Goodbye 2011

With the close of 2011, I once again feel the need to apologize for my lack of updates! That apology seems to get redundant here. To recap what you have missed, I offer you a year in review:

JANUARY

• Looking through photos, this month seems to have been rather uneventful. We must have been recovering from the chaos that was 2010! In retrospective, this is a good glimpse of the majority of our year! While we enjoyed our travels the previous year immensely, 2011 was a year of settling for us. The year in which England truly became our home, and we learned to live a "normal" day to day life.
• With a bit more research, just found we visited Windsor Castle in January. You just can't keep us Hermans home!

FEBRUARY

• Lexie received her first hair cut in preparation for her 4th birthday. I never missed her hair at the time, but lately I have been missing those long locks. Thankfully, hair grows =)
• "Nina" came for her 2nd visit. She helped us celebrate Lexie's birthday and enjoyed a trip to France with us. We visited many of historic WWII sights, the cities of Bayeux, and Rouen.
• The girls and Lauren traveled back to the USA with Nina.

MARCH

• Our American adventures continued through the first 2 weeks of March and included spending ample time with family, church, a birthday celebration for Lexie and Julia, and the wedding of Uncle Nick and Aunt Megan.
• Lauren and the girls traveled home with Mawmaw in tow, spending much of Julia's 1st birthday delayed in Chicago's O'Hare airport.
• Back home, we celebrated Julia's birthday with daddy
• Lauren and Mawmaw Diane snuck away for a girls' day in London! They enjoyed playing the tourist role at Buckingham Palace, a trip on the London eye, and a showing of The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre. The whole family enjoyed time in Cambridge and Liverpool.

APRIL

• We made an overnight visit to London where we enjoyed a trip to Regent's Park Zoo.
• Pascha was celebrated both at home and at our church in Cambridge.

MAY

• A planned trip to Cornwall was canceled due to a burglary at our home. The burglars (presumably a couple of young lads) came during the night while we were all home and asleep, took our GPS, Ken's wallet, and a set of keys to each of our cars. They proceeded to rummage through each car, leaving the doors ajar, and taking petty change. Lauren made the discovery upon waking early to take the suitcases to the car, first noticing the car doors standing open. The rest of the day was spent filing a police report to which no answers were ever found. While this event certainly ruffled our feathers, leaving us paranoid for some time, we are so grateful nobody was harmed and nothing of greater value was stolen.
• After a miserable day at home, everyone realized we weren't any better off sitting at home in a state of paranoia than traveling. It was a bit late to continue our beach side holiday, so we made a few amends visiting the slightly closer to home Sussex.
• Our Sussex holiday included visits to Lewes and Arundel Castles as well as a brief stop at the Eastbourne seaside.

JUNE

• Lauren took advantage of this surprisingly relaxing and uneventful month to move the girls into the same bedroom. What was Julia's bedroom became the playroom, and they from this point have shared a bedroom. Though we've had a few quirks, this has overall been a very successful move. We feel very blessed by the love these girls have for one another.
• June concluded with the annual Somersham carnival. Lexie rode on a float in the parade with her preschool class, and Lauren manned the preschool's stall where children could make clown masks, utilize ride-on toys, and purchase treats.

JULY

• The end of an era came when Lexie attended her last day of preschool. Come September she will be in "big school."
• Ken sponsored a family moving from St. Louis to England this month, and our families have become fast friends.
• We all traveled together to Stratford-upon-Avon (home to Shakespeare) and Warwick Castle.

AUGUST

• With August came a visit from Mawmaw and Pawpaw and our most epic adventure to date... BAVARIA!
• Our Bavarian adventures included flying into Munich, renting 2 cars, and staying at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany for 5 days. From Garmisch, we visited Zugspitze (Germany's highest mountain peak), Neuschwanstein Castle, Linderhof Palace, Oberammergau, Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, and Munich, as well as dining and shopping in Garmisch itself.
• We left Germany headed south to Austria with a stop along the way at Konigsee, a gorgeous stretch of Emerald Green mountain lake.
• The final 3 days of our holiday were spent in Salzburg, Austria based at the Hotel Mozart. From here we visited Mirabell Palace and Gardens, Mozart's home, St. Peter's Cathedral, Hohensalzburg Fortress, and the Residenz. Almost everyone enjoyed the official Sound of Music Tour, and Ryan was rewarded by an evening out to dinner and a concert with Lauren.

* I assure you another post will be coming to honor this major vacation (with pictures, of course)!

SEPTEMBER

• The month began with our return from Bavaria immediately followed by a week long business trip to Tel Aviv, Israel by Ken.
• Mawmaw and Pawpaw stayed a few days more and witnessed the beginning a new era as we sent Lexie off for her first day of reception (the British equivalent to kindergarten).

OCTOBER

• Halloween was celebrated both American and British style this year as my fairy princess (Alexandria) and ladybug/ladybird (Julia) went trick or treating both on RAF Alconbury as well as throughout Somersham. Trick or Treating is a relatively new phenomenon in the UK, but it is spreading fast!
• 4 October we welcomed a new nephew, Bradley James, into the family! Congratulations, Erin, and big brother Brody!

NOVEMBER

• This month we continued our adventures in Derbyshire with visits to Bolsover Castle, Hardwick Old Hall, and Chatsworth House.
• As we were traveling over the celebratory Guy Fawkes Day, we celebrated Bonfire Night ourselves with a side trip to Nottingham.
• Thanksgiving weekend, we kicked off the Christmas season with a trek to Birmingham to experience their German Christmas Market.
• Leaving Birmingham, we made a stop at Kenilworth Castle, home to Queen Elizabeth I's purported lover, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

DECEMBER

• 11 December we welcomed a new niece, Alyssa Lynn, into the world! Congratulations to Megan, Nick, Tori, Drew, and Scotty!
• Let the Christmas festivities begin with work Christmas parties. We attended 2 this year, one for NGA and one for the JAC. Though not the most exciting parties of our lives, a night out leaving the kids with a sitter is never to be frowned upon =).
• Then came Christmas. The girls were spoiled galore by so any family members sending many wonderful gifts. Even as I write this in January, the gifts have not stopped arriving in our mailbox!
• Our last adventure of the year was spent exploring the astonishing home of Henry VIII, Hampton Court Palace. It was a lovely combination of history and surprisingly non-cheesy reenactments!
• Finally, we brought in the New Year with friends in the village of Hail Weston. All 4 girls, ages 1, 4, 6, and 8 stayed awake through midnight! About 15 minutes past midnight, Julia climbed on my lap, laid her head on my shoulder, and fell asleep for the night.

This year we are incredibly grateful for our home here and new friends as well as our loving family and friends in America.