Looking Back: Highlights of 2011

I know that 2012 is in full swing, but I'm off to a slow start (as usual!). Between perma-colds for the boys over the holidays and my own little bout of illness that wiped me out for the first couple weeks of January, I'm finally feeling ready to tackle some goals and face a fresh new year. It's always good for me to look back on the previous year and see what I accomplished and the highlights we enjoyed as a family.

Here's a brief look at our 2011:

• JANUARY: found out Zachary was a BOY! Eliot became a Sunbeam, and Monica both blushed and bubbled over with pride from having a front-row seat to watch his antics!
• FEBRUARY: Monica turned 29 (yes, again) and celebrated with a fabulous dinner at La Jolla Groves with Grant.
• MARCH: Cheered on Jimmer and the Sweet 16-qualifying Cougars at their last home game of the season, had a St. Patty's Day party with Eliot and his cousins, Eliot took and loved swimming lessons.
• APRIL: Grant surprised Monica with tickets to see a musical version of A Tale of Two Cities, her all-time favorite book, after reading it together. We also enjoyed another memorable date night at the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU. More swimming lessons for our little fishy Eliot. Fun Easter egg hunts with both sides of the family.
• MAY: A BIG month of final preparations for Baby Z and squeezing in family fun and date nights! Our big list of to-do's before Zach's arrival included: BYU baseball game and J Dawgs as a family, Sibling Class at the hospital to teach Eliot all about being a big brother, Monica wrapping up her volunteer work at the Orem Library PERC, celebrating Grant's birthday by going to Les Miserables and The Roof with friends, Memorial Day in Bountiful, putting in our "planter box" garden ... and that's just the fun stuff we did! Whew!
• JUNE: Zach got our hopes up on June 2 with a false alarm, but made his real entrance on June 14! We loved having him here just in time for Father's Day and Eliot's birthday on June 25. We had a family photo shoot to capture Zach in his teeny tiny state, and tried to soak up all his newborn sweetness (without getting too grumpy from no sleep)!
• JULY: I honestly don't remember much of this month! Our 4th of July was low-key and rained out, we enjoyed lots of dinners and visits from friends and family (thanks to all of you), Grant took his super-excited 11-year-old scouts on a camp out up Provo canyon (and Monica survived her first night alone with two up-all-night boys!).
• AUGUST: Blessed our sweet Zachary on the 7th, had Eliot tested for allergies and found out he's allergy free (yea!!), Monica got a treadmill (awesome!), Eliot started preschool, Monica got released as Primary President (still have mixed emotions about that one), enjoyed the ward's "Salsa 'til You're Sick" event, pool party and BBQ with friends, and Grant and I laughed 'til we hurt at our first-ever experience at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival (we're hooked!).
• SEPTEMBER: Zach's first laugh, spent Labor Day weekend grilling, roasting marshmallows, and playing in Logan with my sister Mary and her family, first family vaca with two kids -- a quick jaunt to St. George with Grant's family, Zach actually slept through the night and Monica remembered how it felt to get a solid night's sleep again. Eliot, our germ magnet, educated us about the symptoms and highly contagious nature of Impetigo (ick!).
• OCTOBER: Drove the Alpine Loop over Conference weekend, had our Family Fall Picnic, dressed the boys up in their adorable Halloween costumes for numerous events like Boo at the Zoo, ward Primary carnival, elementary school Halloween parade, and Halloween itself. Blessed with the unexpected news that we no longer need to see Grant's maxillofacial specialist because his fibrous dysplasia no longer poses any serious risks -- great news and a huge relief for us, especially Grant, to close that chapter in our health history!
• NOVEMBER: Eliot melted our hearts with his solo in his very first Primary program, a very yummy Thanksgiving with both families, celebrated our 9th anniversary (and started daydreaming about our big plans for #10).
• DECEMBER: Celebrated Grant's mom's 60th birthday with a surprise party with family and friends, Eliot and Zach enjoyed (understatement) their cousins sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Dickinsons' while Monica and Grant got to have a getaway weekend in Salt Lake City. Formed new family traditions for a scaled-back, simpler Christmas, enjoyed seeing friends who were in town for the holidays, Zach tried his first solids!