Two Thousand and Fifteen

This has become my very favorite blog post to write each year. My disclaimer is that it is lengthy... but honestly, I write it for myself and for my family to be able to look back years later and remember the significant events of each particular year....an electronic snapshot of sorts. I've already read and re-read my year end recaps from 2013 and 2014, and I continue to stand amazed at the way God continues to lead us on this journey together. It is an adventure that just seems to keep getting better and better! Here are the highlights of 2015 for Team Peek...and if you make it all the way to the end, well...bless you, my friend :)

January: Our New Year's celebration looked a little different this year, as we stayed home to watch the ball drop while cuddling our nearly 5 month old baby! It was a wildly wonderful celebration ; ) We also enjoyed extra snuggle time with our brand new niece Liberty Faith, who was born on New Year's Eve! New Year's Day also marked Leigh's sister and brother-in-law's 10th wedding anniversary, which we later celebrated with a renewal of their wedding vows in a special, intimate ceremony surrounded by family and close friends. In January, we also began hosting our Lifegroup at our home every Wednesday evening- a small community of young adults within our church with whom we are so honored to share life!

We started 2015 off with a 5 month old!

Our brand new baby niece, Liberty Faith.
Liberty and Charlotte both got their names from the same scripture:
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom [liberty]." - 2 Corinthians 3:17
Charlotte means "free man" and Liberty means...well, liberty!

Celebrating Lauren and Gib's marriage vow renewal in honor of their 10 year anniversary!

Some of the couples in our incredible Lifegroup! These people are seriously good as GOLD.

February: This year, Valentine's Day in our house was extra special with our newest little Love, who turned 6 months old! We also got to celebrate love in the best of ways, by attending the wedding of some longtime friends with whom we've traveled the world - and who first met on one of our college medical mission trips.

She's like my heart walking around outside my body...truth.

Mimi and Didi with their littlest loves!

We love celebrating LOVE! Charlotte's first wedding

We have traveled through Ecuador jungles and swam in Peruvian rivers multiple times over the past decade with these incredible people. Being a part of their wedding day was something special for all of us!

March: Leigh said goodbye to her childhood home - the only home she lived in until moving away to college - when her parents finally sold it. Our entire family went back for one last weekend to reminisce on all the memories we made there. The rest of this month sailed by!

Saying goodbye to the wide open spaces at my childhood home...if only this tree could talk!

By this time, this little lady was bear-crawling everywhere.

Rocking our green pants and chambray shirts for St. Patty's Day

In other 2015 happenings... our neighbor's dog jumped our 12 foot fence and nearly tried to eat our sweet little dachshunds...

Caesar and Sugar, the best of friends

... but then the neighbor dog's owner brought us a peace offering of gourmet cupcakes... #baddoggoodneighbor.

April: This was a big month for us! We celebrated our first Easter with our girl, complete with an Easter egg hunt! Then, Leigh took the ultimate Girls' Trip with Charlotte (8 months old), her sister, niece (4 months old), and mother to visit family in Georgia! When airfare became available at an unbelievable price, we booked this trip on the spur of the moment. We initially questioned whether this was crazy to tote our baby girls across the country (and leave the dads at home with the boys), but this turned out to be an unexpectedly refreshing and relaxing getaway to remember. Both babies were fantastic first time travelers, and their mommas were incredibly grateful to have Mimi with them. We spent a wonderful long weekend with Mom's siblings on their farm in the Georgia countryside. It rained almost the entire time we were there, which led to many hours relaxing on the wraparound screened porch, enjoying good books, great meals, and meaningful conversation with our aunts and uncle! Oh, and we got to feed the goats. It was a trip that will go down in the books as one of the most spontaneous and refreshing getaways we've ever had.

Easter Sunday

"Hunting" Easter eggs

The Tale of the Traveling Sisters [and babies] - We literally only packed in 1 carry-on bag each!

Baby wanderlust, seeing the world from brand new heights!

Airplane on the airplane...this little one was quite entertaining!

Siblings reunited, with the youngest members of the family!

Peaceful days on the farm. Refreshing rain. So good for the soul.

