The year 2011 was a big one for our family. Though this maybe was a better post for January 1st, I figured it wasn’t lost. Our family has been talking about the year and wondering what this year will bring. As we have been doing so we talked about the great things that 2011 brought to us and wonder what God has in store for 2012!
January 2011 – Avarie turned 6. We celebrated with a trip to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN and a trip to the American Girl doll store where Avarie chose her first American Girl doll and now is a BIG BIG BIG fan of the dolls and the books and the American Girl doll world. I had NO idea what a world it is but its been fun exploring!
April 2011 – We decided to move from our home and be near my parents to help them out. It has been an adventure. Though we miss our friends and neighborhood, we are making new friends and getting to spend a lot of great, quality time with my parents. The kids getting to spend time with the grandparents is great for them and my parents.
May 2011- Well, what a blessing! Our son Christian was granted a Make a Wish trip to Give Kids the World Village at Disney World in Florida. This is the first time we have ever been able to take a family vacation together and Give Kids the World was amazing! Truly the most wonderful place in the world. The kids had a fantastic time and the staff made every moment just amazing. It is difficult to even pin point a moment that was the best because it was all amazing! What an experience. It was so great to see the kids having so much fun together in a place that was accepting and accommodating to Christian’s special needs. We can’t thank the Make a Wish Foundation enough for such a blessing to our lives. It has moved our whole family on many level including motivating Avarie to take an interest in the organization.
June/July 2011- The summer was a great time in our new town making new friends and getting comfortable in our new house. It was a time of nature walks, Drama camp, YMCA camp, and bike rides. The walking paths and parks are close, including a dog park for Adi. We had some great summer fun! I even got to visit New England for the first time. Seeing the USS Constitution, walking the Freedom Trail in Boston, visiting Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, and seeing historical parts of the Newport Naval Base made for a memorable trip.
August 2011 – Avarie and Daddy experienced their first Father/Daughter Ball to benefit the Bona Vista organization. Avarie learned about the organization, collected necessities and wish list items for Bona Vista programs, and attended the Cinderella Ball where they had dinner, a waltzing lesson, a horse and carriage ride, met Cinderella and Prince Charming, and had a “midnight” party where they donated the gifts they brought. What a memorable experience it was for both Father and Daughter!
September 2011- Back to school time and the 1st grade year officially started along side our new friends in our Classical Conversation of Fishers group. We have been blessed to find this group and have made some great friends along our CC schooling journey. Avarie loves CC and is sad when we have a week off. She loves her classmates, the fun memorization songs, and her public speaking has improved significantly with her weekly 2 minute presentation to her class. We look forward to another year of CC with our CC family!
October 2011 – Looking back, October was a crazy month. We did a LOT in October. We had fall activities apple picking and visiting the pumpkin patch. We visited the new Archeology exhibit at the Children’s Museum, which is a hit and a must-see if you are in the Indianapolis area. We had Zoo Boo with friends and trick or treating. We even had time to leaf collect and jump in some too! It was a great month of fall fun!
November 2011- November was a time to start preparing for the holidays. Avarie made her first pumpkin pie from a pumpkin she picked and we continued with some fun fall activities and family fun for Thanksgiving. Though Thanksgiving brought us the stomach flu, we still had a great time spending time with family and friend in the month of November. I even did my first Usborne book show in November, which was really fun!
December 2011 – The kids just loved getting ready for the holidays. We had more time with Christian, Leyton really enjoyed the holidays this year and had a blast decorating the trees and the cookies and opening presents. With Jolly Days at the Children’s Museum, driving around looking at lights, two Christmas church programs, our Classical Conversations Christmas/End of Semester program, and lots of family gatherings, December was a very busy month. My dear husband and I were blessed to ring in the New Year together and it was a great time!
Looks like you’ve had a busy but wonderful year. 🙂 I love how you did the photos to go with each month — very cool.
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Thanks. Just experimenting. Thought it would be a good way to have a little 2011 recap and hope it will continue on the blog. Some months had a LOT of pictures. Was tough to choose 🙂 Thanks for compliment!
thanks for share!