Exploring new trails

We hiked trail #396 to 374 to373 to 372 that connected back with 396. Great loop!!

The Family

Happy 2015! A 2014 in review...

I We definitely had a great year of fun. 

In January, we kicked off the new year in Disneyland. We had an amazing time as a family. We've almost forgotten how bad our feet hurt at the end of each day. And how Matthew got sick at night in the hotel room and threw up with the toilet seat down. What fun that was to clean up! Other than the typical extra exciting occurances that happen when traveling with a family, we made great memories and laughed a lot!!

Later in the month I took a trip up north for a girls shower weekend with my sisters. Amber was becoming a wife and Sarah was becoming a mommy. We had a wonderful weekend of celebrating life and love.

In February bethany got her braces on. And we had a fun Valentine's Day painting pottery. 

In March, we had some shows we were working on. Bethany and Mike had finished To Kill a Mockingbird in January. Mike worked on The Mikado after that and got to know his character, Nankypoo. He performed in March and entertained us all. I worked on a dramatic production of A Lie of the Mind and in addition to the understudy show I performed in one of the live shows. It was a learning experience. Overlapping with that i began working on Enchated April in which I was cast as Rose. It was a dear story and I loved the experience! 

On April 4th Ethan Randal joined our family...extended that is. He is an adorable nephew with and amazing relaxed easy going spirit. 

In May we got to meet Ethan and see the rest of the Biddle/Caldwell clan when Mike and I attended Ambers wedding in Kona Hawaii. The both of us had a great time exploring the island together. 

The day we got back from Hawaii we received a notice from our landlords that we needed to be put in 30 days. So we bumped up our house hunting to a priority level. We found a house in a week and our offer was accepted...however, our escrow was long and hellish. The kids and I headed to Idaho for the summer after all our stuff was packed up and in storage. Mike stayed home to work and get the escrow squared away. 

We made it back to AZ by August but escrow still hadn't closed so we spent two weeks at Scottsdale resorts.

August 22 we finally wherein our new home. It's been fun to paint and create our environment. 

We decided to fully homeschool both boys this year. It has been going amazing 

Bethany has been doing fabulous with her high school and college classes. 

In September mike and I went back to Disneyland without friends, no kids. It was much needed time together!

In October Bethany got her permit. After she got her first accident out of the way and the car got fixed, she has been driving well! 

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. It was a great day. 

Mikes grandfather had a heart attack right before thanksgiving. We spent some time making trips to CA to see him in the hospital and then in December seeing him in rehab. He fought hard for over 6 weeks, but on January 4th he lost the fight and died. We got to spend some time with him the last days of his 97 year life.  

Also in November my stepfather Dave had major heart surgery. He has recovered well from the surgery with a few bumps along ng the way. However, he just got news that his cancer has come back. He will be beginning chemo soon.

We had a grand birthday party for mikes 40th in December at the house. It was memorable!

In December, we also went on a last minute road trip to Idaho. It was soo much fun!!

We also made a quick trip to Tucson to bring in the New Year with our dear friends. It was a super special blessing to start 2015 with them! 

Ready for a full and exciting 2015 full of the blessing of the UNEXPECTED!!!! 

Willy Wonka

Our next family experience. Although there is drama surrounding this drama experience...we are plowing forward and going to enjoy the process of this show coming together. 

Love the music in this show. Love the story and message of positivity despite adversity in life. It's fun.

Matthew, Mike, and I are all in it.

Mike and I are also finishing up doing backstage and tech with Noel Cowards "Private Lives" funny classic stage production.

Bethany is cast in a children's show right now also that is a fun "into the Woods" type show but with nursery rhyme characters.