A year in pictures (next year it will be scrapbooked)

January:

showing off their matching outfits (Thanks Grandma!)

Finally, we made snow people

First Medal

February:
 

how do I make this last?

Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.  It was a very happy Valentine's day

Chinese New Year

March:  Birthday time

A birthday bike,

a birthday swingset,

a birthday hug,

and a birhday statue

April: 

Filling Rice Krispy eggs . . .the power of advertisement

Easter egg hunts are fun!

Easter!

May: 

Laine showing off her new dress that Grandma made
(and her beautiful smile)

After seeing this same move in the National championships,
Laine declared "I guess I'm a champion."

Laine with her cousins, Trey and Chase

Laine loves her Auntie

June:  

Reuniting with friends

Making new friends

The cutest prarie dog I've ever seen

July:

Enjoying the boardwalk at the shore

Laine loves art!

August: 

Feeding the birds

S'mores with cousins

September: 

Church campout

October:

The best way to spend a day off!

November:

Thanksgiving in Florida!

December:

First forward roll on the balance beam!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Decorating Christmas cookies (no sprinkle wants to be left out!)

Another year gone by . . .

Silent Night, Holy Night. I’ve really appreciated some of the recent Christmas songs that have pointed out that the night was likely not silent or calm, given that a birth was taking place, so maybe the rush of the season is in line with the first Christmas.  As I rush about this December trying to get everything done at home and at work, it is hard to quiet myself even to write this letter to friends.  

Laine and I will be leaving for Michigan in a few days, stopping off to see friends in Ohio along the way. We greatly enjoy our holiday travels and the opportunity to see family and friends that live far away, or maybe I should say I enjoy the travel. Today Laine declared that flying is better than driving and Florida is better than Michigan. I tried to point out all of the things that she could do in the car and she quickly countered that she could do all of those things in an airplane. Clearly I have met my match. (Although, once she realized that she wouldn't see Elizabeth, Harper, Sidney or Chandler in Ohio, driving became a bit more appealing.)

Laine turned 4 this year and we have already visited one potential school for next year, yes that’s right, she is starting kindergarten.  While it is shocking that I’m filling out application forms, it has been a delight to watch her learn and grow and I’m sure she will excel in the new environment.  One of Laine’s proudest accomplishments of the year was learning to spell Tinklenberg; I told her that many adults cannot do it.  Laine continues to enjoy gymnastics.  She did her first ‘flying burrito’ on the uneven bars (swinging from the top bar to the lower bar and then swinging off) and a forward role on the beam.  She also enjoys art, music and all things sparkly.  She is truly a girly girl who prefers dresses to jeans and sandals to sneakers.  Today when I asked her if she was spoiled her answer was, “of course.” 

I did not see some of the change I anticipated this year at work.  The change I did not anticipate was my boss moving into a new role and then not having a boss for most of the year.  So while my role stayed the same, I got a look behind the curtain as I worked with the other regional leaders to keep everything in technology running smoothly.  Now that new leadership is in place I do expect that my job will take a slightly different shape.  Fortunately, my new boss is open to ideas about how things will look.    

During the year we had the opportunity to travel to see many family and friends.  When we were leaving for Michigan in August, one of the daycare teachers asked if it was Laine’s first time on an airplane, I replied, “It’s her third time this summer.”  In May, we celebrated the wedding of my cousin and spent the weekend in Wisconsin with my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins.  In June we were once again blessed to gather with several families from our China travel group.  I’m grateful for the relationships that have grown out of that shared experience and the kinship that Laine has with the other kids.  We traveled to see my parents twice, once in Michigan over the summer and then in Florida this fall.  Grandpa and Grandma had Laine to themselves for a week, while I had some work travel and then I joined them for Thanksgiving.  They all seemed to enjoy the time together.  We also did some day and weekend trips to see local friends, but there never seem to be enough weekends to see everyone as often as I would like. 

As we look forward to 2012, I look forward to my 4^th week of vacation!  We also look forward to Laine starting school (the extra vacation days will come in handy with all of the school holidays!)  I’m sure that next year will bring many new adventures and challenges and I look forward to tackling them with a pretty amazing kid.   

Love to you and yours,

Julie

Christmas recap

I've posted some pictures on Facebook, here is the link. You do not have to be a facebook member to view the pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077282&id=1162143213&l=806fa69f72

A year in review

This year has been a whirlwind in the Tinklenberg world. I thought the best way to capture it was in a month-by-month replay.

