Christmas Card 2011

Merry Christmas!!! Following last year's Christmas card tradition, I've decided to do our card online again this year. It made things so much easier, quicker, and cheaper. I may just end up doing it online indefinitely...we'll see. For those of you who don't follow our blog (even though I'm a slacker at posting), here's a list of a few things we have done this past year (not in any specific order):

Devin:

*received a very special birthday present: Emmy

*honored in all his 2nd year rotations at Duke

*accepted to MBA school at Duke and Vanderbilt (note: Devin only applied at Duke, but when he was contacted by Vandy asking him to apply and telling him that they had scholarship money available, he ended up applying there as well)

*received a full-ride scholarship to the Vanderbilt MBA program

*selected to be on the consulting club council and health care club council

*honored in all his MBA classes, thus far

*won (with the three other people on his team) the Vandy Deloitte Consulting Case Competition and will be headed to Nationals in January

*selected with four other medical students from Duke to go to Washington, D.C. in January for a week of health care policy

*did the girls' bedtime routine every single night that he was home

*in the process of applying for internships for this upcoming summer

*drove the huge moving truck out to Nashville

Cathy:
*went into labor by having my water break (again)

*had a VBAC with Emmy

*bought my first pair of running shoes

*ran in four 5Ks and had a 3.0 mile PR (24:30)

*lost all the Emmy baby weight

*discovered the best sweet potato cupcake in the world (in Nashville)

*started up a Music Makers class in Nashville

*spoke in our Nashville ward the week after moving here

*went to a bunch of yard sales for some amazing finds

*got the best haircut of my life that I am in love with (thank you, Jami!)

*went on my first ever Black Friday shopping trip and got a beautiful new Canon Rebel T3 that I am thrilled about

*taught Kylie's preschool for the month of November and took them on a field trip to the fire station

*drove 10 hours in the car with the two girls to Nashville

*flew to Nashville by myself with both girls (luckily it was uneventful)

Kylie:

*learned how to ride a bike (with training wheels)

*had her very first haircut and was a champ (thanks, Sarah!)

*pretended to be Simba, Rapunzel, and Belle 24/7 (with the rest of our family as the other characters)

*started preschool with six other friends and loves it!

*became a sister and absolutely adores Emmy

*memorized scriptures/poems/songs during devotional

*became very outgoing with other people instead of reserved and shy

*started acting sassy and has a very strong personality

*had chocolate milk and became obsessed with drinking it for breakfast every morning

*practiced typing on the computer

*read, read, read (she loves books!)

*turned 3 years old

*learned how to do an impressive "grumpy face"

*realized that it is fun to have boys chase girls

*played dress-up a million times

*drew with chalk on the back patio

*went with Mom on her weekly Goodwill trips to find some kids books

Emmy:

*born in Durham, NC on her daddy's birthday

*had major issues with nursing

*slept through the night at a young age (like 8 weeks?)

*learned how to roll over

*learned how to sit up

*learned how to crawl

*learned how to pull herself up on everything

*learned how to crawl up stairs

*bonked her head a gazillion times and got some pretty awesome shiners

*was blessed in Las Vegas with lots of family there

*graduated from the pack n' play to a big girl crib

*fell in love with other babies and tries to attack them with love and kisses

*had her first brownie and freaked out when we didn't give her more

*experienced "The Beach" for the first time

*started teething, but still doesn't have any teeth

As a family:

*went to Nashville for Spring Break to look for apartments (and didn't find one)

*signed a contract in Nashville without seeing the apartment in person

*left our beloved Durham

*moved to Nashville, TN (and we love our apartment)

*got a church calling our first Sunday (we are both CTR 7 Primary teachers - 15 kids - we really love it so much!)

*saw "The Lion King" Broadway tour in Durham - amazing!

*celebrated our fourth anniversary

*had visitors (Logan and Christine, Tommy and Alyse, J.D. and Ashley) and went to some cool Nashville places

*went to Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert

*went to Las Vegas, Utah, and the beach for a summer vacation

*had our first Christmas elf, Foggy (named by Kylie), visit our family every day (Elf on the Shelf)

*experienced our first tornado warning and hid in the downstairs bathroom

We hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season and remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas. Take care and come visit us in Nashville!

Love, The Busby Family