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Happy New Year from my crazy family to yours! ;) We wish you a Snuggie 2011 filled with comfort, warmth, and love! This is how we brought in 2011.
I can't believe how little I blogged in 2010. So, I wanted to make up for it, since we really did do a lot. Let's hope I am a better blogger this year, because these Year in Review posts were a lot of work.
January
-Kings-Suns game at Arco Arena. Fun game on a school night. Abigail actually had to do homework during half-time. Although, I am a Kings fan, I found myself taking way too many pics of Steve Nash. ;) Kings lost 113-109. Shocking, I know.
-I also turned 40 in January. Whatever. In true Michelle-fashion, I turned one day into an entire weekend of celebration. We went to Berkeley and San Francisco. We had tea at Crown & Crumpet, walked the Golden Gate bridge, shopped Ikea and Fourth Street, and enjoyed the weekend together.
My mom also took me out for coffee, shopping at Target, and she even brought me my favorite....an ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins. Yum.
-I got a chance to take a couple of pics of my girls....in the Raley's parking lot.
-I also worked on some projects for Winter CHA.
February
-Abigail won the 5th grade City Spelling Bee.
-Hailee won the 8th grade City Spelling Bee.
-We worked on the 5th grade fundraiser for Camp Green Meadows. Our school put on a spaghetti dinner and made loads of money. Too bad it wasn't enough for the kids to go all week. :(
-We took some Valentine's Day pictures. Once at a park. Once on the steps of the courthouse museum.
-The girls celebrated Valentine's Day at school. Hailee brought cards to her friends and teachers. Abigail exchanged cards with her classmates.
-I actually blogged about February happenings here and here.
-The girls had a week off in February, so we roadtripped with Wayne. We left for Reno on Valentine's Day, then went on to Salt Lake City, UT the next day. The girls and I rented a car and went on an adventure, while Wayne had to work in Idaho. We went to the Hogle Zoo, shopped in downtown and at some of my favorite stores, and had a yummy little lunch at Mini's Cupcakes.
-We then headed south through Orem and Provo to St. George for the night. Wow! It is so beautiful in St. George! The next day we went from St. George through Arizona to Las Vegas for lunch & cupcakes, then back into Arizona to see the Hoover Dam, then back through Las Vegas to go home. Oh my! It was a VERY LONG DAY!
-We didn't take the dam tour, but we parked in the dam parking lot, shopped in the dam gift shop, and Wayne bought us the smallest dam sodas we've ever had. ;)
March
-Abby received two awards at school.
-Grandma turned 92 and we went to visit her.
-We had our first of two Harry Potter parties for the year. I blogged about it here.
-Abby had her BEST DAY AT SCHOOL EVER! Because she sold the most tickets for the fundraiser in February, she won a contest at school. Not only did she get to smash a cream pie in her teacher's face, she got to smash one in her principal's face as well. She was encircled by all of the kids in her school and they were chanting her name as she threw the pies. It was awesome!
-We took a quick day trip to San Francisco.
-The girls received their Spelling Bee awards at the school board meeting. We went for yogurt after to celebrate.
-I made the girls a special green breakfast on St. Patty's Day. Wayne was out of town, but we were lucky to have a traditional Irish dinner over at a friend's house. :)
April
-Made the girls a sweet, mini April Fools' breakfast. Tootsie roll and caramel bacon and white chocolate + a mini m&m eggs. Yum!
-The girls were on Spring Break. We colored Easter eggs at my mom's house. We hosted Easter at our home this year. I wish we took a group photo of Easter. All my snapshots are AWFUL. :(
-Quick day trip to San Francisco with my mom. Sadly, I had my camera on a different setting and I haven't converted the pics over.
-Abigail's Camp Green Meadows field trip.
-Hailee participated in what I would like to call Nerd Fest (math competition) at Fresno State.
-The girls and I attended the Courthouse Tea.
-I helped organize the Father-Daughter dance. This year's theme was Retro Dance. Couples could wear clothes from 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s. Wayne, Hailee, and Abigail wore groovy clothes.
May
-The girls and I attended a Mother's Day luncheon hosted by my friend Tracy.
-Abigail participated in a swim meet.
For Mother's Day, we went to Pacific Grove. I blogged about that here.
-Abby won a Writing Festival Award.
-We attended both girls' open houses at school. Hailee won an award.
-Both of the girls had field trips. Hailee went to UC Davis and Abigail went to the Challenger Learning Center.
-We attended my nephew Brandon's high school graduation.
-Abigail got contact lenses. I blogged about that here.
-I took some pictures of Hailee for her graduation invites.
June
-We canned some pickles, jalapeno jelly, and salsa.
-Abigail received a couple of awards.
-Hailee graduated from 8th grade. I posted about her here.
-We took a major roadtrip! Our almost-two week roadtrip went sort of like this: Oregon, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, back home to California. Highlights included another Father's Day for Wayne in Seattle, Pike Place Market, the first Starbucks, Archie McPhee's, the gum wall, cupcakes, Pacific Science Center, a major side-roadtrip to Port Angeles, Forks, and La Push, Washington (Twilight fans rejoice!), beautiful views of the Columbia River, swimming at the hotels, shopping downtown Boise, and Brazilian dining. Lowlights included hours and hours in the car, night after night in hotel rooms, and some ugly sights too.
