2015 in Review

Another crazy, full year for us!

We had a smaller number of trips than usual, and only a few with all three of us:
Short trips around Switzerland (N, O, C)
Paris (N, O, C)
Sardinia (O; lab trip)
Kiev (O, C; N had to work)
Nebraska (N; for Melissa's wedding)
Japan (O; girls trip)
US: Omaha, Las Vegas, San Diego (N, O, C)

Chase hasn't significantly added to his state/country/continent count (+1 country: Ukraine, +1 state: Nevada) but he is getting much better at traveling so we hope to increase our count in 2016. Chase did spend time with all of his grandparents and (living) great grandparents this year. His maternal paternal great grandfather visited in January for his daycare transition, his maternal grandparents (and uncle) visited for his 1st birthday, and his paternal grandmother visited for two weeks during the summer for his daycare holiday. He went to Kiev to see his maternal paternal great grandparents and then to Nebraska to see three of his paternal great grandparents. He also saw/met every single one of his aunts and uncles, and saw all his grandparents again during out trip to the US. Wow! Such a big accomplishment!

Speaking of Chase, I updated on his first year (to 15 months) and his 15-20 months milestones.

Very few crafts this year, but I was able to make Chase some shorts and a quiet book. I already have material and patterns for many more Chase-related crafts next year! We also took some family pictures and made a holiday card out of them. In terms of home improvements, we have been battling a leak in the roof in our Cambridge apartment and waited for 3 months for a new dishwasher in Switzerland.

I will leave you with a Instagram picture collage of the year. As always, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Have a happy 2016!!

Trip to the US

This year, we decided to go back to the US for the holidays. I was to attend a mid-December conference in San Diego and Nate needed to be at Harvard in early January for an exam. Chase and I had not been in the US since August 2014 (almost 1.5 years!), whereas Nate had returned October 2014 and October 2015 for the weddings of his siblings.

It has been a fun but intense trip. We have spent a good amount of time with every member of our immediate families and have seen many members of our extended family and friends. I started the trip by flying to San Diego for the conference. Nate and Chase flew to Omaha (and got stuck in London for the night, then missed another flight in Dallas, delaying their arrival by more than 24 hours!). After my conference, I flew to meet them in Nebraska where we spent lots of time hanging out with family and friends. Chase finally met Nate's father's mother, the fifth of his five living great-grandparents. We also took some nice 4 generation photos with all grandparents on Nate's side.

We visited various child-friendly spots including the Children's Museum and the Henry-Doorley Zoo. We were able to watch a football game with our Nebraska-based fantasy football team (and sign a very interesting trophy...), and we were able to see Brett and Amber the day before they had their third baby (so glad that worked out timing-wise!). Last but not least, Chase and I were able to meet Melissa's new husband (whom Nate had obviously met at the wedding) and had fun hanging out with them. We also got some nice snow for a real white Christmas and built a snowman!

On Christmas day, the family dispersed from Nebraska (Nate's parents going on a cruise) and we hopped on a short flight to Vegas. There, we met up with both of our brothers, Ivan and David, and David's wife Colleen. David met Chase for the first time, and both Chase and I met Colleen for the first time. The next day, my parents arrived from Greece (where they were the week before) and we all hung out for about 4 days there. Finally, we took a rental car, and made our way back to San Diego for the new year. Here, we have been hanging out with family and friends and will be exploring the zoo, beach, and other fun spots. We also have lots of appointments (dental, doctor, dmv, eye, lawyers, etc.) so it hasn't all been just relaxing.

Chase experienced his first Christmas (last year, we did nothing for Christmas since we were in Spain) although he really didn't understand it and we urged all relatives to keep down the number of presents (due to travel and the fact that he already has too many toys!!). He still enjoyed the atmosphere of our Yankee Swap in Omaha and a visit from Ded Moroz (Father Christmas) in San Diego. In San Diego, we got a Happy New Year balloon for our party, which Chase just loved and wouldn't let go of... and still hasn't given up!

Although our trip isn't done yet, we're really glad we had this chance to come back home and see everyone!