Blogging took a backseat in most of 2012 as we were always go-go-go. I've had this blog post in my drafts for probably about four months! I started writing it before my last post and never finished to publish LOL
Anyway, here's a recap of more than 1/2 of 2012 for The Hoyt Family - using the letter "S!"
April brought on a new adventure for the Hoyt family. Swimming! Cait joined the swim team for our neighborhood and not only improved her freestyle, breast and back strokes but learned the butterfly and did VERY well at it! She got Swimmer of the Week during one of the six weeks of meets, she won first on several heats in each meet AND her team won divisionals! Being a part of the swim team gave the whole family something to do for several months whether it be chauffeuring to and from practice, cheering, swimming, socializing and volunteering. Chris and I had to "work" each meet because the team is really nothing without the parents. We timed several which was fun to see first hand how each meet/event/heat begins and ends. I had never been a part of a swim team growing up so I was clueless at the beginning. You learn quickly though LOL
Chris did swim team when he was a kid so he probably felt pretty at home at the meets.
Although Cait did well she didn't really enjoy it unless she won the race. Otherwise she was content to stay with us in our tent (away from her team tent) playing her DS. We encouraged her to join her friends but she always wanted to be with us. She complained of not having friends there but we know that if she had been at the team tent that would have changed. I think if we do swim next year she will be socially more involved and it will be more fun. I'm excited to see where swimming could take her :-)
We took our annual summer beach vacation to Galveston the week of July 4th. We stayed in a nice house right on the water. The trip would have been perfect if the seaweed wouldn't have been so thick! We never even "laid out" or set up "camp" on the beach because there was more seaweed than sand?!?! It was fun nonetheless. Madison didn't quite like the sea and the sand when we did go. The only time she relaxed was if I was holding her and she wasn't facing the waves. She dug holes all around my legs! LOL
Cait and Chris boogie boarded a bunch and we made it a point to collect all the sea snails we could! Uncle Mike and Grammy joined us for a few days and we of course went to the Strand, ate and shopped a few times. We love going to Galveston because it's so close but are hoping to go elsewhere for our next beach vacation :-)
Cait chose to have a slumber party for her 8th birthday celebration this year. First time for it and it went very well! We were surprised. We had 4 girls over and 3 spent the night. Everyone was good and Chris and I got a kick out of watching the girls LOL
Madison stayed with the grandparents so it was the first time in a while that Cait could play without being interrupted by little sister :-)
How did summer end so quick!? I know we did other things but I feel like whatever we did was over way too quickly! Now Caitlin is a 3rd grader and Madison is in her 2nd year of Montessori. Here is their "first day of school pic" 2012.
Showers - GALORE!!! I helped throw 3 (two baby and one bridal) and attended another baby shower over the past several months. Love all the babies and showers!!
September brought us into a new season of toddler-hood for Madison. She turned 3 on September 18th and was potty trained a few weeks before her birthday. As most parents know, this turning point has been poignant in our lives not only because she is more independent and able to tell us exactly how she feels and what she wants, but on an emotional level - that our baby isn't a baby anymore :-(
Don't get me wrong - not having to change diapers is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. but knowing that she's getting older this quickly is a little bit tear invoking :-)
The year ended with a bang (of snow flurries) as we surprised the kids with a trip to our favorite vacation spot, Santa Fe, New Mexico! We'd planned the trip for 6 months and we pulled it off! The girls were shocked, surprised and excited! Caitlin couldn't believe that we had the wool pulled over her eyes so it was fun telling her all the "lies" we'd told over the months while we were planning the trip. We also had little surprises planned during our 8 day stay and to say the trip was amazing would be an understatement! I have posted the millions of pictures I took, on FB, if you'd like to take a look. We left town on 12/21 and it was 80 degrees here. This is one of the reasons we wanted to go somewhere else for Christmas - we needed a lower temp and we hoped for snow. We got both! It went down to 8 degrees and snowed starting Christmas Eve until the day we left (12/28). It was great! We also got to visit a few pueblos, one of which just happened to be having a traditional dance (or what we'd think of as a "pow wow") when we drove up. We were able to watch a portion of the dance which included approximately 160 men and boys from the tribe. All of them were half clothed (and I think it was in the 20s that day!) and had feathers, shells, sticks, rocks, turtle shells, leather, etc. as their "accessories." The dancing must have been going on for a while and we were there for 45 minutes and left while it was still going on. I'm not sure how those guys did all that dancing, in the cold, for so long! Unfortunately we weren't able to take pictures (since this particular tribe was not using their lives as a "cash cow") so what we saw will be embedded in our memory banks forever :) We are so thankful we were able to do this with the girls. We know they will remember this trip for life.
Whew! Well, I hope you all had a great end to 2012 and I'm praying that 2013 will be better than all the others, for us all.
Thinking of you.
Love,
Amanda
