Happy 2011!!

I'm taking it as a good omen for the year that the sun was shining today. It has been so gray lately that when the sun comes out I find my self announcing to anyone within earshot, "look, it's the sun!!!" in a very excited voice!! Not only has it been gray but it warmed up a bit, rained like heck and melted all our snow. But not to worry, a new storm is headed our way and I'm sure we'll be getting some more. After all, it's only January for goodness sake! This was the first sunset of 2011.


It has been a busy time since Christmas though we didn't really do that much, if that makes sense. Having a baby around can make you feel busy all the time. We so enjoyed spending 9 days with our little sweetheart. She is learning so much right now, beginning to really walk, talk and just does the cutest things. H, Scott and I would tag team watch her since there were so many potential hazards in our non-babyproofed home. By the time she left here she was walking good, long distances without falling. She really had us all on a schedule and our world revolved around her needs.

Andy's parents and sister came over from the west side a few days after Andy went home. We enjoyed a nice afternoon with them and they got to spend a little Christmas time with Quinn. She never gets tired of opening presents!


We tried to get some nice pictures but "someone" wasn't very cooperative.


Actually this one was a better picture but unfortunately it's a bit blurry. :-(


This was a cute one of Quinn with her Mama and Aunt Lizzie but she was pretty much done having her picture taken.


This picture turned out cute though it wasn't what we were going for. H wanted a picture of her with the dogs but the trouble with a baby that's learning to walk is that no matter where you put her she doesn't stay there long.

Uncle Scott would put her somewhere and try to get out of the picture but as soon as he would let go of her she would take off again! Too bad she doesn't know the "stay" command like my pups do!!

Amber and Quinn went home yesterday and it's been very quiet around here today.

Some of us needed a nap! It's hard work following a baby around for 9 days.

These two weeks have gone by very quickly and I'm back to school on Monday. I was hoping to un-decorate the house before then but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. Today was spent watching the Rose Parade in the morning (well, really until 1:00) and then getting things prepared for our New Year's Day dinner. Sometimes I think all these traditions we partake in are just lots of work. Scott commented at dinner that he doesn't like 3 of the 4 things we had. I'm not all that fond of them either but they become a tradition so that's what you have. Maybe next year we'll switch things up a little. Today we had a nice Honeybaked ham that we bought with a certificate from H's work, scalloped potatoes that were a bit too buttery and not really creamy for some reason eventhough I used 1-1/2 cups of milk in them, our must-have black eyed peas and corn bread muffins. Scott said he would rather have had a steak which today wouldn't have been a problem but if it were last week there was 8 inches of snow on the deck and no getting near the grill so that could have been a bit of a problem.

I also read a few blogs today and it seems everyone looks back on their year and tries to measure it up and see how they fared. I would say The Mitchells fared pretty well when things were said and done. Of course the year started out with a wonderful gift, our precious little Quinn. We managed to see her often so we wouldn't miss too much of her growing up. Soon after that we found out that things weren't going so well for Tyler, he couldn't find a job in Hawaii, so he would be moving to South Korea. While we were glad he was able to find a job, moving to S. Korea wasn't exactly something we ever even thought of. It's turned out to be a good experience for him even though we miss him terribly and not seeing him for almost 1-1/2 years isn't a good thing. The prospect of me losing my job was quite depressing and for months I felt terrible about it. Everyone else's lives just moved forward and I felt mine was stuck in the mud with no prospect for a new job. In the end I was offered a new job, just before the old one ended, and after a few hiccups this has turned into the best job I've ever had. I really enjoy working with these kids and all the other responsibilities that at first were a bit daunting have become manageable. I do miss some of the other people I used to work with but at least I get to see them, I just don't have the daily interactions with them that I used to have. All in all it's been a pretty good year.

I'm counting my blessings.


(I actually wrote this yesterday, New Year's Day, but blogger wasn't cooperating with picture loading so it had to wait until today.)

Happy New Year!!