A Year In the Life...

When I think back about what a year means, I usually chalk it up to just another year.  As an adult, I've become acclimated to time passing quickly and planning in terms of years and not just months or weeks as I did when I was younger.  I still remember when six weeks seemed like forever in middle school! However, the real world is here to stay, and although time goes quickly, a lot of milestones still take place in 12 months.  In May, we celebrated a year of living in Oz. Here are a few of our milestones from one of the biggest years on record in the Heitzmann house.

1. A first plane ride for all three Heitzmann kids.
2. Setting foot on Australian soil for the first time ever.
3. Seeing a koala and kangaroo up close and personal.
4. Opening ourselves up to making a whole new circle of friends.
5. Marin's first movie {in a theatre; Toy Story 3}.
6. First parental ER visit with Marin's tree fall.
7. Marin potty training.
8. First family 4x4 trip.
9. Learning to deal with Australian creepy crawleys {see critters post here}.
10. Feeding Mr. Kookaburra.
11. Hosting our first visitors {Bunny & Paw}.
12. Whale watching.
13. Caden learning to swim on his own.
14. Our weekend adventures around Oz {Straddie, Noosa, Byron Bay, Fraser, Moreton Island, etc.}.

15. Losing my dad.

16. Our first {hot} Christmas away from home.

17. Caden starting primary school.

18. An adult weekend away to Sydney {first time with a sitter for the weekend, and first trip alone for Cory and I since 2007!}.

19. Caden losing his first tooth.

20. Learning to live {and Love!} a new way of life.

All in all it really was a great year.  I am so thankful for the blessings that God has poured out on our family and for the gift of stepping outside of the bubble of life we lived in to get a better, more global perspective of the world.  We've learned so much about our faith, timing, our family and what really matters, that I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world!