2008 in Review

What a year! We have had quite the year from adjusting to life in a new country to welcoming a new life into our family. We've had lots of adventures as we have made Holland our home. We've had the opportunity to travel to Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, England, and Scotland. It's been amazing to see some sites that I never thought I would see. I never dreamed of going to Paris or London, but those experiences have occurred. It goes to show that you never know what life will bring. We have enjoyed visits from grandparents and uncles. It's helped making being so far away from our American home a bit easier.

Rachel has been so much fun to watch this past year. She's grown and learned so much. She's our little chatterbox. She continually amazes us with how much she has changed this past year. Her current favorite thing to do is read to us the stories of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Beauty and the Beast. I absolutely love it when she says "fairest of them all" and "happily ever ever after". Too cute! Rachel definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps us smiling.

Audrey will officially be 3 weeks tomorrow. In some ways it seems like she's been around a lot longer than that. She certainly fits right in and we are enjoying her. So far she's a better sleeper than Rachel was. We'll see how the next couple of months go... :) She sleeps really good at night and decently during the day. She's up every 3-4 hours at night, but once she's fed she goes right back to sleep. That's something her big sister didn't do very well! We definitely feel blessed to have her in our family and that she is doing so well.

Life has definitely been good to us this year. We feel very blessed. We've grown and learned a lot as we have adjusted to our life in Holland. We are enjoying our adventure over here, but when it's time to go home we'll be ready. We miss our family and some American comforts, but overall things are good. It will be interesting to see what 2009 has in store for our family!