Welcome 2013!

Welcome 2013!  Maybe this year I will be a more diligent blogger (probably not, no promises).  I have not even blogged about Laykin’s birth – which will be coming after this post.  I wanted to do a recap of our exciting events of 2012.  What a great year it was!  Here is our month by month breakdown, complete with pictures of 2012.

January

What a way to start the year with a second trip to Hawaii.  Ty was older this year and loved playing in the sand with his cousin, Annabelle, and his aunts and uncle.  My favorite part of Hawaii included “learning” to surf, paddle boarding, and the road to Hana.  Even though I will probably never do the road to Hana again, it was fun to do it a second time.  The road to Hana is an ALL DAY driving trip, but the stops are unlike anywhere else. 

Joe also began his MBA in January 2012.  His is now over half way through and doing amazing.  He has maintained a 3.9 GPA (with some writing assistance from his wife) and has worked very hard.  We are very proud of him and also excited for some new job opportunities that having an MBA degree will open up.

February

February was a fun and nerve racking month for us.  This is when I found out we were expecting Baby #2.  I was very nervous until our first ultrasound that confirmed the baby was in the uterus.  I was so grateful that this baby was not in my tube!  Not to mention the fact that I was able to get pregnant again was quite a miracle for us.

We also redid our basement.  I had been wanting to tackle the big white room forever.  We painted it tan, added an accent wall as well as a magnet board and a place to store my running stuff.  I love having a big basement with a workout area, toy area and office.

March

In March we went to the monster truck rally.  Ty could not stop talking about it.  After the final event I looked over to see a boy wearing a Grave Digger shirt crying.  Grave digger had lost and this little boy was quite upset!  I tried not to laugh.  Joe kindly reminded me of all the times I had cried over the Jazz losing.

April

In April we celebrated my 27^th birthday. Not much to report except I am another year older.

In April we were also able to help with the Save the Day for Gage.  I organized the race course and managed to get the Cadets to help us out.  Joe acted as the DJ.  We had such an amazing turnout and were so happy to help little Gage.  We raised a ton of money to help with the medical bills for Gage's brain cancer.  Gage is doing very well!  

May

May brought the opening of my business, Totally Tutoring Utah (www.totallytutoringutah.com).  This is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time but finally made the jump.  The business has been so challenging but so rewarding.  I currently employee 14 tutors.  I love tutoring!  This year I have helped countless students achieve a good score on the ACT, pass a math test, or learn how to read.

Our growth this year has been amazing, and I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to employ such amazing tutors and work with such great clients.  Tutoring is the most rewarding job because you are empowering students with knowledge.

I can’t say I was fully ready to run a business on my own.  From payroll, marketing, and even website design I have had a lot of ups and downs.  Thanks so much to all those people that have helped me make this goal a reality

June

We enjoyed outings to the zoo and on the parkway.  Ty started his summer program at preschool and had a hard time at first but enjoyed it.  It really prepared him for his new preschool.  We enjoyed swimming in Grandpa and Grandma shark’s pool.  This was Ty's first time on the Alpine slide and he loved it.

July

On July 5^th, we found out Baby was a Girl!  Much to Joe’s disbelief he asked the tech to “check again” followed by “are you sure?”  We love baby Laykin and July was a fun month we (I mean I) spent searching for baby girl clothes and items for the nursery.

We were also lucky enough to watch the Days of 47' rodeo in a suite.  Ty absolutely loved it and was convinced that the horse that lives by our house, sugar, was in it!

August

In August I was a bridesmaid at Brandie’s wedding.  Her wedding was beautiful and she was so PATIENT with pregnant sick me!  Initially, when she purchased my dress I did not know I was pregnant.  We had to purchase another dress for me and luckily I could still zip it up.  A day before the wedding I had to go to the hospital because I was so sick and losing so much fluid.  After a trip to labor and delivery some zophran and iv’s, I felt good enough to go to the wedding.  I lived off of peanut butter and crackers during the wedding and made it through. 

Ty enjoyed many summer days on the patio with Pa.

I was also able to attend a taping of the Voice in L.A. with my sister-in-laws.  It was so much fun.  We had a blast and I got to cross something off of my bucket list.  

September

Much to mine and Joe’s delight Ty began playing soccer.  Half the time he would sit and pick the grass.  Or run by and simply smile – not even paying a bit of attention to where the ball was.  We were proud little soccer parents when he scored his first goal and even prouder when he received his trophy at the end of the year.  Ty wants to play in the spring and we are already harping on him to kcik with his left foot!

We enjoyed a fun time in Midway over labor day weekend.  We played in Gram’s backyard and enjoyed the parade, booths, and food.

Ty began preschool at the Little Blue Schoolhouse.  He struggles some mornings to go but has had so much fun.  I can tell he is learning and even told me yesterday how to spell Dog.  Ty can recite the alphabet, count to twenty, and is starting to recognize colors.

We also took Ty to the fair.  He had so much fun riding the horses and monster trucks.  It was my first time ever at the fair and we enjoyed it!

October

We celebrated Ty’s 3^rd birthday at our house.  Ty had the most fun eating the cake and playing with his cousins.  Ty received some hulk gloves from my brother , a semi truck from Papa and Nano and a fire station from Grandma and Grandpa shark.

He also had a friend party at Jungle Jim’s the next weekend!

November

On November 25^th at 10:30 a.m. our beautiful baby Laykin was born.  I will reserve a whole post for this.

Joe also obtained his real estate license (this picture has nothing to do with it – but I really like it)

December

We really enjoyed the holidays with Laykin.  Santa made a special visit to Grandma and Grandpa Shark’s house.  Ty got a skateboard from Santa to which he exclaimed, “Oh my hell, Santa!”  (Oh dear!) Ty loved everything about Christmas and it was the best christmas present to watch him and to have Laykin join our family.

2012 was a wonderful year.  We look forward to many exciting things in 2013!