A Year in Review: 2011

This is my third "year in review" post and I thoroughly enjoy these. It gives me a chance to look back on our year and everything we have done, gone through, and achieved. Not everything is 100% positive, because we all experience highs and lows throughout any given year....this year was no different.  We experienced the highest of highs, and we also experienced some challenging times.  And we made it.  And here is a recap of our year, in pictures of course!

We began the year as we traditionally do - up at the cabin in the snow! 

February brought the achievement of a long-time goal of mine:  being a published photographer.

March brought along several things.....massive baby preparations, my baby shower, and lots of baseball practice for Carter.  We spent many week nights and weekends either in our back yard or at parks/schools practicing with Carter. It was fun to watch him develop his skills.

April.....what happened in April? Oh yes, this:

And the beginning of this:

It has been such a joy to watch my two kids develop their bond over the course of the year.  Carter has been such an amazing big brother and I am SO proud of him!

In June, I got to see my mom achieve one of her goals - skydiving!!

We spent many summer nights at the softball fields with my family....Carter spent a lot of that time in the dugout with the big guys.

In August, we introduced Kendall to the cabin

We really stuck close to home this summer and fall, considering we had a new baby. No big trips were in our plans as we wanted to focus on down time with the kids.

August was another big month for a photography achievement....I won an award at the fair!

 And we also brought another new addition to our family:  Kya!

 Carter also explored swimming lessons.  At first, we thought it would be such an adventure for him, but the further we got into the lessons, the more it became clear that he was not going to cooperate. We will try again this coming summer!

I also got to see one of my life-long friends get married this year....and not just as a guest, but as her photographer. It was my honor to do the photos as a gift to her and I hope it was a day she will always cherish.

It was also another highly successful year for my photography business.  It wasn't as jam-packed every single weekend like it was the year before - it seemed to be more gradual and spread-out this year. And that worked out quite well since I'm now juggling two kids.

On the downside for the year, I lost my job. It wasn't expected, especially considering how the whole thing played out. But it did allow me more time at home with my kids. And I have found a new firm that's just fantastic! I'm hoping to stick with this place for the long-haul and I'm glad I was able to find something right before the holidays. It was certainly a life saver!

And that's pretty much our year. We didn't go on any super big vacations, but we did welcome a gorgeous baby girl into the world, and watching my two kids grow up and play together is far better than any vacation, hands down!

I hope you all had a great year, and here's to 2012!!!  Happy New Year!