We took so many pictures this year, I thought it would be best to split this blog post into two posts instead of one giant post! I have seriously looked through every.single.picture we took the first 6 months of last year, so this post has taken quite a while to put together! Now to work on the next 6 months after I finally finish this blog post ;)
Joel and I decided that if we were to sum up 2016 for our little family in one word, it would be C O U R A G E. Moving halfway across the world, starting a completely new job, and starting school again has been huge. Looking back on it, I have no idea how we did it.. but we did. Following our dreams has been scary, intense, exciting, and worth it. There were so many miracles that happened along the way for us to be here, and we know we are where we are supposed to be.
January:
The main thing that happened in the end of December/beginning of January was my parents came to Sweden to meet little William!
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| Happy grandma and grandpa!!! |
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William's blessing day
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Playdate with cousins!! Miss this SO MUCH.
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February:
This was the month where Joel was the most depressed about his job in Sweden. Some things happened... and it is quite a long story. To make it short, we were praying so hard every night to find a different job opportunity in Sweden or a chance to move to the states. Around this time, my sister Allison and her husband Ryan called us one night and talked our ears off for 3 hours about this summer sales job working for Vivint. As soon as we hung up with them, we immediately thought, "What if we moved and did this too??" Another long story short, so many miracles happened in order for us to move out of our apartment in one month and make everything work to get ready to move to the states in 2 short months.
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Valentine's Day sickies with extreme fevers. Luckily their fevers went down later that night
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| Emma and Williams great grandpa and farfar (grandpa) |
March:
Emma turned 2 on March 8th! We had a small Winnie the Pooh party with Joel's family. Joel and I also taveled to Oslo, Norway to get William's dual citizenship and passport. Joel's uncle David lives in Norway and on the way to Oslo from where we lived in Sweden, and we couldn't resist a stop to say hi!! This was the month we lived with Joel's parents to prepare for our move to the states. We got to spend quality time together and I will always treasure those moments we had.
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On our way to Oslo!!
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He was such a cuddle bug... and then he turned 6 months old...
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Bislett kebab. THE BEST IF YOU ARE IN OSLO. Super close to the institute center, which is why Joel ate there so much on his mission!
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| The Norwegian and Swedish family |
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Grilling at Joel's grandparents house out in the countryside!
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Accidental matching.
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| Goodbye our wonderful bed, we will miss you!!!! |
April:
Our flight from Sweden to Utah was scheduled on April 4th. We ended up getting the stomach flu the day before we were supposed to fly out, so we had to reschedule. Te worst part was we didn't pay for insurance on our flights, so we couldn't get our money back. (insert forehead slap here) We learned that lesson the hard way for sure. Before we left Sweden, I painted this picture for my sister-in-laws' kids room. I don't know how I squeezed time in for it, but I'm so glad I did!! Such a good memory.
The flight wasn't too bad! We got super lucky, because our flight was only 70% ful. When the kids got too tired we took them back by the engine because it would drown out all the noise from the plane. That was probably the hardest part... Emma wanting to run around and play but she needed a nap so bad! I had packed the exact amount of outfits that William ended up pooping and puking through! I felt so proud haha.
When we got to the states, we basically did a lot of adulting.. buying a car, getting car insurance, health insurance, social security numbers... and so on. Mainly getting ready for our summer in California!!
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Waiting in the hospital to see what William was sick with, which ended up being the stomach flu.
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Yep. This was all we brought from Sweden!!
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Finally got ma hur done by my awesome sis!
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| Our stop in Vegas was verrrry appreciated and much needed! And so warm!! |
May:
The beginning of May we moved from Utah to California! That drive was ROUGH. We drove straight to Vegas that first day, and oh man we were so done in the car. We learned our mistake though, and made sure we had plenty of shows for Emma to watch after that ;)
Once we got to California we stayed with my aunt and uncle for a few days before moving into our new apartment! We ended up getting a three room apartment, because someone else who was coming with 4 kids backed out of the summer sales job so we got their big apartment! It worked out super nice, but gosh it was hard to keep a place that big clean! We spent the rest of the month swimming, and I got a little pool for our balcony that was floor level. Being in that warm weather all the time... gosh how I miss that now!!
My sister Allison and I braved taking the kids to Santa Monica beach! I can't believe how hard it is to take kids to the beach... so much to worry about!!! Just a few things like sunscreen, towels, diapers, wipes, food, snacks, hats, umbrellas, naps, and so much more! Which is why we only went to the beach a couple more times that summer ;) We did enjoy our time though! I just can't believe how hard it was to take little kids to the beach.
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| Our first Sunday in California at my aunt and uncles house!! |
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The kids loved going for walks around our colorful neighborhood. They wouldn't say a peep the whole time!
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I think it's safe to say she loved the water ;)
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Saying bye bye before Joel had to leave for work!
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Probably my favorite picture of these two!!!
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Spotting airplanes at Santa Monica beach!
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Sunday activities out by the pool
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Watching Tarzan and both holding their feet! I die.
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Date nights consisted of us taking the baby monitor out to the hot tub
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June:
This might have been one of my favorite months last year!! We did so much, and it just felt so good. My mom came to California, and we went to the Del Mar fair where my aunt and uncle ran their gingerbread shop. I don't go to fairs all that often, but that one was amazing!! Emma loved most of the rides... and she kinda freaked out on some. The merry go round was definitely her favorite of course!
We also celebrated our anniversary this month. I had our date planned out on a Sunday, since it was the only day Joel didn't work. A friend of mine gave me the idea to take him to the Gondola Getaway in Long Beach, since it is so unique and an activity we couldn't do anywhere else! Definitely look into it if you're in the area! We even had a real Italian guy who had just moved to California 8 months prior, so we couldn't have gotten any closer to Italy without physically being there. You can read my blog post about our anniversary date HERE
I took the kids an hour and a half somewhere I can't remember to celebrate Swedish midsommar! A couple of friends who had served in Sweden invited us, and I'm so glad I was brave enough to take the kids by myself! We had so much fun singing and eating Swedish food. Emma especially loved running around and eating all she could find! But gosh was it weird to hear so much Swedish around me again! I loved it though! I bought so much Swedish food that day... it was the best.
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He got pretty legit tan lines last summer!!
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Our yearly goal is to take pictures of Joel with the kids on Father's Day!
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| So obsessed with my little family!!! |
