2011 in a rather large nutshell

I was a big time slacker this year and did not send out a Christmas card. Perhaps that helped in motivating me to start this blog. Regardless, I thought I might find a few pictures that capture what the year 2011 looked like for the Scroggins'. At the beginning of the year Bronson was 16 months old and actively involved in "helping" mommy with house chores like laundry, sweeping and unloading dishes. For all you moms of young tots, you probably have an accurate image of what this help actually looks like ;).  Jeremy was getting excited about making a huge career change while spending his newly acquired "football is over" free time in the weight room,  and I was busy having tons of fun with my amazing Grandview MOTS group (Moms of Tots).  Bronson got to play in the snow for the first time that winter and although the spring was a very windy one, we enjoyed watching uncle Matt & daddy coach baseball on many Saturdays throughout the season.

Wine tasting, weekly "family dinners" with our close friends, the occasional BUNKO night, team dinners, walks to the park & the school filled up the warmer half of the spring and before we knew it it was time to start packing up our first owned home :'(.  It was unnaturally difficult for me to part with it, I have to admit. Crying in public settings is not my favorite past time, however it sure became a normal occurrence whenever the topic was brought up. UGH! Moving on... :)

*side note~ our tailgate broke & the truck overheated the day we  were loading up the lawn mower

This is just funny to me, however it was not funny at the time ;)

 After the move to Royal City, Jeremy's hometown, we made a quick trip to Seattle to visit my family and got to take Bronson to the Woodland Park Zoo for the first time. Great experience and I can't wait to take him again.

The summer flew past pretty quickly and in late July all 3 of us had the honor of being in our good friends Holly & Kyle Snell's wedding. Bronson did a  great job as a ring bearer and at 22 months old held his pillow and walked down the aisle without a glitch... The fact that Holly's adorable nephew Carter, just a year older than Bronson, was holding his hand the whole way may have had something to do with his success.

Bronson and Carter soaking up their moment in the spot light :)

Next on the agenda was Bronson's 2 year Birthday... WOW. That was a tough pill for me to swallow... and honestly at the time, it was hard for me to swallow anything being that I was around 13 weeks pregnant and still very, very sick. The birthday boy was spoiled and once again got to enjoy two birthday parties, one in Seattle and one in Royal. He better not get used to this, one day he will have to settle for just ONE party!

Bronson blowing out his candles at Grandma & Grandpa Scroggins house

I tried to put up a picture from his party at Auntie Nikki's house in Seattle, but the computer is not liking that idea for some reason. Needless to say, both were enjoyed by the birthday man. He got to play in the sprinklers, slide the slip n' slide, and participate in his first water balloon fight and Auntie Nikki made him a pixar "Car's" themed birthday cake. This cars fixation of his does not appear to have any intentions of going away...this may be the theme of choice for many birthdays to come.

Summer turned to fall and we spent many friday nights at the football field watching daddy help coach the Royal Knights and of course having a significant role in directing them into the play-offs.... *wifey brownie points, right??? *wink *wink. :) Bronson was a dinosaur for halloween and thoroughly enjoyed trick or treating. When you live in a small town, trick or treating is done a little differently... You drive from house to house, generally to good friends who give you full sized candy bars... this pregnant lady did not complain. It was funny to hear the little man in the back excitedly say "go to another house??!!" every time we'd pack him up.

pretty cute dino in this mommy's opinion

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family this year. It was a relaxed day with LOTS of food and watching football. Then that saturday we headed to Seattle for my sister Bonnie's bday. I haven't been able to celebrate with her for like 4 straight years or something ridiculous and I start to feel really out of the loop when I can't participate in any of my 4 sister's birthday celebrations (I understand it is a bit unrealistic to try to participate in every family event when you have 4 sisters and 8 nieces & nephews, however missing 4 years in a row for one sister is pushing it a bit). 

Thanksgiving day at Jeremy's grandparent's house....I look like a giant next to him, what  the heck?

December was a very full month and passed in a hurry. We started it off with Jeremy's work party at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum. What a beautiful place!

Saddle Mountain company Christmas party

 It served as a much needed getaway for Jeremy and I and Bronson enjoyed an overnight at Auntie Tisha's house. Being doted on by his three female older cousins is something he never tires of. Typical male ;) Jeremy spent the rest of the weekend watching the high school football championship games at the Tacoma dome, while Bronson and I spent time with Nana Kay, Bobop, aunties, uncles and cousins. He even got to participate in the downtown Kent Christmas parade. Later on in the month Jeremy, Bronson and I headed to Leavenworth and spent a little mini-vacay enjoying the little town's shops and pretty lights. 

In front of the pretty lights with my little man

Daddy and Bronson in the gazeebo

To get Bronson to smile for the picture Jeremy did this forced creepy laugh, which ended up making us all laugh pretty hard. I guess this is our go to method from now on.

Although traveling with a 2 year old is not necessarily my favorite thing to do, the trip was fun and we were really grateful to have that time with Bronson before baby sister gets here and steals the show. After our trip, Christmas smacked us in the face. We spent Christmas Eve with Jeremy's family and got to see ALL of his cousins on his mom's side for the first time in years. Bronson and his second cousin Darcy (just 5 weeks his senior) had a blast running around the house together. "Darcy!!!! Come ONNNNNNN!!!" was heard quite frequently, followed by a sweet "I'm coooooommmingggg". Wish I had pictures from that night, but I completely spaced. I think I'll be able to steal some from my mother in law. Earlier on Christmas Eve day we opened presents and Bronson was showered with "Cars" themed presents right and left. He now has several pairs of Lightening McQueen  jammies, slippers, stuffed animals, a talking chair, a hat,  a Mater bouncy ball, a remote control McQueen car and several small McQueen cars. I'm sure I'm forgetting other "Cars" items, but you get the picture. 

Bronson in his wagon from Grandma and Grandpa. The flash from another camera created a weird line, sorry!

Christmas Day we packed up and made the trip over the mountains to spend a few days with my family.  

Bronson and his cousin Teenie loving on each other

Bronson had a blast playing with all of his cousins. Trinity "Teenie" (I don't remember the last time someone actually called her Trinity) and Bronson are only 7 weeks apart and have a brother/sister type of relationship. They are pretty funny to watch, especially when they don't particularly agree on something.

My mom served goose! Never had goose before, so that was a fun first for me.

Christmas dinner at my parent's

We ended our trip by taking taking Bronson to a bouncy house in Auburn. He was a little nervous around the big kids but went down a couple huge slides all by his little self. Its weird watching your "baby" climb up a huge incline all alone and then come flying down at least 20 ft of inflated "steepness". One of those bitter-sweet moments that help you realize how big your baby really is.

Tense road trips, lots of family time, skipped naps, tantrums, football & food. That is what our holidays look like these days. I hope yours were enjoyable, even for those of you with little ones ;)