2011: The Year of Change

Have you ever had a year that leaves you completely different from the way you started? Like the year you have your first child. Or the year you graduate from college. Years that come in and shake things up, so that when you look around you, you barely recognize your life….

2011 was one of those years for our family.

There was so much change. So much adjustment.

Fortunately, most of the changes were good. 
We have been so blessed. 

Here are some of the things 2011 brought us:

-Tim finished his bachelors degree at the end of the previous year, and it was so nice to (finally) have him home more. It was a bit of an adjustment to add him into our nightly routine. I wasn’t used to having him home for dinner or getting any help putting the boys to bed. It was a change I was more than willing  to make.

- We went on a ridiculously fun vacation to California in January just the four of us (I was still pregnant with Madee). Despite being sick, we grew closer as a family and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

- We moved from Salt Lake City, to a much smaller suburb. We went from an old, tiny apartment to a large, new home. It was no secret that I loathed our apartment, especially the last couple of years we lived there. We were so ready to move into a house and have some space and a yard. We all really love our house and the area we live in. Living out of the city took some getting used to, but I'm not sure if I would ever go back. This area if perfect for our family.

-Tim switched to a shift at work with regular daytime hours (and got a promotion!). He had worked a graveyard shift for almost two years before. Before that he worked in the evenings. It had been over four years since he’s worked during the day. I looove it.


-My Grandma Bradshaw passed away. I still miss her... Probably always will. 

- We had Madelinn. This was by far our favorite event of the year. We love having a daughter. We love having three kids (even if it is a little overwhelming at times). 

-A few good friends moved out of state (and some moved out of the country). 

- We sold both of our cars and bought different ones. We transformed into mini van owners….

- My Grandpa fell right after Thanksgiving and broke his pelvis. He is currently in a care center. We’re not sure if he’ll be able to return to living at home with my Grandma (my Mom’s parents).

-My little brother, David, came home after being on an LDS mission for two years.

- Tim began teaching Chemistry for an online university (on top of his regular job).

- Tyler started Kindergarten. I still can’t believe he is old enough to be in elementary school. He is thriving and he loves school. His mom, on the other hand, is still getting used to it.


I've been thinking a lot about how we began this year and so many things are different now. We live somewhere new. Our family dynamic and schedule has changed drastically. The friends we spent much of our time with at the beginning of 2011, now live too far away to see with any sort of regularity. We lost my sweet Grandma, but have an adorable baby daughter. Throughout all of this adjustment, I feel like we're finally settling in and getting used to the changes 2011 dished out. I feel like we are where we need to be. I think we've been more blessed this year, than any year before. We are so happy to welcome 2012 and everything it brings, but I do hope some things stay the same. I look forward to watching my sweet kids grow a little bit more (but not too much). I look forward to (hopefully) reaching some of my own goals. My biggest goal for this year is to slow down a little and spend more quality time with the people I love the most.