January: This year started out with a bang, quite literally with me banging down the stairs. My sudden inability to stand up straight made it difficult to keep up with my almost 3 year old, fortunately my awesome mom came to the rescue and stayed with us until I was upright. This was followed by record snowfall in PA, which would have been a problem except my wonderful neighbors shoveled every flake from our driveway.

February: With February came the celebration of Laine's second year home. We celebrated in our traditional way with Pizza Hut and the video of when we first met. (Pizza Hut was what we had our first night together.) I will never forget them placing that beautiful girl in my arms, but at the same time it is hard to remember my life before Laine arrived.

March: March brought the celebration of Laine's 3rd birthday, a trip with Aunt Tina and Uncle Jeremy to Build-a-Bear and a Dora/Diego birthday party. It also brought a business trip for me, which reminded me of the strong community that I have here as 3 different people were willing/able to take Laine for the week. March also brought some job contemplation for me, there was a position here and a position in Indiana that I was interested in.

April: Now the whirlwind really starts to pick up speed. In April, I got a new hairstyle, contacts and a new job. I took a position leading part of the America's technology team for one of our product lines (LNP.) It was hard to leave analytical chemistry, a bit of an identity crisis really, but ultimately a good career move. It offers many challenges now as well as opens many doors in the future. The transition into the new job was tough, but fortunately, now I can say I'm really enjoying the position.

May: May brought vacation! My friend Sam was getting married in Seattle, so we took some extra time and enjoyed the city. Denise, a childhood friend, was able to drive down to Seattle and hang out with us. It was a great trip and a great city, Laine enjoyed all the different modes of transportation, airplane, train, bus, monorail and what trip to Seattle is complete without a fairy boat ride!


June: With summer came more friends! Several families from our China Travel family came to visit Philadelphia. We spent a day exploring the Philly cites, then spent another day at the Crayola factory and finished the trip with a barbeque. I love to see the girls playing together, they share their history and it is good to them continuing to connect with one another.




July: In July, we took a trip to Chicago to celebrate my nephew's baptism. While we were there, I took a trip down to our plant south of Indianapolis while Laine stayed and played with her cousins. I think she got the better end of that deal. July also brought the hottest weekend of the summer, which to my friends and me obviously means that it is time to go camping! It was a great time to relax, even if it was a little warm.

August: August brought some calm to our lives, we stayed home, my job started to settle down, and it was a great way to prepare for the busy fall ahead!

September: We started the month with a trip to Michigan and a celebration of my parents 40th Anniversary. We've done very little over the years to celebrate my parents birthdays and anniversaries, so this year we got our act together and gave them a real party, of course, we didn't bother to tell them, we figured they would get the idea soon enough. They were surprised and excited to share the day with family and friends. We had a great week in Michigan, visiting the zoo and botanical gardens. We also roasted marshmallows and cooked out a few nights.

October: We started the month with the loss of my beloved Grandma Tink. She had been declining for a while and I was glad that we were able to spend time with her in September when we were in Michigan. Her funeral was a wonderful gathering of family and friends to celebrate her life and goodness of God. My grandmother was an only child, yet her funeral was filled with brother and sisters-in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins, in addition to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The outpouring of love from family and friends was really touching.

October also brought the fun of fall, we went to a pumpkin farm with friends and Laine was the cutest Minnie Mouse ever (if I do say so myself.)

November: This November I was the president of the Eastern Analytical Symposium, a conference focused on analytical chemistry. For the last 4 years, I've been on the executive committee and this year was "my" year. It was an exciting week, filled with conference activities and committee events. One of the highlights for me was the President's reception, it was great fun to share the evening with Laine and my parents. Laine had a fabulous time on the dancing the night away and stole the hearts of all who attended.

We followed up the week at EAS with a trip to Florida for Thanksgiving. It was a good break, spent by the pool and enjoying the warm weather. It was nice to spend time shopping with my mom and sister as well as playing with my nephews.

Well, that pretty much brings you up to speed. It has been a year of change, loss, hectic schedules, joy and success, so basically a typical year. Laine continues to be a happy, healthy kid who loves art, gymnastics and books; with no interest in numbers, (she finally became interested in letters when she incorporated them into art.)