On the Ranch:
Baby season started right away. It’s always a fun time for us.
At the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, we did very well in the more serious events.
In the costume contest, the competition gets tougher every year because everyone wants to beat us.
In the end, however, Bluebonnet Hills Alpaca Ranch and Team Binder continues to be the team to beat in both classes, Youth and Adult.
You gotta love a 14-year-old boy who is willing to risk national exposure by dressing like Little Bo Peep!
Our newest line of yarn from our animals, Kaleidoscope, was a huge success, and we had to make more. Lots more.
At Home:
We took Paige on her first trip to Disney World,
and we all visited the Magic Kingdom for the first time.
Going on a pizza crawl in New York City
with our friends Robert and Amanda
was a real highlight.
There were plenty of adventures along the way.
#typicaldaytravelingwiththeBinders
After the devastating Summer of 2011 in the state of Texas, Spring 2012 was magnificent!
I picked up a new hobby, spinning,
and am always happy to show off my first completed project.
It was 108° in St. Louis on the 4th of July, and our band of merrymakers may or may not have suffered serious burns to the booty as we watched a first-rate parade that morning, waited on the street for buses to take us sightseeing, and while we sat on the bank of the mighty Mississippi watching fireworks that night. #typicaldaytravelingwiththeBinders.
Laurence continued his decades-old tradition of taking me on a honeymoon getaway. 
This year’s choice: someplace cool to escape the heat of the summer, Niagara Falls. Good one, Honey!
We said good-bye to the house we lovingly restored
for Kevin while he was in college,
and said hello to the newest member of the Texas A&M Class of 2012!
Whoop!!!
With help from their Uncle Zeke, we helped raise the cutest litter of puppies to ever grace the planet.
I picked up a second hobby, sewing,
and made a costume for Paige to wear
at the annual Christmas festival,
Dickens on the Strand, on Galveston Island.
New hobbies and costumes seems to be the theme for this year. 
And as always, he saved the best for last. Kevin proposed to Paige on Christmas night, and we could not be happier. The girl we call our Princess is going to be our Princess happily ever after!
(Like we didn’t know that already!!!!!)
I loved reading and looking at your memories oaths last year! You guys know how to do retirement!!! Love ya
Sharon! I’ve missed you! It was a very good year, and I’m looking forward to what 2013 brings. Looks like there’s a wedding in early 2014, so there’s a lot to get excited about in my future! Meanwhile, I plan to enjoy every day. Love and MISS you!
I LOVE this year in review. Your photos tell a full story, Donna! My favorite, the BBH yarns!
Thank you, Steph! I highly recommend this exercise in looking back. It was a wonderful way to remind myself of all the good things that made 2012 a special year. I’d love to see something like this on YOUR page!!
Thanks, Steph! I highly recommend this exercise as it allows you to revisit the things that make a year special. I would LOVE to see you do this on WC Mercantile’s site! There are so many fun things you do every year, I just don’t know how you would decide which pictures to use. At any rate…..the challenge is thrown out!