2011 in review

Mike and I were talking about he happenings of 2011 last night and we came to the conclusion that it was a pretty crazy year.
January- all I remember is I was morning sick all the time and Mike wasn't in that great of shape either because of his accident at the end of 2010.

{Oh, there was also the chicken in the driveway incident.}

 February- we had our 4 year anniversary and went on an excellent date.  My dad retired and got to help my mom watch Mim a few times a week while I was teaching.

{The concert at Abravanel Hall}

 March- Conner came home unexpectedly early from his mission- he was one of the missionaries displaced by the Japan earthquake.  Mike had his surgery to fuse his C4 and C5 vertebrae at the very end of the month.

{Going home!}

April- Mim and I both had birthdays.  We didn't do too much for either at the time because Mike was still recovering.  We also, due to an awesome family effort (thanks again Dad, Kaid, and Conner!), got in a sprinkler system, grass seed, and a vegetable garden.  

{She got a trike.}

May- I think it was May when we got the fence done.  By "we" I mean mostly other people.  Thanks again, family!  We also went to the zoo as a delayed birthday party for Mim.  We also did a mom n tot gymnastics class at the Legacy Center that Mim still talks about sometimes.

{The gymnastics showcase.}

June- Jessica got married!

{Some of the nieces at the reception}

July- We had the Cox family reunion and celebrated the 4th with the Young's at their block party.  Mim loved the aerial fireworks.  The rest of the month was pretty much...not much.

{I don't have any event pictures in July.  So here's the garden.}

August- Undoubtedly the most important event of the year for us- Eleanor was born on the 25th!  

{Our first family of four photo.}

September- We got the first smiles from our little one.

{This is the closest I got to getting one of said smiles on camera until like 2 months later.}

October-For Halloween, we were awesome.  Earlier in the month Eleanor was blessed and our families (thanks again, everyone!) came over and helped us get in sprinklers for the entire back yard.  Mike got to actually help this time, which he was excited about, and I even got to contribute a little, since I was no longer pregnant.  Also in October- we had our family pictures taken.  

{Mike's work party}

November- A big finishing the basement milestone- we built a wall!  By "we" I of course mean my Mike and brother-in-law Mike.  We're still working on the next milestone- digging window wells so we can cut bigger windows.  We had a baby milestone in November, as well- the baby rolled!  We had an nontraditional Thanksgiving with my side of the family- Chinese food at Aunt Ann's house.  Fun to do something different, but since I love traditional Thanksgiving, too, I made the basics for just Mike and I the Saturday after. Mmmmm, leftovers.

{Check that out.}

December- Christmas was excellent.  Mim understood the general idea this year and I was very excited for her to get her gifts.  I fulfilled my handmade gifts goal ("goal" makes it sound more exact than it was- I just wanted to make a lot of the things I gave) and Mike and I gave each other money for the basement instead of actual gifts (although he did cheat a little and get me a massage and a space heater), since finishing the basement will be the most awesome gift in the world.  For New Year's Eve we put the girls to bed at 7 (normal bedtime) and had excellent snacks in front of the fire and watched a few episodes of Burn Notice. We are party animals.  

{Oh, and we went to see the lights at Temple Square.}

Christmas is awesome

I think I've said on the blog before how excited I was for Christmas this year.  It didn't disappoint.  Mim just loved opening all her presents and she kept exclaiming about how "bew-ful" everything was.  We tried to keep it simple this year, with just 3 things from Santa for each of the girls.  It was still so much for them that I'm thinking we might simplify even more next year.  We'll see- it was hard to not just buy everything that I knew Mim would love.  Mim got dress ups (4 different pink skirts, a princess hat, play necklaces and bracelets, and new ballet slippers), a Little People house set, and a Play Dough fun factory.  Elle got a play mat, play gym, and some books.  That plus their stockings, all the grandparent gifts and cousin gifts and everything else was just a ton. 

Mim's Santa gifts were wrapped, Elle's weren't (why would I, when it would be me unwrapping them the next day?).  Here's some pictures from the big day:

Mike got some video, but it was with our actual video camera and I can't remember how to get the videos on here.  Her reactions are adorable, you'll just have to take my word for it.
 
Here they are trying out their new stuff:

And the aftermath:

Mike and I discussed how for the next decade or so, Christmas will just get funner and funner.  And more expensive.  We're excited about the funner and funner part, though. 

I hope everyone else had a Christmas as merry as ours. 

Nis-nis lights

Last Saturday we went up to see the Christmas lights at temple square.  Yeah, on Saturday.  We're not going to do it that way next year, that's for sure.  At least we went on the early end of things.  We got there pretty soon after they turned them on, so finding parking wasn't that terrible.  As we were leaving, though- holy cow.  It was SO busy.  Plan for next year- go on a Tuesday, go early, have a plan for food. 

I only got a few pictures:

{I call it her old timey football hat.}

A wall

We have our first basement wall.  Our brother in law Mike came and helped my Mike install it last Saturday.  I went down and looked at it about 100 times after they were finished because it made me so happy. 

{The first of the drywall going up.}

So here's the before:

{Can you spot the light switch hanging by its wire?}

 

 

 

And now the after:

Now it's an actual storage room instead of just the storage area of the basement!  We'll be able to attach the light switch to the wall and everything. 

It's a small start, but it's a start.  We're still pricing out getting bigger windows cut into the foundation, ones that we'll have to dig wells for.  A lot of the framing will have to wait for that, which means waiting until the spring, since it's kind of too late in the season to dig window wells now.  We're going to do what we can in the meantime and *fingers crossed* we'll have the basement done by this time next year.  Just thinking about it makes me happy.   

Family pictures!

Family pictures with a 2 month old weren't super easy.  They were during her nap time, which had everything to do with it, I'm sure, but our photographer, Amber, did a fatastic job with what she had to work with. :)

We had them taken at Wadley Farms, where our wedding reception was.  Getting married in the dead of winter, we really didn't get to take advantage of the gorgeous property and gardens.  We remedied that with this little photo shoot, though. 

{I love this expression.}

{Mike and Mim had a little daddy-daughter photo shoot while I was changing the baby.}

{Hide and go seek.}

While we were there, we saw Alan (one of Hugh's closest friends and the owner of Wadley Farms) and he told us about the castle he's currently building.  Oh wow.  This place just gets more awesome all the time.  I hope we're around here when our girls get married so they can have their receptions at Wadley.  In a freaking castle.