2011 in Review

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, and hope you have a wonderful 2012!  Due to my sporadic blogging, I missed talking about many events and milestones this year.  Hopefully this post will catch you up a bit.

January

We started off the year at John's parents' beach house -- what would be the first of 9 visits there this year.  Thank you JPa and Oma for allowing us to stay there!

While having new neighbors over for dinner, we met a young teenager named Morgan, who loves our kids (and they love her!) and has become our "go-to" babysitter when we need to get away for a few hours.

On January 21, Joshua told me he loved me for the first time.  This was a joy to my heart, since he had spoken very few words up to that point.

On my 35th birthday (Jan. 26), we celebrated by getting dumped with a ton of snow.  Some people we know didn't get home from work until 2 am the next morning.  I was thankful John made it home safely with take-out in hand, and though I didn't get a romantic date that night, it was fun toasting marshmallows over a fire.  We were also so thankful that our power barely went out, while others we know lost power for several days.  We hosted some of them later in the week.

On January 29, I had several girlfriends over to celebrate my big birthday with a night of karaoke.  It was a blast!  Many of my friends participated, and I allowed Katie to stay up til the party wound down around midnight.  She and I started off the evening with a duet of "Good Morning Baltimore" from "Hairspray."  The night climaxed with a huge group of us singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

February

In February we hosted our small group for the Superbowl, celebrated John's 37th birthday, went to the beach for Presidents Day weekend, and got some couple time at a Love & Respect conference.

March

We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday by throwing a surprise party for him at work, then gathering almost the entire family in Gettysburg, PA on March 5 to humor his love of history.  My parents had a lovely time at a B&B, and the kids still snicker about our cheesy tour guides. 

John and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on March 22. John went on our church's men's retreat.

I received belated birthday flowers from my (younger) friend Martha the day we learned she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.  This marked my biggest cry of the year, as well as the beginning of fervent daily prayers for her healing (she's currently cancer-free, thank you Jesus!).

Joshua celebrated his 2nd birthday with a family trip to a moon bounce place, followed a few days later by a pizza and moon bounce party with his friends.

April

In April we enjoyed a massive spring festival hosted by our church and went to the zoo with friends.  Joshua started speech therapy, which he continues to do weekly.  We spent half of spring break at the beach with my brother Jason and his kids -- in other words, "THE COUSINS!!"  (cue giant shriek from Katie)  And in case you're wondering what we do at the beach when it's cold and rainy outside, Jason had a great idea - making a fort out of blankets, couch cushions and a toy tunnel!

May

In May, Osama bin Laden was killed -- a big deal to us as two of my brothers are current or former members of the armed forces.

On May 15 John and I were overjoyed to pray with Katie as she asked Jesus into her heart.  To this day, when she hears the song "Welcome to the Family," she identifies it as "MY song!"

For several days we hosted the Castillos, very dear friends who were visiting from Texas.  Katie loved re-meeting their sons, and even skipped preschool to have a few more hours with them.  While they were here, we had what would turn out to be the first of four crab feasts that we would have this summer.  Yum!

Sarah Castillo and I with our respective Joshuas.

Katie and I went to see our friends Janet and Caitlin in a local middle school production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."  Katie knew almost every word, and it was fun to sneak backstage to cheer for our "stars"!

Also in May, the kids moved to bigger beds, Katie cut her own bangs (!!), we spent Memorial Day weekend at the beach, and then Katie celebrated her 4th birthday with friends at our neighborhood pool, which we told her opened just for her birthday.  :-)

We continued to visit the pool several times a week throughout the summer.  The kids are now totally fearless in the water (including Katie who can swim without floaties) and we developed a great friendship with the Bulgarian lifeguard Veselin.

June

I did blog about June with lots of pictures here.  But here's a summary with some additional details.

In June we were delighted to get together with visiting friends the Wirtzes and the Farahs.  Katie finished preschool for the year.

On June 4 we went to Danville, VA to celebrate my grandma's 85th birthday.  Kudos to my mom for organizing a huge and terrific party from out of town.  It was a real blessing to honor my only remaining grandparent.

My grandma with two of her surviving siblings.

On June 3, however, I had been hit with a double-whammy.  First I threw out my back as I was packing for the party.  Thirty minutes later I realized I had lost my engagement ring; it had been in my pool bag and had fallen out somewhere between the pool and my house.  Thus began two summer sagas: (1) Regular physical therapy appointments (thank you to the many of you who babysat to help me with this!) and (2) much prayer for my family-heirloom ring to appear.  Thankfully my back was all better by the end of the summer, and my ring was eventually found in a crevice inside my SUV. 

On June 11 we celebrated Katie's birthday at the Grachur Club, a rustic river club that we belong to.  It was so fun hosting our friends for a day of swimming, food and friendship.

On June 18 we visited a petting zoo, and on June 19 my friend Abbie and I went to a Monkees concert. Katie attended Vacation Bible School June 20-23.

On June 24 we embarked on our most ambitious adventure of the year: Disney World!  There's no way to summarize Disney World, so let me again promise that I will post photos in another blog post.  (And they're already on Facebook.)

July

On July 2 I was honored to be able to host my client's company picnic.  It was great to deepen my friendships within the organization, and to give them a glimpse into what I do when I'm not updating their website.  :-)

The second week of July was a highlight of my year: My college roommates all flew/drove into town with their families for a week with us at the beach!  It was wonderful to welcome some of my dearest but least-seen friends.  They now live in Idaho, Oklahoma, and Ohio, so I rarely see them.  I'm so thankful they invested time and money to join us on the East Coast!

