2011 Year in Review

January

We started the year with an unusual amount of snow.  We enjoyed more snow days than we've ever had.

Love this photo of the boys in their monster sweaters.

February

More snow!

Ben's first haircut

March

Ben started showing interest in potty training...and almost a year later we're still working on it.  No hurry and no worries is my approach. 

I love this photo, he's so proud of this mess.

Will helping prepare the soil for planting flower seeds.

My grandparents. 

As most of you know, my grandfather passed away in September 2011.  I'm so happy I went through my photos for the year and found this sweet photo of my Papa Ralph and Mama Winnie.

April

Easter egg hunt with Mark's family

May

I don't think I ever posted this photo on the blog.  Just had to add it :)

I planted a garden this year. 

Sadly this was its prime. 

Since we had a record setting heatwave and drought and my little garden withered away.

The only Rangers game we attended this year.  We usually go to more but we just never seemed to make it to Arlington to the Ballpark.  We're still huge fans and were super excited that the Rangers made it to the World Series again.

June

Ben turned 2!

We celebrated with family and friends with a "Go, Diego, Go!" themed party.  Ben was so into "Go Go" in the spring and summer.

Family Vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee

Our road trip continued on to Georgia where we stayed with family and met up with my blog friend, Katie.

This is the arch at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Will's first swim lessons were a success.

July

The boys decided to take a bath with their clothes on.  There's never a dull moment at our house.

Mark turned 38!

August

We repainted Will's room.  It's still a work in progress.  That should be a new year's resolution for 2012 to finish decorating his room.

September

I turned 34!

Will planned a special birthday dinner.  That's right, I said Will planned it.  I'm not really sure how he came up with the idea but he told Mark that he wanted to take me to the Olive Garden for my birthday.  Mark's parents joined us for a fun night celebrating my birthday.

October

Ben moved to a big boy bed.  We took off the front of the crib.  We also gave away the glider and ottoman that we've had since Will was a baby.  Our boys are growing up!

Mark and I attended the Avett Brothers concert in Dallas.  What an amazing show!  We had a difficult August and September dealing with the stress of sick family members and the loss of my grandfather.  The concert was something fun and carefree and just what we needed.  We hadn't had an overnight date out on the town since we've had kids so this was a huge treat.

We carved a pumpkin. 

 (By the way, this was the first time we carved a pumpkin as a family.)

November

Will turned 5!

We had a monster-themed party that was a blast.

December

Christmas Eve

Will and Ben leaving cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

Will lost his first tooth at the end of December!

New Year's Eve

We had a fun day spending time together as a family.  We took the boys to one of our favorite yogurt places, Yumilcious. 

Will says it's yummy! 

You can see that Ben's enjoyed it.  It's all over his sleeves :) 

I spent over an hour going through all of the 2011 photos on my hard drive.  It was a good reminder of all the blessings in my life. 

Happy New Year, dear friends!

May the Lord bless you in 2012.

In loving memory of Papa Ralph.

June 1916-September 2011

I miss him every day.