Friday, December 31, 2010

The Year in Review

The days are long but the years are short. I've read that somewhere before although I'm not sure where. They are words that resonate with me. As I sit here mourning the passing of the holidays and anxiously awaiting the next big fun event in our lives I force myself to stop and remember that life is made up of more than the holidays, birthdays and trips that pass us by. Life is the day to day. The breakfasts and dinners, the errands we run and the seemingly endless playing and story reading. It's in the fine details of daily life that memories are made.

This last year was a good one. We started off with a blizzard (or two) and Matthew had fun in the snow.

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In March we went out to Pittsburgh and visited Matt's old family home. His parents moved away from their a few years ago and going back brought back a lot of memories. We took Matthew to his first hockey game and one of the last ones in the old Mellon Arena.

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April brought us the first of one of our many trips to the beach. Fortunately for all of us Matthew was more enthused as the beach season went on. The first one didn't go so well.

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As a surprise for daddy for Father's Day we went to a Lehigh Valley Ironpigs game! Matthew had a blast and loved to watch baseball, even if it was a super hot day.

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Fourth of July found us in Ocean City, NJ with Sarah and Wayne which is our yearly tradition. Weather was beautiful and the beach and boardwalk was packed! It took us forever to get home but it was still a great day!

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July 9th came, as it does every year, and this year our little baby turned two and became less and less like a baby. I busied myself with his party and all the celebration to keep my mind off the fact that like I said earlier, those years go by so fast.

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Following Matthew's birthday was our third year of life without the twins. They're always in our hearts and never far from our minds and to celebrate them we released balloons at Matthew's party. We also let Matthew make an animal at Build a Bear.

In August came an always anticipated time of year, our annual trip to the Outer Banks. This year was an amazing time with friends and we are looking forward to next year's trip. One of the biggest highlights from last vacation is that Matthew learned to swim! He was so proud of himself and was a little fishy.

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This place...this place heals my soul.

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This kid? Yeah, he heals my soul too...

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Summer was full of all sorts of fun. Beach trips, strawberry picking, going to the zoo and playing with Pop-pop.

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The fall was a lot of fun too. We visited State College, PA where Matthew informed us not only was he going to school there, he was taking the bus. We got to meet Matthew's great-great Aunt's, which was a real treat!

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In November we went to the airport and picked up our beloved cousin Andy along with Uncle Jim and Aunt Charla. Matthew loved having Andy here and still talks about him a lot. We had a lot of fun. We visited DC, went to a lights festival, celebrated Grammy and Pop-pop's 50th Wedding Anniversary as well as Pop-pop's birthday! We also went to see the Liberty Bell and just spent some good time together. It was sad dropping them off at the airport and we miss them.

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The holidays were busy as holidays tend to be. We went to Kozair's Christmas Village and our annual trip out to Hershey park. We spent time with family and friends and were blessed by the life that we live. Matthew had an awesome Christmas. He was slightly overwhelmed but had a blast opening all of his gifts.

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It's been a wonderful year. I hope and pray this next year is just as fulfilling. And fun. And I hope all of you have a wonderful year as well.

Goodbye 2010!

2010 was a great year for our family full of lots of fun an adventures. I wish I had been better at blogging about them all but that does not good because as the old saying goes, you can't turn back time.

It is part of my new year's goals to be better with blogging in the next year. One day soon I'll catch you all up on what's been going on here. We had a great holiday and have spent a fun week together. Matt's company closes between Christmas and New Year's so he's getting lots of good quality time with us. He even said the other night after putting Matthew to bed that he has a new respect for me after dealing with an energetic two year old all day. Not that Matthew is a bad kid but he is two which seems to be a constant battle between need need need and "I do it yaself!" (which is how Matthew says he would prefer to do things on his own.

Well that's all the time I have for now. We are having a little party tonight, just the three of us. We're going to make party foods and play some games and celebrate all the good that came this year while looking forward to all the blessings our way in the new year! This year our family has a wedding and someone (no, not me) is expecting a baby!! But that's not my news to share.

In closing I'll leave you with this saying from Edith Lovejoy Pierce: "We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

God bless you all and I hope you all have an amazing 2011!