What an amazing year

So typically you start thinking of things you are thankful for at Thanksgiving and reflecting on the past year at Christmas time.  Well as Thanksgiving approaches, I can not help but to think of what an amazing year we have had as a family.  Its been rough and great and trying, but wonderful!  This year we have put an emphasis on family and friends like never before.  We have shared many new experiences and fun times.  Heres a short list of all the exciting events of 2010:

Christmas 2009- First Christmas with Katelyn.  My family (including Uncle Jay) and Chris' parents were there to share this experience with us.  It was a picture perfect day...everything I had dreamed of.

March 2010-  Happy 30th to Me.  What started as a bleek day ended perfectly.  I was very sad at the thought of celebrating my 30th without my mom.  As it turns out, she just couldnt stay away.  She drove in for the day and decorated the house.  When I got home, both she and Chris were waiting.  It was PERFECT.  It got even better when Chris said he was taking me someone great for dinner.  After a long drive, we ended up at an amazing seafood restaurant on the water.  It was great.

April 2010- Happy 30th Chris.  Just a mere 8 days after mine, I wanted to make it special.  I got up early and headed to his office to decorate.  I got it all decorated and even left cupcakes with black icing for him to share.  Even though he says he wasnt happy about it, I think he enjoyed it.

April 2010- Katelyn's First Birthday.  We had close friends and family there to celebrate this milestone birthday.  While I know the party was more for me than her, it was a fun party and she had a blast.

May 2010- Tubes...again.  Unfortunately, the first set of tubes Katelyn had put in failed and we were forced to do another surgery.  This set, thus far, has been a success.  We hope it continues.

May 2010- Visit from the Milnes Family.  Jill and her family visit her parents in the Houston area every year in May.  This year we were super excited since the girls would be able to play together.  While they were here, we took the kids to the Zoo and to Kemah.  They had a great time and so did we.  We also got to have a double date night which we look forward to every year.

May 2010- Chris won his first IHRA race.  We headed to Baton Rouge, LA Memorial Day weekend for a race that was reschedule due to rain.  That Friday, Chris won the race.  On Saturday, he was runner up!  He works so hard, its nice to see his hard work pay off.

June 2010- 4yr Wedding Anniversary.  Chris and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary.  My mom was in town for a visit the weekend after and was awesome enough to babysit so that Chris and I could enjoy a wonderful dinner at Killen's (a great steak house in Pearland).  The following day, we all went to Schlitterbahn and had a BLAST! 

July 201- July 4th in Austin.  Its become a tradition and we love it.  We spend lots of time with family and enjoyed a great fireworks show at the Round Rock Express baseball game.  Katelyn had a blast and even stayed away for the fireworks. 

August- Visit to Shelbyville.  We finally made it to Lake Shelbyville to stay on the visit the Milnes family.  We have been planning this trip for a while and this year we finally made it work.  We had to reschedule a few times, but in the end...it was perfect.  We spent about 5 days on the boat with everyone and it was a blast.  The kids played well together and the adults had a fantastic time.  We are hoping to make it a yearly tradition to have a joint vacation.

September- Mom and Dad visit and Katelyn's first Aggie Football game.  Mom and Dad came for a visit Labor Day weekend.  That Friday, Chris won 4 free tickets to the A&M football game at Kyle field.  Since it was a long weekend and the weather was nice, we decided to go.  Saturday morning, we packed up the car, and headed for College Station.  It was a very long day, but Katelyn (as well as the rest of us) enjoyed watching the Aggies win. 

October- Visit to North Carolina and Virginia.  What a big surprise this was!  Chris finished in the top 3 in points in IHRA Division 4 which got him an invitation to the World Championship in Richmond, VA.  Since we were going to be so close to the Staats family, we decided to make a vacation out of it.  We left for North Carolina on Monday and spent Mon-Thur with Trish and family.  We got to spend lots of time with the boys and catching up.  We were also able to see Emily (and her kids) and Ricky (and his kids) for a little bit.  It was so much fun!!  On Thur we headed to Virginia for the race.  Although we didnt do as great as we had hoped, it was an awesome event and track.  Hopefully, we will be returning again soon.

November- Visit with Jill and Kailyn.  Yes, you read that right.  We got to see the Milnes girls 3 times in 1 year.  Jill and Kailyn came down for the Nutcracker Market.  Not only was the shopping great, it was great to visit with the girls.  Megan was also in town, so the 3 of us ladies got to catch up.  It was so nice.  We are hoping this can be a yearly tradition as well. 

November- Thanksgiving in Austin and Visit with Staats Family.  And November keeps on giving.  The Staats family was back in Austin for the first time in years.  Since they were going to be here and so close, we decided to spend Turkey day at my mom's.  We got to see Trish, Brad and Thomas on Wednesday night and Trish, William and James on Thanksgiving morning.  Though short, the time we spent with them was fun!  We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with mom, Mark, Judy and the girls, and Jenny.

I am sure that December will bring lots of memories this year.  We are looking forward to a low key Christmas with Jim and Patsy and some relaxation time between the holidays.