So I Tied an Onion to my Belt – 2011 Edition

Here we go again with another year, and I’m already behind on my annual retrospective post!
This past year has a lot to commend it, and a few things to condemn it. Three events, really, can sum it up — but of course there are additional details that shouldn’t be totally excluded.
We started the year possibly feeling a little chagrinned to discover that there would be no changes in the housing situation. Our little house in the prarie did not find a satisfactory buyer in the time we were willing to put into the effort, so we gave up and tucked in to wait for the new baby (and settled on a new van instead). Feeling not a little trapped, I was grateful to have a motorbike to experience a little adventure on. Little did I know how painful an adventure that bike would lead to!
By mid-May, I was confined to a bed with my leg in the air, while Nicole was home with a newborn, and two toddlers who needed their (obviously distracted) parents more than ever. Fortunately, my mom, who spends most of her time doing much better things overseas, was home to help prepare for my sister’s wedding, and was able to lend a helping hand — and then some!
Nicole was recovered, baby settled, and me hobbling in time for the aforementioned wedding — or two, as some very special girls wed the young men who’d become so important to them. We were excited that our family got to have a part in both ceremonies. We were excited too, to celebrate our own 10th anniversary.
With the summer over, and winter looming before us, promising more snow, gray and gloom than we really thought we could handle after such a tough year, we began plans for at least temporary escapes, affording the kids their first flights — among other things. Nicole found and booked us a vacation home in Florida for the entire month of January — something we’re enjoying even as I type this, and possibly our first successful (albeit hybrid) vacation ever!
And there you have it: 2011. Of course their was some home improvements, seminary, changes at work and various projects that I dove into, in the continuing hope that there will be more to life than what the last few years have offered us; there were first days of school, and soccer, and other new things for Ben and Abi — and the joy of seeing those things through their eyes. But at the dawn of a new year, with our philosophy of adventure looking a little battered and bruised by the winds of change and the realities of adult life, we are looking forward to finding, seizing and exploring more of the world that God gave us in 2012…

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