2013

2013 was perhaps the most intense year of my life. Although 2003 was pretty crazy with graduating from college, moving home, getting engaged, then married, then moving across the world. But I think 2013 still comes ahead. On January first this year, I thought back to 1/1/13 and our lives were SO DIFFERENT. It's wild to think how many changes we've been through. So for the sake of remembering - here's a very abbreviated play by play!

January - Started the year off in Bebedoro, Brazil with my extended family. Had a great visit with them. We found out we were expecting our third baby. Aaron narrowed down job options to two choices: White House Fellowship and Restore Hope.
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February-March - Had a great time as a family as Aaron was on "summer" break. I was so blessed with his presence because for the first time in pregnancy I was incredibly sick during the first trimester. It was awesome to have him home to help tend to the boys as I often went back to bed after breakfast!

March-April - Aaron returns to school. We finalized that he would be taking a job with Restore Hope in Arlington. We made plans to return to NYC to celebrate Aaron's graduation in May. We decided it would be best for the boys and I to stay in the US at that point because of the pregnancy. Aaron would return to Brazil to finish his last quarter of school.

May - The boys and I said goodbye to Sao Paulo. It was a bitter sweet goodbye. There were tender friendships that were hard to leave.

It was so neat to process the time in Sao Paulo and see how God had filled us with joy. He had bonded us as a family unit. He had challenged us and sharpened us.   Because we were flying by miles, the boys and I had to leave before Aaron was done with the semester.  During the first part of our visit in NY we were able to reunite with friends and enjoy the city. The second part we reunited with family and celebrated the incredible accomplishment of grad school. It was hard to fathom that Aaron was graduating. So much went into this degree for all of us. For Aaron, it was tremendous amount of discipline, determination, and effort to apply himself fully to very difficult (though very rewarding) academic work while still being a very present daddy and sweet husband. For me, it was learning to navigate new cities, pursuing relationships with fervor, trying to support Aaron's efforts as best I could, while raising two very active little boys. For the boys it was, leaving everything they knew as soon as it became familiar! These words are only a fraction of all the emotion that charged us while in NYC in May. I could hardly look at Aaron in his gown without weeping! It was an incredibly emotional, exciting time!

 

 

June-July - The boys and I returned to Texas and Aaron returned to Brazil to finish his course in Brazil. The time apart proved to be more challenging than we ever imagined. Aaron was incredibly busy with hosting friends, finishing a volunteer project for a needy community in Sao Paulo, closing out our apartment, and not to mention finishing his degree. All this done during major riots in Sao Paulo that were often being manifested within blocks of his school and on his route home. The boys and I so thankful to be among family and reconnecting with friends. However, the stress of having Aaron far coupled with so many unknowns in our immediate future was often difficult to juggle. Aaron got to have a fun filled return to the US. He met his best friend Micah in NYC to load all of our belongings into a moving truck. They had many adventures driving back to TX. Among their stops sight seeing in Washington DC and Vicksburg to see the Civil War memorial.  It was a very sweet reunion in Mid July when daddy pulled up in a big yellow truck!

July-September - We hit the ground running after Aaron arrived. We had a TON to do to get settled into a life in the states. We bought two cars, got phones, figured out insurance, decided on a preschool program for the boys, had baby showers, moved into First Baptist Arlington's Mission house and began house hunting. It was a very full season.

September 16 was a BIG day for our family. After 10 years of being married (and living in apartments) we closed on our first home.

It was a super sweet moment. We celebrating with friends and family coming over to the empty house and eating pizza as we sat on the floor and kids ran free in our new backyard! That day was also Evelina's "due" date. Late that night as I was thinking maybe I can at least begin labor on her due date I got a call from Aaron. He said. "I have good news and bad news." The good news was his softball team had won the game they were playing. The bad news was he had fallen on his shoulder while trying to catch a ball and was headed to the emergency room. We later learned that he had separated his AC joint and would take several months to have full function on his right arm! Perfect timing! My parents were already in town awaiting the arrival of the first grand daughter. We could not have been more blessed by their service to our family. With me being so pregnant and Aaron having only one arm (his left one at that!) We truly needed the help they so lovingly and selflessly provided!

Our sweet Evelina waited paitently within me until chaos of the world she was about to enter settled. On September 26th Evelina Joy made her way into our arms quickly and swiftly! She was born in the mission house we were residing in surrounded with an abundance of love. The boys immediately took to her and loved on her. We welcomed her into our arms with overwhelming gratitude!

October - This was the month I nearly lost my mind! With a baby that was only 2 weeks old, we decided to go on and move into our home. We had been "in transition" since May and were eager to get settled. October 19th was our 10th anniversary. We celebrated with our newly expanded family of 5 at Walmart buying things for our home. Yes, seems anticlimactic, but it's exactly what both of us wanted to be doing!

 

November - We began to feel a little more settled. I decided the rest of the boxes (mostly books needing a book shelf) would have to be ignored. If I was dealing with unpacking boxes I was just not a stable human being! Transitioning to three children was a joy as long as I wasn't trying to unpack. So I resolved to pretend the boxes were a wall! We also traveled to FL for an early thanksgiving celebration. We had a sweet time with my parents and family.

 

December - We really enjoyed Christmas this year. From early December all the way until the 25th, we celebrated! We bought our tree and decorated it in the middle of an ice storm.

The boys loved the anticipation of Christmas. I read a book called the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. It made the advent season so very rich for me. We had not had Christmas in Texas since 2009. Christmas Eve and Christmas day were super sweet as we got to celebrate with family and in our new home.

 

 

 

 

2013 was an incredibly full year. It had some of the biggest joys and biggest trials we have ever faced as a family. I am so deeply grateful for it. Though it proved to be very challenging, the lessons and memories it produced were true gifts to be treasured. Here's to 2014. Just like day one of 2013, we have no idea what this year holds for us, but we will strive to remain close to the Lord and lean into all He will show us this year. Happy New Year!