A year of change & reflection

I'm in awe when I stop and think about what 2011 had in store for us.  I'm also so happy that this last year we have had more family time together than we did in the first few years of our marriage & having kids combined.  It has been a long time coming and we have tried to enjoy all the cherished moments, learn from the difficult and stressful ones, and remember that the time we have with our children is only once and that the memories we create with them will last a lifetime.

This year we saw Thomas celebrate his 4th birthday, Abbigail her 2nd and we welcomed our youngest, Marilyn to the family.  We got to watch Thomas play on his first soccer team, Abbigail enjoy her first tumbling class, and Marilyn grow by leaps & bounds from 8 lbs to 18 lbs.  We said a bittersweet goodbye to family & friends in Florida and went on an adventurous 2-week road trip through Canada ending at our new home here in Alaska.  Thomas started preschool, Abbigail started speech therapy, and Marilyn has become mobile with rolling and inching in all directions.  I have been blessed to use the last few months to stay-at-home with the kids and come closer to finishing my M.Ed while Brian has started a new job, doing something completely different but using all of his career experience to move a squadron forward.

We are excited about our time here in Alaska.  There is so much that we want to experience with the kids, and some that we will do just as a couple.  But any way we look at the next 2.5 years it is family time filled with new and amazing opportunities for us to enjoy together.