Ah, so much has happened in the past few months! We were thrilled for Missy and CJ and the arrival of their beautiful son, Jonas. We can’t wait to meet him. I think a trip to Wisconsin is in order, Missy.

We’ve been staying busy in our quiet corner of the country. Over the last few months, we’ve visited several gorgeous national parks in Southern Utah, traveled to California and Omaha, and have been getting our skiing fix in at Park City (Nick’s been taking lessons and is a skiing ace now!) When home, Ara and I have established a weekly routine of Kindermusik classes, library sessions, playdates and swim classes. Winter has been mild thankfully, so we’ve been taking advantage of going outside as much as possible! Ara will be a YEAR old next week (March 25)!! She is crawling, standing, babbling, teething, laughing, a whirlwind of energy. Party-lover that I am, I’ve been occupied planning two birthday parties, one in California and one in Utah, to celebrate. Our first child only turns one once! That is how I justify it anyway.

One of my goals is to always keep moving forward and to try not to look back too often. Yet as we approach this special milestone in Ara’s life, I can’t help but reminisce about the year gone by. It has been the longest, shortest, sweetest year as we navigated parenthood and got to know our little one. She has enriched our lives and has brought us so much joy. I asked Nick the other night if he could ever imagine what our lives would be like with a kid and he said that while it is more exhausting and demanding than ever, he wouldn’t change it for the world. My thoughts exactly. I don’t think we ever anticipated how challenging and rewarding parenting would be. Or how big this love would feel.

Speaking of looking back, this is EIGHT months overdue! Here is a family session we did last June in Seattle when Ara was 3 months old. It was the week before we moved to Salt Lake City and Nick and I both wanted to work with our talented and wonderful friend, Dorothée at Belathée Photography, one more time before leaving Seattle. The sun was out that day, Nick was taking a break from studying for his boards, and we were at one of our favorite spots in the city, Gasworks Park. Going through these photos, I’m struck by how small Ara was then and how these moments already reflected her fun, sweet personality. We are so thankful to have lived in this beautiful city. To us, it will always be Ara’s first home.

All images by Belathée Photography