We started off last year right by having a fun New Year's Eve party that included lots of family, friends, fun, and food! It was quite a blast!
In January, we made some blankets with the kids for Project Linus, a group that gives them out to the needy. We had heard about a program from Disney that if you give a day of service, you get a free ticket to Disneyland. You had to be at least 6 years old to help, so our oldest four kids each made a blanket, along with David and I, and donated them in order to qualify for the tickets. We had a great time, and the kids worked really hard on them!
In February, we took the kids to the circus when it came to town, and all really enjoyed it! David even got called down from the audience to "help" the clown do a little something - it was pretty funny!
In March, for our anniversary, we used some free airline tickets we got last year for being bumped, to go to Washington DC. Neither of us had ever been there before, and it was great fun to see all the historic sites, and also to visit with David's sister, Debbie, and her family.
We now interrupt this post for a couple of gratuitous pics of two of the cutest and sweetest boys ever...
Now really, was that not the cutest ever? ☺
Anyway, back to the "year in review"...
Beginning in April, we started something that pretty much dominated our time for the next several months, (and, truth be told, still manages to take a fair amount of our time even now)...we opened a restaurant! David has always wanted to own his own restaurant for many years, and had been doing a lot of research on what it would entail. He enlisted the help of his best friend, Clint, and we came up with the concept of a burger & fries place that came to be called Buster Burger. We also added to it TCBY frozen yogurt as a co-concept all in the same place. We started construction in April and by mid-June, were up and running.
In addition to all of that, we also managed to log many hours of children's activities that kept us on the go...
In August, we went to a Marchant family campout and camped out in the meadow with Grandpa & Grandma, and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had fun roasting marshmallows, playing games, cooking in Dutch ovens, playing games, going on hikes, target shooting, singing songs around the campfire, and mostly just being together as a family.
The fall consisted of lots of planting and landscaping, field trips, time with cousins, playing outside, trick-or-treating, and enjoying the beautiful weather!
In November, David left Mrs. Fields' corporate, after having worked there for ten years, and took another job with Futura Industries to run their IT department. So far, he has really liked it, and enjoys the change with new challenges and opportunities.
At the beginning of December, we were finally able to take our long-awaited trip to California to visit Disneyland and Legoland! It was the perfect time to go, as the weather was gorgeous, and there were not many other people there. We rented a two bedroom condo to stay in that was not far from Disney. One room was full of bunkbeds, and all the kids had a spot in there together, so it was like a slumber party every night. We went to Legoland first and spent a day there, then it was on to Disneyland the next day. Then we headed back home in order to be back in time for choir and orchestra concerts for the kids. It was a short, but awesome, family vacation!
Christmas was coming right up within a couple of weeks of us getting back from vacation, so it was a good thing the kids had done such a great job helping put up the tree and decorations before we left. Christmas morning, even though four of the six kids had come down with a fever and a cough, we still managed to enjoy the time together sharing gifts and hanging out together. We sent the kids on a scavenger hunt all over the house that finally ended in the garage where there was a new trampoline! They were so excited and the weather was so nice, that they insisted on setting it up that day, so we did! The rest of the day we relaxed and let the kids play with their gifts.
Well, that pretty much wraps up 2010... it was definitely a busy and fun year!
Here's hoping that 2011 is just as great, with many more good times to come! Happy New Year!
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