2011--our year in review--part 2

july
*july was a jam-packed busy month for us!
*we went on vacation here. this is one of our favorite places to be--sea grove, florida.

*family picture

*this was the first time a friend came with mckinlee on vacation. she had so much fun with amber.

*on our way home, we stopped in new orleans and had the best dinner.
then we drug the girls through the streets to go to cafe du monde. love that place!
the girls were terrified and hated new orleans.

*spent time in waco with family and had a lot of fun.
this was homemade ice cream night--and it just happened to be on national ice cream day!

*had a photo session with sadie--this was her 18 month shoot.

*chris and i went to baltimore, md for a work conference for him.
we stayed here.

*some of the sights in baltimore

*loved the water and boats everywhere

*this was THE best crab cake i've ever had.

*our friend april took on the monumental task of organizing and filming a bible drama for the kids at our hall.
here are mckinlee and camila painting leaves.

*patricia and i working on the back drops. she created the most amazing scenes--i just did what i was told!

*here is mck as an egyptian.
(the drama was the 10 plagues & the deliverance at the red sea.)

*and here she is with amber and alexa as an israelite.
they all had a fabulous time and it turned out so neat. great memories.

august
*our c.o.'s wife, tamara, lost her battle with cancer and her memorial service was in august.
she was one of the most amazing people i have ever met.
her service was decorated so beautifully. she loved hats, pearls and vintage girly stuff.
they had displayed tables of her hats and jewelry with pictures of her and her husband, along with some of her favorite quotes.

*they also had a table full of things she had kept that children made for her on their travels to different congregations. there were several things that mckinlee had made, including this last card she had just sent her telling her how much she loved her and showing her how she was trying to learn calligraphy.
tamara had such an incredible passion for young people and influenced so many young girls. mckinlee has been heartbroken over her death and even just this past week was crying.

*in an effort to lighten things up, we had a slumber party. several girls from our congregation and mckinlee's friend from waco, brooke, were able to come.
they had a blast!

*hole in wall=evidence of a fun slumber party!
(they were stair surfing with their sleeping bags when mckinlee came flying down and went right through the wall.)

*spent more time in waco. this is one of my favorite pictures of mck & sadie.

*my sweet friend, bethenie, and her daughter, olivia, came and we spent the day crafting.

*we made fabric flowers and olivia showed mck how to knit using the nifty knitter. so fun!

*mckinlee starts 7th grade

september
*one of the girls that was a flower girl at our wedding got married.

*mck at the wedding with mama dee and papa.

*logan's baby shower

*danielle, jennifer (and logan), me

*mck & mama dee

*we went to mck's open house. this is her skills for living classroom.

*every friday usually finds us at paciugo's. we go there for our weekly after school treat.

*my favorite flavor of gelato is sea salt caramel, which mckinlee thinks is disgusting.

*mom, danielle and sadie came to stay with us for a few days.
nana & mck taking a break from shopping--at the food court.

*danielle and me

*sadie getting to ride the carousel--she loved it!

*all our shopping completely wore her out!

*i started keeping this cutie on thursday while her mom is in school.

*chris' nephew, kory, and wriki got married.

*chris and i at the wedding.

*the pretty reception

october

*we went to jessica's shower for baby jaxon
*the delectable dessert table

*we enjoyed dinner and a fun evening with jude & shannon.

*we had a luncheon to get to know shimen & her mom.
monica & shimen

*hope and michele

november
*mckinlee had to have a flour baby for skills for living.
she had a girl named aubrie paige and dressed her in build a bear clothes!

*chris and i went here for his partner retreat.

*it was beautiful

*the dinners were right during the world series, so we got to go really casual and watch the game while we ate. at this point there was still a chance for the rangers!

*mck got her first discipline of any kind at school--a c-hall for "skipping" class.
(no amount of communication with the teacher could persuade her that she was not skipping class but sitting in the locker room waiting for the rest of the class to come in.)

*another fun trip to waco. sadie gets cuter every time i see her!

a never-to-be-repeated day in history.
11:11 am on 11-11-11

*and here was what i was doing--cleaning the kitchen.

*chris and i began the standard process 21 day purification cleanse.
here was the first of many, many protein shakes!

*this was where you'd find me during those 21 days--cooking veggies.
and apparently not folding the laundry!

december
*one of our yummy meals during the cleanse.
roasted tomato basil soup and sauteed cabbage.

*the first day we got to have fish--chris was so excited!

*it's been chilly. we've spent many days and evenings by the fire.

*i received my project life. i got the clementine edition & it's beautiful!

danielle, kami and kali came to visit and shop. we had a blast!

*michele's jewelry show was this month. i got some beautiful things and so did mckinlee--she had been diligently saving her money!

here's michele and me.
she is so creative and talented--it's really amazing!

*mckinlee has gotten SO into makeup lately. she is constantly watching youtube videos of people doing their makeup. words like eye shadow palette, waterline (i didn't even know what this was! my 12 year old daughter had to tell me. ha!) and foundation brush are a part of our everyday conversation now.

*this girl is getting so big. she is so hilarious and says the absolute funniest things!

*our special assembly day was on the 31st. chris' talk was about letting the will of god take place. he did a great job.
here are brenda and pat as he interviews them.

*chris and me

*mck with some of her friends.

well that was our busy year.
i'm going to try and do a recap like this every year--i like to see our year in just a few pictures.

now i've got to get busy recording memories for 2012!