Goodbye, 2011

2011 was definitely a great year for us. We got to watch our sweet daughter grow another year bigger (while we ourselves just felt another year older :)). And now, the annual "2011 in Pictures" Edition of the Jackson Blog!

2011 started out snowy! We had a great snow storm that Elise was so excited to play in. Unfortunately, Mommy had NOT planned ahead, and didn't buy snow boots. So we didn't get to play in it long, but Elise still had a great time (incidentally, I DID plan ahead this year and got her a snow suit with boots--and it hasn't snowed hardly at all!)

Speaking of boots, Elise had some big ones to fill when she cruised around the house in Daddy's boots. He celebrated the end of his probation with the Fire Department in August and still loves it as much today as he did when he first started.

Elise had a great time with Baby Link this year--they fight over their Mammy and Popa--but they play well together when they're not vying for their attention!

Speaking of babies, we were all very excited when Amanda and Rob announced the pending arrival of Baby Foster on Mother's Day! The annual Mother's Day pic has added one more grandchild (more on that later!)

A milestone for Elise: big girl bed! She transitioned really well and enjoys her big girl bed. Strangely, in order to feel "tucked in" these days, she wants the covers over her head. This made Mommy nervous at first, but if we don't do it, she pulls them up herself, and we haven't seemed to have any problems, so... I guess I'll choose my battles!

Mommy and Daddy both had their 10 year class reunions this year (see, feeling old). This pic was taken at Mommy's Family Picnic for the reunion, which was on 4th of July weekend. Elise was dolled up and definitely made Mommy proud.

Another big milestone for Elise: after SEVEN MONTHS of trying (and figuring out we probably started too early), Elise finally had 7 days in a row with no accidents, earning herself the awesome "castle" we'd had packed in the garage for most of those seven months. Make no mistake: she wasn't fully "trained" yet--it took a few more months for her to be to a point that we weren't having to count the days between accidents because they were so infrequent!

We took our first "just us" family vacation to Branson in September. We had so much fun that it will definitely become a semi-annual tradition! We stayed at Castle Rock Inn in Branson (indoor water park and bunk beds for Elise), went to SDC, and checked out the Butterfly Palace.

December 11, 2011, we were able to find out that "Baby Foster" was a baby boy! John Jackson Foster (Jack) took a while to get here, but we were all very happy to finally meet him.

Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen to our little family in 2011: we found out there was going to be another Baby Jackson arriving in 2012! We had been trying for a few months, but we were still surprised when we saw the + sign on the test! I am now 12 weeks along, and really excited to hear the heartbeat on Friday!

Our parting shot for 2011, my personal favorite photo of the year: Elise, driving a car while wearing a cowboy hat and pouring tea. It makes me smile every time I see it (I have it running on a slideshow at work)--and it reminds me just how blessed I am to have this little girl in my life!

God's Blessings to you and yours in 2012!