Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh...

Big sigh here... my BABY started school last week. Granted, it's only 1 morning a week. But it makes me a little sad. It also makes me a little happy because it means 1.5 hours kid free on Friday mornings. Here she is on her first day with her new princess backpack. She of course LOVES every minute of school and told us all about the snowman book they read, the painting and playdoh and her new friends. Sigh...

Chase...

These are a few of my favorite pictures from Thanksgiving. Cole & Kiley playing chase with Granddaddy in the backyard before lunch.

Hiking...

While we were camping over Thanksgiving weekend we all took a hike through the park. Unfortunately, the park maps were not well written and we got a little of course. Our hike ended up being a little longer than planned but everyone had fun and we even saw a few deer on the way.

2 years...

It's hard to believe it's been 2 years since my dad passed away. I am often saddened when I look around at his beautiful grandchildren and see what he's missing. My only hope is that somewhere he's looking down at us and laughing.

Twins...

Can you tell where Kiley gets her good looks? The picture on the right is of Ali. We think she was a little older than Kiley in her picture, but the resemblance is uncanny.

Fishing...

While camping, all the kids got to take a turn fishing in the lake. Each of them caught several fish. It made me so happy to see Kiley fishing with the purple fishing pole that my dad bought her when I was pregnant. I wish he had lived long enough to see the look on her face when she reeled in her first big one!

Thanksgiving...

We spent Thanksgiving weekend camping (in cabins) at Lake Louisa State Park. It was by far the best Thanksgiving EVER. There were lots of campfires and we even got our whole family of 4 in a canoe.

Legoland (part 5)...

Kiley's favorite part of Legoland was seeing all the southern belles made out of Legos. She thought this one was Cinderella and one made out of yellow bricks was Belle.

Legoland (part 4)...

A few more pictures from the many rides at Legoland. Cole loved driving the little cars and Kiley's favorite was the boats.

Legoland (part 3)...

Cole's favorite part of Legoland was building and racing your own Lego car.

Legoland (part2)...

One of the great things about Legoland is that the rides are all geared for little kids. The kids had so much fun getting to ride all over the park.

Legoland...

Over Thanksgiving weekend we took the kids to Legoland. It was fantastic! The kids had so much fun and the park was just awesome. Legoland was built at the site of the old Cypress Gardens. We had been there many, many times when I was a kid and it was so much fun to go back and see what had changed and what had remained the same.

Family Picture...

I'm going to start working backwards through some pictures I "should" have already posted. This is a picture we took of all the Kiley/Otstott kids when my brother Doug was visiting last month. 400+ pictures using the time-lapse setting on my camera and we got at least 1 good one.

Our Year In Review...

It's time for my year in review post. We had a very busy year in 2011. We bought a lot, sold our old home, moved into a temporary apartment, oversaw the construction of our new home at the beach, and finally in November moved in. Whew. You can see our 2010 year in review here.

January - Bowling together as a family.

February - Camping at Gold Head Branch State Park.

March - A spring break day at Huguenot Beach.

April - Our last picture in front of our old house.
We moved the week after this was taken.

May - Family vacation to Boston.

June - Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Gainesville.
We visited the Sweetwater Inn, the site of our wedding reception.

July - Underwater fun in the pool.

August - On the stairs of our newly constructed home.

September - Our annual Beckham family vacation.

October - Trick-or-treating with Tinkerbell & Captain Hook.

November - On the steps of our new beach home.

December - Ready for Christmas.

One More From Christmas Eve...

One more cute one of the 3 Kiley cousins from Christmas Eve.

2011 Christmas Card...

My resolution for 2011 was to take at least 1 family picture of the four of us each month. It is quiet possible the best thing I have ever done. I ended up using the pictures for our Christmas card this year and I just love the way it turned out. I also made a 12x12 photo book using the pictures. You can view it here. My plan for 2012 is to take 12 pictures on the 12th of each month. I can't wait to see how those turn out.

A Christmas Favorite...

I took this picture of Kiley on Christmas morning and I just love it. I don't know what she was doing, except that she told me to take a picture of her. I'm so glad I did.

Opening Presents...

Here are a few more of everyone opening presents on Christmas morning. Cole & Jonathan got some Gator paraphernalia and tickets to the Gator Bowl.