Year in Review

Good bye 2010, Hello 2011! It has been an amazing year and hard to believe we have left another decade behind! How far we have come and how much has changed in 10 short years. We went from the despair and heartbreak of infertility, to 4 trips half way around the world, and now entering the school years with these two happy, fun and amazing boys. What a ride!

So this is our year in photos! January-ringing in the New Year in paradise, Bimini, Bahamas!
Boy would I love to being lying on that beach right now!

February, more snow..2010 was the year of snow and blizzards! Hoping we dont repeat that trend in 2011.

March-Alek and Keeley have a first date to the Lion King. I will never forget watching them sit close together, whispering, swaying to the music, totally engaged in the show, it was awesome!

April is Baseball--The Harkins boys love their baseball. As Alek says, he loves 3 things the most, in this order: "my family, baseball, pokemon cards".

May-Maks and soccer, he loved it, talked alot, got mad when someone took the ball away from him, and didnt quite grasp the concept of not using your hands. Love his hair here, he was totally rocking his fro!

June-my baby graduates kindergarten-so hard to believe that the little bald headed drooly boy we met in Kirov was now headed to 1st grade!!

July-vacations at the beach, my favorite thing. Nothing like the sand between your toes, playing in the water and looking for the perfect shell!

August-more summer fun and this year it was great to get together with several other gorgeous russian kiddos!! I mean seriously, how cute are these kids!! I love how Maks and Alyana have their own little sidebar going on. They are so much alike, it is crazy!

September-Back to school. Alek headed off to 1st grade and Maks to kindergarten (Year 1).

They were both very excited and totally in to their new backpacks.

Just so happy they both love school.

October always mean fall festival time at Merrymead. I feel like we are there everyweekend.

Lately October means fall baseball for the Phillies and hopefully the World Series (with the pitching we have this year, I can't wait to see what is happening in October!)--Alek was supporting the team and Maks was doing his best pirate imitation.

Love the fall walks in November, checking out the leaves and deciding which path to take. Enjoy as much sun as we can before the dreaded winter arrives!

December-the magical time of year when both children and parents become insane!

We had a great day and night at Peddlers village soaking up the Christmas spirit!

Christmas was a blast and Alek was loving having a school vacation. He received his report card right before break and we are very proud of him for his hard work and love of learning. He was proficient in all areas, but advanced in math!

Maks continues to amaze us at his progress with writing, speaking and drawing. For a kiddo who would barely write or color early in the year, he writes many words and loves to draw dragons and robots. His speech has improved greatly over the year, though we are still working on the volume issue.

Whew-what a year it was, so much fun and lots of different adventures.

Thanks for the memories 2010, now lets see what ya got 2011!