nielsons*love*family: wrap it up

good bye 2010

hello 2011

we have metaphorically moved

ahead one step bridging

last year to this. not much

has really changed other than i now

date my checks with 2011 at the end now.

(yup still use 'em sometimes

--how old fashioned am i?)

all years seem to come with

a mix of good and bad. some years

seem to have a little more of the

bad sprinkled in, while others have a

glorious dosing of good.

(man i LOVE those years!)

2010 was no exception. it seemed

to teeter a bit closer to the

higher mix of good (than bad) for

our little crew. i'm almost

afraid to type that--does that mean

2011 will teeter precariously close

to the "more bad" line? i guess

it's all how you look at it, right?

in no particular order some highlights

from our year that made it great.

1. Kyle got a job, a real "holy crap he got a job" job. A job he LOVES (did i mention LOVES?) loves, loves. He loves the things he does, the people he works with and its proximity to home. seriously, how can you beat a 2 minute commute each day? And did i mention he LOVES it?

2. Trips to both East and West Coasts. West

was cloudy and gray, but we were together.

East was an adventure with the big kids-a joy

and treasure I will hold in my heart FOREVER!

3. Days spent with family and friends, doing

family and friend things. (Soccer games, swimming, eating, movies, playing, TV reality shows, lunches, etc)

4. Watching my kids learn and grow and make

(mostly) good choices.

5. Watching Kyle pass a kidney stone. Seriously he keeps saying it was "pretty bad" but I think he has already forgetten the "pain of labor" so to speak. (hands and knees buddy crawling into the Dr's office, weeping

and gnashing of teeth in abundance--lest thou

forgeteth it)

6. Learning new recipes, desserts and main

courses. Seriously cooking is my happy place.

7. I read my fair share of books and photographed my fair share of pictures--loved

doing both.

8. Kids grades were kept high (ish), friends at my house ate a fair share of the above mentioned recipes (thank goodness) and boisterous laughter was heard on many occassions from the basement.

9. I know I am forgetting many things-overall

2010 was a pretty great year.

Here's to 2011...new adventures for the Road.