With Mom's other Georgian sibling! Our most "Southern" aunt, who taught us to say pe-CAN, not pecan.

My little traveler, loving every moment.

Superhero Mom/Mimi! (Don't worry, no babies are in the carriers ;)

And while Leigh was away on her girls' trip, JJ recruited some of his guy friends to help surprise her by transforming our 1980's brown living room into a fresh, white, updated space!

The Before

The After! Goodbye 1980.... Hello 2015!

May: Leigh had a conference for work in Minneapolis, MN. JJ was able to accompany her, and so we were able to make the most of our getaway! This also meant it was the first time to leave our baby overnight - and for a whole week! - but we were well at ease, knowing our families were taking such good care of her. (Okay, Momma may have cried the first night away... until she woke up the next morning and realized it was the most restful night of sleep she'd had in MONTHS!) Between conference sessions, we were able to explore the city on foot, run a 5k race, attend a major league baseball game, and enjoy the local cuisine (including an impressive assortment of food trucks outside our hotel). The weather was beautiful the entire week, and it was a much-needed getaway for the two of us! It also made coming home to our girl that much sweeter!

With My Favorite overlooking the city. Gosh, he's handsome...

Reunited with my Wake Forest girls! Loved getting to catch up with former colleagues from around the country.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Perfect running weather

Oh hi, Minneapolis! You took me by surprise. I think I like you...

Returning home to this cutie was oh so sweet

June: At the end of May into the first of June, we made our first trip back to North Carolina as a family of three! Despite Charlotte being ill much of the long weekend there, we had the most wonderful time staying with friends who we've traveled to Africa with (and even got to Skype with our missionary friends in Africa while at their house!) Over the weekend, we shared many meals and an ice cream date with former colleagues and their families, and we celebrated the marriage of Leigh's good friend and former co-resident. It was so nice to see many friends at the wedding, and we danced the night away! The long weekend ended perfectly with a cookout hosted by some of our good friends from church, coordinated so thoughtfully so that we could see many friends all at once without driving all over town!

I knew our little traveler wasn't feeling well when she slept the whole flight...
See previous "airplane" picture for comparison...!

Holly was a phenomenal hostess, while her husband Danny was on a trip to Africa. She was expecting their first baby at the time, so she got lots of practice with our little lady

Reunited with my Wake Forest co-residents [and their handsome guys] to celebrate Kristin's big day!

The wedding-goers. Charlotte was a trooper even on the dance floor, despite that she was still feeling ill!

Our sweet friends finished off our visit with a wonderful cookout!

Baby friends! I was pregnant at the same time as one of my dear friends, and we finally got to meet each other's babies!

July: As the summer days grew longer, we enjoyed more time with friends and family. Several of our close friends had summer babies, and we enjoyed welcoming them to parenthood as well. We attended several weddings, including Leigh's brother-in-law's brother (did you get that?) and Leigh's best friend from high school. We also celebrated JJ's grandparents 64th wedding anniversary, on which they insisted on us joining them for their anniversary dinner date :)

Celebrating a birthday with my expectant friends ; )

Friends from college, friends forever! Love getting to share all seasons of life with these ladies and their growing families!

A spa night out to celebrate the bride-to-be...such a nice excuse for this momma to relax, too!

Honored to stand beside this beautiful bride on her wedding day!

My beautiful people

My forever wedding date... because every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man ;)

It's always a celebration with Mammo, cousin Raven, Grandma, and Pappo!

This summer, Charlotte "learned" to swim and was like a fish in water, loving every moment! We spent afternoons at the pool and evenings grilling out and enjoying outdoor picnics.

First swim. Wish I could post the actual video of our little fish here!

Fearless.

Little sunbather at her cousin's t-ball game

Typical summer date night at our house. Cookout + outdoor movie + baby monitor (and sleeping baby!)

Picnic with cousins on the farm!

August: Charlotte turned the big ONE! We celebrated with a "Wild ONE" birthday party, to celebrate her wonderfully wild and adventurous personality. She began walking about one week after her birthday, and started running soon after that... We are so, so thankful for the friends and family who have surrounded her, loved her, and helped raise her during this first year. It truly takes an entire village... Along with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, Charlotte has been so well cared for by her nanny Tiffany! "Miss Tiff" is also a part of our Lifegroup, and we consider her family.

