Highlights from 2017

It's safe to say that 2017 was one of the biggest years for our family to date, having adding a sixth member to our Lu Crew. It was a year that I don't want to ever forget, and yet I know as time passes, the memories will grow increasingly distant. So, here, the highlights of our year, the moments that made 2017 so special for My Lu Crew:

January We kicked off the year with a bang! My hub and I traveled to Tampa to watch our beloved Clemson Tigers beat Bama to win the National Championship. We also celebrated Raleigh's fifth birthday with a gymnastics party and had a day of a *little* snow fun when we got about an inch on the ground. :) 

February In February, I snuck away to NYC with my college best friends and had the best time! The month also included the Daddy-Daughter dance, Valentine's celebrations, outdoor family fun, and the conclusion of Banks' basketball season. 

March The arrival of March meant the arrival of Spring sports - soccer for Raleigh and Harrison and baseball for Banks. My hub and I attended our Greenway's Gala for the second year and had so much fun with great friends. We also had some crazy weather that month - a good, deep snow one week and swimsuits the next. Gotta love living in the South! 

April On April 13th, we saw Bella's face for the first time and immediately knew she was ours. <3 We also headed to Charleston for Spring break, made some Easter memories, and celebrated Harrison's third birthday at the Great Wolf Lodge!

May In May, we celebrated Clay's birthday and Mother's Day. Raleigh closed out her year of gymnastics with a final show. We also concluded the school year and headed to Fripp Island with great friends to kick off summer. 

June Let the summer fun begin! We celebrated Father's Day and spent plenty of time at the pool. My hub and I headed off for a super fun lake weekend with friends, and we traveled to Ponte Vedra, Florida, as a family for the first of two family beach trips, this one being with my hub's "side" of the family. My hub and I also celebrated 13 years of marriage. <3

July We had fun celebrating the 4th at the annual pool party and also enjoyed our second family beach trip of this summer (this time with my "side," aka BLOMPS), spending the week at a house big enough to hold all (then) 11 cousins and their parents/grandparents :) North Myrtle. But the highlight of this month, hands down, was my hub and I leaving for China and meeting our daughter, Bella Elizabeth, on July 31st. 

August After two weeks in China, we returned home with our Bels, finally getting to introduce her to her big brothers and sister. Life resumed with our new normal, as Banks and Raleigh started the school year at FMES (2nd grade for Banks; kindergarten for Rals). 

September We continued settling in as a family of six in September, with boatloads of appointments and evaluations for our Bellaboo. We also celebrated Banks' 8th birthday, complete with a Putt-Putt party, and attended our first Clemson game with all four kiddos in tow! And Harrison started back to preschool, in the 3's class. 

October October was a busy one! We attended the Chinese Lantern Festival with two of our favorite families and continued our tradition of attending our town's Fall Frolic. Our Bella also had major surgery on her spinal cord but was well enough to trick-or-treat for the first time ever on Halloween. :)

November We spent the month of Thanksgiving having lots of fun! Banks' sixth season of flag football concluded, and we co-hosted our second annual Friendsgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving with both "sides" of the family and also got our Christmas tree before month's end. 

December And finally, December. As always, December was a full, fun, festive month, made even more special by it being Bella's first Christmas with us. <3 First, though, my hub and I snuck away for a long weekend at Amelia Island with 17 other couples who we love from our neighborhood. Once we returned, it was all things Christmas, all the time, and we loved it (with a 37th birthday thrown in for this Momma). 

And that was a glimpse into our 2017! Busy, crazy, chaotic, loud, hard, full of change? YES. One that I will cherish forever? YES. Thank you for the memories, 2017. Thank you for the addition of Bella to our family. Now, we will welcome in 2018 with the kids' New Year's Eve countdown to 12:00 (Noon! Ain't nobody need four kids staying up 'til midnight ;), and we will look forward to seeing what the new year brings. Let's do this thing, 2018. We're ready for ya! 

A Christmas to Remember

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone! I always feel like I am trying to sloooooow down time so I can soak in and enjoy every second, but it hasn't worked yet. ;) 

This was a very special Christmas for our family - the first as a family of six, the first having our sweet Bella home. And I can say without hesitation: she absolutely LOVED it. It was just so special. It was emotional (for me), too. I broke down at one point on Christmas night, thinking of her birth momma and praying that she somehow was able to know that the little girl she had to leave is now being loved and spoiled and snuggled on the other side of the world. And I cried thinking of my Bella, how, at 2.5 years old, this was her first real Christmas. It just seems so unfair, the early life she had to endure. So, I grieved amidst the joy and thanked God for the blessings that abounded in our home this year. We are such a blessed family, and I cannot imagine our life without our Bella in it. Such a special Christmas. 

For memory's sake, a glimpse into My Lu Crew's festivities the last few days:

Pre-Christmas

Is there anything more beautiful than a candelit, Christmas Eve church service? Brings me to tears every time! We attended our church service on Sunday morning and were excited to learn that elementary school children were invited to attend "grown up church" with us. It just felt so important having Banks and Raleigh in that room with us. <3

Right after church, my hub took Banks for a little Christmas Eve surprise: a Panther's game! And boy, did they have fun. :) Meanwhile, back home, the little three rested while I prepped our Christmas morning breakfast casserole and then straightened up the house in preparation for it to be destroyed the next day. :)

After the big guys returned home, we enjoyed a big ol' pot of vegetable soup my hub had prepared earlier that morning and then decorated our cookies for Santa and spread our reindeer food (we had made our reindeer food the day before, per Goldy's instructions). ;)  

And then, a new fun tradition: Christmas caroling through our neighborhood...on a boat. Yes, a boat. :) Some of our dear friends decked out their boat in festive lights and invited us to join them and some of their friends for some Christmas Eve caroling, while riding on the boat that was towed behind their truck. Ha! It was seriously SO fun! 

We then came home, got on our Christmas jammies, and listened as Banks read us 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and then as my hub read us the story of Jesus' birth. Finally, off to bed so that Santa could visit!

Christmas Day

He came! He came! We woke up to discover that Santa had, in fact, left the kids the items from their wish lists: NFL mini helmets for Banks, Moana and Rapunzel clothes for Rals, cars and "a watch that turns on" for Harrison, and a new sleeping bag (to match her sister's) and musical toys for Bels, among other things. Christmas.Is.Magical. Just the BEST!!!

After opening all our gifts, and enjoying our breakfast casserole, we basically spent the rest of the day playing with all our new toys and games. One of my favorite memories, though, was the 3-mile run I took that day: you see, usually, I run alone. But that day, Banks begged to run with me. And he did! He ran the whole three miles. And we chatted the whole way, and I loved every.single.step. 

I made two appetizers for lunch that were really tasty (from one of my favorite bloggers) and then my hub made our traditional Christmas dinner - steaks and yummy, Southern sides. A little more playing (#familygamenight) and it was bedtime for all!

Post-Christmas 

And now, we are just enjoying time as a family. We went into the post-Christmas days with very few plans and are making the most of them! I took Harrison on a Momma Date to the movies yesterday and then Banks and Raleigh ice-skating today (after completing our first post-adoption visit with our {awesome} social worker this morning!).  

We have played lots of family games and are getting great use out of our new toys. We have visited our Greenway and have watched a few family movies. And Bels is just along for the ride and loving all of it!

It truly has been a great week with My Lu Crew, and we still have another week before school starts back. Yeehaw! I hope each of you enjoyed a special, magical holiday with your family. Here's to a great closing out of 2017. I'll be back with two last posts to end out the year. See you then!