A Year in Review

January last year started out with a healthy laugh.  My brother-in-law convinced my husband (and my eight year old) to bring in the New Year by wearing nothing but boxers while taking a midnight run in the ocean while everyone else trailed behind, properly dressed and thouroughly enjoying the display.  Did I mention there was lots of snow on the ground?

And so started a wonderful year for our family.  Below are some highlights of each month (at least the highlights I remembered to bring my camera for!):

~ January brings cabin fever which brings activities like turning oneself into a smurf. 

~I  did manage to sneak in a photo of Peter preparing for his snow run.

~ It snowed so much last winter that the kids didn't have a full week of school the entire month.  Of course, they loved the sledding opportunities.

~ Ethan had his birthday (an entire month late) at a local skating rink.

~ Peter loved his Darth Vader cake, even though I abandoned any attempt at black and went with varying degrees of chocolate.

~ Elise's performance with Chamber Choir.  Turns out it was her last before the teacher she adored left.

~ A quick (and COLD) trip to D.C. and Gettysburg.

~ After a several year hiatus, I began to make homemade bread again, this time with freshly ground wheat and my new Bosch mixer.

 ~ Kirsti's art was selected to hang in the local library!

~ My grandmother died and I was fortunate to able to attend the funeral and say my goodbyes and see family I haven't seen in a decade. 

~ My oldest turned 12 and started Young Womens {gulp}.  12 (being a multiple of 4) is a party year and she decided on a sleep over.

~ Ryan performed in his choir concert.

~ Easter break was spent in North Carolina with my sisters and their families.  We LOVE Marble Museum.

~ Dyeing Easter eggs before we left.

~ Ethan won 1st place at the pinewood derby!

~  What?  You don't play on the beach between sessions of LDS General Conference?  This was our first day out after winter.

~  Ryan and Ethan started baseball.

~ Elise went to a Trivia Bowl.  Her team went for the geek look.

~ Ryan and his recorder recital.

~  My love and comfort:  the new hammock (until the stand broke a month or so later.   We have to fix that BEFORE next summer).

~ Zoo, where it was clear to me that my kids are just as wild as the animals.

~ Dinosaur water park.  It was too cold to play, but that didn't stop the kids for a minute.  Are they still shivering in the picture?

~ Piano recital for older three kids.

~  Kirsti & her Tinkerbell cake.

~ Submarine museum- Peter has yet to go and he would probably like it the most!

~ Black scratch art, one of many crafts we did over the summer.

~ Six Flags with some friends.

~  The two instances of stitches in one month ("Stitches" including staples and glue, of course)

July was so fun it got to go twice!

~ Playing around in a local fort.

~ 4th of July (not the best we've had, but an adventure all the same.  I prefer my adventures NOT include trying to figure out how to proceed without toilet paper in the portapotty).

~ Some of the kids first attempt at bowling.

~ I indulged Ryan's request with a fancy dragon birthday cake.

~ Joseph started kindergarten and Ryan began middle school.

~ A trip to a disappointing aquarium (Boo!) which we accidentally found out butts up with Coney Island (Hurray!)

~ An early 1700 village with friends.

~ Swim lessons!!

~ Robot birthday cakes for 5 year old Joseph.

~ Annual Ward Picnic.

~ A trip to a corn maze.

~ Matthew turns 3.

(And of course there was my trip to see Wicked in NYC of which I got 0 pictures).

~ Our Halloween pictures.

~ A ride on a steam train.

~ Reenactment of Revolutionary war battle with friends (here they are fascinated with the ox).

~ A lovely (if not COLD) river boat tour.

~ Sisters came for Thanksgiving!!

~ Joseph had his first school play.

~ A broken dryer resulted in lots of clothes hanging (and a new dryer).

~ More sisters came for Thanksgiving!  Because that is doubly exciting.

~ First snow of the season was HUGE.  We're talking at least 3 feet to shovel off the driveway.  We did enjoy the new sledding hill we found!

~  I took a Girls' Day Out to tour some AWESOME mansions.  Of which I took no pictures but the one you see here (In my defense, it was cold outside and pictures were not allowed inside).

~  Ethan's sword cake, months is anticipation.  It is supposed to be Riptide from The Lightening Thief.

~  Matching pajamas.  I'm lucky in that this year only one person's didn't fit, unlucky that the one person was me.

A smattering of my Christmas photos.  Nintendo DS's, Rockband, custom made snuggies from Grandma Red, Legos, puzzles, & coloring stuff.

Happy New Year!!