September: We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and JJ's birthday with a getaway to Eureka Springs, AR. We stayed in a "treehouse" - but not the kind you played in as a kid ; ) This was quite a luxurious cabin in a secluded mountainous area. We truly went with relaxation in mind and accomplished exactly that!

The cake Leigh made for JJ....hahaha, ok that's really funny.

Anniversary bike ride

The treehouse cabin

Not your backyard treehouse...

Back in Oklahoma, we celebrated Leigh's parents' 40th wedding anniversary. We conspired with Leigh's sister to surprise them with a progressive Italian themed dinner, after which we revealed a surprise trip to Boston to enjoy a Fall foliage tour!

October: With fall in full swing, it's our favorite time of year! We celebrated Leigh's birthday with a trip to southeast Oklahoma, where we rented a cabin for a long weekend getaway with the whole family. We enjoyed hiking around in the beautiful fall foliage, taking the kids for a ride on the mountain train, and roasting s'mores around our campfire. The following weekend, Leigh and JJ headed south of the Red River to cheer on the Sooners at the annual OU/TX football rivalry. (Although the outcome was less than desirable, we still had a fabulous baby-free weekend enjoying time together!) We continued to cheer on our Sooners at all home games, making it a nearly perfect season. To finish out the month, Charlotte enjoyed pumpkin patches and trick-or-treating [as a busy little bumble bee].

She'll be coming 'round the mountain... The kids were way more impressed with the train than they appear here!

A favorite memory of our weekend getaway...family talks around the campfire!

Texas State Fair

Red River Rivalry - one of our annual favorite events!

Saturday Night Lights

We cheered on our Sooners rain or shine...

...and in the freezing cold!

Our little pumpkin spice

Halloween 2015 - The beekeeper, his Queen Bee, and their baby bumblebee

November: We have so much to be thankful for - along with the blessings of friends and family, this year we have been especially grateful for our job situations. Leigh continues to commute to work at The Children's Hospital, where she has become integrated into the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant and Hematology/Oncology medical teams. This is an area she has grown to love, and she is inspired daily by her incredible patients as they battle cancer and overcome so many obstacles. She took and passed the first ever exam to become a Board Certified Pediatric Pharmacist (BCPPS)! Leigh was able to commute to work with JJ for the first half of this year, but he ultimately transitioned to work from home. Although we miss the windshield time together, this has been a wonderful change for our family as it has given us more flexibility! JJ has been promoted to an instructor role within his company, and he gets to do one of the things he loves most - teach! He has been responsible for training new pharmacists within the company across 3 time zones... all from the comfort of his home office! He enjoys getting to go for a run during his lunch breaks or occasionally having a lunch date with his littlest lady.

Welcome Fall! We loved spending evenings by the fire together as the weather got cooler.

Tthe stem cell transplant "dream team" (including Coach Stoops)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we enjoyed meals with our extended families and also attended our annual "Friendsgiving." We then joined our Lifegroup in making shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child to prepare for the holiday season.

Thankful for these Lifegroup ladies!

Operation Christmas Child got us in the holiday spirit!

December: When Leigh's sister offered a few "date nights," she may not have known we would take this literally... and so we invited her to stay the night at our house with Baby C so that we could enjoy a night out in the city :) We enjoyed a night of ice skating and staying at our favorite historic hotel in beautiful downtown OKC. Throughout the month, we enjoyed time with childhood friends who visited with their kiddos, double dates with Lifegroup friends, holiday parties at work, and pajama Christmas parties with friends while cooking breakfast for dinner!

Home for the holidays

Date night! You should see his skills on the ice...

Best childhood friends and our babies!

Family Christmas light - double date night!

Lifegroup "Cozy Christmas" party

Girls' [Breakfast] Dinner Club

Our Christmas celebrations included putting up a 12 foot live Christmas tree, spending Christmas Eve day with Leigh's family, having our own family's annual "Christmas Eve Campout" under the tree, and then spending Christmas Day with JJ's family. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.