12th of 12.

A friend asked me the other day, "aren't you gonna blog about Christmas?" to which I thought, "did I even blog about Thanksgiving???"

According to my blog lineup, November 16th was the last time I threw something up here.  That's just sacrilegious, my friends.  Absurd to the nth degree, and no excuse could possibly suffice.  But since I have yet to reclaim my life since those early November days (will I EVER???), I'm not putting up anything massive - just SOMETHING to kick start myself into blogging again - our Christmas Letter that details the ups and downs of Two-Thousand-Eleven.  And if you read to the end, you might discover why I just haven't felt like blogging into the wee hours, as I frequently did last summer/fall ;)

Without further ado...The Hurlifam's 2011 Christmas Letter :) 

As I sat down to refresh my memory of all our goings-on this year I realized that I was using all the methods that you already have at your disposal (and have possibly been keeping up with throughout the year): Facebook, the Hurli-blog, e-mails, etc.

As a marketer, I know that while I still need to recap our year, I should do so in a unique way so that you’re not simply reading a cut-and-paste of our blog (free lesson to all you aspiring marketers out there)!  And besides, Shannon said I couldn’t do that.  So I want to promise you at least one bit of Hurliman-Christmas-newsletter-exclusive news, as well as present our letter in a unique series of Lessons and Blessings.

Lesson: While kids love homemade cotton “indoor snowballs” for a first birthday party, finding cotton on the floor doesn’t end until around 6 months later.

Lesson: The smell of the National Western Stock Show reminds us of Grandpa Doc’s vet truck, vet clinic, and, well, Grandpa Doc himself. J

Blessing: Taking my big girl on her first ski trip and riding all the way to the top of the ski lift together.

Lesson: My big girl on her first ski trip doesn’t ski slopes from the top of the ski lift, though has not problem allowing daddy to backbreakingly hold her all the way down the ski slope.

Lesson: If your child can’t sleep while you’re on a hut trip in the mountains, she’ll want to get in bed with you and keep you up all night by feeling your face, stroking your hair and kicking your legs.

Lesson: First row seats to the Rockies in May are actually not as good when it is spitting snow and rain (and the Rockies lose).

Bonus Lesson: The only gloves sold at Coors Field are thin garden gloves that cost $12.

Blessing: There was more testosterone in Fort Myers Beach this year than in any previous year I’ve been there.

Lesson: If your boat doesn’t work, try cleaning the carburetors.  Call me, I now know how.  Ar-ar-ar.

Blessing: Katie’s marriage to a great young man, Derek Nattier, pretty much signifies that Mom and Dad Hurliman have raised us all to adulthood (with varying degrees of success depending on who you ask!)

Bonus Blessing: They continue to store (rent free!) a large majority of everything we owned – or they bought for us – before we were 21.

Lesson: Tanner Kay is an amazingly cute, curly-haired flower girl.

Bonus Lesson: If Ellery is jealous about Tanner being a cute flower girl, she will fill her pants with toxic waste during the wedding ceremony.

Lesson: You don’t have to plant ANY pumpkin and/or gourd seeds in order to get enough to not only choke out your garden, but also decorate your front porch in autumn splendor (60+).

Bonus Lesson: Said gourds last through hail storms, nearby fallen trees and 100+ F weather better than any other plant in the garden – of course.

Lesson: When camping in your backyard in July to acclimate the girls to tent sleeping, it is still too cold at night to sleep in your boxers.

Lesson: Aspen trees don’t have deep-rooting roots, Ash are susceptible to Ash borers, and Rosebud don’t like dry chilly climates.  In our yard, crabgrass flourishes and thistle thrives.  Moles and squirrels love our garden.  All of this will lead to my new Discovery Channel reality show, Suburban Backyard Wars. J

Blessing: There’s a good yard care guy down the block!

Lesson: Fort Collins has more breweries that I am mentally and physically able to visit in an entire weekend.

Blessing: We tried!

Blessing: We have two new nieces (Jasper Beeson and Emma Brown).

Lesson: Actually, their parents will get these lessons!

Lesson / Blessing: We are cool enough for Katie and Derek to come visit!  (To all our other guests, we appreciate your visits too J)

Blessing: We had the girls “dedicated” at church, indicating that we would try to raise them in a Godly way.

Lesson: Doing this right is tough!

Lesson: Holding a birthday party at Jump Street (i.e. a trampoline land) and creating a rainbow cake sugar crash is enough to get a newly crowned 4-year-old to finally take a nap.

Lesson: You can call your husband at 5:50am begging for your bicycle tire that you forgot to bring with you to your triathlon, and he can wake up your kids and 2 others staying the night, and get you your tire before your start time at 7:00am.

Lesson: A moderate 2-mile hike with a toddler on your shoulders is more difficult than a strenuous 8-mile hike performed prior to having children.

Lesson: Take the kids on a special Labor Day weekend trip to a hotel and they will point out said hotel EVERY SINGLE TIME you pass by it and ask when you are going to stay there again.

Blessing: “Chillfest” in SC leaves me with absolutely no responsibilities other than eating Katie’s puppy chow, drinking Derek’s beer, and killing zombies with Brad and Phil.

Bonus Blessing: Shannon let me return home.

Lesson: When Shannon has a “bachelorette” weekend with her friend Janelle, it takes me about 15 beers and 6 frozen family meals to get through the three days.

Lesson: You can’t will people to know what your kids are dressed for on Halloween (no matter how clearly you remember Rainbow Brite cartoons).

Blessing: They’ll still look cute and get plenty of candy!

Lesson: The table saw always wins.

Blessing: 90% of your thumb is better than no thumb at all.

Lesson: Pixar’s “Knick Knack” short (about a snowman in a snow globe) apparently does not get boring for 2 and 4-year olds even after 152 views.

Blessing: See above

Lesson: Our new Suburban will be big enough to haul a family of five (and all our junk) for many years.

Blessing: You got it – we are expecting our third child in 2012.  I’m sure it will be another girl – we’ll find out in February.  And, yes, that’s still a blessing.

Trust me, there were many more lessons and blessing than that, but hopefully that gives you an idea of how much we’ve learned this year and how fortunate we’ve been.  We wish you all as many lessons and blessings for 2012 and hope to see you this holiday season or in the coming year.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, and God bless your new year.

Don't worry - I plan on posting all these November and December blogs floating around my head, and I plan on post-dating them appropriately so that when I someday go back and read Hurlifam in its entirety I can delude myself into thinking I had it all together over the holidays (didn't I do something like this last year, too?  I'm sure next year - with a 5 year old, almost 3 year old, and 6 month old - I'll TOTES have it all together.  As if.)

Hope you are having a great new year - we sure have a LOT to look forward to!