Highlights of 2011 (Part 2)

Continuing on from this post, here are a few more highlights of 2011!

(6) COUPLE RETREAT - My mom gave Mark and I a wonderful birthday gift this year. She gifted us a weekend marriage conference with the added bonus of watching the kids! And even better? The conference took place at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in early October - beautiful.  It was a great opportunity to reconnect and have some time together.  I am so, so thankful.

(7) SPORTS FUN!  With 5 kids, activities add up, even when kept to a minimum. Fortunately, we have been able to enjoy some sports this year.  Abi and Hana enjoyed soccer this fall and Grace gave volleyball a try (she also played soccer in the spring).  It was so fun to see how much the kids improved from the spring to fall seasons. I'm so glad they are having FUN and we were lucky to have coaches that valued the fun over winning.  Hana in particular is really coming into her own as an athlete.  She has a real gift for sports and it is opening doors for her in making friends, an area that she sometimes struggles with.  Looking forward to more fun in 2012.

(8) SUMMER FUN - We had a wonderful summer and were able to spend some great quality time with family. Mark's parents own a great cabin and we were also fortunate enough to have time with my mom and one of her friends at another cabin.  Kids had a blast enjoying the sun and water!

 Tubing fun!

Eagle catching a fish - awesome!

(9) TENNESSEE TRIP!  I guess we took more vacations than I thought this year!  Over Spring break we took a long weekend trip down to TN to visit my brother and his family. It was so great to have some time with them!  We also were able to check out Mammoth Caves, which was a fun hike!

(10)  HAIR!  Okay, this might seem like a silly highlight, but I think it counts.  I chopped off a solid 11 inches and donated it to locs of love.  We finally let Hana chop hers as well.  This made her  happy, but left me rather emotional.  Hair can be a very touchy topic, especially within transracial families. I don't think either of us has regretted the decision for her to go short though.

And I continue to work on my yarn braid prowess!