Reasons 2011 Is Going to ROCK For the Parkers!

I'm so excited for this year.  I've been looking forward to it for all of 2010 and it's finally here.  So humor me, here are my reasons (in no order):

LAGOON! - Watching my niece Gwen dance to all the shows.  Meeting my sisters there with their kiddos once a week.  Lazy nights there with my hubby and kids killin' time until bedtime.  Watching my kids squeal.  Cousins getting to play with each other and make childhood memories together...Thanks to my parents all of us Buckholts girls and our famblies will be loving our time together here again. 

A WHOLE YEAR OF BROTHERHOOD! - On January 31st it will be one year since we met Max.  Those first several months of him being home were rough, but now that is all a memory.  During those hard months I thought about this year when Noah and Max would, hopefully, be inseparable, play happily together and be best friends.  Hallelujah friends, it actually happened!  We are through our year of "transition" and this is the year we get to just enjoy being together.  Loving it.

A NEW BASEMENT! - We are going to get our basement finished in a couple of months.  I am looking forward to having another bathroom, an awesome storage room, and a playroom for the kids to disappear to down there.

CHRIS' NEW JOB! - He started it this past Monday and we think it's going to be a good thing for all of us.  He's going to grow in so many ways and have a brand new set of opportunities.  I'm so grateful to have a hubby who wants to grow and learn; I love that about him.  AND he will have every Friday off!  So hooray for family days and long weekends!

COSTA RICA! - I can't say that often enough to myself.  Chris and I are sooo looking forward to our big 15th anniversary trip.  A week away in heaven and adventure all by ourselves.  I think about it every day.  I go there in my mind when I'm falling asleep or stressed out.  We've been saving for almost a year already and we've found the perfect boutique hotel to stay in.  It's going to be amazing:  gourmet food, infinity pool, the ocean, rainforest out our window, scuba diving (Chris), surfing (Chris), lounging on the beach reading my book (Laura), zipline tour in the rainforest canopy, horseback riding on the beach, guided tour of a natural preserve, waterfalls = my dream vacation with the man of my dreams.

MICKEY BOAT and DISNEYLAND! - Our goal/dream was to make it through the hard transition of adding another child to our family and then we'd take a great family vacation to California to celebrate.  Our dream got even better when my parents told us last year that they were going to take all their children and grandchildren on a Disney Cruise in 2011 so we decided to tack on our Disneyland vacation to the beginning of that.  It's really going to be an incredible, once in a lifetime experience.  We are all so excited about it that we talk about this trip several times a week too.  We can hardly wait!  As if it could get any better, it's also been my dream to go to Disneyland with my sister-in-law Desi and her family and that's coming true too!  (Desi has never been and I know she would love it.)  We are planning to rent a house together and spend the week before our cruise going to Disneyland and exploring Southern California together.  Awesome.

NOAH WILL START KINDERGARTEN! - I have mixed feelings about sending my baby off to start a whole new life in school, but it is a huge milestone AND I just found out that I'm going to be able to get him into the school that I really wanted him to go to, so I'm happy.

Boy.  After all of the looking forward and dreaming we are doing about the fun things that will be happening I bet I'm going to have a bit of a let down when they are all in the past.  Well.  Maybe not.  You know what 2012 is going to mean?  ADOPTING FROM CHINA AGAIN!!!  So my friends, the future is bright and I can't wait to share it with you!