This post has taken me weeks to write. It's so long and I had so many pictures that I just made them into collages but I really wanted to be able to look back and see the highlights of 2010. It's so interesting going through a year of pictures...reliving all the things that have happened in a year. This year has been filled with lots of happy things....going to the mountains and the beach, celebrating life, fun snow, etc....and sad, the passing of my aunt Jane, Brad Mooney, David Beasley, and most recent (end of Dec.), Anthony Riggan. The last three deaths were unexpected. All 3 men were so young and left behind grieving families. Anthony didn't have any children but leaves behind a mom, dad, and sister and tons of friends who loved him. His funeral was one of the biggest blessings of the year. All the people who died are with Jesus now so that is so wonderful but I feel so sad for the people left here to grieve.
So, here's a few pictures (or actually WAY more than a few) and highlights that stood out to me this year.
So, here's a few pictures (or actually WAY more than a few) and highlights that stood out to me this year.
We started out 2010 with a bang...in Winter Park, Colorado. It was a GREAT vacation! I felt like I was in heaven on the drive from Denver to Winter Park. It was just SO beautiful...I could feel the glory of God looking at the mountains. It was just amazing!!
We went tubing, sledding, snowmobiling, and of course, skiing. We loved our gorgeous view from our condo. I absolutely loved the snow and the view. We had a great time!
This was our New Year's card for 2010. We are on our snow mobiling excursion to the Continental Divide.
One thing that I really loved about 2010 is that we got lots of snow! We had the biggest flakes I had ever seen in Arkansas. It snowed a couple of times in January and a couple of times in February. We built a big snowman together that was so cute. Charlie Bear absolutely loved the snow! He'd be a perfect dog for one of the colder states. I feel bad he has to live in such hot weather for most of the year. He is so frisky when it's cold outside. He just loves it!
In January, our sweet Moll doll got married!! Her aunts all had her bridesmaids luncheon at my house. It was lots of fun!!!
Molly was the first grandchild (of my parents) to get married. She married a wonderful guy who really loves the Lord. It was a wonderful wedding followed by a super fun reception with lots of dancing, of course.
After ten years of having 4 veneers on my top teeth, I finally let Lamar redo my veneers. He started off doing bonding on my teeth in January but they were too white (top right hand pix) so he replaced the bonding with the veneers in February (bottom left pix) and finally finished replacing the bonding on my bottom teeth at the end of October (bottom right pix). I was so glad because when I first got my veneers in 1999, the whitest shade was A1...they have lots of shades now that are much lighter so I was really glad to get them replaced. Lamar's been wanting to do it for awhile and I'm glad I finally got in the chair and let him do it. :)
In January we started replacing our gray carpet in the living room and since we found the wood on sale we decided to go ahead and replace the tile in the foyer, too. It was quite the project. Lamar and Hall tried to do it themselves and we ended up hiring a couple of guys to do it. We got most of the tile up ourselves, which was quite the chore, and were more than happy to hire someone else to finish up the job! :) I LOVE our wood floors and can't wait to replace the office and our bedroom and one day.
On March 5, Lamar had knee surgery. He has arthritis in both knees. :( His knee feels better than ever, though. He's even been able to take little walks with me lately. We don't go very fast but it's a big step for him to even be able to go on a walk without his knee hurting. I can't believe this is the only picture I got of Lamar after his surgery. He was in the car waiting for me to go get his prescriptions at the Drug Store. This was the first time he's had surgery and didn't get sick afterwards. They gave him lots of anti-nausea meds and fortunately, they worked! By the way, Lamar has lost 20 pounds since this picture!! :)
In March, I left Lamar over night for the first time since we've been married (at that time was had been married almost 11 years) and headed on a trip with my sisters and my mom to Dallas to celebrate Marci's 40th birthday (a couple of years late). :) We had a great time!! We went to the Cheesecake Factory twice and I ate chocolate (red velvet cheesecake) for the first time in a month (IC flare) and it was HEAVENLY!!! I loved having a weekend with my sisters and can't wait to do it again for my 40th, which is in May! :)
Sweet Sunshine turned FOUR in April and had her party at the Wonder Place a week before her birthday. There was a shower at Shanny's house for Allyson Shelton on her birthday so Hannah had her party early where everyone could come. Shanny couldn't come to Rosy's party so she gave her her present early (the cute rainbow caterpillar in the middle bottom picture) and Rosy loved it! The pix on the far right is on Rosy's actual birthday...we were at Shanny's for Allyson's shower. We took Rosy to Chick-fil-A and Maggie Moo's afterwards for her "real" birthday...she, of course, got to pick the eating places. :) 
OH MY GOODNESS....2010...the year of the rashes. I would rather forget this but my goodness, it was pretty bad. I didn't sleep all night for about a month. I had the worst poison ivy directly followed by a skin rash. My rash was so bad that left foot got swollen (who knows?). When I was at the dermatologist for my rashes, I also asked to him to remove a few warts I had on my fingers...that was a horrible experience, too, but I laugh about it looking back. It will take too long to write but I'm sure when I read this one day, I'll remember it!!! I have already prayed that 2011 won't be the year of the rashes!!! I wasn't even allergic to poison ivy 5 years ago!
