It's a Wonderful Life...

While it may be a seemingly outdated and dying tradition I can’t help but love Christmas letters. Last year we received less than a handful so we debated whether or not to continue the tradition ourselves. We decided we had to as it’s one of our favorite ways to look back on the year as well, but this year we at least opted to save a little on paper and printing, so here it is (thanks largely in part to my wonderful husband for writing this year)…

In our first full year back in the U.S. since living abroad, we managed to stay on the move in several different ways (especially the youngest member of the family!) as 2014 was a year with many changes for all of us. While we never knew or know what change or challenge might be in store for us next we know God has truly blessed us with a wonderful life.

Steve continues to work at Ernst & Young, receiving a promotion this year and also changing some of his client assignments, which will result in less travel so Abby will be stuck spending more time with him. In June, Abby began working for SSM Health Care Foundations, where she jumped right in planning several amazing events including a polo match, a Willy Wonka themed gala, and a fundraiser at her old stomping grounds – the Peabody Opera House. She’s really happy to work in such a rewarding environment where she knows she is touching lives through these fundraising events and meeting so many incredible people. Of course, when Abby went back to work, Emma also began a new adventure – pre-school. Although it took a few weeks for her to get used to the idea, she has fallen in love with her school, teachers and classmates (not to mention the deer that live in the woods behind the playground).

Emma grows bigger every day and it’s becoming hard to remember a time when she wasn’t always into mischief, even though it really wasn’t that long ago. In the past year, she’s gone from walking to running, hopping, and dancing. Her vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds as she uses full sentences, constantly asks questions, and spontaneous springs into singing her ABC’s (or Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jingle Bells—you name it).  After she turned two and made a few daring escapes, we turned her crib into a toddler bed…which means nap time is often just—playing quietly so that Mommy and Daddy don’t catch you—time. A few months later we spent a weekend working on potty training, which she thankfully took to pretty quickly.

Although it’s not as easy to travel these days, we still made it to a few amazing places this year. After Steve survived another busy season at work, we took two extended weekend trips for Abby to do some running. First, was a trip to North Carolina in mid-March, where Abby ran the Tobacco Trail Marathon with some extra company for 10+miles from her good friend from college. The second trip in late April was to Louisville, where Abby ran the Kentucky Derby Marathon, which marked her 15^th full marathon! Our next trip was a little more challenging – a two week trip to South America where we spent several days exploring Cusco and Machu Picchu in Peru, took in the most impressive waterfalls we have seen yet at the Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, and then took in the beautiful sights of Rio de Janeiro including the Sugar Loaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer (although Emma was much more interested in the pools and beaches!). In September, we took our first trip without our little girl, five days in Curacao to truly relax while Grandma and Grandpa Souders came down to spend some quality time with their granddaughter. We ended the year with a few short trips of our own. Abby went to Minneapolis for a weekend of shopping and fun with her parents and Steve went to Brisbane, Australia for a few days of work and a short weekend to see the city, an Australian zoo, and Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. As we have often found, everywhere we went, people were warm and welcoming and Emma made lots of new friends. You can read more about our adventures on the blog although we apologize for falling (a little?) behind.

Most of all we are thankful to God for being home in the U.S. and able to spend time with our wonderful friends and family here again.  We are truly blessed to have so many supportive people in our lives and pray that this letter finds all of you well.

Merry Christmas!

Abby, Emma & Steve

Dakota, Hope & Faith

One of the Seven Wonders...

A few months late, here's a look back at stop #2 on our trip to South America in May... 

After a whirlwind four and a half days in Peru we headed to Foz do Iguaçu bright and early after our late night return from Machu Picchu. We had only a few hours of sleep under our belts, but nonetheless we were excited as we headed out for the Cusco airport at 5:30 am!

Emma may have looked grumpy but she loved the Iguaçu Falls! 

We spent about five and half hours of flying with a connection through Lima to eventually find our way to the southeastern corner of Brazil. With a two hour time change it was 7 pm by the time we arrived and we were all exhausted and eager to get a taxi to get to our home base for the next three nights, the Iguassu Resort. The area was very different from the bustling pedestrian and vehicle busy city of Cusco we had just left. We chose to stay outside any of the three border cities of Foz do Iguaçu (Brasil), Puerto Iguazu (Argentina), or Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and instead found a family friendly resort that was located close to the entrance of the famous Iguaçu Falls, which was the purpose of our stop in this region. 

Most of these photos don't need words... amazing!

