Top 11 of 2011

2011 was a great year! Sure it had it's not-so- great moments but overall it was very memorable. In no particular order here are some of the highlights.


















11. We celebrated a 7th, 5th, and 3rd birthday. We survived our first slumber party with several little boys and enjoyed a weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge with cousins to celebrate those milestones!
Kyler turned 3!


















Jack is 5!



















Cousins













Slumber Party for Kaden's 7th!













10. The Barron- I'm not sure what to say here other then it really keeps us busy! It has been an adjustment to add this responsibility to our family but has also provided a lot of fun and interesting times.
Taking a movie to the UPS drop off.


















Umm...


















Oops! Not Good!


















Candy run for supplies - Only 2 seats left in the suburban - 1 for me and 1 for Kyler.



















Little boys ridding on a cart full of popcorn and candy!


















9. September 1st was the 1st day of school and the first time ALL 3 boys had a school to go to. Kaden started 1st grade.












Jack started his last year of preschool.












Kyler started a 3 year old preschool.












It is a bit crazy for Tim on the days he makes drop-offs at 3 different schools but gives me a couple mornings a week kid free!!!

8. The 4th of July was probably the best ever. It consisted of all the cousins spending a long weekend on the farm mostly in their swimsuits and barefoot. Swimming, fishing, eating popcicles, making s'mores and laughing a lot. Of course, there were also fire works, which they watched from the pool!




































Oh, and Kaden learned to do a back flip off the diving board!

































7. Kyler made a couple big transitions this year. He moved into his brothers bedroom in his very own big boy bed, leaving the crib vacant for the first time in 7 years. He also is now potty trained!!!! So, we have also enjoyed being a diaper free household the first time in that many years as well! But, neither of those things will last long because:

(Kyler with the things he picked out as a potty training reward.)



















6. We also found out we will be adding a Baby BOY to our family in early February 2012! We are all very excited to see how this little guy will fit into our family.

























5. 3,000 miles & 55 days. My parents rode their bicyles from the Pacific to the Atlantic this fall. A great achievement for them and we are so proud of them! The boys really enjoyed following their trip across the U.S. on a map providing a great lesson for them.




























4. We took a vacation in August to Colorado. After a VERY hot summer it was the perfect break. We all love hiking and even found a new favorite trail. The boys surprised us with their endurance, making it all the way on a 4 mile hike! Tim and I were worn out after that one but the boys went back and swam for 2 hours. We did a few new things this time: Tim taught the boys how to make the water in a mountain stream drinkable and we went to a gold mine!













Panning for Gold


















Our little Blast Monkeys on the mine tour


















Feeding the Chipmunks at Sapphire Point



































Purifying water


















Our new favorite trail. Tough Hike but beautiful water falls.











3. Tim and I celebrated our 1o year anniversary in June. Where does the time go? We had originally planned to take a little trip but didn't get it worked into our schedule. We did get a weekend away and will plan a bigger trip later. We did find out on our anniversary that we would be getting a gift in February!

2. We took the kids skiing for the first time! What a blast that was! Tim and I spent the days by ourselves skiing while the kids were at ski school. We did ski with Kaden and Jack on the last day. Oh My! Kaden skis with great control and was pretty good. Jack skied like a maniac, pointing his skies straight down and tucking. Needless to say they can't wait to go again.
Here is the 1 picture I have on my computer. I guess keeping ahead of Jack was more important then pictures!


















1. This last year we saw so much growth for the boys. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. Kaden really went on a growth spurt over the last year. For the first time in his life he wears a bigger size then his age! He has really made huge improvements & gained so much confidence in reading and has gotten quite good with numbers. Jack can now read and we are starting to hear some of those little seeds of faith come out of his mouth. Kyler has made huge improvements in his speech and now knows a lot of his alphabet. I don't know if it was sending him to school or getting his brothers back to school so he had a chance to talk but he has improved so much! Of course, with now 3 competing talkers our house is noisy!


















Kaden getting an award at the end of Kindergarten.













Jack & Kyler during above award assembly.































Oh little boys it will be your turn soon enough!

And a few more little photo moments - because I was a bad blogger this year.

Halloween














Jack after his Thanksgiving Preschool Program


















Learning to roller skate




















Yes, there were many highlights to this year but unfortunately, we also said goodbye to Great Grandma Beth. Of course, there was saddness and we all feel her missing in our lives but we all knew her great desire to be reunited with Grandpa Norman in Heaven, so with that in mind it makes it so much easier. It was a chance to have all the cousins together again and sweet memories were made. It even allowed us to celebrate Drew's birthday together.



















































With 2011 in the books we are looking forward to 2012!