We drove up to Michigan to spend New Year's Eve with the Sanchez family We enjoyed Kelly's tasty carnitas and a movie marathon . . .well, I went to sleep after the first movie, but others watched most of the night until morning.
Here we are kissing in the new year.
The next day Matthew and I were able to leave the kids for a day or two to celebrate our anniversary together. We went up to Toronto, Canada. We spent the first evening visiting the CN Tower. This is the 6th highest building in the world! We rode a glass elevator up 117 building storeys to the height of 1,122 Ft. Here we were able to look over the city at night. It was an incredible view. We also looked through the glass floor all the way down to the ground! There is also a lookout tower in the sky pod 33 storeys higher, but I felt high enough at the level we were at. It was too windy to do the “edgewalk”, but we were still amazed!
The next day we were able to go to the Toronto temple. What a sweet way to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary!
The second place that we visited was the Casa Loma. This was a modern castle! It had almost 100 rooms! There was a huge library, a conservatory, billiard room, secret passageways, and a great hall with a huge pipe organ! There were also beautiful terraces, and in the summer there are beautiful gardens. Sir Henry Pellatt loved architecture, art, and serving in the Queen’s Army. He and his wife lived there for less than 10 years. Now it is open to the public. It was quite a modern home when it was built in 1911. Even today it is remarkable with beautiful woodwork, stained glass windows, and historic artifacts.
After visiting the Casa Loma we headed back to Michigan and returned home to Columbus with our kids on the following day.
I feel very blessed to have Matthew! He is the best gift God has ever given me, of course along with the gospel which binds us together. He is patient, kind, faithful, hardworking, and a constant friend to me! He has made my life beautiful and rich! I will be forever grateful for him!
January was a rejuvenating month. Things slowed down enough for me to even have time to read a few books. One was about running (renewed my desire to understand my ability to run) and another was 7 Habits for Highly Effective People (reminded me of the importance of renewing myself each day spiritually, physically, and mentally). I also read a great article about setting habit goals, (greatness comes from good habits) and listened to a podcast about connecting with your kids (positive moments, the power of touch, and meaningful conversations). All in all, I felt that I received a lot of insights!
Christian started a preschool movement class which is 2 1/2 hours each Friday morning. He has been happy to go and learn. I am also starting to teach him his letters/sounds and numbers. He has been catching on quickly. Here he is with his backpack. We take it everywhere with us since we can keep his epi-pen and other essentials perfectly in it.
Eve completed a fun art project. Can you see which famous art work she was chose to replicate?
This is a fun lunch that I went to . . . a "Becky" lunch. All the Beckys in my ward decided to celebrate that we share the same name by going to lunch.
Our kids continue to love their pets! Here are a few more to add to the bunch (the frog and snail). Eve loves to create fun habitats for her gerbil, Tinsel.
Finally, here are some fun pics to wrap up. Hope you all had a great month! I know for me it was a great time for reflection.
