Landon, Mindy & Taylor: 2015

Where has the time gone?

It is hard to believe that Taylor is already 7 years old! She is growing up so quickly!

We have had a busy year since our last post. Taylor is now in grade one and doing great! We are so happy we moved to Sherwood Park for a fresh start for her, she has really blossomed this last year and we are so thankful for her great school and daycare, and all of the support she has had so far.

We moved into our new home in November 2014 and feel like we have finally settled in for the long haul. We are so happy with our home and being in Sherwood Park, and we have made some great friends in our new neighbourhood. Taylor rode her bike from the moment the snow melted in the spring and is still itching to go ride her bike every day - she is NOT looking forward to the snow. She is still very much an outdoors girl, she jumps on her trampoline, rides her bike, chalks the sidewalks, putters around with rocks and water hoses, and still LOVES the park and those monkey bars!

We have had a great year with lots of family time, she is enjoying having all of her cousins here (my brother and his family moved back to Edmonton last year) and has made some great new friends at school and daycare, and in the neighbourhood. We have been so lucky to have my sister and her family live so close to us, they have helped us out with Taylor so much this year and she loves to spend time with them.

Taylor really enjoyed skiing, skating and tobogganing last winter and is very excited for hot chocolate season once again. We are very excited to experience the magic of Christmas with her as we know the magic may run out in the next few years, so we are going to make the most of it again this season with her elf on the shelf "Mardy" and getting into the spirit of Christmas.

We skipped a family vacation abroad this year due to all of the yard and house expenses that come with a new home, and took her out camping instead! She thoroughly enjoyed herself and grandpa and nana's sailboat and learning to fish. I think we will have more camping in our future, although she was not looking forward to an icky lake...she thinks she is more of a pool girl... she ended up having a fabulous time.

We had some great family day trips to the local beaches and had a beautiful and hot summer where Taylor got to take some golf lessons and really enjoys hitting balls with grandpa. We set up a pool for her on the back deck as we have in years past and she pretty well lived in that pool all summer...even pushing herself to get a swim in during the not so warm days. She would turn blue in that pool before packing it in, even if she only got to splash around for a few minutes, she felt it was well worth it!

Taylor did a stint in Sparks last year as well, she seemed to enjoy herself when she was there, but wasn't overly excited to re-enroll this year, so we decided to go back to gymnastics this year. She has been so excited about gymnastics each week and practicing her moves with her cousins Aaryanna and Kiandra, it is super cute.

Taylor's grade one teacher has been amazing and Taylor is thriving in her class and building her confidence with reading, writing and math. She seems to enjoy science and of course the arts and crafts, but hasn't been loving homework so we are working on making things more exciting as we know she has a long road ahead and homework and extra practice is going to be a part of her life for the long haul.

We have been truly feeling blessed and are so happy with life, we have great jobs, friends, co-workers, family and are settled in our home, neighbourhood and school. Sometimes it feels like its too good to be true!

We are so thankful for everything and everyone that has stood by our side and experienced this journey along with us!

Here are some pictures from this past year, thanks for stopping by!