A Christmas Card from us to you 2015


Here we are again with another Christmas card blog for everyone. These are actually some of my favorite to write. I just looked back at the last three years of card blogs and it's really nice to have a wrap-up of everything we did and enjoyed throughout the year (and I hope you enjoy them too). Plus the pictures are fun to compare as well. The last three years we have done the same pose in our apartment with Cooper and our tree. Next year with the twins here we might have to mix things up.

 Here you can read past card blogs and see how we have changed:
Christmas 2012
Christmas 2013
Christmas 2014

Usually I do a top 10 countdown of wonderful things that we did or experienced over the year. I am going to follow that format again and here goes:

 10. Having some very good friends, Erica and Ernie, visit us over our past Christmas vacation. We had an awesome time with them doing a lot of wine tasting and showing them the south of Spain.
9. After Erica and Ernie left we headed to Istanbul for a short trip. I really enjoyed visiting this city; it is in a lot of ways so different from anywhere I had been before while also being somewhat European. I am glad we went when we did because I am not sure I would feel safe traveling there at this time.
8. For some this may seem silly but for us it was a big deal to be able to buy our new car and I am thankful that we jumped on the opportunity when we did since we now need a much bigger car than the one I am currently driving.
7. We had another wonderful visit this year during the summer when my Mom and sister, Andie, came to spend a week with us. Granted they came during the HOTTEST month of July that anyone can remember (and that's saying a lot) but we did quite a bit of sightseeing as well as relaxing. I am thankful that they came since we weren't able to head home this summer.
6. Though we didn't go to Michigan over the summer, we did quite a bit of traveling here in Spain. I really can't stay in Seville or the surrounding areas without basically melting so we also spent a week in the Canary Islands, specifically in Las Palmas which is a city right on the beach. It was a good escape though the weather didn't always cooperate with us.
5. This year we have also done several short weekends away (can you tell we love to travel?). We spent a couple days in Tavira in the south of Portugal in a rural house, we went to the beach in a town called Torremolinos and quite recently we spent the night in the countryside close to Tarifa which is also on the southern coast of Spain.
4. I had the opportunity this past year to work at an awesome job where I am hoping to return next year as well. It is an elementary school quite close to where we live. My class was great (I taught third grade) and when I went to visit them recently I was overwhelmed by how much they seemed to miss me (I am currently taking the year off, not exactly by choice).
3. We also welcomed an ADORABLE new addition to my family over the summer, my niece Caroline also known as Cawaline. It seriously breaks my heart that I have yet to meet her in person and won't be able to until this upcoming summer but I am thankful for Facetime and photo messages so that I get to see how she is getting bigger and cuter everyday.
2. Speaking of babies and pregnancies, we have had TONS of friends announce that they are currently expecting which means that 2016 is going to be a baby boom both here in Spain and back in the U.S. for our circle. I am incredibly grateful that everyone seems to be having a healthy pregnancy and that everything looks good for us to help both friends and family welcome lots of little ones soon.
1. Obviously I can't mention pregnancies without talking about our own. Duh. We were overjoyed to be able to announce earlier this year that I am also pregnant and not with one but two babies. If all goes well we will have two baby girls sometime this spring and we have FINALLY decided on their names: Vera and Laura. I have mentioned this before but getting pregnant was not an easy task so I am very thankful that 2015 brought with it this happiness after having suffered lots of disappointments. All is going well so far and I hope it will continue that way so that next year's card blog will have two new additions to it.

 Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Feliz Navidad!

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