Top 10 of 2010

I can't believe another year has flown by!  This last year has been full of many things.... sometimes stressful moments, sometimes long hours at work for Rob, a lot of craziness with three boys at home..... but when I look back I remember a lot of laughter, fun surprises, learning, growth, adventures, good change, excitement, and joy.  Just for kicks I thought I would post the "Top 10 of 2010."  Here they are in no particular order....

1. Lincoln's baby blessing last January was such a special day.  He was so chubby, and still is!

2.  Rob turned the big 30 and we celebrated with some of our best friends down in Moab.

3.  I had an absolute blast teaching an art class with Liam and some of his friends in the summer.

4.  We went on an incredible vacation to Seattle and Vancouver Canada.

5.  Liam and Lance had a great soccer season.

6.  In August Liam entered Kindergarten and Lance started a new year of joyschool.

7.  We had a really fun Halloween.

8.  In-n-Out Burger opened close to our home, it is kinda embarrassing that this is on our top 10 list but we are obsessed.

9.  I surprised Rob with a trip to Notre Dame for a Utah Football Game.

10.  Rob surprised me 3 days after he got home with a trip to New Orleans!

Lastly, the letter we sent with our Christmas card summed up the year pretty good so I thought I would post it here as well.....

Dear Family and Friends,

We just wanted to take a moment to wish you a very Merry Christmas!  We are grateful to know you and have you in our lives.  We wanted you to know whether you are near or far that we are thinking about you this Christmas, and we hope that you have a wonderful New Year full of many wonderful blessings!  Here is a little about what we have been up to this year…

Rob:  Rob is definitely a busy guy.  This year he has served as Elders Quorum President in our ward which means, among other things, he has lifted hundreds of pounds of furniture to help people moving in and out of the ward.   It is good exercise for him.  Rob’s year is split up into sports seasons,… Football season, Baseball season and Basketball season, but they all seem to overlap for me.  I surprised Rob with a ticket to the Utah vs. Notre Dame game, which he loved, except for the score.  His love of sports is definitely rubbing off on the boys, heaven help me.  He has worked really hard this year and we felt like we hardly saw him for about 3 months as he prepared for a trial, but we made it through and we love him for all that he does to provide for our family. 

Dani:  This year has been a learning experience for me as I have tried to juggle being a mom of 3.  Though life can be crazy sometimes and our house never stays clean for more than 10 minutes, I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to spend my days with my boys. This year I think I learned a lot about patience and simplifying so that I can more fully enjoy life with our little family.  The highlight of the year for me was going on a road trip with our kids to Seattle and Vancouver.  I also enjoyed teaching a little art class this summer with Liam and some of his friends.

Liam:  Liam is a sweetheart and a good big brother.   This year Liam has become quite determined to learn how to read and write.  His Kindergarten teacher loves his enthusiasm about everything.  Liam had fun playing baseball and soccer this year.  He became quite the independent swimmer this summer.  He also started piano lessons  (just with me at home).  He just finished his first books and we are very proud of him.  Liam’s painting of a rocket ship won the Reflections Contest this Fall, we are thrilled for him.

Lance:  Lance is our little comedian.  He loves to be busy, silly and show off his dance moves.  He is quite the singer; he loves to belt out songs in the car.   Lance has also become a little athlete and artist this year.  I am always on alert for flying balls around our house and I am constantly picking up piles of papers with his drawings on them.  The highlight of Lance’s year was playing on his first soccer team—the Orange Pumpkins.  He was excited to finally play on his own team after watching Liam play for 2 years.  He shocked us all with his competitiveness on the field.  He scored lots of goals—luckily, most of them were in the right goal.  He played his heart out and we are very proud of him.

Lincoln:  Lincoln warms our hearts.  He just turned 1 in October so he has grown and changed a lot this year.  We love his easy going and happy personality.  He loves his big brothers and laughs at their craziness.  He loves to be around people and pretty much spends the whole day following us around the house trying to do whatever we are doing.  He currently says “hi” a lot, but it sound more like “hine.”  Lincoln’s new favorite game is throwing things in the garbage can that do not belong there.  He loves food and is the biggest eater of the 3 boys.  We were shocked when he decided to learn to walk while Rob and I were out of town for 3 days.  His grandparents are quite proud that he learned to walk for them.

We wish you a very Happy 2011!