Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011 in Review

2011 was a very eventful and busy year for our family! We had a lot of exiting things happen and we are grateful for how God has shaped and changed our lives. Here are the highlights, both good and bad.  

----------------------------------------------
January
We went to Keystone with Papa and Mimi and took Cameron snowshoeing for the first time.
We spent the weekend in Breckenridge with our friends the Solomons.

February
Cameron learned to walk.
We celebrated Cameron's 1st birthday.
Our condo was put on the market.
We found out we were having another baby.

March
We started to tell friends and family about our little bun in the oven.
We went to the Baylor vs. CU women's basketball game. 

April
Cameron and I went to New Jersey to celebrate Grandma Summer's birthday.
We celebrated Easter at Superpop and Granne's house.

May
Our sweet niece, Finley Marie, was born.
Cameron and I got to got to Texas to meet Finley.
We found out that baby #2 was a girl.
Ryan and I went to the U2 concert at Invesco field.
I left Cameron for the first time to go to Memphis for a few days for a work meeting.
I got to celebrate my 2nd Mother's Day with my sweet girl and hubby.
Grandma and Grandpa Volk came to visit from North Dakota.
My cousin Jeff and his family came to visit from Nebraska.

June
We moved into our new house. 
We spent a week in Breckenridge relaxing and playing.
Cameron and I went to Disney World.
I coordinated USAV's trade show presence at InfoComm.
We celebrated Ryan's 2nd Father's Day.   

July
We went to North Dakota to celebrate Grandma & Grandpa Volk's 60th wedding anniversary.
Ryan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.
Ryan got bursitis in his knee.

August
I got selected for jury duty.
We went to Sonoma, CA to celebrate Blake & Emily's wedding.
Mr. Shakespeare (my doggie nephew) went to doggie heaven.
Ryan got to go to the USA Pro Cycling Challenge finish in Denver. 
I got a new doggie nephew, Longfellow.

September
Cameron started sleeping in her big girl bed.
We started a small group with several couples from our church.
My Uncle Stewart and his family came to visit from Kansas.

October
Our sweet baby, Sydney Kate, was born!
We hosted an Open House to show off our new house.
Annie and Finley came to Colorado to meet Sydney.
Cameron dressed up as a skunk and went Trick-Or-Treating for Halloween.

November
Ryan and I celebrated our birthdays.
We hosted our first Thanksgiving in our new house.
We took Cameron to her first movie theater movie.

December
We celebrated our first Christmas as a family of four.
Cameron and Sydney went to go see Santa.
Aunt Mac came to visit from Virgina so she could meet Sydney.

----------------------------------------------

There you have it folks. That pretty much sums up our year. Yay for a great 2011 and here's to 2012 and the memories we have yet to make.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Recap

Christmas was a huge success! By Monday we were all exhausted, but in a good way. Sydney made out pretty well. Look at all her loot!    


I didn't take a picture like this of all Cameron's stuff, because honestly, I don't think there was any way I would be able to collect it all into one area for a photo. Let's just say, she was a very blessed little girl this year.


Ryan was off work Monday so we got to hang out as a family. It was really wonderful. I wish we had more uninterrupted time like that.


As I reflect on the last few days, I am reminded of how truly blessed we are. We had such a wonderful Christmas. It was so much fun to spend time with our girls and with our families. And the greatest gift of all... the little baby that God sent to earth to die for us. All the "things" are nice, but that gift is truly the greatest.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!!! I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas too!

Christmas Part 2

Not only did Santa stop at Papa and Mimi's house and our house, but he also made a stop at Superpop and Granne's house! Cameron and Sydney must have been REALLY, REALLY good this year!





Like I said before, Cameron really got into opening presents this year. She loved ripping paper and digging through her stocking.


One of the highlights of the day (at least for me), was a scavenger hunt that Santa set up for Ryan and I. We had rhyming clues that sent us all over the house and eventually lead us to the upstairs office where we found...a double BOB stroller!


Cameron knew what to do with the BOB right away! She was ready to go for a walk. Too bad there was still a lot of snow outside.



Dinner was my favorite, turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce! Cameron ate blue cheese dressing with a fork (hmmmm) and a ton of turkey!


Jenna had to work Christmas night, but she had some super festive scrubs on. Of course we had to take some pictures!



Cameron also scored a pretty cool t-shirt! Now she can be properly dressed for her missions with Superpop!



And before the night was through, I had to see if Sydney would fit in the doll bed! HA She was definitely too big!



Christmas!

Well, Santa definitely showed up at our house. I guess Elmer, our Elf on the Shelf, delivered good behavior reports to Santa this year. 



Nice Cameron, just go ahead and pick your nose kid!






This was the aftermath. If you ask me, I think it looks like a pretty darn good Christmas morning was had by all!


Of course, we had the token box to play with. Why even bother with toys, right?




After presents we had breakfast (French Toast Casserole and Bacon, YUM!), played with our toys for a bit and then got ready to head over to Superpop and Granne's house for part three of our Christmas extravaganza!

Christmas Eve

We had so much fun sledding on Friday, we decided to play outside in the snow again on Saturday. This time Daddy was able to come along too! Cameron totally scored a ride to and from the sledding hill. (For those of you who were at our wedding, does this not remind you of Ryan and I's "get away ride" when we left the reception!! HAHA)



Okay back to sledding :)...Cameorn was smiling so big her eyes were closed!





Sydney and I even took a turn going down the sledding hill.




After sledding, we went home, ate lunch and put Cameron down for a short nap before it was time to get ready for church. Before we left for church, Cameron left cookies and milk for Santa. She of course wanted to sample the cookies too, so she ate one and left one for Santa. :)




After church (we went to Life Bridge with Ryan's family), we went to Papa and Mimi's house for dinner and presents! Sadly this is the best family picture we got :/ Cameron wasn't really too into posing for pictures at this point.






Ryan and Ross did most of the clean up after dinner...and then it was onto the presents! First up, Christmas jammies for the girls.







Cameron really enjoyed opening presents this year. AND she was really excited about everything that she opened. It truly is wonderful to watch a little kid enjoy Christmas!




Sydney just kicked back and soaked it all in. I'm sure next year she'll be going gangbusters like her sister! :)


After we finished opening gifts, we headed home and hustled to bed so that Santa could come!