2017...

I know 2017 has been over for two months now, but it was such a wonderful year that I cannot help but look back at some of the wonderful memories!

January

I passed the NCLEX and started my job as a registered nurse in the ICU!  We went on a lot of hikes with Miss Kya to celebrate!

New Years' Day hike

NCLEX celebration hike complete with champagne

February

We celebrated Ken entering a new decade of life!

The birthday boy and his baby

March

I ran 100 miles which turned out to be the hardest thing I have ever done.  It was also the first time I had ever run beyond a marathon.

Receiving the best hug in the entire world

April

We enjoyed a lot of family time including playing frisbee golf around outside our house.  Theodore also visited the vet in his husky sized kennel.

Family frisbee golf game

Poor baby Theodore

May

I got to spend a weekend in Denver with Jennie and Lindsay.  These pretty ladies are getting married this fall and I am so excited for them!

The kitties took advantage of all of the sunshine they could get.

June

June was filled with us going on an amazing vacation to Italy and Switzerland.  We had the best weather possible complete with only 10 minutes of rain while sitting under an awning eating dinner.  We will never get that lucky again with the weather.  It was so amazing.

Lake Como, Italy

Camogli, Italy

Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Hiking to First

Hotel Obersteinberg

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

July

We went to St. Louis and I finally got to go to Crown Candy and have an ice cream sundae!

August

Ken completed the MR340 on the Missouri River

So proud of this guy!

September

We took our annual trip to Colorado for hiking and Kya hiked her second 14er!

Grays Peak with Miss Kya

A beautiful hike complete with aspens and rainbows

Jennie, Lindsay, and Harper joined us as well!

October

Katie and I jetted off to Portland for a girls weekend, which included me running the Portland marathon.

Cannon Beach

Marathon #12

Wine tasting

Hiking near Mt. Hood

November

We spent our Thanksgiving weekend hiking in Arkansas with Kya.

Arkansas hiking

My two cuties

December

In December we took a trip to Germany and Austria to visit the Christmas markets.  It was an amazing trip!

Innsbruck, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Munich, Germany

Krampus

It was such an amazing trip with many wonderful memories made.  Once we got home, I darted off to Chicago with the girls for a quick weekend getaway.

Shenanigans, lots of shenanigans

The remainder of the month was spent celebrating Christmas, including taking Angel to look at Christmas lights, a Jackson family favorite!

Christmas lights for days

Christmas morning with the hooligans

2017 was one of those amazing years that surely will leave a lasting impact in our lives.  I am excited to see what 2018 has in store for us!

A Husky Kind of Weekend...

There is no question that Kya runs our house.  Okay, okay, there might be a question as to if Kya runs the house or if Angel does, but this weekend it was definitely Kya.  The weekend was all about her.

We woke up on Saturday and drove to Lawrence to take her hiking.  We finally had a nice day to hike and we were not going to make our little girl miss out on some fun. 

We drove to Perry Lake with Kya, Mike, and Katie in tow.  We had plans on hiking 6-8 miles and enjoying the day. 

Two cuties out on a hike and celebrating Ken's birthday!  Happy Birthday Ken!!!

Kya enjoying the scenery while her parents and friends enjoy a glass of wine.  

My loves.

After we hiked, we drove into Lawrence for lunch and beers at Free State.  We had a fun day with great friends!

On Sunday I had to work, but Ken and Kya made their way into Missouri for a little hiking and camping at Knob Noster State Park.  

A dirty husky is a happy husky.

Enjoying the view on her second hike of the day and third for the weekend.

Ken and Kya hiked 10 miles total and set up camp complete with fajitas for dinner.  I think that Kya had a great time camping and hiking with her dad!

Camp all set up.  Kya looks like she belongs out there!

This girl called it a night early!  She was so tired from all of the excitement.

I am pretty sure that this weekend was the stuff that husky dreams are made of!  Our girl loves to hike and spend as much time outside as possible.

Christmas 2017...

After all of the December fun, December seemed to fly by!  I had a lot of time off from work, which meant I had to make up for it with a long stretch, which meant a lot of time away from my crew.  We definitely made the best of it and still enjoyed our last moments of December!

Mike and Katie came over for dinner and Angel claimed Mike.  Seriously, she would not leave his lap.

We always take Kya to Petco to shop for the kitties.  I mean, that is what good huskies do, right?

The trip is not complete without making Kya wear some sort of headband.  I guess at least she is a good sport about it!

I think she looks pretty cute with antlers!

Picking out the best treats for her kitties.

We love shopping for our babies.

One of our other favorite traditions is taking Angel to look at Christmas lights.  Seriously, this girl loves to ride in the car and see the lights.

Ready to take on the Christmas lights!

This really is Angel's favorite day of the year.  Do not worry about Theo.  He could care less about life outside his four walls!

We had our usual Christmas Eve dinner and drinks and then I had to work on Christmas for the first time in my life.  It really was not that horrible, other than me getting cussed out by a patient.  Yeah, on Christmas.  I guess that is life in the ICU.  It was so funny that I had to turn around and hide my laughter, since I have zero poker face.

We celebrated Christmas a few days later and I am pretty sure the children had no idea.

The kitties checking out their loot.

Angel loved the fire and loved getting some new mice.

Me with my babies on our Christmas morning.