Twenty Twelve

I spent this New Year's Eve afternoon looking over my photos of 2012.  Good grief, a lot went on this past year!  I am always amazed at how many great things can be crammed into 365 days.  Here is my year in pictures....

JANUARY

Our house was still under construction at the beginning of the year.  

Once the kitchen was completed,  the reno moved on to the diningroom, livingroom, hallways and TV room.
We tried to get in as much snowshoeing as we could in the Callaghan Valley.

The end of January is traditionally celebrated with a Burns Supper.  As always toasts were given, the haggis exploded, and Alison KILLED us with her Scottish brogue while reciting Burns' poetry.

FEBRUARY

Joe expanded his culinary repertoire by learning how to bake 'les macarons'.  

Our house was still under construction but the arrival of Big Bertha (Joe's espresso machine) made things bearable.

 MARCH

Lots of birthdays to celebrate in March.  

We hosted parties for my mother-in-law Ann, our son Will, and our friend Donna.  

For spring break Joe and I spent 10 days in New York City eating as many hot dogs as humanly possible.

APRIL

Joe and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary.  

My mom, sisters, brother-in-law and children joined us for the Easter long weekend.  

And we hosted another birthday luncheon, this time for my father-in-law Bob.

MAY

We got the fam damily together to celebrate Mother's Day.  

We threw a 'The Renovation Is Finally Over' party for friends and family.  

And sadly Joe's grandfather passed away in his 102nd year.

JUNE

We celebrated Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne complete with tea, cucumber sandwiches and  a gin and tonic (or two).  

Molly came home for Father's Day.  Paige had to work on the Whistler Mountaineer and had the engineer slow the train down so he could toss a box of chocolates to Joe as we waved.

We hosted Squamish's inaugural 'Dinner In White' for a group of friends.

And after teaching at Squamish Elementary for a dozen years, I made the heartbreakingly difficult decision to switch schools.

JULY 

As soon as school let out for the summer holidays, I jumped on a plane with my friend Donna and headed for Paris.  It was so much fun to show her around the city I adore.

A couple of days after returning from Europe, I hopped on another plane.  This time with Joe.  We took off to explore the American Southwest.  We loved Santa Fe for its sunsets, landscapes and people.  I celebrated my 54th birthday there!

AUGUST

The beginning of August found us in Arizona enjoying the Grand Canyon, Sedona, the Canyon de Chelly, and eating tamales at road side stands.

At the end of August we hosted a wee send-off for Molly before she left for graduate school at the University of Western Ontario.  Masters of Library Sciences, here she comes!

SEPTEMBER

We hosted a family reunion for Joe's family on the Labour Day weekend.

We arranged our first home exchange in Somerset, England!  Joe and I are very excited to spend 6 weeks in the UK next summer.

I set up my new classroom at Mamquam Elementary and eagerly welcomed 21 kindergarten students into my life.

My mom celebrated her 76th birthday with us.

OCTOBER

We had a big gang up for the Thanksgiving long weekend.  

One of the highlights was seeing our friend Dominic again.  Dominic and his family are good friends from our University of Washington days in the late 1980s.  It was heartwarming to see Paige and Dominic together 22 years later.  

Molly flew home from London, Ontario to celebrate the holiday with us.

NOVEMBER

Joe upped his cocktail game considerably in November.

He and Paige celebrated their birthdays together.

DECEMBER

As the year came to a close, we were happy to slow down.  

As we have for the past several years, we went out to the woods to cut down our Christmas tree.

The kids came home for Christmas.

And we were happy to get out in the snow.

I am very grateful for my many blessings.  My family, my friends, my work, my health, my home, my travels.  I am also extremely appreciative of all the fun in my life.  Thank you everyone for making this ride so enjoyable.