2011 in Review

I'm having a difficult time getting into 2012.  Perhaps if I take a final look back at 2011, I can turn my face to the future and quit revisiting the past.  So, here, in a nutshell, is the sum total of last year at my house:

January:  (1) The Brunker's house burned down and Jess came and lived with us for awhile.  Camille referred to him as "The Ghost" because when he was here he was so quiet we forgot he was here. (2) I quit my job.  Things had been bad and getting worse and worse until I just couldn't take the contention and strife that accompanied being at that office.

February:  (1) It was winter and cold and dreary.  It is kind of sad my birthday falls in my least favorite month of the year. (2) On my birthday, Kevin, told me he was going to ask Lindsey to marry him.  That made my birthday and February sunnier this year.

March:  (1) On the 11th we received a phone call in the middle of the night from my brother, Jim asking if we had heard anything from our brother, Mark, who lives in Tokyo, Japan.  Jim had heard about the earthquake and tsunami but had not been able to reach Mark and his family.  (2) The Shumways were okay once they were all gathered back together as a family.  (3) Mark moved them to California for awhile while things were repaired and life tried to return to a semblance of normal.  (4)  Camille and I travelled to Arizona to visit with all the Shumways and Mark hosted a fabulous Pink Jeep Tour of Sedona.

April:  (1) The Ogden Temple closed. (2) Camille and I returned from Arizona and brought some sunshine with us.  (3) I bought new running shoes (4) We visited the Carl Bloch art exhibit at the BYU Museum.

May:  (1) I returned to school as a student at Utah State University.  (2) I spent a lot of time reading philosophy books and studying algebra.  (3) We moved Mimi into Julie's and David's house and started cleaning out her home. (4) I planted my garden and spent hours and hours working on the yard because we are having a wedding reception at our house!

June:  (1) Camille finished her junior year of high school. (2) Camille had her tonsils removed  (3) I spent a lot of time studying, attending class, and taking tests. (4) Kevin and Lindsey got married!  June was a BIG Month.

July:  (1) We had another reception for Kevin and Lindsey in Declo. (2) We really hit the cleaning-out-Mimi's-house project hard.  We spent many days of July in Springville sorting, throwing away, recycling, storing, selling, donating and hauling stuff and more stuff.

August:  (1) I finished my first semester of school in 30 years.  (2) We rented Mimi's house to a really nice family. (3) I started canning. (4) I took Camille and Savannah to Utah Olympic Park (5) I started another semester of school. (6) Bryan moved into his own apartment with "the Ghost" as a roommate. (7) The track was locked.

September:  (1) I did more canning.  (2) I was called to be Relief Society President for the second time in my life. (3) The track was still closed.

October:  (1) Camille turned 18!  (2) I spent a lot of time reading government textbooks and studying Quantitative Reasoning. (3) I was able to sneak onto the track one day when a gate was left opened, it was locked up again the next day.

November:  (1) Kevin and Lindsey spent Thanksgiving with us.  (2) The new track was finally opened to the public and I didn't have to climb the fence or walk the streets any more.  (3) Bryan turned 21!

December: (1) I finished my second semester of classes.  (2) Dani and Kelly came from Maryland for almost two weeks to celebrate the holidays! (3) I got to meet my blogging friend, Tina, for breakfast while she was here visiting from Maryland.  (4) My Mom came from Arizona for a couple of days. (5) I threw a holiday dinner party for some friends. (6) We had the Marsdens and Turneys over for a holiday breakfast on the 26th so we could see Sean, Megan, Adam, Melissa, Hannah and new baby Paige. (7) Kevin and Lindsey visited with us for a few days after Christmas.  (8) We spent an evening in Salt Lake eating Italian food at Buca di Beppo, seeing the lights at Temple Square, and attending a movie as a Crouch Clan. (9) It was a wonderful month of friends and family!