looking at these pictures is helping me realize how much work we've done in the last 2 weeks. It feels so great to be settled and able to focus on caring for my family rather than unpacking.

Happy 2016!! I love a reason to have a fresh start, which is why Mondays are my favorite day of the week. A new year to me is a time to evaluate life and decide what's working and what's not. Every new year I like to choose a word for the year, last year I chose the word, ENJOY. Enjoy was the perfect word for 2015 while we were getting accustomed to a new city and searching for a house to buy. To help us enjoy our kids more this past year, we started doing individual monthly dates with the girls. This has been so much fun and such a positive experience for everyone. It won't be long before we'll need to start adding Maxwell to the rotation. Joe and I have also put an importance on dates this year. We try to have our sitter come 2x a month even if we don't have plans. This has been critical in keeping our marriage strong and it gives us a chance to enjoy each other in a quiet, kid free atmosphere. We have also tried to get out and explore Seattle as much as possible, which has been so much fun!

This photo from Halloween does a good job capturing my 2015 word: ENJOY

My word for 2016 is ORGANIZE. Organize isn't quite as much fun as enjoy, but after moving again next week, I know it's going to be necessary. I don't do well with temporary, I like adventure but I also like consistency, so not knowing where we were going to be planted this past year has been a bit of a struggle for me. Even though we aren't moving into a forever home, I am happy we are in the same neighborhood, and I love knowing that we will be there for at least a year and a half. This year I am planning on organizing my house and my schedule (exercise, meal planning, cleaning, crafts for the kids, and quiet time with God). When we lived in CO, I had all of these things planned every day and life ran so smoothly so I am excited to get that back!

Here are the top ten moments of 2015: 
(click on the words below to see the corresponding blog post)

10. Both girls starting Preschool

9. Mia's Ballet Recital

8. Turning 30!

7. Mia and Joe going to the Kids Choice Awards

6. Lamberts Visit Seattle

5. Moving to Magnolia

4. Trip to MN

3. Surprise Trip to Denver

2. Girls Weekend in Seattle

1. Alaska Cruise

December is always a fun month and this one wasn't an exception.

Naomi was Star of the Week at preschool.

It rained a lot.                                       

Thankfully, there were a couple sunny days.

We spent a lot of time playing at home.

We had lots of fun with Uncle Jake when he came to visit.

Most of our time with him was spent doing Christmas festivities, but we did do a touristy day at Pikes Market.

We also took a stroll past the gum wall

and went for a ride on the ferris wheel.

Naomi and I went ice skating for our monthly date.

I was so proud of her perseverance on the ice rink.

The end of this month has been super busy since we found another rental that we will be moving into on January 8. Our current lease it up and we are unable to renew, otherwise we would just stay here. We have spent countless hours searching and putting offers on homes for the last several months but haven't been successful. We decided to end our search when we found a decent priced rental in our current neighborhood just 2 minutes away.