If you're not familiar with the Igassu Falls, it's ok (Emma's favorite saying as of late), we weren't originally either. The falls sit on the border of Brazil and Argentina (with Paraguay nearby). They consist of over 250 individual falls that stretch over 1.5 miles and is considered one of the New Natural Seven Wonders of the World. It also is regularly ranked as one of the top few waterfalls in the world. We felt spoiled considering we visited several spectacular waterfalls in Iceland last year, but we quickly realized that this one topped them all. 

After our long day of travel the day before we started a little slow on Tuesday morning before heading out to explore the Brazilian side of the falls. Our resort was on the Brazilian side and only a short cab ride from the falls. Over 80% of the falls actually "drop" or originate on the Argentinean side, so from Brazil we were able to get a better view of the majority of the actual falls.

First view from Brazil looking at the Argentinean side

Pesky coatis...

... that were everywhere and didn't leave you alone, especially if you have food!

                              

My first sight of the falls was beautiful but I wasn't overwhelmed (perhaps it was a result of how spoiled we got on our trip to Iceland last year). I also couldn't help thinking about how muddy the water was, the unfortunate result of deforestation over the last 40 years in the area. However, as we started our mile long trek along the side of the river I started to become increasingly impressed. It became clear just how far the falls stretched. Depending on the season you visit, they say the actual number of falls ranges anywhere from 200 to 300 based on the amount of recent rains. 

Fun family photos!

As a result of the length and size of the falls, there is no one point vantage point where you can actually see the entire falls at once - the only way possible is from the air. However at the end of our one mile trek we came to several viewing platforms where we were able to see a large majority of the falls and literally walk right across the water. It was certainly one of the best experiences of the trip, but I didn't like to think about the logistics of the construction of the platform and the rushing water underneath me. Nonetheless it provided for some amazing views and Emma thought it was hilarious when we got quite wet from all the blowing water around us.

Waterproofed and ready for the trek over the water!

That view was worth getting a little wet...

Emma thought it was hilarious!

All the excitement eventually wore someone out!

I felt like I was a National Geographic photographer!

It was an incredible day enjoying the falls, the photos show proof. When we returned to the resort late that afternoon we had hoped it would be warm enough to enjoy one of the many outdoor pools for Emma, but it was not. Luckily for her we discovered that the resort had an awesome kids club and playground too.

Come Wednesday morning we were all excited for our day trip to Argentina! I know it sounds strange just taking a day trip to Argentina but that's exactly what we did as we were just a few miles from the border. With proof that we paid our Argentinean reciprocity fees prior to our trip in hand, (While Brazil has visitor visas you have to apply for ahead of time, Argentina just has a fee you have to pay online - talk about a good, easy way to earn a few extra dollars from tourists, especially at $160 per person! However, I reasoned it out by saying we simply have to go back to Argentina in the next 10 years) it was a short 15 minute drive to the border crossing and another 20 minutes onto the Argentinean side of the Iguaçu Falls. 

The weather was overcast and misting, but we hardly noticed as we made our way to the top of the waterfalls and the wind was blowing plenty of water from the falls on us as well. Unfortunately all of the mist and wind obscured our view a bit. One thing that we didn't miss was the strength of the falls and the mass amount of water gushing over the side. And even Emma made sure to notice and tell us how muddy the water was and repeatedly would point and tell us "muddy, muddy, muddy" over and over again. 

Falls over Argentina on a misty day

                                        

The highlight of the Argentinean side was without a doubt the 20 minute one way walk over the falls to Garganta del Diablo or "Devil's Throat." The exact border between Brazil and Argentina runs between this long and narrow gorge where approximately half of the fall's water flows through making for an extremely powerful fall. Not only was the walk over the vast stretches of water unreal but so was the up close look at Devil's Throat. Let's just say I was glad we made the walk, but I was really glad to be back on solid ground as well. 

Starting the walk... it almost seemed like we were walking over a flood plain, all we could see was water!

                                  

There were beautiful birds all around!

First look at "Devil's Throat"

The water just fell into an abyss...

By mid-afternoon we felt content with our experience on both sides of the falls and we had a late lunch of empanadas before heading to the Guira Oga Animal Reserve. At the animal rescue we enjoyed a 90 minute tour of the rescued and rehabilitated animals from the region. It was an especially fun stop for Emma, even if the whole tour was in Spanish! At least Steve understood most of it...

My favorite animals in the Reserve... listen closely!

That evening we indulged in more local food at the resort and Emma made some more Brazilian friends at the resort's playground. By the next morning we were ready to catch our flight to our last stop of the trip, Rio de Janeiro.

One last view of amazing...

