The Bishop Diaries: Our top moments of 2017- Part I

I cannot believe that our year has flown by so quickly that we haven't blogged about one thing in the last 365 days! To catch us up, I'm planning on blogging about our top moments from 2017!! I will hopefully be a little better about keeping our blog updated in 2018. I know that is much easier said than done, and with it being New Years Eve, I'm going to share the one resolution that I'm making that I fully intend to stick with all. year. long... I'm not going to let work overtake my life/ our family's life any longer. It is so easy when you have your own business to always have a reason to head to the computer or return a phone call or not say no to someone because you innately want your business to grow and flourish. Unfortunately, because of this rationale, the last two years have gone by in a literal blur and my work / life balance has kind of gone out of whack. If I was managing my schedule in a traditional work setting, I'd never allow someone to work the amount of hours that I have put in during the months of March to November. While it's great to have a chunk of time off in the winter months, working 80+ hours each week the remaining 8 months is absolutely crazy and 2017 will go down in history as the last official year that we allow that to happen. Our babes are growing up entirely too quick and I don't want my memory bank to be filled with thoughts of editing and shoots in the spring, summer and fall months, I want it to be filled with photos of my own family and memories and stories to go along with those images. That being said, I'm planning on cutting the amount of seniors that I will be working with moving forward in half. This will definitely bring some peace and serenity into the Bishop household and will allow me to ensure that I'm putting family first.

Okay, okay, onto our top moments of the last year. In no particular order...

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
We love to celebrate in this household and birthdays top the list of reasons to get out the balloons and make a cake. This year we celebrated Matt's special day while we were on a trip to Watersmeet, Michigan visiting our friends Dan, Laura and Juls. We decorated our cabin with streamers and balloons, made a pan of brownies, had a silly string fight and took Matt out for a special lunch and a day out on the town. Happy Birthday, Matt!

Since Jackson's birthday is so close to Christmas, we have made a tradition of celebrating his milestones in the summer on his half birthday. This year we had a race car theme and he absolutely had a blast. I take his photo every year in the same chair in a similar outfit to see how he is growing - and it's official... he's growing way too fast! Happy half Birthday, bug!

Next up was Papa's birthday, which is probably my favorite annual tradition in the way of birthdays. We have been making a day trip to Bishop Hill for my dad's birthday for as long as I can remember (way before I was ever an official Bishop :)). Because of Jackson's preschool schedule, we celebrated Papa's actual birthday with cake and ice cream and then went to Bishop Hill the next day. While we were in there, the town was having their fall festival and we got to have some delish apple cider slushies and dress up like pioneers, which the kids thought was absolutely hilarious. I love these memories!! Happy Birthday to the best dad a girl could ever ask for!

Next up was my birthday. To celebrate, we went to the Amana Colonies and had a great meal and did a little shopping. The funny thing about this year was that Matt celebrated my birthday each day during the month of October with a little surprise. Knowing that I had always wanted to get a singing telegram, he had a trick up his sleeve. When our doorbell rang on a morning the week of my birthday, I had no idea what was about to happen. Upon opening the door, I found a man in a tuxedo who busted into "Happy Birthday" and then proceeded to sing a song that he and Matt had written about me (including my love of scarves and the musical stylings of Jon Mclaughlin). Best birthday surprise ever - hands down. The day following my birthday my bestie came into town and we had fun with a girl's afternoon. Until next year...

Abby's birthday was up next, and in traditional form she decided that she wanted a roller skating party! We headed to the roller rink and enjoyed an afternoon of skating, games, junk food and prizes. We went to Golden Corral (Abby's pick) for a birthday meal and then had grandma and grandpa Bishop over for cake and ice cream. We made a Rice Krispie treat cake for her to take to school as a treat on her special day and then did a nine year old photo shoot with her to document this milestone.
Stop growing so quickly, my sweet girl - you are becoming a young woman before our eyes!

Last, but not least, we had a small birthday celebration on Jackson's actual birthday with lunch, cake and ice cream. When we got to the restaurant, our server asked how he was doing and he said "well, I feel a little bit bigger than I did yesterday, because, well.... I'm five now."

We did a photo shoot with Jax to commemorate his birthday and what a ham! We also did his five year video - that started out as his birth announcement. (Shout out to Matt for making these amazing memories for us - they are priceless). This was the first year that he was so excited and wanted to pick what went in the shots. At preschool, he got to wear the birthday crown and his friends sang to him, which he said was "soooo cool and super special."

Happy birthday, buddy!!