2011 in Review

1. Clay: Half-Baby, Half-Amazing Joins the Family
• Technically he was born in 2010, but he didn’t get home until 2011. He has been our easiest baby, a total joy, and an awesome addition to our family!


2. Coleman is Potty-trained
• My goal was for this to happen before Clay was born, instead it happened before summer arrived. More than just this, Coleman was all-sports, all-go, all the time! I love that he always wants to play, and that he always wants me to play with him!
3. Family Vacation to the Beach
• We went to Galveston for our family vacation this year and had a great time. Everyone enjoyed it, and Galveston proved to be a perfect destination for our 3 kids under 5. In addition to this, we got to see Christy’s cousin get married and Chloe got to be the flower girl!

4. Dallas Mavericks win the title
• As a lifelong Maverick fan, I cannot believe this is true, but the Dallas Mavericks are the champions and the greatest team on the planet in 2011! If you are curious, I am good with whatever they do for the rest of my life!

5. Chloe starts Kindergarten
• This was harder than we thought, starting with the worst first day of school ever. In her first day of school ever, she had a substitute (an old man at that), a lockdown (there was a robbery down the road), and her parents were a mess (she only saw strong parents). Kindergarten has been a struggle, but it is getting better!

6. Texting is embraced
• I am not a fan of texting, nevertheless, we text now.

7. Rangers win the AL again, blow the World Series
• When we won the pennant in 2010, I honestly thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment. So much so, that I paid $150 to go see game 5 with my grandfather, father, & brother – money well spent. Then, in 2011, the Rangers go and win the AL again… only to have Nelson Cruz fall asleep in the bottom of the 9th with 2 strikes and 2 outs, as a fly ball flies over his head and we choke off the Series in 7.

8. Parenting Class is a Success
• Part of my doctor of ministry program is to address an issue in our church; my parenting class was the project. For me personally, it was great. The participants agreed too. This was awesome!

9. Chloe’s Team goes 8-0
• Our team was awesome. We went 8-0 and outscored our opponents 180-46, including a game 8 score of 54-10… having the best 1st grader on the planet was the secret to our team’s success! The funny thing about this is that it was a Kindergarten-1st grade team. Chloe played awesome defense. No they don't keep score, but this parent sure did!

10. Dissertation is complete… many revisions await, I’m sure!
• Around 10:54AM, December 25, 2011, I completed my dissertation. Granted there will be several rounds of reviews, the initial draft is complete. One way or the other, I will be out of the doctoral program May 19, 2012!