2011

What an incredible year it was.  Before this year we thought of ourselves as kids still - still in school, living in an apartment, etc.  But now, well now we're officially adults.

Here's a brief rundown on the highlights of 2011:

January - moved into our new house.
February - heard "Uno's" heartbeat for the first time.
March - felt "Uno" move for the first time.
April - found out "Uno" was a boy and hosted our first family get together at our home.
May - celebrated Mother's Day at a very, very hot Royal's game.
June - celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
July - were blessed by showers from family, friends, and co-workers and made a trip to Springfield.
August - Brad accepted a full-time position and we welcomed our twin nephews Silas and Atticus!
September - our little Weston John was finally born!  We had many visitors bless us with visits, gifts, and food.
October - West started smiling.
November - West started rolling over.
December - Kayla resigned from her job and we celebrated our first Christmas with West and in our house.

As we look back on 2011 we think the word that best sums it up is "change."  Many changes, indeed!  But as exciting and life-changing as our year was, we are looking so forward to 2012 and what more God has in store for our family of three.  We're hoping 2012 will be best summed up by the word "grow," - growing in our faith, growing into our roles as parents, watching West grow and learn so many exciting new things.  We think it's going to be the best year yet.  :)

What were your highlights from 2011?  What is your word for the new year?  What are looking most forward to in 2012?  Here's wishing you a blessed new year!

Memorable Mondays

Brad had last Monday off so we got to hang out and get most of our Christmas decorations up!  We're so excited for our first Christmas in our home and even more for our first Christmas with West!  

Brad also has every Monday off for the rest of the year and on those days he's watching West.  They're going to have such a blast!

What’s Better than an Idealistic, Unrealistic New Year’s Resolution?

The new year is just around the corner and you know what that means…it’s time for New Year’s resolutions! Taking advantage of the rejuvenating atmosphere of the new year, most people opt to set idealistic and often unrealistic goals which they hope will finally propel them to conquer a single perceived deficiency. Kayla and I, however, are not like ‘most’ people. Nor do we have a single deficiency… it’s more like 52 (or more). So as the post title asks, what’s better than an idealistic and unrealistic New Year’s resolution? The answer, of course, is 52 idealistic and unrealistic New Year’s resolutions.

That’s right: Kayla and I are planning to tackle 52 one-week challenges in 2012. In reality, some challenges may last longer than a week which would subsequently reduce the total number of challenges, and some challenges may be repeated multiple times during the year, but you get the gist. While it’s without doubt an ambitious undertaking, it should be an interesting journey which we hope to share with all of you along the way. (I also feel compelled to give credit to Joe Bennett who completed a similar challenge in 2010).

Here’s where you all come in: we need help determining challenges. As an example of what we are looking for, we’ve discussed such ideas as no TV for a week, no pop for a week, and no Facebook for a week. We’d also like to have a week where we have to read a book, run a certain number of miles, write encouraging cards, deep-clean the house, or learn a new skill. Any and all ideas will be considered so please submit your proposals in the comments section below.