2010 Nearly Complete

As the year winds down, I feel compelled to reflect on the milestones that 2010 presented. With Angela and I both working, time seems to go by much faster when raising two children. The days are fast paced and stressful at times, and before you know it another month has passed. The last time I blogged was June 6, 2010. At that time I mentioned that I did not know how frequently this blog would be used, and as you can tell that it has not been very often. The year 2010 went by quickly, but had many things to celebrate.

Promptly after returning home from our family beach trip, we celebrated Corbin's first birthday. We had the party in our backyard and celebrated the day with roughly 50 guests. It was a beautiful warm June day that was perfect for this special day. Then, just one month after we celebrated Cooper's 4th birthday with a pool party at Glen Oaks Golf Club. Thanks to Papaw Adam for allowing us to use his club to commemorate this day.

The summer past quickly with us finishing off our summer with a trip to Charleston over Labor Day. We took Cooper and Corbin with us for the long weekend and had a great time. We stayed at the Renaissance off of King Street, and much to my surprise, the kids loved staying in town. This trip looks like it could become an annual family tradition for us.

As we moved into the Fall months, the favorite season of the Drum household, we set our sites on Pumpkin Patch trips, football games and preparations for Christmas. We visited Patterson Farms (pictured above) and made it to a couple of Panthers games, which has turned into a favorite thing to do on Cooper's list. The highlight of the Fall for me was the 1st Annual Helton Creek Camping/Fly Fishing trip. Cooper and I, along with others took our first camping trip. We spent two nights camping and had beautiful weather, other than breaking down camp in pouring rain. It was a memorable trip for all involved.

As Thanksgiving passed, and we gave Thanks for all of our blessings, and Christmas arrived. We began our Celebrations with Cooper and Corbin's Christmas plays at school. We then celebrated with my co-workers at our annual Christmas party. This party always gives us stories to talk about until the following years celebration. Then to Dad's the weekend before Christmas. And, finally to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations with our families here at home.

What a year it has been. I am blessed beyond my deservings. I have a beautiful wife who is as a perfect mother to our healthy children. Angela and I have families and friends who love us all dearly.

Goodbye to 2010. What will 2011 have in store?

Another Successful Family Beach Trip...

Yesterday, I returned home from the family beach trip. The trip is a Christmas gift given to us each year by my grandparents. This year we had 19 in attendance and stayed in a beutiful house named, "Sun-S-Up" in Surfside Beach. For me, this is the highlight week of my year. I get to see my grandparents watch their great-grandchildren enjoy the beach, I get to watch my parents spoil their grandchildren in a ridiculous way, I get to see cousins unite as one and I get to experience some of the best breakfasts' ever prepared by my grandmother and stepfather.

When the week begins everyone is in high spirits and taking it all in. Lots of laughter, practical jokes, adult beverages and horseplay happen during the first 4-5 days. However, as the week comes to a close the mood changes to dread and everyone starts mentioning how few days we have left of our vacation. And each year at the close of the vacation, my family is the first to leave due to having two small children and our need to get on the road as fast as possible. As we leave everyone gathers at the bottom of the steps and says their goodbyes and watches as we pull away.

The pulling away part is a very depressing and sad feeling. It gets to me every time because I never know if I will ever be able to repeat that week again next year. It is by the grace of God that my family has been blessed with good health, love for one another, jobs that we have been able to keep during this trying economic time and overall cohesiveness that has never been broken.

In closing, I want to send a heartfelt thank you to my grandparents, Joe and Glenda Sigmon, for a wonderful week. I also want to thank my mom, aunt Tonya and uncle Glenn for supplying all of the food for the week. Lastly I want to thank everyone in the house for loving my children so much and spending time with them doing whatever they wanted to do. Thank you very much.

To wrap it up, I will share some pictures with you that highlights the wonderful week we had. In addition, I will share a link (http://www.middlechildphotography/) that has a preview of some photos taken by a professional photographer. While on this website, go to the blog section and our photo shoot was done on June 1.

Hats off to a great week, and my we repeat this again next year with full attendance once again.