It’s End of the Year Recap Week! Join me as we review over 2016 and share the good, the bad and the funny. Each post will be a link-up for you to share your own thoughts, memories and faves. Choose one or join them all! Here is the line up…

Today – 2016 Recap (Part 1): 2016 in 12 Photos (hashtag #2016in12photos)

Tuesday – 2016 Recap (Part 2): Entertainment & Social Media Faves of the Year

Wednesday – 2016 Recap (Part 3): Top Posts of 2016

Thursday –  2016 Recap (Part 4): Lessons God Taught Me in 2016

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I love End of the Year recap posts but the photo year in review is my favorite! Dwija over at House Unseen hosted the link-up in the past but has passed the baton to me. So let’s get to it!

January is the month of fresh starts and new resolutions. Along with the usual get healthier and better organize my house resolutions, I added some fun ones like read more books and write more letters. I’m happy to say I did both! (The books and letters…that is.) 😉

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Every once in awhile I wish I loved in a place where we could have a white Christmas but then February comes around and I get to enjoy scenes like this during winter. Yeah, I’m good.

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March was a difficult month. My father-in-law had another stroke and slowly became more ill. We spent every day with him and prepared the kids for the worse.

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In April the birds were chirping and the flowers blooming but our hearts were heavy with grief at the passing of Dad/Opa. It was bittersweet since we were happy that his suffering was done but it was heartbreaking to be without him.

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In May, I got a much needed break from all the stress of the previous months. My sister was pregnant with her first child and Bella and I decided to make a mom and daughter road trip to attend her baby shower in SoCal. We first spent a day at our favorite spot – Disneyland. Then we spend the weekend with my family for the party. Our time together was like a balm for my soul. Plus, Brian and the little boys were pleased to have a guys weekend without any girls around. 😉

I have to cheat a little and add another photo for May since it was such a big event…

Andrew made his First Communion and we couldn’t have been more proud. 🙂

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In June I kept thinking about my baby girl and how it was not too long ago that she was in the 1st grade and now suddenly…

Bella is graduating from the 8th grade and preparing for High School!  Sniff.

And again I am cheating with another photo…

In June we also took our annual trip to Lake Tahoe but it was overshadowed by worry since it was discovered that my mom had cancer. I wanted to cancel the trip and be with her but she insisted that we go on the trip and send her photos and videos to giver her moral support as she prepared for surgery to have the cancer removed. It was beautiful but emotionally stressful.

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In July I was a bundle of nerves. I was still coping with the loss of my father-in-law, worrying about my mom’s health, waiting for Brian to get results for his own cancer screening and it seemed like world news was filled with tragedy. I could have lost it but thankfully life with these three little guys kept me busy. I was forced to laugh and be playful just to keep up with them. Plus, they reminded me to enjoy the sweet little moments because in the end they are what matters most in life.

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In August I didn’t take many photos! However, I did celebrate another year of life, was thankful that Brian’s cancer testing came back clean, was pleased that my mom was recovering well, and was in denial that Bella was starting high school. 😉

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In September, the kids always celebrate Grandparents Day at school and for the last few years my parents have driven up from SoCal to attend. We assumed my mom would not be able to make the trip this year with her recovery but she and my dad surprised us when they decided to make the trip. It was my mom’s first trip since her surgery. I was as elated as the kids.

This month definitely needs two photos since this happened…

I took my first plane trip in over a decade and flew to Wisconsin to attend the Blessed Is She Team Retreat. It was amazing.

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October was filled with school field trips, pumpkin patches and 31 Days of Gratitude.

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In November, my nine siblings and their families met in SoCal for a family reunion with my parents. After my mom’s surgery we wanted to be with all her “babies” and grand babies because life is too short to not spend it with the ones you love the most.

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December found me filled with gratitude for my fmaily. We had some difficult moments this year but our faith in God and love for each other kept us happy despite it all.

Thanks for sharing some memories of this year. I look forward to seeing your own  memories so link up below! If you aren’t a blogger feel free to share your favorite memory of 2016 in the comments. 🙂

Sending hugs to you, my friends. Have a very blessed 2017!!!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

Are you ready to link up?? Here are the rules.

1. Create a post with a photo to represent each month of the year. (As you can tell from my post, cheating is allowed.)

2. Add a link back here so others can play along.

3. If you want to use the graphic, right click and save the image to your computer or copy the html into your blog’s html/text page.

<img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-9375″ src=”http://revolutionoflove.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/logo_2016_photos.jpg” alt=”RevolutionofLove.com – logo_2016_photos” width=”640″ height=”424″ />

4. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active until January 31, 2017. Have fun! 🙂

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