Highlights from 2011

Here is a summary of highlights from this past year.

January

• Our darling little angel, Mia Grace Victoria was born on Jan 17th. The boys were so thrilled to finally have a little sister. She is a very precious girl, and is the recipient of a lot of love.

Newborn Mia

The whole family together for the boy's very first visit to the hospital to meet their baby sister

• Grandma and Pop Coombs stayed with us for a few months around Christmas and Mia's birth. What a blessing it was for Ange to have an extra two sets of hands around to help, and for the boys to have some quality time with their grandparents.

• Shortly after Mia’s birth we survived an incredible blizzard where we received 21 inches of snow in a single day. If you watch the cheesy video clips I put together below, you'll begin to appreciate just how much snow we had accumulated.

• Sledding and snowboarding.

June and July

• A summer of fun at the pool: Jordan's initiation with the super-duper water slides, Nathan learning to swim, and Judah's fun on the diving boards.

• Clayton had a serene time with nature (and his computer) at Whidbey Island (just outside of Seattle) writing over 17,000 words in less than a week. After a year of hard work and two week long writing retreats, Clayton is finally submitting the first draft of his dissertation any day now!

• Our third annual week long stay at Green Lake Wisconsin for a "Vacation with a Purpose" (otherwise known as family camp).

A family snap shot out by the lake

August

• Clayton flew to Oxford University for an all expenses paid trip to present a paper he had written which he hopes will be published in one of their journals.

Clayton outside Queen's College where he stayed

September

• Judah and Nathan starting at Clapham School, the miraculous story of provision surrounding this, and the incredible blessing that a classical Christian education has already been in just a few months. Judah's favourite subjects are history and composer study while Nathan's favourite class is gym.

Judah and Nathan's first day at their new school

October

• Angela and Mia traveled home to Australia to be with family for a number of milestone events including Great Nanny's 80th birthday and the birth of our precious niece and cousin Tara Caitlin Coombs. It was wonderful for the family to finally meet Miss Mia, and for Ange to spend some quality time with family. Mia even got to enjoy her very first Aussie beach experience.

Great Nanny's 80th celebration

Our sweet baby niece and cousin Tara

Mia's first visit to the beach. She LOVED it!

• The boys time away with their dad camping out in Wisconsin while the girls were Down Under.

Devil's Lake, Wisconsin (as you can see, a more appropriate name would have been "God's lake")

Judah, Nathan and Jordan surrounded by lots of Autumn colour!

November

• Exploring Washington DC together - highlights included the National Art Gallery and Smithsonian Institute’s Natural History Museum. We then staying with good friends Heidi and Daryl and their four children in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving.

We had fun drawing together. This is Jordan (and Ange's) picture of the landmark US Capitol building.

Judah was more interested in drawing a construction crane than any of the historic architecture.

Nathan out front of the National Art Gallery.

Riding the subway was a definite highlight for the kids.

Outside the White House - this was as close as we could get!
Mia for president?

Nathan and one of his drawings in the car on the way home.

December

• Clayton and Angela celebrated their 10th anniversary and are grateful for their four children and deepening love for each other.

Clayton and Angela with Mia (taken in September)

The whole clan.