An Abbreviated Review of 2011

Early 2011 brought numerous adventures and the boys' 4th birthdays.

Ryland, Leighton, & Paxton all suited up for the Brechting family roller derby.

Ryland and Paxton

Leighton spending some quality time on the playground.  

This spring, we made the decision to attempt to move back to Michigan to be closer to our families after 10 years in Lexington, KY.  We understood the challenges of finding work and selling a house in this economic climate.  Despite these difficulties, we felt God leading us.  Two weeks after sharing our decision with our families, we learned that we were expecting a baby.  Subsequent ultrasounds revealed a single miraculous baby girl.

In April we traveled to Annapolis to visit our friends Charley and Cindy Carlson.

Easter morning at the United States Naval Academy

The boys showing off their egg collections at our annual Easter dinner with our friends the Dodges. 

Summer 2011 was a whirlwind.  After countless hours of home improvement, we put our house on the market.  Em and the boys enjoyed two weeks in Michigan to escape the mayhem of house showings and open houses.  At the end of July, we celebrated as Phil's brother Kevin married Carey. 

Leighton, Paxton, and Ryland at Big Star Lake
They swam and played the hot days away with Grandma and Pappa  

Touring the lighthouse in Ludington

The Brechting family at Kevin and Carey's wedding

The first week of September Phil was offered a position with Herman Miller and we received an offer on our house.  We were all packed up and settled in Michigan four weeks later.  A mere two weeks after our move, our darling daughter made her appearance.  We praise God for His perfect timing!

After 10 wonderful years in Lexington, our move was bittersweet

Tierney Auden Brechting
born 10-13-2011 2:37 a.m.
5 lbs 5 oz & 18 inches 

Paxton loving on his baby sister.  He took it pretty well when we didn't name her Mrs. Waffles as he'd suggested

Ryland proclaimed Tierney to be "the finest baby in the world"

Leighton obviously delighted with his baby sister

Phil preparing to take our baby girl home from the hospital

Enjoying a day together as a family of six before Phil returned to work 

Delighted with their "little peanut", no day passes without squeezing in time to hold Tierney

After settling in a bit to our new life with three four-year-olds and a newborn, we began the house hunt in earnest.  We're still looking for that special place to raise our kiddos and pray that we find it soon.

Merry Christmas 2011!

If you choose to read further you'll notice a huge gap with no posts.  Keeping up with the blog was sacrificed during the months I studied for my professional licensing exams and during the mayhem of last year.  I hope to keep more up to date this year.