2011 in Review

2011 was a great year for us. Here are some highlights:

• We watched as Zander learned to crawl, take his first steps, and finally walk.
• Devin and I went on a week long cruise to Mexico with the entire Merrill family. Para sailing, zip lining, snorkling, scooter riding, and just pure relaxation and fun. We also learned that we can survive a week long vacation without our baby although we were pointing out all the kids and babies we saw during the week. 
• Devin graduated from Central Arizona College with an Associates Degree in Business. 
• Zander turned 1!
• Devin and I both got new jobs which we love.
• We bought a new family car. It fits 8 so it should last us a long time.
• The IPad - our lives will never be the same. 
• I got released from primary only be called back within 2 months.
• Jason & Lauren's wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. 
• We learned that Zander has curly hair. He is absolutely a mini Lisette with Devin's outgoing personality and love for electronics. 
• Celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary with a weekend getaway to Flagstaff.
• Devin is now the 2nd counselor in the Young Mens presidency. 
• All of our friends moved out of Johnson Ranch, but we reunited in Utah for a long weekend together. 

I'm excited to see what 2012 has in store for us. Maybe a new baby? New house? Some awesome trips? New friends? Devin continuing with his education? Spending quality time with family? We shall see. 

Zander loves Elmo. Can you tell?

19 Months Old

Is constantly jibber jabbing and we have no clue what he is saying half of the time. He added some new words to his vocabulary including eyes, Mimi, no, Papa, nose, Brobee (from Yo Gabba) , Nana. * Celebrated his 2nd Christmas & now is the proud owner of 3 Elmos and a bike. * He's been teething this month. Lots of drool and sticking his fingers into his mouth. Those teeth need to come in already! *Zander does the cutest head nod and smirk as we turn on his favorite tv show. I like to think he is saying, "oh yeah" * Mimics everything we do. He saw Devin bite me, so he bit me. He folds his arms, bows his head, and prays to himself after we do it. Good and bad, we have to watch what we are doing. * Is obsessed with stacking and lining up things - remotes, blocks, shoes, crayons. * Loves watching tv and movies, but is not a good movie theater watcher. We have to start leaving him with a sitter when we go to the movies otherwise one of us ends up in the hall. * Rode a horse for the first time and I've never seen a bigger smile on his face. *He can open the doors in our house thanks to our fancy door handles. One day I was looking for something in the kitchen and thought it was too quiet. When I called for Zander and started searching the house, I noticed the front door was open. Just as I went outside one of the neighbors was coming up the drive to ask if I had a baby because he was running down the side walk. As I look down the sidewalk, there he is with no pants or shoes on running down to Kylie's house. Needless to say, we keep the front door locked all the time now. *

Back Where It All Began...

I was cleaning out my emails and found these pictures of Devin and I from when we first started dating in 2005. We look so young and happy in love!

Our little mini mes - Zander and Kylee

Zander and I got to meet up with my friend Randi and her kids for lunch. Randi is my good friend from high school who I like to think helped me come out of my shell. Yes - I was even more quiet and shy back then. Oh the days of Apache Junction High. French class with Mademoiselle Setliff, listening to NSync and Backstreet Boys, cheering Randi on at her basketball games, and getting into mischief toliet papering the high school. It's crazy to think that it's been 10 years already! It was great to catch up.

Chef Boyardee in Training

I am in no ways a good cook. I have my rotation of dishes I make on a weekly basis and more times than not, we eat cereal for dinner. My brother has mentioned to me that he's surprised that I'm not a good cook since I'm good at so many things. I don't know how I missed the mark at cooking. One thing I can make is grilled cheese sandwiches. It's my all time favorite. For this reason I was so excited to get a panini maker and panini cookbook for Christmas. I can make fancy grilled sandwiches now! I made our first panini for dinner and it was delicious. Chicken, bacon, cheese, avocado, and tomato on sour dough bread. My mouth is watering thinking about it.

Christmas

I love that we live so close to our families, but it can also make for a crazy holiday trying to coordinate schedules. This Christmas we opted to spend Christmas morning at home opening gifts and eating breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Wooskie. Zander got a Radio Flyer scoot bike from Santa and a Yo Gabba Gabba radio, Elmo pjs, Magna Doodle, and puzzles from us.

After breakfast, we headed to the Merrills to open gifts and eat another breakfast. They spent the morning feeding the homeless in Phoenix like we've done the previous two years. Santa (aka Mamma Merrill) always out does himself each year. I got an awesome panini maker and cookbook. Devin got a camping lounge chair and tools to finally start a tool kit for himself. Zander got more Elmo and Yo Gabba stuff. He is in absolute heaven with all his new stuff.

After the Merrills, we headed back home to finish the evening with the Powells and Mum & Al. We had a delicious dinner and then enjoyed football, watching Zander dance, and remembering why we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Eve

It's tradition to spend Christmas Eve with the Merrill side of the family. Devin's Aunt Julie invited us all to their family farm in Mesa. We ate Mexican food, rode horses, took a hayride, and enjoyed s'mores by the fire.

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward had a breakfast Christmas party complete with decorating cookies, making cards, crafts, and Santa. We thought we would give Santa another try, but Zander had the same response when he saw him last week. I'm not sure why Zander doesn't like Santa. He's big and red just like his favorite pal Elmo. The candy cane didn't persuade him either. I guess we will try next year.

Oh Christmas Tree

We finally have a Christmas tree and it's 10 feet tall! I guess one perk of waiting until the week before Christmas to get a tree is that the lot wants to get rid of them and we got a great deal on this one. It was an adventure trying to decorate it and get the star on the top, but I think it ended up beautiful. I love the smell of pine lingering through the house. I just have to keep an eye out for little fingers who want to take the decorations off of it.