Family Time Follow Up

*cue Adele*

Hello,

​It's me

​I was wondering if after all these........

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​No, but seriously, I kinda left things hanging on an honest, yet funky note. I owe it to my family to fill you in on just how wonderful the last couple months have been since I last hit publish in November.

​It's as if writing that sent a simultaneous memo to the universe, that returned just what we needed. Time together. Forgetting about everyone else, embracing slower and enjoying the flow.

​We seemed to start doing more things just the four of us (and sometimes the fur family members too.) The girls are getting to be a fun age to try new things and enjoy different outings. From the everyday errands to their first skate of the year to family movie nights, we soaked up each other's company and daddy's days off.
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Matthew and I also had some great date nights! Like the one we were just excited to get out of the house after a "date drought" and ended up wandering downtown without a dinner reservation in search of a restaurant without a huge wait... Which has happened before, and also seems to have a record of turning out great. We ended up choosing the best seafood in town and we tried oysters for the first time. (Which I really liked, to my surprise!)

​Next time we were more prepared and booked a table at Anju. We usually try new places, but we loved the food there on our last visit (which, coincidentally, this is one of the places we unintentionally wandered to on a previous date night - see, knack for finding good food!) We had some time to kill before, and in our what-do-we-do-on-date-night fashion, decided to go to the pool and relax in the steam room before. The hot tub was closed, but it was still a fine start to the night ;)
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December brought Christmas festivities! Parades, Elf on the Shelf, visits with Santa, cookie decorating, sliding, skating and more!

​This was our first holiday in Calgary, with kids and without any visitors! I have loved having company in years past but this year was really enjoyable too. The girls were that much more excited this year and they truly made Christmas magical. I have so many fond memories of the little things from this year... ​It was great to slow down and soak it in. We didn't even do much visiting. Just hung close to home, hosted our second annual Boxing Day brunch and caught up with a few friends. It was lovely.

​Matthew was back to work for New Years Eve and the girls and I spent a quiet night at home. We ended up looking back on all the photos and video clips I have of the year and it was a really cool way to spend the last day of 2016. There were so many fun memories and oh how they have grown. My hope is to make a video compilation or slide show to share some highlights (soon.)
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​We kicked off New Year's Day with a Resolution 5K Run in the bitter cold. Although, it wasn't much of a run for me as my double stroller did not cut it through freshly fallen snow on most of the route. I'm still glad I got out there and started the year off with "no excuses" and goals in mind.

I shared some of my visions for 2017 on my Instagram and will post them here on the blog soon. Two weeks in to the year, and things are already beginning to line up to help me achieve some of those goals... I think it's going to be a great year!

​...If I'm being honest, the years just seem to be getting better and better. I can thank the blog, in part, for that (and you for reading) because documenting our life in this way always gives me a chance for reflection. With reflection I grow and continue to learn about myself. And when I'm being and writing  true myself; learning and growing; happiness and life seems to unfold in a beautiful way!

​So, CHEERS! And Happy New Years, friends!

​Thanks for following along XO
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