2009- A Year In Review

Since we didn't start this blog until the end of 2009, I thought I would blog about the highlights of what has happened over the course of this last year.

On March 8, Colin and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. Colin sent me this beautiful cookie bouquet and we went to dinner. He really is the best husband in the world and I feel so lucky to have him. It has been a wonderful 6 years!

In April, my niece Abby (aka Gabs), came to visit us for a week from Idaho. Abby is like me in many ways, so the big question was-would Colin be able to handle two of us?? We had such a great time. I took her to a New Kids on the Block concert in Manchester. She loved it. They were the first concert that I saw 20 years ago, and this was her first concert, so it felt like it was coming full circle. We also took her on a Duck tour of Boston although I am not sure how much of it she saw because she was too busy texting boys that she had met at our church a couple days before. Her uncle Colin couldn't figure out why she would rather text a boy than see the historical sights of Boston. Having been a teenage girl myself at one time, I understood. :) Those same boys ended up over at our house later in the week for a video game night. We also shopped and went candlepin bowling where you use little bowling balls and little pins. I think it is a New England thing because I haven't seen it anywhere except here. We went up to Maine to the coastline and as proof that she is my niece, we ate chicken fingers at a seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. Thankfully Colin had to work that day or he would have hung his head in embarrassment over us having chicken fingers at a seafood place instead of lobster. It was lots of fun.

In June we made a quick surprise trip to Oregon for Colin's mom's retirement party. We were successful in surprising her and his dad. This was a top secret mission- we didn't tell anyone for fear that it would get back to her. We flew into Portland the night before her party and stayed at a hotel outside of Hood River. I even emailed her from our hotel room the morning of her party telling her all the stuff I had planned for the day in New Hampshire and how busy Colin was at work and that we wished we could be there. She fell for all of it. It was so great to see the surprise on her face when Colin walked into her work with a big bouquet of flowers for her. We were only able to be there a couple of days, but we wouldn't have missed it for the world. Since Colin's parents are now retired, they decided to drive across the country in August and stopped at many places in various states along the way to our house. They spent about 10 days with us and we had a wonderful time. We went to the top of Mount Washington via the Cog Railway. We also went Vermont to see Colin's cousin and his family. We went to Maine one day and went to a seafood restaurant where Colin finally had someone to eat lobster with him-his mom! I of course had chicken fingers. :)

A few weeks after Colin's parents left in September, my friend Kimberly and her son Kaleb came to visit us from Utah. Kimberly and I grew up together in the same ward in Idaho and we hadn't seen each other in years. I took the week off work and played tour guide, and Colin also took a few extra days off work to go with us on some adventures. We showed them the White Mountains, went to a Red Sox game, visited the JFK library, walked the WHOLE freedom trail with Colin as our guide, hung out on the Maine and New Hampshire coastlines, saw Lexington and Concord, Salem, MA., and the Boston temple. It was a busy week! We also celebrated Colin's 35th birthday on October 2nd while they were here. Kaleb and Colin became great friends and Kaleb loved to play video games with Colin and just hang out. Colin even helped him with his math homework. In fact, Colin was such a hit with him that Kaleb wrote a paper about him when he got back to school. I would love to read that paper! We hope they will come visit us again!




In October Colin and I went to Maine for a weekend getaway. It was fun going into all the little shops and spending some time on the beach and just being with each other.



On Halloween day we went out and tagged our Christmas tree. We always tag our tree the first weekend that the tree farm is open, and this year that happened to be on Halloween. Colin always accuses me of picking out too big of a tree. Every year on the drive out to the tree farm he tells me how we need to get a smaller tree than we had the year before because last years was too big. I smile politely and nod and at the end of our adventure, we have tagged a bigger tree than the one we had the year before. It always happens this way. I don't know why he fights it. :)


We couldn't just skip Halloween without torturing Wally and Skittles by putting them in costumes. What can I say- when you don't have kids, you dress up your pets! They forgive you eventually!

In November we went to Idaho and Oregon for Thanksgiving. We flew into Lewiston and picked up my mom and drove to Colin's parents in Oregon for Thanksgiving. We all had a great time and ate lots of good food. We spent a few days in Oregon and then drove back to Lewiston. My niece Mahaley and her husband Mike had a little baby boy in September and we were able to be there for the blessing of little Braxtyn Dean Chapman. He is a doll! Even Colin, who claims children don't like him and vice versa, couldn't resist little Braxtyn's charm. I can't believe that I am a great aunt...just saying it makes me feel old! It was a lot of fun to spend time with my brother's family and my best friend Catrina. We don't get to see each other often so the times that we do spend together are special. Catrina took some family pictures of us and Jeff's family to give to my mom as a Christmas present. I will give those a post of their own.

When we got home from Idaho we only had a couple of weeks before Colin's parents would be flying out to spend Christmas with us. We cut down the tree we had tagged which was an adventure since it had snowed a few days before...lots of snow! Our tree was in one of the furthest spots away from where you park your cars at the tree farm. It's the same spot that we find our tree every year. What can I say-they grow them big in that section! We got the tree in the house and the lights on it and then we waited for Colin's parents to get here to decorate it. It is a beautiful tree.

Let the Christmas season begin!