My top 30 of 2010

I tried really, really, really hard to get this "Top" list down to 20 images but it just wasn't even coming close to happening. I got the list down to 40 and the was somehow able to shave off 10 more ... hence my favorite top 30. These are in order from January - December to kind of "tell the story" of the 2010. So without further adieu ... #1 - one of my absolute favorites of Angel - we were showing off her new hair cut and somehow ended up with one of the best. shots. ever. (especially in sepia).

#2 - another favorite - it was an amazingly warm day for January, so we headed outside to the swing set. I wanted to try out a new b&w action I had bought, so this beautiful image was born :-)

#3 - I don't think anyone will be forgetting THIS blizzard anytime soon.

#4 - just another average day at home - we were playing with moonsand and it was *everywhere* but the kids had a blast.

#5 - my pink boots! These are kind of a symbol for a lot of things and remind me of my Dad, so they had to be included.

#6 - Angel in this gorgeous red velvet dress that my very-talented mom made (seriously - she is VERY talented and I feel so very blessed to have her in my life for more reasons than 1!)

#7 - my new self-portrait at 30, the wrinkles and all :-) I guess 30 isn't so bad ... lots of really amazing blessings this year so it's impossible to complain.

#8 - my little Lovebug doing what he does - he has an obsession with hats AND trains ... so this just fits him perfectly.

#9 - Ok, this one is for my Dad - Lovebug unfortunately isn't a huge fan of this hat (go figure) but it's adorable anyway.

#10 - Lovebug again - my attempt at some Easter portraits didn't yield a ton, but at least I got this beautiful shot of him. Looking back at this, he has grown up a lot over this year!

#11 - another new favorite of Angel. Believe it or not, this was my test shot to make sure my settings were correct before I handed the camera over to my Dad to take our dossier pictures, which leads us to #12!

#12 - the storyboard I made out of our dossier portraits. My Dad took these for us and our really (there aren't words for) awesome neighbor, Suzi, made the kids laugh perfectly. These were the *easiest* family portraits we have ever done!

#13 - this pretty much sums up the first 5-6 months of the year - paper-chasing for our dossier.

#14 - Angel's "Big Sister" charm from Jiayin Designs was her 5th birthday present (added information here - I just got my charm with Sunshine's Chinese name and it's just beautiful).

#15 - Angel's 5-year pictures on the beach. We surprised the kids with a trip the morning we left - we were already packed and ready to go. It was really awesome.

#16 - when I took this, DH and I knew instantly that this shot would become "let's sit down and show your boyfriend all of your childhood photos" bribery material. I still totally think that. LOL. Poor thing took a really nasty fall in at the beach and had a busted lip for about a week!

#17 - My gorgeous son holding a zucchini from our garden this year! It's a shame he won't actually *eat* any of the veggies we grew but at least I got several really cute pictures of him anyway!

#18 - one of my all-time favorites from 2010. DH was smart enough to take the camera from me and shoot a few pictures. I'm so grateful he did that because I just adore this shot.

#19 - bedhead - this sums up my goofy, "funny guy" son.

#20 - this one is also a perfect summary of Angel. When she's home during the day with Lovebug, she is ALWAYS getting into something - she has quite the imagination and Lovebug is happy to oblige her by joining in. I think they were headed off to school or something. I'm not sure why she wanted to "go" to school in the summer though.

#21 - actually GOING to school on the first day of Kindergarten. This breaks my heart but makes me so proud all at the exact same time. Being a parent is so weird sometimes.

#22 - another shot I really love! We were heading out for DH's birthday and I actually had makeup on and looked nice, so I asked my Dad to snap a few of me and DH. So glad he did!

#23 - just another day home with my Lovebug. At first I really didn't like having Angel gone everyday, but it's grown on me. It gives me some 1-on-1 time with just Lovebug ... and even that time is fleeting!

#24 - another attempt at a family picture for the dossier. We were at a local farm and had such a fun time. Of course you wouldn't know it by Angel's face but that's kind of typical for her with family shots so really it's just perfect.

#25 - another new favorite of Angel, gosh she's beautiful! This was a product shot for one of my favorite crochet shops.

#26 - best friends. This is J., our neighbor, and he's pretty much the coolest. We can't wait to see how their friendship grows as they get older.

#27 - the Aquarium! We had such a great day - no school, no work, just us. DH had taken off for our I-800 fingerprinting and we spent the whole day hanging out. It rocked and we need many more days like this.

#28 - the last family picture we needed for our dossier! Finally! Our awesome neighbor, S. was behind the camera again on this one - she really rocks! The kids always smile with her!

#29 - Lovebug's 3rd birthday. I mentioned earlier that my Mom was super-talented. Now you can see another one of her talents - check out this cake!

#30 - probably the best photo to sum up all of 2010. Although we had so much fun as a family and saw so many blessings throughout the year, we were constantly working toward our daughter in China. We didn't know who she was, but we knew God was leading us. Amazingly, we got to "meet" our daughter through pictures right before Christmas this year. And here is our final 2010 portrait - of our beautiful family of 5.

Whew, what a really wonderful year. I mean really wonderful. So, so, so many blessings. So much to be thankful for. So many reasons to praise God.