A Year in Review: 2011

It’s that time of year again! Time for our annual “Year in Review” post! Describing this past year is like trying to fit the ocean in a cup. It was full of first-time sagas which brought good and bad moments, lots of evidence of God’s faithfulness to us, and lots of wonderful memories.

As most of you know, 2011 started out with a house flood on January 7^th. Our house sustained a fair amount of damage, and the next few months were filled with repairs and workers coming in and out of the house. We were blessed to have Christian men working for us!

We spent lots of time in a hotel while repairs were going on. Looking back on it now, we had a lot of fun together!

I was blessed with the opportunity to teach at Bright Lights a few times during the year. Being a part of this ministry has helped me grow so much spiritually!

We celebrated Mommy’s birthday with our best friends in Midland in January. We look forward to celebrating many more birthdays in the future!

We also enjoyed celebrating Super Bowl this year. We ate many delicious treats, and enjoyed watching the game even though the Steelers didn’t win.

Michigan provided lots of snow for sledding last year! We love having a small slope in our backyard to use during the long winter months.

Our family made the decision to change our eating habits early in the year. As a part of that, we began ordering foods from a health coop. Here, we pick up our order.

Meanwhile, the flood saga continued. While our floors were being refinished, the living room was full of furniture from the first floor. I had to do school somewhere! J

For Josiah’s birthday trip in March, we went out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and visited the Castle Museum.

Roma purchased her first camera in March. She has honed her photography skills with her new Canon!

Daddy and I flew to Georgia to attend the annual Father Daughter Retreat hosted by Vision Forum. We enjoyed a delightful weekend together listening to speakers, enjoying high tea, and taking in the beautiful Calloway Gardens.

We were very excited to celebrate the baptism of Rubia and Roma in April! They have both shown spiritual growth and desired to take this next step.

In May, we celebrated their birthday with a trip to the zoo.

For Ben’s birthday, we visited the Michigan Historical Society, toured the state capitol, and ate dinner in an antique train car!

Father’s Day weekend found us in Pennsylvania to visit with Grandparents and cousins from Virginia. We enjoyed showing the cousins around town during their visit.

Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a get-away for their anniversary in late June. They toured Amish Country in Ohio together.

Over summer break we spent several days in Pennsylvania with our Grandparents over the Fourth of July as well as several days in Ohio with family.

We celebrated Daddy’s birthday by taking him out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Doesn’t he look good in a sombrero? J

My surprise birthday trip led us to northern Michigan to spend the weekend at our friend’s cottage on the lake. We had a marvelous time together!

I was very excited to pass Driver’s Ed this summer as well. Watch out world! Here I come! J

We all helped out during Vacation Bible School at church in late July. We had a record-breaking number of kids attend!

Throughout the summer, we attended several park days with our homeschooling friends.

Ben and Dad were blessed with the opportunity to attend a Promise Keepers conference in August. They enjoyed their time together and learned a lot!

Most of us participated in multiple road races this summer. We really enjoyed training and racing together!

School started once again in the fall with lots of new subjects for all of us. We have definitely kept busy!

We had our first—of what will hopefully become our annual—sibling tea party in September. We had lots of fun being prim and proper and enjoying delicious treats.

Ben enjoyed his Rite of Passage celebration with his mentors in October. We are so proud to see him officially enter the world of manhood!

We took our annual trip to the orchard in late October. It was lots of fun picking apples, playing on the playground, going through a corn maze, and eating cider and donuts!

We were relieved to be reunited with Dad after his scary experience on a business trip to Asia. We are so thankful to have him safely home!

One new extra-curricular activity this school year is attending Keepers Coop. We have been studying all about medicinal herbs and have loved it! So far, we’ve made salves (above), tinctures, capsules, and lots more!

We’ve had several opportunities to minister through worship dance this past year. God has opened so many doors for the dance ministry!

We celebrated our family Christmas early so that we could travel later in the week. Here we are early Christmas morning.

We spent a few days in Ohio celebrating with family. Here is a picture of all the grandkids together.

Our last stop for Christmas was to Pennsylvania to visit with Dad’s side of the family. We had a great time together! And that is 2011 in a nutshell! We are immensely looking forward to all the plans God has for our family in 2012!