On the last day of 2010, let’s look back on the year and remember some of the highlights for our family.

Jonathan – The addition of our second son certainly tops the list. Since he was born in mid-January, it seems like he’s been part of our family for quite a while. We had to keep reminding ourselves that last week was his first Christmas. His big smile and sweet nature have been a huge blessing for us and many others this year.

School – In September, both Brenden and Jenny started school. Brenden attends the two-year-old class at Colleyville Christian Preschool and having a blast! He has great teachers and classmates, is learning a lot both academically and socially, and even naps at naptime in a room full of toys! Jenny has enrolled at Tarrant County College and eventually plans to enroll in the nursing program. She’s working on her prereqs now and hopes to start nursing classes in fall 2013. She isn’t having quite as much fun as Brenden, but her first class (a health and fitness class) taught her some helpful information and made a nice start to her second degree.

Health and Fitness– We have two different highlights here. First, after not particularly enjoying gestational diabetes during her pregnancy with Jonathan, Jenny wanted to decrease her chances of developing full-blown diabetes later. So she joined Life Time Fitness and started working her butt off with spin classes, yoga, core work, swimming, and more. She also significantly changed her diet by eliminating regular sodas and most desserts, limiting portions, and generally trying to eat better. As a result of her hard work, she has lost 30 pounds since June and is still going. Second, with help from my podiatrist, custom orthotics, and physical therapy, I’ve gotten to run for most of this year after several years of knee trouble. My knee isn’t perfect, but I’ve done several runs of 10k or greater and hope to return to the Cowtown 10k in February.

Ethan – We now have a nephew, courtesy of Jenny’s sister Katy and brother-in-law Eric! He was born in August and is doing great. We look forward to many fun playdates with him and our sons.

Work – Not much to report here. I worked quite a bit (over 260 hours of overtime), and I’m grateful to still have a job I love at a company I love.

House – Our big house project was installing the solar water heater this spring. We’re very pleased with it, and I’m sure it’s saving us money even though it’s hard to measure exactly how much.

Car – In April, after cramming two young children and two adults into the Fit for a few months, we finally broke down and got a minivan. I don’t care if you think they’re corny or ugly or uncool. Our Grand Caravan gets the job done (“the job” being the safe, reliable transportation of our kids and the huge assortment of paraphernalia that they require).

Trips – Travel is hard with two young boys, but we did manage a couple of fun trips. The first was our day trip with Brenden to San Antonio to watch the SWA Duck Derby at SeaWorld. Brenden did well on his first flight and seemed to enjoy SeaWorld until falling asleep in his stroller. The second was our sans-kids cruise to the Bahamas in October, which gave us a much-needed break from daily life.

Home Group – We’re not very organized or particularly spiritual, but we have a great time together. This year we were pleased to add a few new attenders to our crazy group.

We did experience some sad times this year as well, such as the passing of my Great Aunt Will and Brenden’s trips to the ER with breathing trouble. But overall, 2010 was a very good year for us. I hope 2011 brings all of you much love, joy, and peace.