I got to take dinner to the Duggar's twice in the spring. It was a fun experience. The first time, we (Macy, Mar, and I) went with my friend Becky and her family. The second time Hannah and I went with Heather, Paxton, Jill, and her sister. The dad (don't know his name off the top of my head) gave us a signed book. That family was so so nice. I don't watch the show so I didn't know much about them but was super impressed with their manners and just how genuinely kind they all were. I told one of the teenage girls that we didn't have cable so I didn't watch their show but that I would for sure if we had cable and she told me that they didn't watch the show, either. :)
We went to Destin at the first of May and it was WONDERFUL!! Rosy, Hannah, and Madie came with us and we met the Pates, Jerry Lu and David, and the Rhodes there. We were supposed to go to Gulf Shores but we were worried about the oil spill so we ended up going to Destin and staying at the Adagio. After that trip, I never want to go anywhere different. It was wonderful!! Rosy had been asking Mar and me to take her to the beach for 2 years so we were finally able to! Hannah was 9 months pregnant and loved the beach!! It was a fun fun trip and I am so glad we went...GREAT memories. I woke up many mornings and either went walking with Kathryn (who met us there for a couple of days) or walked alone on the beach. It was heavenly!! The beach is one of my favorite places in the world. I love the bottom middle pix. I was walking on the beach and took the pix with my iPhone.
On May 25, Mar and I celebrated eleven years of marriage!!! We went to Kobe and to Maggie Moo's (or to an animated movie..maybe both...I can't remember which is why I need to blog more). When we left, Mar gave me roses he had hidden in the car and there was a gorgeous full rainbow awaiting us outside! It's like God gave us an anniversary present. We drove home to the most gorgeous sunset, too. When I got home, there were LOTS of flowers waiting on me. :)
My little Munchie (Banner Elias Nowlin) was born on June 2nd!! What a fun blessing!! He is SO precious and we all adore him!! Rosy is the best big sister and loves him so so much!! We all do!! When we saw Banner for the first time, Hannah kept his hat on his head on purpose..she wanted to surprise us when she took the hat off with his BLACK hair! None of us were expecting that! FUN!!! I think Banner looks so much like a Smith...my dad, Don, and Ree. I love it that I can see Ree in him and think how much she would love it, too, if she were still here (she died right before the new year 2010). We all miss Ree!! What a character!
We went and saw Chris Tomlin in concert last summer. I just love him so much! We went and ate at Kobe first and then headed to the concert. I love this picture and how all the words describing Jesus are on the screen and behind the band.
In June, Macy's "second family", the Davidson's, went to Africa on a mission trip for three weeks. Macy volunteered to watch their two year old daughter, Selah. She's the cutest little sweetie. She adored Banner and loved playing with Rosy. We let Selah eat butter by itself and took her to Kobe to eat fried rice. I think Macy is a little worried about us being grandparents! :) 
On July 3rd, we headed to Rayville to celebrate Granddad's 90th birthday. He is such a kind kind man. I love him. It was fun to see the Lane side of the family. We stayed on the 4th, too, for 4th of July fun.