July was a month of theatre.  We organized a small group to see "Wicked" (my 4th time!) at The Kennedy Center.  And Katie and I went to see a matinee of "Seussical" (a new obsession for her) at a local dinner theatre with another mom and daughter.

Also in July, Katie attended four mornings at Sports Camp at a nearby church (her first camp experience) and we had several families over for a Crab Feast.

August

In August we had our sixth trip to the beach, this time with my family.  All 13 of us were there at one point or other.  There is nothing that makes Katie happier than to be with her cousins.  I particularly enjoyed making peach jam with my mom and sister-in-law Lindsey.

We went to the County Fair twice in August, once with John and his mom, and once with the specific intention of seeing my best friend Sara perform in a princess performance.  I was proud of her for her first public performance since high school!

The other Big Deal of August was my brother Stephen's ordination.  On August 20, he was ordained into the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to serve as a Chaplain in the Army Reserves.  I am so proud of him!  Just in the last few weeks we've found out that he is now officially a Chaplain and a Captain, and he is currently awaiting word as to which unit he will be assigned.

In August we also had two "natural disasters" which turned out thankfully to be pretty mild -- the first really noticeable earthquake of my life, and a hurricane which left little damage in our lives besides a short power outage and cancelling our Journey concert.

September
  
Over Labor Day weekend, I had a special treat -- I got away for a weekend for the first time since having two kids!  I flew to Miami with my friend Katie to spend a weekend with our friend Martha, who as I mentioned before, has been bravely (and successfully!) battling cancer for several months.  We had a wonderful time touring Miami, enjoying ceviche for the first time, and watching an entire season of "The Big Bang Theory" on DVD.  Truly a treat.

While I was gone, John took the kids to his parents' house in Baltimore.  One highlight of their weekend was riding a camel at the Baltimore Zoo.

Also in September, both kids started preschool.  Yay!  Katie returned, expanding to three mornings a week, and Joshua started for the first time, going two of the three mornings that Katie was there.

This not only has been a wonderful experience for our kids, but is a great source of refreshment for me.  I need a regular break from the kids, and have mostly used my bonus six hours a week to run!  I've never really run before unless out of necessity, so I decided to challenge and push myself by training for my first 5K.  In related news, three of my brothers participated in a 200-mile relay on September 24.

October

Over Columbus Day weekend it was John's turn to go down to Florida without us.  He went to visit his sister Laura, who lives in West Palm Beach, and they spent most of the weekend enjoying Key West.  While he was there, the kids and I went to the beach with John's parents.

The following weekend the four of us went with John's parents and brother Jamie, and with good friends the Petrulises, to Sesame Place in PA.  The kids enjoyed the rides and meeting the characters, and Katie enjoyed her first roller coaster.  On Saturday night Katie also had her first "sleepover" with Sydney Petrulis while we stayed overnight with the family.

In October Katie and Joshua's preschool went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and farm.

Also in October, my grandparents' house went on the market.  My parents spent almost every night and weekend at that house for months, trying to get it cleaned out and prepared to sell.  I spent several evenings over there as well, packing up stuff we never knew my grandparents had.  There is no better motivation to de-clutter one's own house than to have to clean out someone else's.  That said, the house looks amazing and we're hoping it sells soon.  (Pass the word to anyone looking in the Quince Orchard area!)


For Halloween, John carved our pumpkin to look like Minnie Mouse.  He and I dressed as Hawaiian peasants, Katie was Minnie Mouse (see a theme?) and Joshua was Buzz Lightyear.

 

November

In November our adventures all centered around Thanksgiving.

First, my first 5K was Thanksgiving morning!  My goal was to run more than half of the race, and I did.  I ran the race in just under 40 minutes, beating my mom (sorry Mom!) and feeling very proud of myself.

We raced home so I could host Thanksgiving dinner for 17 of us (thankfully I didn't have to provide much of the food).  We had all of my family there as well as John's parents and brother and one of my brother's friends.

The next day we headed to the beach with John's family and got to watch the movie we'd been waiting a year to see: The Muppets!  I was so excited I even recorded a video for you.

December

In mid-December we spent most of a week visiting friends and family in NC and VA, tagging along with John on a business trip.

With the Purvises in NC

Along with visiting loved ones, we enjoyed seeing this house in Cary, NC, which had lights synchronized to Christmas music on a radio station:

Christmas is more fun as the kids get older and can understand more.  As excited as Katie gets about presents, if we ask what Christmas is about, she knows the answer: "Baby Jesus was born!"

We spent Dec. 23-24 with John's family, Dec. 25 with mine, and Dec. 26 with his.  Then we headed back to the beach for our 9th time of the year.

In 2011 we were saddened to lose several people dear to us and to our loved ones, including my parents' groomsman Joe Keegan; Eddi Davies, a dear friend of John's family's; and the parents of our friends Stephanie Schaaf Reyes (mom), Glenn Wheaton (dad), Tasha Rayburn (dad) and Brian Lee (dad).  We continue to pray for their families and other friends who are struggling with illnesses and various trials.  We also celebrate different degrees of healing we've seen among our friends, as well as the safe arrival of several babies.  We pray that you would know God's presence and joy in your life in 2012!  Happy New Year!