I never got around to getting a family photo worthy of printing on a card, and with moving into a new house at the end of September, prepping our old house for renters, planning Ally's birthday party, being sick for a solid month, and Christmas preparations, I didn't make time for it. So this is what my few faithful readers and family get this year. Unless I pull together a New Year's card..... Outlook not so good....
Highlights from 2010:
Highlights from 2010:
- JANUARY - With Ally now 3 months old we felt more brave to take a roadtrip to Flagstaff to play in some snow. Maddy LOVED sledding and building a snowman, despite the crustiness of the snow. Ally basically froze and fell asleep.
- FEBRUARY - I believe this month was the official confirmation that we now owned our 2nd house. Thus began the loooong planning and remodeling process that we will likely never undertake again...I hope!
- MARCH - Easter egg hunts and pretty spring dresses! Nothing newsworthy really happened this month....
- APRIL - Maddy turned TWO!!! We had a couple celebrations for her. One that combined with Easter dinner at my parent's house and another where we invited Dan's side of the family, complete with cousins and pseudo-cousins that took part in the pizza and cupcake eating. She officially loves anything and everything having to do with PARTIES and talks about them often.
- MAY - Fun at the park almost everyday, with Ally sitting and standing better Maddy had a much anticipated playmate, pool and fountain fun at Gma and Gpa Rogers', and the girls' first trip to the Zoo!
- JUNE/JULY - The highlight of June was my sister coming to visit with her son Connor and the cousins getting reacquainted. The visit was full of giggles and play time. Our upstairs a/c was busted for about 5 days and pictured are the girls having to nap downstairs on the floor. Fortunately we were able to stay a couple nights at my parents' house to mooch their a/c and also maximize cousin bonding. In July, the highlight was Dan's sister and her 3 kids coming to town from Oregon. We made sure to have lots of cousin time and Maddy and Ally had their first movie theater experience. Although most of Ally's experience was spent with me in the hall, Maddy loved it all and is a great movie watcher! More progress was being made on the home remodel with the arrival of ALL 30+ boxes of cabinets arriving at our Plana house because Dan wasn't going to be ready to install them at the new house for another week or so and didn't want them left in our vacant house. That was a fun delivery day....and removal day.... But with the help of family and friends the cabinets made it on the wall! (And they are still up even with dishes inside and everything! Way to go Dan!) And a few pictures are thrown in the mix to show how my girls are growing up too fast!
- AUGUST/SEPTEMBER - The main focus of these two months was getting the house ready for moving in. After passing several "goal dates" of when we hoped to complete the remodel, we had now reached the end and had finalized our decision that we would in fact move to the new house and we needed to get it move-in ready. Beyond all the remodeling projects and getting the kitchen tile, counters, appliances, etc., etc. installed, we also needed to repaint EVERYTHING to get it ready to be re-carpeted, which was the last step before move-in. Oh and in addition to all of that, we had to pack, and move, and unpack. This was NOT an easy time for us, but all I can say is we survived and moved into a wonderful new home! Now if the projects will ever end to complete the house, then we can really relax and enjoy it.... sigh... (pictures to come in a later post)
- And on a side note. I found Ally sleeping very uncomfortably in her crib one day, I did end up pulling out her legs, despite concern for waking her up, and then later went to get her out of bed and she was sitting up for the first time on her own enjoying the view! Another night I came home from doing something and instead of kids dressed for bed, I found a scene from "Where the Wild Things Are" in my family room. And lastly, Maddy got to go to a princess birthday party for her friend Brynlie who turned 4. She had a ton of fun even though she was lacking a princess dress. I tried to make her look as fancy as a 2 yr old could :)
- OCTOBER - Still getting settled in to our new house, but the first weekend of October came up quickly. That was when we had our big party for Ally's first birthday! It turned out well, aside from the cake pops melting before we had a chance to eat them, and of course the last minute decorating, etc. but it was fun, and Ally had fun and that was the most important thing. However, until I have a group of kids to entertain, I'm pretty sure I won't be doing parties at the park anymore. Then of course came Halloween. My mom, being the amazing seamstress she is, whipped up two pumpkin costumes for the girls that turned out so cute! The girls got to show them off at our new ward's Fall Festival, but we never went trick or treating. Maddy enjoyed opening the door to the trick or treaters, until some adults in full on gory costumes showed up and freaked her out a bit.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER - We visited Santa at Bass Pro Shops in mid-Nov and it was great! No long lines or crowds! I highly recommend it! The girls love seeing all the animals and fish and Maddy even got to make an ornament and eat free popcorn. Good times! We enjoyed Thanksgiving at the Rogers' house which was my first time home for the holiday in at least 3 years. Per tradition for the MacKinlay family, we usually had a bonfire on Christmas Eve, this year we kicked off a new tradition and gathered at Dan's brother's house, had a delicious Mexican feast and had our fire in their firepit outside enjoying the view of the mountains. Christmas was 3 celebrations in one day, with our own in the morning, then driving to the Rogers' in Scottsdale to spend the day, and coming back to spend the evening with Dan's parents and aunt. We had a lot of fun especially with Maddy getting more into the magic of it all!
We hope everyone had a warm and Merry Christmas! Best wishes for a blessed and memorable 2011!