Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Twelve?? I"m Supposed to Pick 12?!?!

Dwija has put a call out for posts which include 12 favorite photos from 2014.  Clearly Dwija doesn't know that I have taken thousands of photos this year alone, and choosing 12 would cause much angst and time and hand wringing and time and himming and hawing and time and did I mention time?

Luckily for you all, it's Christmas break and I require less sleep when I don't have to drive kids hither and yon each and every all day.  I was able to narrow the photos down to 12 photos highlighting the big events of our year.  

First up, the winter which shall not be named, because I don't ever want to hear those two words ever, ever again.  There was only one good day out of the entire winter.

Phoenix carrying a bootless Turken back to the house.
By March, the kids and I were fed up with the cold, so we packed up the van and headed south for Spring Break.  No reservations.  No definite plans.  We just drove on back roads until we saw something interesting or felt like taking a silly photo.  We took quite a few of them.


In April, my sister remarried. One of my brothers and my mom made the 10 hour drive and met up with my dad in Virginia for the wedding.  No kids.  No spouses.  I was surprised at how quickly grown adults can revert back to their childish ways when they travel with their parents.

It took us about 20 tries to get one in which we are both in the air at the same time.

I am behind the wheel of the van a lot.  I mean a lot a lot.  One of the few positives of the situation is that I get to see all sorts of beautiful sunsets and awesome views in the sky.




Bryan and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this summer by taking a trip of a lifetime to London and Paris.  I took hundreds of photos, some of them I really liked, but I'm posting the photo someone else took of us.  Partly because it is one of the few of the two of us, but mostly because I find it hilarious that we were photo-bombed by a double decker bus.




Ten days after our return, I finally had surgery to correct the spectacular disaster I made of my knee when I played soccer with my kids a tad too competitively.   Bryan took this photo of me when I was still completely doped up on pain meds and passed out in the middle of eating my cup of pudding.  I think it was to get back at me for calling him a bad driver on the way home from the hospital.


Please don't ask me why a Christmas pillow was out in the middle of July but was sitting in a box on Christmas Day.

Ten days after surgery, we took our 12th annual vacation with our high school friend and his family.  This year we spent the week at a lake in upper Wisconsin.



We only made it to the local pool one time this summer.




With the knee injury and subsequent 4 weeks of therapy, surgery, and 6 more weeks of therapy, the kids had to basically raise themselves and take care of me over the summer.  I felt terribly guilty about it, so instead of going to the state fair in August like we normally do, I surprised them with an afternoon at King's Island.. Who knew the park has such a fabulous area for younger kids??




How can I do a year-end wrap-up without mentioning soccer?  With 5 kids playing on 5 different teams, I can't.


Mine is the keeper.
It was the youngest's year for a special trip, and he wanted to go to the beach. I took him to Florida, where we stayed with a blogger friend for four full days.


That's my baby, approximately 30 feet in the air.
And because this year didn't have quite enough travel in it (That's a joke.  We never, ever travel this much in one year!), Bryan and I jumped at the opportunity to take a (remarkably cheap) trip to the Bahamas.  In December.  I still can't believe we did it.

The view from our hotel room.
Despite the minor calamities of dead pigs, broken bones, knee trauma, shredded car wires, and chicken mass murder, it's been a wonderfully fun year.

Thank you for being a part of it.

I pray your coming year is full of laughter and fun.  Take lots of photos!

If you'd like to join the link-up, head on over!



Have a lovely day!

23 comments:

  1. And a Mormon-loving double-decker bus, no less! :-)

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  2. And I've enjoyed being part of your year too. I remember all these things.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. Remarkable that this blogging thing has gone on so long that we remember situations from the entire year. I'm glad you've been a part of it. :)

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  3. Wow, your year was amazing! Oh to travel, to travel....

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    1. Well, we didn't have a baby and move, so we had a bit more time. :)

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  4. Crap! What the heck did I miss?! Chicken mass murder? Shredded car wires? Yowza!

    Hope you are doing well!

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    1. You missed bunches! Surprised? :)

      We are, thanks.

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  5. In spite of all the various calamities and injuries you certainly seem to have had a fun year - and that last photo just has to be one of my favourites :)

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    1. We did have fun. For sure.
      It's one of my favorites, too. Partly because that weekend went so fast, it seems like it was just a dream.

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  6. You really did have an eventful year!!

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  7. I can't believe you were able to narrow it down to 12! Your pictures are always awesome, especially the one you apparently forgot to include of you and me in Kansas City....

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    1. Me, either, actually.
      Don't think I didn't want to! Meeting you was most definitely a highlight of my year.

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  8. What a year! Love the double-decker bus photobombing your photo. I can't believe all you fit into 2014. I couldn't even handle the soccer games and practices. Happy 2015 to you and your family!

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    1. It has been a big year. This week of going nowhere has been marvelously relaxing.
      I could barely handle the soccer. It was a whirlwind, for sure.

      Thank you!

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  9. ("Dave's not home, man"*)
    enjoyed all the photos, I like #2… good sense a humor in that there family there!

    * old person cultural reference

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    1. So glad I have kids who are willing to be silly and have some fun. I'd be bored off my rocker if I had stuffy. kids. :)

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    2. damn! forgot to tag my cultural reference…. it's for photo #6, of course! and it's a line from a comedy album that most people alive in the 60s knew (that kinda disqualifies you…and most people reading this comment…lol)

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  10. I've thought about doing it...for about 12 seconds. Which ones do you want? I'll mark them for you. :)

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  11. Excellent post! The pics are wonderful, each in their own way. I don't know, really love the first one but...they all say so much:)
    Thank you for sharing your year Christine, even Brian's photo. LOL I bet he doesn't remember that what goes around comes around!

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  12. I couldn't even pretend to play along with this one - I could never choose twelve. Plus, I think I'd end up wanting pics of Kidzilla and I still haven't decided to put her face out there. So...yeah.
    I love the bus photobomb! And your pics in general are just terrific.

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  13. Yes, in fact, you must pick only twelve. You did an amazing job with such a numerical restriction, I might add. These are some awesome photos and I the stories behind each one are interesting too. I hope you keep taking more and sharing them with us, what lovely fun for all.

    Agnes Lawson @ Pain Relief Experts

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Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!