The Year That Was - 2011

Last year I made a request to cut down my hours at work. Thanks to very considerate management, it pushed through. I lost a bit of income there in exchange for more precious family time. I’ve used the word ‘sanity’ a lot since I became a mom twice over. This new schedule has certainly had me keep mine. In fact it has paved for better much blessed year.

Click Read More for my year 2011 in pictures.

Each year often begins and ends in snow. But this year has been fairly manageable. Plus we didn’t have a white Christmas.

Hubby fulfilled his quest for mini-vacations. Our second time in Great Wolf was better than ever.

The lunch buffet makes anyone want to eat like a kid.

The new attraction – Ridge Runner – in Blue Mountain had us at first ride.

Sushi enjoyed punching waves at Sauble Beach.

And got to ride an elephant at African Lion Safari.

We went to Niagara Falls twice this year, first for the Whirlpool Aero car and shopping at Lundy's Lane,

The second time was with SIL for maid of the Mist.

My eldest sister visited from New Jersey in summer.

I cut my boys’ hair for the first time. Read about my attempt here. I hope to pursue this down the road.

Sashimi's first movie experience and the only time we went to a theater in years. We watched Cars 2.

Sushi, who went to Grade 2, found interest in geography and political history, alongside his love for baseball and basketball and all things statistics.

He just turned 7. Please don't grow too fast.

Meanwhile Sashimi has moved up to preschool in daycare. Still the mighty mischievous, but we adore him to pieces. He turned 3.

We have more birthdays to celebrate and people to celebrate our birthdays with.

I made an attempt to take part in Halloween. Sushi said mine does not count as costume.

A school year of bento fixing. A rigorous exercise of my creativity and patience.

I baked more muffins than I ever had.

We went to park on every good weathered weekend.

And discovered this beauty in Port Credit.

Close to the end was the big trip to Manila. It's nice to be with family and friends once again and to relax and be pampered.

Sushi celebrated his 7th birthday with a Jollibee party and at my parents' house.

 

To make the most of our trip to the east, we did a side trip to Hong Kong. The kids got to experience riding different modes of transportation - the MTR, the peak tram, a taxi, ferry, shuttlebus and here the double deck bus.

We also decided on Hong Kong with Disneyland in mind. Read about it here.

Also in Hong Kong, a wedding proposal to my SIL, evoking another big trip this year (2012). I say 'big' because going home is a big production for us. I shared my thoughts here.

Luciano Pavarotti wrote in My Own Story, “One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”  That's exactly what we did on this trip.

My eldest sister re-visited from NJ to celebrate the Christmas holiday with us. Who would think we'll end up on this side of the earth together?

What a wonderful way to end the year 2011!

At the end of each year, I look back on the year that was in pictures, and review the 3 annual lists I came up with the previous year – My Goals, Wishlist, and Prayers. It’s always good to visually see what I have accomplished for the year, from the annual routine, to the more specific goals. It's lovely to see which items in my list I did buy or receive, those that I’m going to wishlist again the next year, and those that I will leave to The Secret. And it's always a blessing to realize answered prayers, and to accept that some things I have prayed for can wait or are just not meant for me.

This is what I do each year – I count my blessings and wish for a better new year - for me and for all.

I had 89 blog entries in the year 2011. I was writing more only towards the end. I will strive to blog more and share the daily soup of this hotpot family.  Thanks for visiting!