2010 - In Review

JANUARY-

We started the New Year off with a bang by vacationing at Disney World for 8 days. When we got home, I made sure to squeeze in a couple more trips to Disneyland before John's last day at Disney, when our Silver Passes were revoked :(

Visiting the Cars at Disney World

Natalie and John on Splash Mountain at Disneyland- Natalie definitely became a roller coaster junkie through our frequent visits to the Disney parks.

Visiting Princess Tiana (and Prince Naveen) at Disneyland. Natalie informed Tiana that she was her favorite princess (that was until she saw Tangled - now Rapunzel is her favorite).

FEBRUARY-

At the beginning of the month we packed up our belongings and John moved our stuff ahead of us to begin his new job with Cardinal Health in Ohio. I stuck around for a couple more weeks at my parents house and enjoyed the company of my 2 sisters and their kids.

John drove this bad boy (26-foot truck plus a car trailer) across the country by his lonesome- poor fool.

I loved that my sisters paid me a visit before I moved to the other side of the country - it made me feel real special, real special indeed.

The posterity of the 3 Cottam girls. Natalie loves all her boy cousins, which is good, considering she has 8 of them and only one girl cousin (though there's one on the way - wahoo!). Fortunately, she can hang with the boys as easily as with the girls.

We arrived in Ohio to be greeted by an Ohio winter, which is a little different than a Southern California winter. The kids loved the snow. Here Natalie is modeling a beautiful icicle with her Uncle Mark (with whom we lived for the first 6 weeks).

At the end of February, Henry was very happy to turn 2 and celebrate with his cousin Mel (who is only 3 months younger than he is).

MARCH-

We spent March in the company of the other Ohioan Ropers (namely John's brother Mark and his lovely wife Britta), who so graciously opened their home to us as we searched for our own home.

Here we are feeling lucky in our green clothes on St. Pattie's Day. As you can see, Spring was on its way, and I felt bold enough to be wearing short sleeves for the day.

However, winter was not over yet, and more fun was yet to be had in the snow (for the kids, at least).

Fun at the Zoo with cousin Mel. Columbus has a great zoo. I will be using my zoo pass here much more than I used my LA Zoo pass.

Fun with Aunt Britta and sidewalk chalk, or, in this case, driveway chalk.

APRIL-

By the time April came around, the kids and I flew back to California to spend the next 5 or so weeks at my parents. Britta and Mark had a baby due in mid-April and needed their home back. John waited out the time our future home was in contract in a hotel room, while I chose to spend the wait time a little more comfortably.

Flying across the country can be very tiring.

Natalie spent Easter without her Dada, but with her cousins so I don't think she noticed or minded his absence.

Having an egg hunt at your grandparents' is fun because they fill the eggs with money!

A day at the beach with John's sister Laura and her cute kids.

On the last day of April, John closed on our home and bought me a black minivan on the same day. They waited patiently for us as we spent another week and a half in California...

MAY-

Natalie desperately missed her little friends while we were in Ohio, so fortunately we were able to throw her a princess themed (5th) birthday party with all her friends before we went back.


Decked out and loaded down with some of her gifts - the girls had to come in costume of course.

They played several princess themed games, decorated crowns, and got manicures at the party. Overall it was a real success and Natalie couldn't have been happier.

Henry showing off his skills as a tattoo artist.

Before heading back to our new home in Ohio, we went horse back riding at a friend's home.

Natalie has informed me that when she grows up, she wants to be a cowgirl and ride her horse to the temple where she will marry herself a real cowboy.

JUNE-

Noteworthy events were my 27th birthday, a visit from Candy Nana (John's mom), and Natalie's Fancy Nancy class.

Summer fun with cousin Mel. At the time the rocks were more fun than the splash pad.

Natalie enjoying a tea party of sorts at her Fancy Nancy class. Henry joined the party as well (bottom left corner).

A pioneer village we visited that was a resting stop on a train ride we took with Candy Nana and Mark and Britta.

Said Village

Said Nana

JULY-

This month was full of travels. Over 4th of July weekend, we took a road trip down to Kentucky where we visited Mammoth Cave and Lincoln's birthplace, through Tennessee where we stayed in Nashville, across Great Smoky Mountain National Park where we saw the beautiful Appalachian Mountains and coming home we drove through Dollywood, and parts of West Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia. It was quite the road trip, but it was fun to see some new states, swim in the motel, and spend time together.

