2011

It has been one wonderful, wild, and crazy year for the Owens Family! I am so glad we have been able to fill this year with so many wonderful (and sometimes unexpected!) memories.

I tried to limit myself to one picture per month, but as you will see, I kind of lost my resolve about 1/2 way through.

But for January, here's my one and only:

After an unexpected White Christmas, we were even more surprised by the over 5 inches of snow that fell in January! It shut down everything for more than a week. It fell on a Sunday and public schools were out Monday - Friday! Even though most roads were passable by Thursday, JR's school was one of the only ones who went back. The public schools had to remain closed because the school parking lots were too dangerous for buses. JR's school has no buses, so they went back on Thursday (lucky for them because then they only had to make up 3 days, not 5!)

This is my favorite picture from February:

And from March - in front of the fountain after the first 'dying of the fountain.'

April came in like a lamb - my favorite Easter photo taken late in the afternoon:

But sadly, April did leave like a lion. We will never forget the April 27th tornadoes and the deadly path they cut across our state. It still takes my breath away - the devastation, even now, when we drive through those areas affected.

This was the line at the first gas station with power - over an hour and a half away! - when we got there on April 28.

And one of the reasons for more than one picture. I wanted to include one picture from each Disney trip this year.

We purchased our first Annual Passes to Disney this year. And used them well.

May was full of recovery efforts:

And then a trip to see a shuttle launch.

And of course a stop by Disney:

June was summer, summer, summer.

And a once in a lifetime trip.

First to Disney:

Then to a never before experience to celebrate my in laws 50th Anniversary:

Then back to Disney (by now it was July)

August was baseball. Trip to Atlanta to see the Cubbies.

September was football. Trip to Auburn for first game.

October was the only month I didn't blog. I was too busy!

Trip to Disney for JR's birthday, per his request.

It really was a neat trip. It rained almost the entire time we were there. One night JR and I went out to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic hours and it was POURING RAIN, but when we got there, there was NO ONE there! In two hours we rode Space Mountain 3 times, Buzz Lightyear SpaceRanger Spin 3 times (without ever getting off the ride!). We rode on the Teacups, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and Dumbo ALL ALONE! Dumbo - alone! It was a once in a lifetime experience for me! So fun.

Regular October photo:

November:

December:

Goodbye 2011! Thanks for being so good to us! Welcome 2012!