My First Post

As is the custom, the beginning of a New Year brings about thoughts of new goals and a renewed sense of determination. After much thought about what I would like to try in 2011, I decided that a blog would be a fun way of recalling all of the happenings in our life. And since both James and my family live hours away from us, this would be an ideal way of them keeping up with all of the crazy stories that are sure to occur!

I'll catch you up to speed on our year so far...well, let's start with Christmas and work our way up. In the past, we had rotated which grandparent's house we would be at on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning. But this year, we decided that we would like to have the kiddos wake up in their own home. This resulted in celebrating Christmas the weekend before with the Dinkel's and going to KC the weekend after. Yes, it was 3 weekends of Christmas, but I found the time at each house to not be as rushed and we were able to come home and put away all of the gifts before the next celebration.

The week after Christmas the kiddos spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa Dinkel (and Uncle Jason). While they were away, James and I were very productive. Samara's bedroom was carpeted, I painted her closet, painted the trim in the living room, the coat closet, doors, and the foyer trim. James installed hardwood flooring upstairs in the hallway and started the hardwood flooring in the foyer. It felt so wonderful to get so much accomplished! We also enjoyed a movie date night along with a lunch date during the week. James found some gift certificates so all of our dates ended up being free!

For NYE, James and I went to our first party as a couple. We had always either been with family, working, or getting ready to have a baby. Our good friends, the Rebels, had a party at their house. Couples from our Sunday School class were there. It was such a wonderful evening talking, eating, and playing Pitch. The next morning we picked the kiddos up in Junction City and headed to KC to celebrate Christmas and Malachi/Isaiah/my birthdays. Malachi turned 5 on New Year's Day. It's hard to imagine that he is no longer a "little boy", but now a "boy".

When we got home, Samara discovered her "new" bedroom. We had taken down the guest bed so her room was now filled with just her bed and toys along with the new carpet. Her closet had toys on the shelves and her play kitchen, too. Her response was "wow". She will now summon me up to her bedroom for a tea party. The joys of having a little girl.

From here on out, I hope to post funny stories, yummy recipes, discoveries, etc. I'm excited about this new adventure!