A Look Back At 2011

As I reflect back on 2011 I am overwhelmed with joy! As usual, God blessed us immensely with a wonderful year of health, love, peace, new marriages, babies and much more. Our year started off on a great foot with Lorenzo proposing to my sister, Carrie, on New Years Day...she said "Yes!" We were so excited about their upcoming marriage. Mom, Carrie and I quickly started the plans for their wedding. In January we went to a Bridal Expo and shopping for Carrie's wedding dress. We celebrated Brian, Debra and Jen's birthdays and excitedly awaited the arrival of our newest nephew with a baby shower.

In February we celebrated my Dad's birthday with a nice lunch. We had fun this year on Valentines day on a date with my two Valentines, and our niece Raegan had a birthday. Clay also played in the WHS alumni baseball game, and we had fun cheering on the old guys - ha.

March was a month full of birthday celebrations! We celebrated the birth of our nephew McCoy, who is the sweetest baby. Oh how he melts my heart. We also celebrated Clay's Mom's birthday and my birthday too.

We were all kinds of busy with fun celebrations in April. We celebrated our god daughter's 12th birthday, and John's birthday. Our good friend Mary got married (and is now expecting a baby girl). We celebrated Palm Sunday with a special children's moment during our Worship service. Lillian got to meet the Easter Bunny and went to several egg hunts. At one of them she even got to meet Minnie Mouse. We made our first trip to the beach for the year, and celebrated my sister's birthday with our annual Mexican fiesta and putt putt. We had our annual Easter Sunday service, lunch and egg hunt. Clay's Aunt Sandra and Uncle Greg rented a house on the island, and we enjoyed spending several evenings with them.

In May we celebrated Mother's day with a luncheon at our home with our Mom's. We went to our nephews closing program at school...they made us so proud. Clay went fishing...a lot. Our SIL Amanda celebrated her birthday (she's expecting a baby girl too). We had a fun memorial day weekend on the beach and cooked out at our house, and we celebrated our nephew Fisher's 4th birthday.

In June we continued to spend every chance we could on the beach...and boy do we have a beach girl on our hands. It's hands down her favorite place to be (just like her Momma). In May we found lots of starfish on the beach, rode amusement rides, went on a weekend trip to Columbia for my cousin Shannon's wedding and baby shower's for my two cousin's, Holly (and Kris) and David (and Laura). We celebrated my Dad and Clay on Father's day. Clay continued to go fishing in June, and was usually pretty successful.
July 4th brought lots to celebrate...we spent the day on the island with a parade and on the beach, then ended things with fireworks that night. We spent a fantastic week at the beach house with our family from Nashville, and just like usual it was a highlight of the year. The week started off with a couple's shower for Carrie and Lorenzo and every other day was spent lounging on the beach and hanging out. Lillian went to the movie theater for the first time to see Winnie the Pooh.In August we celebrated Clay's (and his brothers) birthday with a dinner at their Mom's house. We continued the birthday celebration with a weekend trip to Atlanta. Clay, Lillian and I stayed with Clay's Aunt and Uncle and got to visit the Aquarium, go to a Braves game and have lots of quality time with family. We celebrated my Papa's birthday, Lillian visited the dentist for the first time and got a great report, and Clay caught a Marlin.

September was another month full of birthday celebrations. First we celebrated Lillian's 2nd birthday with a backyard bash with all of Lillian's friends and family. The next day we celebrated my Mom's birthday with lunch at Caledonia. We spent our Labor day on the beach and then at the Pelican's baseball game to watch our god daughter's cheer squad perform. We also celebrated our niece Caroline's 3rd birthday and our nephew Reed's 4th birthday. Carrie and Kiki took Lillian to the circus for the first time, and we celebrated Aunt Kay's birthday with a nice dinner at the River Room.

I hosted Carrie's bridal shower at our home in October, and with their wedding quickly approaching we were very busy with all the wedding plans. Lillian visited the salon for her first "professional" hair cut, visited many pumpkin patches and we attended as many Fall festivals as we possibly could. Lillian was Minnie Mouse for Halloween and quickly got the "trick or treating" thing down. That girl discovered her love for candy. :)

We spent the first week in November at the beach house were the wedding was held, and what a nice treat that was. We spent the first several days enjoying the house and our surroundings and then got busy setting up everything for the wedding. On Nov. 4 Carrie and Lorenzo became husband and wife at an intimate beach wedding with their closest family and friends. We continued the celebration at the beach house with a pool side reception. It was the highlight of our year! We love Lorenzo so much, and are so glad he is officially part of our crazy family.

We made a quick trip to Columbia with my Dad so the guys could attend the USC vs. Florida game and Lillian got to meet the mascot Cocky and the cheerleaders. It was awesome! We celebrated Thanksgiving with our families and had our family oyster roast. Believe it or not we had days warm enough to still visit the beach...and you know that just makes us girls so happy.
Since you just heard what we've been up to in December I won't make this long post even longer. 2011 has been a great year, and we are truly blessed beyond measure. We look forward to 2012 and all that it brings. Happy New Year to you!