-The four of us went to see the midnight premiere of Eclipse. We also went to our friend's Eclipse party. She decorated her home beautifully. We were so excited to be included!
July
-No sooner than we walked in the door from our vacation, we rolled up our sleeves and started on the girls' new rooms. They have shared a bedroom and playroom for years. We split them up into their own rooms.
-We celebrated a very low-key 4th of July at home. Still very exhausted from our trip and home improvements. Mom and grandma came over to help us celebrate.
-Wayne turned 40. What better way to celebrate than to hang out in Monterey for the day! We visited the lighthouse, had dinner, then cupcakes for dessert!
-Abigail turned 11! She had a party the night before her birthday with her grandparents. The next day she had a small party at home with some friends. They played wii, painted birdhouses, had cupcakes, and enjoyed seeing each other in the middle of summer!
-We went bowling with friends.
-We took an overnight trip to Sacramento. We hung out in Old Sac.
-Wayne and the girls worked out in the garden. Such a beautiful and plentiful bounty it produced over the summer!
August
-We celebrated the end of summer with a couple of nights in Monterey. On the way home, we stopped at Mission San Juan Bautista. Such a beautiful mission.
-Hailee started high school. Abigail started middle school. I blogged about that here.
-Abigail made the volleyball team at school. She practiced everyday afterschool till 5 p.m. for weeks.
-Hailee turned 14! I took her and her buddy Noelle to see Vampires Suck. Believe me. It did. ;( Then we had cake and ice cream with Noelle. We then went to dinner at PF Changs in Fresno. Yum. The next day was her actual birthday and she wanted the two of us to make homemade red velvet cupcakes. Oh my! They were the yummiest cupcakes ever. It felt like a science experiment making them, but SO worth the effort. Afterwards, she opened her gifts. Even though we didn't give her a party, I had to decorate a little.
September
-September is usually a pretty calm month for us. We are already into our new schedules and have very few activities. Ahhhh....finally.
-Abigail was busy with volleyball.
-My mom celebrated a birthday this month.
-Hailee had her first homecoming experience. She was a candidate for Homecoming Countess. The girl smiled ALL WEEK LONG. We all went to watch her in the homecoming parade walk with the Key Club.
October
-I was smart enought to blog about everything we did in October here! WooHoo!
-I also posted about our Halloween decor here.
November
-We went to Monterey for the day to take our Christmas card photo. I blogged about that experience here.
-The four of us went to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. It was on a school night and we had a difficult time waking up in time for school the next day. What bad parents. ;) We LOVED the movie and Wayne stayed awake through most of it.
-We hosted our second Harry Potter party of the year. I really tried to kick it up a notch or two. I am so grateful for all the contributions of our guests! In addition to the yummy foods that were brought, our friend Lora (ahem, Dolores Umbridge) made elaborate drinks for our guests, added to my Hogwarts table a spectacular potions cabinet, cited the other guests (as only Umbridge would do), and loaned me tablecloths & candelabra decorations. You rock, Lora! Our friend Carol (Professor Trelawney) made the biggest, most awesome witches' brooms/treat bags for all of our guests! I had different stations throughout our home and am so grateful for a wonderful husband (Mad-Eye Moody) who helped and supported me tremendously. He recorded Moaning Myrtle's voice and had it playing in the Prefects' bathroom. Totally creepy. He made all of the wands in Ollivander's Wand Shop. He is awesome.
My crazy family: Professor Sprout, Mad-Eye Moody, Luna Lovegood, and Hermione Granger.
Trelawney and Umbridge
The THREE Hermiones.
A Golden Snitch with Luna.
Mad-Eye and Snape having a dark arts conversation, of course.
A Death Eater and a Goblin from Gringotts. Or is he Dobby? ;)
Why is Bellatrix hanging out with a Gryffindor student?
Professor McGonagall
The awesome treatbags. Thanks Carol!
Four buddies since FOREVER! :)
The entire crew. The majority of us went to the movies afterward...in costume. Because we're cool like that!
-We had thanksgiving over my mom's house. It was such a small and relaxing gathering. My in-laws joined us for dinner too! Dinner was yummy, but the main feature of Thanksgiving for us isn't the bird, but rather orchestrating our shopping plans for Black Friday. So. Much. Fun.
December
-Wow. What can I say about December? It was full...in so many ways. We packed so much fun, friends, family, love, giving, and activity into one month. There is NO WAY I can blog about everything we did in December. I can only share some highlights. :)
-Our trees
-The Christmas parade with grandma and mom.
-Watching Eclipse on Blu-Ray A LOT!
-Decorating giant gingerbread men with my in-laws.
-Making cookies and candy & having my cousin Misty join us.
-Seeing Christmas lights around town with my mom and Uncle Phil and presenting the sweetest lady ever with our award. Then heading over to Starbucks to warm up!
-A weekend in San Francisco & Berkeley. Christmas Tea at Crown & Crumpet, Kara's cupcakes, our first taco truck experience, shopping in Union Square, Bay Street, and Fourth Street, and having a blast together!
-A Christmas celebration at home with my mom.
-A Christmas celebration in Fresno with my in-laws.
-Christmas Eve with family in Manteca. Afterwards, a few of us drove over to a house that quite possibly had more lights than any we have ever seen.
-Christmas Day was filled with presents, love, good food, and plenty of relaxation!
