This past year has been a very eventful crazy year! Moving to a new
country has been quite an adventure! Over the past year we took over
6500 pictures! We have each gone through all the pictures separately
and picked out one image to represent each month. There were a few
months that we were so busy and did so many things, it was very
difficult to pick out just one picture for the month, but here are the
results
January
Starting life completely over in a new place, not knowing anyone and not owning much stuff was a memorable experience to say the least. We had two small mattresses the 5 of us slept on for the first week, I am glad our kids get along so well. (Chad)
February
Public transportation has been one of the biggest challenges. It surprising how, after several failed outings, successively navigating from point A to B gave us such a since of accomplishment. (Chad)
Denmark can be just so random at times. Love it! (Shannon)
March
This isn't the greatest bike but I have certainly gotten my money worth. I spent less then $200 on the bike and another $100 on tires; and since I have put over 2000 miles going back and forth to work, sun, rain, wind or snow. I been surprised how quickly I got use to it and how little I mind. (Chad)
No trip to Denmark would be complete without the underwhelming trip to the Little Mermaid statue. Our kids were so excited to go here, but I think were a little sad that it wasn't Ariel from the Disney movie. (Shannon)
April
We love taking family outing and exploring the city or forest around us. There is a lot of art and statue everywhere we go, the kids have taken to mimicking the statues when we take pictures of them (Lexi is doing the "thinking man pose", we must have see that earlier that day). (Chad)
The Ducks. They came to beg for food almost every day during the month. Kind of miss them. (Shannon)
May
This is a church near our house, even though Denmark is covered with similar churches they are always amazing to visit. I love this photo because Noah snuck into picture and we did not notice until we got home a looked at it on the computer - can you find him? (Chad)
In May we got a new camera, took a ton of pictures, saw castles, cathedrals, museums, Viking Ships, Carnival, Medieval Festivals and more. One of the best things was that the sun finally came out, the weather warmed up and we got out of the house. We were so happy to find the beautiful forest so close to our house, that we could ride through on our bikes. (Shannon)
June
One of the best thing about were we live is that there are bike and walking paths everywhere. They create this giant maze around the town with tunnels under or bridges over all the roads so we don't hardly have to every even see cars. (Chad)
It's been so fun to visit all of the different museums in Denmark. Typically the kids enjoy the museums we've gone too, but I guess after a little while, they can only handle so much. It looks like Lexi's done for the day. (Shannon)
July
July was punctuated by my parents visit, it was so fun to see family and show them around. European idea of a vacation is going somewhere, enjoying the culture and relaxing. But as true Americans we crammed everyday full of adventure and touring unique and amazing places, it was awesome. (Chad)
This was a hard month to choose a picture from. We took so many pictures! It was a busy month with Chad's parents visiting and with the kids out of school, we did a lot of sightseeing. One of my favorite places was the Bohus Castle ruins in Sweden. The kids were just sitting down, taking a break when I snapped this picture. So sweet! (Shannon)
August
We had a lot of fun finding frogs this year, most of them where really small. I found this huge one at night on my way home from the store after the kids were already in bed, we got them up to play with it. This day was particularly frustrating; finding the frog and the subsequent smiles and small joy it brought, while not fixing any of our problems, was a much needed moment of relief. (Chad)
Chad ran in a 25k Relay Race with some other people from his work. The race was run by over 25,000 people. It was a huge event, but let's just say, running is not really Chad's "forte", so this was a lot of work for him, but he made it and did awesome. We were so proud of him. (Shannon)
September
The young women in our ward watched our kids while Shannon and I went on a date. We celebrated by sharing a can of A&W Root beer we found at a specialty store. (Chad)
Not the best picture, but one of my favorite things about the summer was how much fun our kids had playing outside of our apartment building with their friends. On any given night, there was typically 20 or more kids playing with each other outside. It made me so happy seeing the kids having fun with each other and their new friends. (Shannon)
October
This was our second visit to the Royal Deer Park. Trying to show off to my kids (and wife) I walked out on this tree branch. I did not anticipate it being so wobbly, it was all I could do to keep from falling (it is much higher than it looks) - it took me a while to figure out how to get down. (Chad)
Fall in Denmark was so beautiful! This picture was also taken at DyreHave, the Royal Deer Park. One of my favorite places here. We had so much fun taking fall pictures. (Shannon)
We did not take many picture of November, this is the kids with there friend Olivia. We had a traditionally Thanksgiving dinner with her family. It is really nice to have friends that live close enough that we can travel to church with them and have get-togethers. (Chad)
November was a cold, dark month, where we mostly stayed home. I don't think I blogged at all during the month. I should have, maybe I will later. But, one thing that stood out is that Noah started school. By Danish law, he has to attend "school" here once he was 3. I've been very sad to have to send him to school already. It's only twice a week, so not too bad, but he loves it, of course! (Shannon)
December
There is a saying in Denmark that roughly translates to "there is no such thing as bad weather, there is just inappropriate clothing choices". In an effort to be more Danish, despite the freezing cold temperatures and dark gloomy days, we still try to make an effort to get out and explore. (Chad)
Our first Christmas away from our Friends and Family. We had a really nice Christmas and we are grateful for the new friends we have made here, but it was definitely a difficult Holiday season, not being with our Families. We've heard a lot of the phrase, "I miss _____." And we certainly have missed all of our loved ones. (Shannon)
Overall, it has been a great year! We have had a lot of fun, grown closer as a family and most importantly we are excited and optimistic about 2013!
I can't help but look at all the pictures and think, man I wish it were me. Than I think could I do that. You are going to have so many wonderful memories and I think your kids are going to be best friends for all time! 1 year down!
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