Happy 2011! :
We brought in 2011 in our usual fashion! A quick getaway to the North Georgia Mountains with dear friends and lots of R&R!
Although the winter weather in GA tried to put the brakes on our trip we got word at the last minute that the mountain roads had finally cleared from the snowfall that accumulated on Christmas almost one week earlier! The cabin rental company assured us that the roads were passable and with that news we packed up the car for our long weekend.
I cannot say enough what a fabulous time we had. We always do year after year, but I will admit, the dynamic of the trip was entirely different for us this year (as is every trip we take now with Spencer). There is just so much to pack and plan for that it is almost too overwhelming. The upside is, once all the planning and packing is done, there is not much left to do but ENJOY and that is just what we did.
Like in years past, each couple plans and cooks a meal for one night of the trip starting with appetizers all the way to dessert! The ongoing joke is how the pressure builds each year for the perfect meal! I can honestly say, I have never been disappointed :-)
This year Bill and I planned a sushi themed meal. We had served sushi our very first cabin trip years ago but we brought it back due to popular demand. Our menu consisted of edamamme, pot stickers, sushi by Bill, seaweed salad, and for dessert, we served chocolate, caramel, peanut butter fondue! YUMMY! I may be biased but I think it was a hit :-)
We spent the days relaxing by the fire, playing outside with the kids, playing games, and watching football of course. And, once the kiddos were asleep we dinned on fabulous food and drinks and enjoyed catching up with one another. That's the great part about this trip...throughout the year, life gets busy and it's sometimes hard to just stop and "catch up."
I, like many others, try do a lot of reflection as one year is coming to an end and an new year begins. What a FABULOUS year we have had! 2010 brought us our precious little boy and we have not looked back since. We have celebrated many "firsts" with Spencer, enjoyed visits with family, and made amazing new friends just to name a few. Unfortunately, we also have faced our fair share of challenges that I cannot wait to leave behind as we enter into 2011. I am hopeful for so many things. Most importantly I wish for health and happiness for all our friends and family.
Happy 10 Months Spencer:
Double digits! What? Two more months and Spencer is 1 year old! No way. This month has brought so many changes and it just keeps getting better. Some of the most significant changes are that Spencer is crawling backwards, and pulling up on his own. We know it wont be long before you are on the move!
Spencer is one tough cookie. He has survived his second ear infection and another round of bronchiolitis. Through it all he is the happiest and most even tempered baby. I just wish he could be healthy 100% of the time. Despite some winter illnesses, we still kept busy with playgroups 2-3 times a week and have now started music class and love it!
Spencer is really thriving and we could not be any happier. Each day is a new adventure and we are loving every minute of it.
Disney Half Marathon 2011:
I cannot believe how fast a year flew by. We just got back from our annual Disney trip but I feel as if I was just writing about last years trip. Crazy!
Last year I was unable to run the Disney Half Marathon because I was 7 months pregnant but with high hopes I had signed up for this years race but had to face a big let down. I herniated a disc in my back over the summer and between that injury and my gall bladder surgery there was little time to train. So a spectator it was. Bummer. BUT, we still had a great trip and I would not miss seeing this crew for anything.
This year, Rich, Bill, and Corey all ran while Jill, Dave and I sat out and were official photographers and cheerleaders. Hopefully one of these years we will ALL run at the same time. We love this tradition and we will go back as many times as we have to to make that happen :
We were also lucky enough to see family on our trip to Disney. Grandpa and Grandma Gordon met us in Orlando and spent some much needed time with Spencer. Spencer also got to meet Cousin Marissa for the very first time.
As short as we were on time, we even managed to spend half the day at Universal on Saturday allowing us to use our vouchers we received from last years trip. After having our traditional lunch at Margaritaville, we headed straight to Harry Potter World! VERY crowded but VERY cool. We covered a lot of ground in 4 hours but after being up since 4am we all called it night and had our last dinner together at Hard Rock.
The next morning we were up bright and early packing the car to beat the snow that was meeting us in GA. Another great year in Disney. It really never gets old :-)
SNOWCATION 2011:
At first it was beautiful seeing all the snow but once the ice came it all became less of a joy and more of a pain. We were stuck in the house until Thursday! The city was literally shut down. Doctors offices, malls, fast food chains, mail service, you name it, it was CLOSED.
We closed out January 2011 with a BANG! We celebrated Bill's 40th Birthday a week early with a Surprise Party that I had been planning for months! It was a blast! More to come from that awesome night.
