our week...instagram saturday

highlights of the week
-word-celebrating my dad's birthday-first visit to @armod since remodel-pizza with cousins-100's day-quality time with my hubby-nice weather-outside play time-birthday party fun-

friends at the beach

 I saved the best for last. The week we spent at the beach was great for family time, but we also had some great friends to hang out with.

 -swimming-crabbing-big dead fish-hot dogs-toes in the sand-luke books-guitar playing-beach football-fireworks-dancing-glow necklaces-banana pudding-beach drinks-jelly fish-

 this next picture makes my heart so happy. wilson is the sweetest big brother and this picture is such a clear view of that. he loves campbell so much and when we were taking this picture he was trying to talk him into giving me a real smile. didn't work, but so sweet. i heart him!

 and these next two are some of my favorite memories. sitting in this circle listening to Bucket and watching my boys play beach football....love it!

beachy (more beach)

 a little more of how we spent our week in Gulf Shores.

we spent a lot of time with our toes in the water, toes in the sand and for some of us we spent a lot of time with our whole selves in the sand.

 we also spent some serious time building sand castles.

 it was so happy.

beach 2011 (instagram)

beach people

 Last summer was vacation CRAZY! We were on the go most of the time and made some priceless memories. And while I totally can't pick favorites, our family trip to Gulf Shores was unforgettable. We are very lucky to both have families that go and do fun and different things, but because of that we are generally traveling with our families. This was our first "real" family trip just the four of us. And making it even more fun was that we knew several other families at the beach that week staying 5-15 minutes from us and got to enjoy family time and time with everyone.

I would not have called us beach people, I am afraid of the things that live in the ocean and have always thought sand was itchy and that I would never stop picking it off my kids, but i was wrong. I think we might be beach people. The first full day at the beach it was cold, like in the sixties and rainy. We laid around and watched movies and listened to the waves and it was wonderful, but the boys (all three of them) had the itch. They needed to put their feet in the water and so off we went and in they went. I sat on the side with my camera in a poncho and watched my boys as they became beach people.

colorado-summer 2011

Remember back in October when I said what was coming next on the blog? Well I didn't think it would be three months later, but better late than never. We had such a great year in 2011 and I want to make sure and document that for our family.

In July the four of us loaded up with two of our favorite people, Bailey and Tony, and headed to Colorado to meet the Chinos on their annual camping trip.We spent around a week at an amazing spot just outside Crested Butte.

 It was a week full of family, fun, food & friends.

 highlights:

-looking for deer-throwing rocks-making wished on dandelions-riding bikes-senior pictures-fireworks-pie eating-Catan-snow cones-digging in the dirt-hikes-coffee shop-family photos-shovel-camp fire-smores-Dynamite-camper-washing dishes-football-Guess Who-the bus that doesn't cost any money-playgrounds-hair washing in a bucket-

I love these people and as much as I like running water and indoor plumbing there is nothing that can compare to the time we have shared in Colorado.

2011 in review (iphone addition)

We spent some time today talking about our favorite things from the year.

snow.skiing.birthdays.graduations.trips.sand castles.swimming.legos.camping.family.box sledding.new additions.live in friends.

January:

February:

 March:

 April:

 May:

 June:

 July:

 August:

 September:

October:

November:

December:

2011 was a great year full of memories

happy new year!