Rosy has her first dental appointment in August. She was scared but Mar put her at ease. She sat in my lap crying at first but eventually calmed down and let Mar look at her teeth. Afterwards, I took her to get cupcakes! :)
We went to the Pate's lake house twice last summer. The first time we went with the Smiths and the second time we went with the whole family....even the Epps! SUPER fun!! Ellie even got to come!! Good times! I think I have more fun on the lake (jet skis!!!) than any other place!
One word to sum up the fall of 2010....FOOTBALL!! Actually...three words...FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, and more FOOTBALL!!! We are Hog, LSU, and Bruin fans so that makes for a lot of football games. I am not complaining, though! I love the atmosphere of football games...always have! We went to 1 Razorback game in Fayetteville and 2 games in Little Rock, thanks to Shanny and Phil! :) My favorite game of the season by far was the LSU/AR game. GO HOGS!!! :) The Bruins went all the way to state, by the way! They only lost one game all season. They lost state but still had a great season!
I tell ya....that May May is always getting animals. The other day she was in her room and had 2 fish, a hamster, and 2 dogs surrounding her. This is her hamster, Polly. Is she not the cutest hamster you have ever seen??? She is super sweet, too!! Macy talked to the person at the pet store and found out about all the different personalities of the hamsters. Polly was the sweetest one so she got her. After she got Reggie (a few pix. down), she gave Polly to her little sister, Addyson. Polly is now getting treated like a queen. She was before, too, but once Reggie came, she took a little bit of a back seat.
In October, we went and saw Macy in Tiger Tunes. She did such a great job! They practiced A LOT!! It was so much fun to watch her. Her group dressed up like prisoners. :) Macy sure made a beautiful prisoner!
Macy and I went and saw the Broadway play, Wicked, in November. She REALLY wanted to go so I took her. We sat in the third row but off to the far right so we didn't have the best view of the middle/back. I thought it may interfere with our enjoyment but it totally didn't at all......it was still so great!!
I just love this picture! My brother took it. I wish he was in it.
It was taken on Thanksgiving. I love my family so much. I always say I want to video my dad praying before a meal because he talks to God so candidly...just like he's talking to one of us...like God is his best friend and the truth is, He is. I am SO thankful for my family!
Thanksgiving every year is super fun for the Critz family!! We have one event after another starting with the Turkey Trot (our family dance). Then on Sat. the guys play in the Granny's cup and the girls go on the Granny walk. After that, we all watch the LSU/AR game. I love it that Granny has such a huge family. Her parents had 2 girls and her mom died when she was 6 while getting her tonsils out. Her beloved sister, Tia, died of scleraderma when she was only 33. Granny's dad died, too, so it was just Granny left. She had her stepmom that she took care of until she died but her family was a small one so I love seeing how she has so many family members and everyone is FUN!!! She and Paw always won the reward at reunions for having the most grandkids....24! GO GRANNY! :) I can't wait to see her and Paw in heaven!!
Macy called me at the end of November and said, "Guess what?? I've got GREAT news!! I got a puppy!". Lamar was worried she would get one of the Davidson's puppies but I told him there was no way she would considering she lives in a college dorm. Well, I was wrong. She got a beagle puppy and got it all planned out how she was going to take care of him and where he was going to live. Well, you can guess how this has ended up...he's at home with us! He's a cute little guy that Macy named Reggie and we all love him, including Charlie Bear. They are so entertaining to watch together. :)
Christmas was wonderful. We went to the Christmas eve service at Fellowship where it "snowed" on us (second pix from bottom right) and I fell out of my seat trying to get my program and laughed so hard, I snorted (most embarrassing moment 2010!). We had a small group (well, for us anyway) at mom's house for Christmas. The Pates were in Breckenridge and the Epp's were at Disney World. But it was still lots of fun even though they were missed. Mom made her yummy tea ring that has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. The day after Christmas, we headed to Rayville so see the Lane's. We brought Reggie with us and he did great in the car. :)
This was our New Year's card this year...the picture on top is the one we sent out. The bottom picture is the same picture on the instagram app (I love the fun stuff you can do with that app). We had an exciting and fun 2010 and hope that 2011 is filled with lots of wonderful memories, peace, love, and joy! I hope everyone else has a happy 2011, too, and have a very very blessed year.
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