A New Chapter

A first for us - a polo match! She was so
excited to wear her horse dress!

Once upon a time I blogged about crazy travels, adventures living in another country and adjusting to life as a stay at home mom. These days those blogs and experiences seem like a life time ago. Back in June I started a new full time job working on the events team for a non-profit hospital foundation. The work is amazing to be a part of and the events I have helped to put on these past few months have been phenomenal. From countless golf tournaments to a polo match with a world renowned player, a Willy Wonka themed gala, karaoke with the Rams and a gala featuring performances by Cedric the Entertainer and Jill Scott it has been more than just a little busy the past few months.

Between planning and executing these events our family has shifted from a one parent working family to two parents working more than full time jobs. This of course also meant Emma's first introduction to child care in the form of preschool. Thankfully she has done wonderfully with the transition, probably more so than mom and dad, and it has quickly become clear that she loves the social setting that preschool offers her. It has been fun and challenging to watch her quickly grow and develop in many new ways the past few months, several of which we think have been augmented from her time at preschool. Her language development has particularly thrived and we quickly realized why people say you should sometimes enjoy your child not being able to talk yet! However most of the time it is so much fun to listen to her tell us about what she did at school, who her friends are, and for the past month - what she was going to be for Halloween.

Enjoying our last day together as a stay at home mom and daughter.

The first week of my new job we had friends watch Emma as she couldn't start her preschool until the following week. Here our ridiculously talented friend Rachel was teaching Emma to play the drums during their day together! It was so great to know she was in good hands!

Practicing riding her horse at the Glennon Gallop

Emma enjoying herself again at one of mom's work events - clearly she hated the ice cream.

While we watched Emma grow into a happy and fun toddler the past few months we have also witnessed the beginning of the terrible twos and Emma's response to less time spent with mom and dad. We at first expected the introduction to preschool to mean a child that became more patient as she experienced not always being the center of attention, but it quickly became clear that the opposite would result at home. She very clearly understands and knows that at home she is the only child and tries everything she can to ensure she is the sole focus of mom and dad's attention. While we might sometimes call her sassy and stubborn her teachers at school have informed us that she is one of the most "independent" in her two year old classroom. Oh you teachers sure know how to say things nicely don't you?

Fourth of July weekend we tried to do some hiking at a nearby state park - Emma didn't want anything to do with it... this is our retreat back to the parking lot from our failed attempt.

This toddler has no fear!

To sum it all up we've been busy in a whole new way lately, one that has brought us back to how our life used to be 3 or 4 years ago when we both worked full time in St. Louis sans Emma. Yet this time around we're trying to find a new balance and a new take on life yet again, one that has a bit more routine than we've experienced in recent years. Nonetheless, our "routine" is all relative as we've still fit a little travel in between work, potty training, and enjoying a climbing, rambunctious, adorably cute two year old. If you don't believe the adorable part, here's a look at a few more photos and videos...

This girl loved celebrating her second birthday back in June!

A required photo with her monkey to
mark Emma's second birthday! 

We love old Webster Groves... Emma's favorite part is this water fountain!

I have a little time before I have to get nervous about her driving right?

Spent a fun Saturday in August reliving days past with a few of my Cardinal Key ladies. Emma wasn't sure what to make of our crazy photos!

One of my favorite "update" photos sent from Steve when I was working an all day Saturday event... the message went something like this, "Emma has been awake for awhile and playing in her room since she woke up from her nap. I was watching her on the baby monitor and then she disappeared out of sight for a few minutes. When she popped back up she had found two winter caps in her room and put them on." Note - her room was quite warm that day from the baby monitor's status, 83 degrees. Hardly winter cap weather! My daughter loves to be goofy...

Who knew our small one way street would be part of a south city parade route? Emma looks pleased with the end result... candy!

I have always wanted to go to the balloon glow but have never been - was hoping this would be the year, but I missed out due to a work event. However, Steve took Emma and she couldn't stop talking for days after about the balloons "falling down" at the end of the glow.

Playing at a friends house, I had to keep explaining that the baby crib wasn't quite big enough for all of them...

Just wanting to be like daddy!

Some days you just need a diaper both under and on top of your pants...

Dakota not only gets to go on a walk to the playground, but she actually gets to play on the playground too!

Weekend at the lake with friends - this girl is too cool for school!

Emma and her buddy Levi manning the bow of the boat.

Emma talked the whole weekend about wanting to try water skiing - we told her she could try the inner tube - she was not impressed.

Helping daddy with the "trend" of the summer - the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Here's to continuing our next adventure in this new chapter of our lives!