Every year I write a letter on December 31st.
Dear 2014,
You have been a good year.
When this year first started I was VERY nervous for it.
You
see, at the end of 2013, we found out my dad had a tumor on his brain
and he would be needing brain surgery at Stanford in February.
Then,
on January 2nd my sister Rebecca had her 20 week ultrasound with Baby
#2 and during the ultrasound the doctor couldn't see part of the baby's
brain.
She would need to have an MRI at Stanford to see how severe it was.
Needless to say, the beginning of 2014 was extremely stressful.
But,
it all had a good outcome, my dad's surgery was successful and when my
sister went to Stanford to have the MRI, the part of the brain that was
missing was there....it truly was a miracle.
2014 has been a year of being stretched, a year of growth, a year of ups and downs.
A year of learning to trust God more and a year that I am even more thankful for having good health.
A year that holds a lot of wonderful memories.
Let's take a look back!
January:
I got a new blog design at the beginning of January.
I wanted a simple, clean, organized look.
With a navigation bar that has quick links.
My favorite feature is the Recipe Box!
My highlight in January was Kate's 7th Birthday Party. It was so much fun!
See the Party {HERE}
February:
February was a very emotional month.
We had my sister's 30th birthday dinner & party.
Her birthday was just a few days before my dad's surgery so we were all on edge.
{Read the party post HERE}
My dad had his 12 hour brain surgery at Stanford & was able to come home 3 days later.
{Read more about my dad's surgery HERE}
Then,
on Valentines Day my childhood soccer coach & mentor lost his 3
year battle with cancer & his funeral was at the end of the month.
Needless to say, I was very glad when February was over.
March:
March was mellow. Thankfully.
March is always fun because of March Madness & St. Patty's Day.
Our leprachaun left the girls a treasure map again:
I also started 40 Bags in 40 Days for the 3rd year in a row.
I posted my Top 10 tips for doing 40 Bags in 40 Days {HERE}
If you want to clean out your closets/house at the beginning of the New Year, those tips would come in handy!
Kate started her Softball Season!
April:
April was another good month.
We celebrated Easter & had Spring Break.
During Spring Break I started binge watching Breaking Bad and I finished in within a month. Ha!
I took the kids to see the Easter Bunny and Luke didn't disappoint :)
I threw my sister a Cookie & Milk Baby Shower 
See more Shower photos {HERE}
May:
May was a very busy month full of celebrations!
My sister had her miracle baby girl, Olivia Louise on May 15th.
Kevin turned the big 3-9 and we had a Cupcakes & Cornhole Birthday party with our neighbors for him.
I turned 35 on May 30th and on the 31st went wine tasting in Napa in a limo with my sisters & some of my best girl friends. 
{See the post HERE}
June:
June means it's the end of the school year!!!
The start of Summer!!!
Lots of swimming in our backyard!
We also started Swim Team Meets. That was an experience!
I
also started playing on an indoor soccer team. I hadn't played in over 8
years since before I was pregnant with Kate. It has been SO fun to get
back on the field.
We also watched a lot of World Cup Soccer in June!
July:
July was awesome. Simply awesome.
4th of July Party is always a highlight:
See the rest of the 4th of July post {HERE}
Tahoe Trip #1
In July, I also earned a free weekend trip to Napa with Rodan + Fields:
.
See the rest of the Napa post {HERE}
Tahoe Trip #2....we all hiked down to Emerald Bay. So beautiful.
August:
August
is always bittersweet....it's the last few weeks of summer, Luke's
birthday, our anniversary & then school starts at the end of the
month.
In August, our garden was going crazy!!! Love homegrown veggies!
Luke turned 2...I threw him a "Choo Choo Luke is Two" Party.
See the whole party post {HERE}
We started a little home re-model right after Luke's birthday, re-doing our fireplace area in our house:
Kevin & I celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary the day before school started.
And, just like that, we had a Kindergartener and a 2nd Grader!
September:
September was another great month. Jammed pack full of Fun!
Both girls played soccer this Fall, so our weekends were full of soccer games!
Claire turned 6 and I threw her a Mermaid Swim Party:
See the rest of her party {HERE}
A few days after Claire's birthday I headed off to Atlanta for the Rodan + Fields 2014 Convention.
I earned a free trip to this convention and it did not disappoint.
The view from my awesome hotel room:
Read about the rest of my trip to Atlanta {HERE}
At the end of September, another highlight was when Kevin & I went to the Colorado vs. Cal Football game.
in.
Then, Kevin surprised me with a night away after the game at the Claremont Resort in Berkeley! So fun.
October:
October
is usually my favorite month, but this year, in 2014 it was over 90
degrees the first 2 weeks of October. Ugh. It was awful. I am not a fan
of weather like that in the Fall, but we made lemonade out of lemons and
headed to Tahoe for a long weekend in the middle of October to beat the
heat.
Also, in October our San Francisco Giants went to the World Series again!
Kevin and I went to Game 3 of the series...so much fun!!!! 
Giants ended up winning the World Series! Love it!
At the end of October we headed down to my Grammy's to celebrate her 103rd birthday!!!!
You can read all about Grammy's 103rd Birthday {HERE}
Halloween wrapped up our October and we had our annual Halloween Party with friends.
Our kids were Frozen for Halloween.
You can read more about our Halloween {HERE}
November:
Marked
1 year of being a rep for Rodan + Fields. It has been such a blast
& I such a blessing to us this past year and it has allowed me to go
on some all expense paid trips!
If you are interested in learning more about being a rep, I would love to chat with you.
Send me an email:
melissa_larson17{at}yahoo.com
One
major thing that happened in November is that Luke started climbing out
of his crib. I had to get him a crib tent to keep him safe inside his
crib!
Read the crib tent post {HERE}
I
am ashamed to admit this, but probably the biggest highlight of
November was that I started watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix (I had
never seen the series before) and I finished the entire series before
the month was over. What a great series!! I want to watch them all over
again!
The
big highlight of November is always Thanksgiving! And, this year we
were really thankful that the day before Thanksgiving our remodel was
finally done....3 months after we started it!
December:
Ahhhh....December.
Christmas time.
So many highlights.
Highlights from December were the Christmas parties we went to and hosting both sides of our family for Christmas Dinner.
It was a wonderful December and after a crazy 4 days of Christmas, we
headed back to Tahoe to relax, play in the snow and Ring in the New
Year!
Also, in 2014 I added 32 new recipes & 5 new free printables to the blog!
You can check those out in the Recipe Box tab and the Free Printables tab.
2014, you have been good to us.
Thanks for all the fun memories.
I am thankful to God for the ways he worked in our family this year and for the ways that He will continue to work in us and through us.
I am thankful to God for the ways he worked in our family this year and for the ways that He will continue to work in us and through us.
Happy New Year, friends.
Thanks for reading my blog this year.
I appreciate all of you!
May your 2015 be filled with joy & hope no matter your circumstances!
May your 2015 be filled with joy & hope no matter your circumstances!