July 4th in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. See those there white pants? I had to strip down to my unmentionables in the middle of a parking lot when a critter of sorts began viciously biting my leg. He got me 3 times before I was able to ditch my pants. Fortunately, no one was around (except for one guy, but I don't think he was looking...) - because that wouldn't have stopped me (and didn't) from stripping down then and there.

In July we celebrated our 7th anniversary.

Family fun at the Zoo.

John had to travel 3 weeks in July for business, so I took the time to work on home projects and visit my good friend (and neighbor growing up) Ashley, who lives 3 1/2 hours away, near Pittsburg.

My kiddos playing with Ashley's kiddos

AUGUST-

In August I traveled solo to attend my sweet Grandma Ogilvie's funeral in Utah. She was one special lady known for her original poems and especially for her Jump Jazz exercise group (her Stars). She would choreograph original routines for her Stars to perform to music on their mini trampolines, wearing spandex leggings and matching t-shirts.

We also flew to California to attend my brother James' wedding.

Other noteworthy events were Natalie's first day of school (see above picture), Henry getting potty trained, and a visit from John's little brother Daniel.

SEPTEMBER-

John's Dad paid us a visit over Labor Day, which was quite fun - we love visitors - I am just throwing that out there.

Labor Day BBQ at Mark and Britta's house

Britta and I drove over an hour to attend a "Day with Thomas" at a nearby railroad. Mel and Henry are big fans of that Blue Engine, so we couldn't resist the opportunity of allowing them the pleasure of a ride.

At the end of the month, my cute little brother, Tommy, paid us a visit before reporting to the MTC a few weeks later. He is now serving his mission in Boise (Spanish speaking) and loving it.

OCTOBER-

At the end of the month, we received a visit from John's sister, Anne, fresh off her mission to Taiwan. Natalie enjoyed learning to say and write a few Chinese words.

I went on Natalie's field trip with her Kindergarten class to a local pumpkin patch. Natalie walks to school, so the school bus ride there was equally exciting.

John turned the big 3-0 in October. He enjoyed the many messages and well wishes I collected and compiled for him (thank you to all those who helped me with this). Notice the trim and door behind him we had primed but not yet painted. We have slowly been changing all the oak in the house to a fresh white (doors, cabinets, mantle, molding, trim, etc.)

As you can see, Natalie was Princess Tiana for Halloween (which she has known since she received that dress for Christmas) and Henry was a train conductor - very fitting.

NOVEMBER-

November brought more travels as we braved the drive from Columbus to Salt Lake City to spend Thanksgiving with family. The 27-hour drive was made longer due to a snow storm in Wyoming which forced us to sit on the freeway for a couple of hours and eventually resort to spending the night in the middle of Wyoming due to the closing of I-80. John resolved to never attempt the drive again during the winter...

Cousins Ashley and Natalie with Nana Joan (my Mama)

Making funny faces with Aunt Anne on her Mac Book.

On the trek home, we stopped at the Winter Quarters Pioneer Museum near Omaha. The kids enjoyed dressing like pioneers and pulling a handcart.

The size of a family's bunk on board an immigrant ship.

DECEMBER-

Amid the fun and craziness of the holidays, John and I undertook a massive painting project: painting the living room (with its vaulted ceilings) and tons of doors and trim and other knick knacks. All the time John spent on the massive ladder painting the vaulted ceilings triggered a series of nightmares for John, which always involved falling off high places...

Natalie with the dollhouse she received for Christmas. The best part is Santa recycled this dollhouse from my own childhood dollhouse that had been boxed away and almost forgotten. Natalie's Christmas list also included a dinosaur and a dragon. She also wanted a pirate ship, but when I informed her her list was getting too long, she convinced Henry that he wanted a pirate ship for Christmas. Fortunately for her, he agreed that this was a necessity.

Other than a pirate ship, Henry only cared about recieving Thomas the train stuff and a dinosaur.

Oh by the way, in case you didn't know, I am expecting number 3 in a couple weeks. When you go for almost 9 months without blogging, you can nearly have a baby in-between posts. SURPRISE!

For New Years Eve, we drove to Pittsburg to spend the night at my friend Ashley's house (remember, from July?). All told, it has been a very eventful and (mostly) good year.