[Year in Review] Favorite 2011 Memories

When the year draws to an end, I alway find myself reflecting upon the year gone by. Here's a run down of my favorite memories in 2011.

Visiting our BFF's in Portland, Oregon & our road trip to Victoria & Vancouver, B.C.

1st row : fishin' adventures in oregon 2nd row: pretty peacock, yummy burgers in helvetia, oregon; drive from portland to port angeles, washington; flower baskets in victoria, b.c. 3rd row: victoria, b.c.; candy shop; empress hotel (great place to stay); ferry to vancouver, b.c. 4th row: the four seasons, vancouver; yummy treats in our room; chef's kitchen tour, smarty pants spraying chocolate on the desserts; the four seasons

 just to keep it real, this trip also involved some bad memories-- namely sick kids with 105+ temps and an evil harley dude with road rage in BFE rural Washington.. pffft on him!  :)

"A Padawan you will be" -- spoken with Yoda's accent

smarty pants kicked up the courage to do "jedi training"... twice this year.  this is my quiet guy, so his courage (and intensity) took me by surprise.  he was the first to run to the stage when a "dark presence" was felt... what a neat experience.

Smarty Pants starting Kindergarten & Happy Vee starting Preschool

they both love school and have learned & matured a lot in the past few months.

Getting my craft on...

1. golden beans 2. shell & stone plant mat 3. book page rose 4. satin ribbon poinsettia wreath

5-7 three new trees 8. rhinestone ornaments 9. silica gel ornaments 10. feather ornament

11. felt poinsettias 12. salt dough tags 13. beaded ornaments 14. felt pinecone ornament

15. modern nutcrackers 16. pearl ornament 17-20. four versions of snow globe ornaments 21. gift card pouch

seriously, i don't know where all that energy came from in november & december-- 21 projects in 1.5 months.  now i need to refocus that energy into putting the finishing touches in our master & the boys' rooms... not to mention the office, craft room & garage (gah!)

Smarty Pants playing basketball

i may complain about our weekends being taken over by practice & games, but boy is it fun to watch a bunch of 5 year olds play ball! love his "game" face. 

Happy Vee and his antics...

this little guy is full of character & has the greatest delivery... our little comedian. he convincingly told the skateboard's much older owner to "go get food... it's really good", then, when the boy was out of sight, snuck in some skateboard playing time.  future politician? (eek)

Solvang and our Friends' Rustic Wedding

the kids refer to it as "remember when we danced in the barn?"  it was an amazing wedding, with a lot of personal & creative touches, in a beautiful local.  and the best part was the couple--  one of our longtime, childhood friends (i've known him since 2nd grade) and his awesome, creative & beautiful bride.  the wedding made a great impression on the boys... the precedence has been set!

Lots of reading... for the 2nd year in a row thanks to my Kindle & my new Kindle Fire

when you have to sit with children as they go to sleep, you tend to have a lot of quiet time!

Thanks so much for following along with me this year. I have a lot of new ideas in store for next year.  May 2012 be full of good health, lots of creativity and great times with family and friends.

xoxo,