It's hard to believe another year has come and gone, but here we are in 2011!! As fun as it was, I'm glad to get back to normal routine, especially for the kids. This was the first time I didn't see my family for the holidays, so that was tough, but fortunately, we were able to see all of Jesse's family. It was great catching up and laughing until our sides hurt. Always a good workout. We were SO excited to get our first real Christmas tree. Our perfect frasier fur fit perfectly in our front room. We got to pull out our few but meaningful ornaments to decorate. Each year we add one for each child and a family ornament. Each one has a special meaning. I'm particularly a fan of Maverick's bee because it reminds us of when our apt in Vermillion was infested with bees for 6 months...seriously.
We also hit up some holiday parades at Thanksgiving time. Maverick hit the jackpot at the Hudsonville parade. He got a chip clip, candy, a jimmy johns sub and this huge SpongeBob! It was quite the adventure since we had just been at the Grand Rapids parade that same morning and walked away with nothing because this guy sat right in front of us and hoarded ALL of the candy. The candy is meant for the 2-year-olds!!!

We still looked cute at the parade though all bundled up!

Everett is turning into such a big boy. It will only be a matter of time before he takes off walking. Right now, crawling is just so much quicker than taking the time to learn something new.

My new baking apron to add to my collection.

Christmas Eve.

At the bowling alley.

Not sure what Everett is doing, but it's funny.

Always enjoying new trucks.

And, the sit and spin.

Maverick opening his new backhoe. I swear we keep the CAT company in business. We have at least one yellow toy in each size-dump truck, backhoe, roller, etc.

The boys at Maverick's Christmas program.

And, a personal favorite. Let's hope it's just a phase! Either way, it's good for a laugh!

Happy New Year!