JANUARY: Our year started off with a Jungle themed ONE YEAR OLD BIRTHDAY PARTY (theme picked out by big brother). We had a great time celebrating the first year of our baby boy Benson. Can't believe that we are fast approaching TWO!
FEBRUARY: Evan and I took a weekend trip to San Diego and enjoyed some sightseeing, delicious food, and good company. Evans parents were gracious enough to watch the boys for us.
MARCH: We took both boys cross country skiing for the first time and they had a great time. Sulli did really well on his own skiis and is excited to get into the snow again this year.
APRIL: At the end of March, we were lucky enough to buy a travel trailer from some dear friends who moved to Texas. This was a dream come true! We have been wanting to do this for some time. Wasting no time and deciding to "go big" we took our first trip in our trailer to CALIFORNIA!!! Yes we are crazy. We took it to LA to visit Evan's brother, sister-in-law and niece and then up to the Fresno area to see his Grandma. All in all it was a great trip. I celebrated my 31st birthday by starting my first garden. I was lucky to have lots of help from the boys. We celebrated Easter with a visit from my family. And I took a trip to Portland for my girls weekend and to celebrate the arrival of Bennett Dean, my girlfriend Jen's first baby.
MAY: May was a very busy month for us. We took the trailer out on a weekend trip to Glenn’s Ferry at 3 Island Park with the Lindley's. My mom and dad come over for a campfire dinner that night. Evan completed his first ½ Marathon and his first Duathlon and really enjoyed both experiences. We celebrated Evan and my dad’s birthdays up at the cabin. We also took a trip to Bend, Oregon with a small group of friends and had a ball!
JUNE: June brought some great outdoor play times and some fun “coonskin caps” from one of Nana and Papa’s adventures. We also went to Pine Flats camping in the trailer with the Lindley's again. Last hurrah in the trailer as financial wisdom got the best of us. The trailer was passed on to some other worthy travelers. Hopefully some day in the future, we can again live the travel trailer life!!
JULY: We celebrated the 4th of July at the local God and Country Festival with great music, friends and fireworks. Sulli celebrated his 4th birthday “Spiderman Style” and had a great time with friends and family. We took a weekend trip up to McCall to see our wonderful friends the VanMiddendorps. And we also enjoyed an afternoon on a local reservoir with the Williams family.
AUGUST: We enjoyed a great weekend up at the cabin with my family. My sister and her fiance’ took Sulli down the creek in Grandpa’s trusty old boat. We have used that boat to float for as long as I can remember. I was also able to escape to Spokane with my mom and sister for some fun girl time and wedding dress shopping.
SEPTEMBER: We were lucky enough to be invited back for another year on Lake Powell with my parents and our great family friends the Wagners. It was once again a great trip. The weather was not as hot this year so our time in the water was a bit less. The boys had the most fun on the sandy beaches splashing in the water, searching for pirate treasure, and building sand creations. We also got up to the cabin to participate in the trailing of the sheep festival. The boys were the most amazed with all the sheep poop in the road after the parade...go figure!
OCTOBER: October started out with a trip to the local pumpkin patch with the Connelly family. This is a second year tradition that we are hoping to keep alive for many years to come. Sulli and Ben really got into the carving this year. And Sulli, who is our designated party planner/costume designer, rallied the family into a group of M&M’s. We spent Halloween at our church’s Trunk or Treat again this year. The boys had a great time and so did we.
NOVEMBER: Thanksgiving this year was spent with my family in Twin Falls. We were joined by my sister and her fiance’, aunts, uncles and great-grandparents. It was a wonderful time with family.
Evan and his partner Spencer were honored through the Chamber of Commerce by receiving the “Integrity Counts” award for their business ReBath. They are doing a great job with this company and are making it grow. They recently acquired the Spokane, WA and Reno, NV territories. Needless to say, our lives are about to get very busy.
I am still working a couple of days a week at a nursing home and am lucky enough to have the same child care situation as last year. Although our group of 3 kids has grown to 4! Tracy, my “nanny buddy” had her second daughter in August. The kids love playing together and I love knowing they are in good hands and that I only have to be gone for a few hours at a time.
Sulli is in his second year of preschool and attends 3 half days a week. He loves his teachers and friends there. He loves music, riding his bike, playing with his brother, cuddling with mom and dad and he has a new found favorite...hot chocolate!
Benson is the eternal busy-body! He too loves music, dancing and playing with big brother. He is getting into the wrestling matches with dad and Sulli and holds his own fairly well...his secret move is to pinch the face. Gets them every time! He is definately still a Mama's boy...unless Nana is around. If that's the case, he won't leave her side.
We love where we are at in life even though it seems to be an exhausting stage. We continue to love our thriving church and are both serving in different ministries there. We are involved in two different small group Bible studies that we thoroughly enjoy. We are so blessed with amazing family and friends. Even through the tough times, we realize that this is truly all that matters. It's all about relationships, right!! A relationship with our Heavenly Father, with our family, and with our friends.
Christmas will be celebrated at home this year and Sulli is greatly anticipating every bit of it. We hope that you too are anticipating the celebration of Jesus's birth and that the hectic nature of the holiday will fade away revealing this awesome event. We love you all and only wish that our paths crossed more frequently. I am loving the ability to keep up with some of you electronically. We would always love to hear from you on facebook, by email (coly88@hotmail.com or evanawyke@gmail.com), or by visiting us on our blog.
God bless you all!
Evan, Nicole, Sullivan and Benson Wyke
