Out with the old...in with the new...Goodbye 2011...Hello 2012!!!

I can't believe that another year is about to end. However, I am excited about all that 2012 will bring. I truly believe that it will be a positive year. My mother always told me that the even years were often better than the odd years. I hope that's true!
Some highlights for the Walkers in 2011:
Nya turned 3!
We left Baltimore!!!! (Kwesi just agreed that that was huge.)
We went to the beach alot over the summer.
Kwesi and I celebrated 6 years of marriage in July!
Chuchu survived a major health crisis.
I went from teaching 2nd grade to 4th grade.
Nya started preschool at Mount Jezreel.

In 2012 we look forward to:
Nya turning 4!
Celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary.
The bank just accepted the 2nd offer on our house. We are hoping for a smooth settlement.
We are grateful to my inlaws for letting us move in with them during this transition time for us. However, we are really looking forward to moving back into our own place within the next few months.
Taking the classes that we need to advance our careers.
Going to the beach alot!
Healthier lifestyles
Finding a church home
More fishing for Kwesi
I hope to add to this list...

Happy New Year!!! We hope to have a blessed year and wish the same for all!

How freakin' cute are these?

Kiddie Egg Molds

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other"-Burton Hillis

Where has December gone?  Is Christmas really over?  Just a few weeks ago it was Thanksgiving and I was in disbelief over the fact that we only had a few weeks left to get ready for Christmas! 

However, we had a fabulous Christmas and we are really enjoying our time off together. 

Lucky for us, my parents arrived in town last week and are staying until after the New Year.  They are staying with Lauren in Germantown but we have been able to see them quite a bit.  I was so thankful that they could watch Nya last Friday while I had to work.  It can be challenging taking her with me!  She enjoyed herself tremendously.  They even watched her Friday night so that I could get the Christmas gifts wrapped!  Yay! 

Christmas Eve was great.  My parents came out to spend the day with us.  We watched football and they had the opportunity to experience some spicy jerk chicken from Muffin Man (http://www.muffinmancaribbeancafe.com/).  Yum!

In the evening, Nya could not contain her Christmas excitement.  We baked some cookies for Santa and made a fun mess!

Not sure how the flour ended up all over her face...



We made snowflakes, Christmas trees, and gingerbread men.




Time for cleanup!



























By the end of the night, Nya was exhausted so she went to bed at a good hour and didn't stay up all night.  I was worried that she would get up before 5AM, but luckily, she waited until 7:30!

Even Mani was thrilled.  She also woke up at 7:30 and even jumped in bed with us!  (That's huge for a 13 year old!)

The girls were so excited when we walked into the living room.  I think that Nya was more excited about the fact that Santa ate her cookies than the gifts!



Cookies for Santa...






Nya is obsessed with anything having to do with My Little Pony right now.  I loved it when I was a kid, too.  It's amazing to see how some things have such staying power!

Unwrapping and unwrapping...

Mani really loved the cotton candy maker!  Kwesi made some for the girls and it was the real thing!  Between her new mini fridge, popcorn popper, and cotton candy maker, Mani said that she is planning to have lots of movie nights with her girls!  To be 13 again...

Nya was so anxious for Grandma and PopPop to get up...She said they were "...taking too longer!"

Fun madness

Nya was thrilled to get her popcorn maker too.  She kept telling Grandma that she got one like Mani.  FYI-moon dough sucks.  We will be going back to Play Doh.

The girls finished opening their gifts pretty swiftly.  Kwesi and I each received tablets from Santa.  I love my Kindle Fire and he loves his HP Touchpad.

(It has been funny to see technology getting so much action this week.  This evening, I sat back and looked at Grandma Debra reading on her new Kindle, Nya playing a word game on her MobiGo, Kwesi setting up his tablet, and me reading on my Fire.  Even PopPop got a new laptop for Christmas!  We were all so content!)

For Christmas dinner, we ventured out to Lauren's place.  We were sad to see Mani go home and I think she was too.  Nya was overwhelmed with her second Christmas at Aunt Lauren's.

More technology in action...Dad got a Kindle Fire and loves it too!

Blackjack

Christmas was wonderful.  I am so thankful that we were able to spend so much time with our families.  I love the holidays.

Santa Hat Brownies

http://daisyt13.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/santa-hat-brownies/

I have been trying to figure out something cute and easy that Nya can help me make over the holidays.  How cute are these?

Nya Loves Dance Class!

Today, the parents were allowed to observe the dance classes.  Nya loves her dance class!  I am happy to see that she is a good listener in class.  All the girls were too cute!

Santa Visit

Every year we go to Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills to see the Santa Wonderland.  We love it!  On Saturday we surprised Nya with our annual visit.  Nya was such a big girl.  She went right up to Santa, sat on his lap, and told him that she wanted a bike.  I thought that was funny considering the fact that she received two bikes last Christmas (one from each set of grandparents) and has only mastered riding one of them so far.  I guess that she just figures that bikes are the thing to ask Santa to bring.

After our visit with Santa, we took Nya to see Arthur Christmas (http://www.arthurchristmas.com/).  It was such a cute flick and Nya loved it!