In less than 10 hours, we will be counting down to yet another brand new year. 2012 has been a somewhat stressful year. Work hasn’t been smooth-sailing for Daddy; Dana met two freak accidents which left a permanent scar on her chin. Added to that were the maid woes that plagued us after our trusted helper left…there were nights where we literally cry out to the Lord to deliver us from all these trials. Despite the challenges and struggles, God has still proven to be faithful, good and true:  “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fail.”  New International Version (©1984)

Every 1st Jan, The Straits Times will run a feature entitled ‘The Year in Pictures’. As the last post of 2012,  here’s my humble attempt to encapsulate all the memorable highlights of our year in pictures.

February 2012:

We celebrated Chinese New Year 2012 by hosting Dana’s cousins from Malaysia.  Traditionally, we will return to Malaysia for the big reunion with Daddy’s extended family but since Penang Mama was in Australia visiting her grand kids there, we invited the Malaysian troop over instead. We thank God for the privilege to host and reunite with loved ones on CNY.

Meet our Nonya princess on the 1st day of CNY!

We also celebrated Great Grandma’s 85th Birthday with a poolside party in February.

Auspicious Red Eggs to symbolise Longevity…

Always a joy to celebrate Lao Ma’s (Great Grandma) Birthday!

Great Grand kids wishing Lao Ma (Great Grandma) Happy Birthday!

We celebrated a simple Valentine’s Day with a picnic under the stars at the Hort Park where we created our first Terrarium together. Till today, our terrarium is still thriving.

15 Years of Romance, 13 Years as Husband and Wife…

March 2012:

Daddy was sent to New York for a conference and it’s the first time he’s away from home for an extended period. We miss him loads and survived on Face-time daily to keep our hearts connected.  Daddy also used Face-time to help me do some virtual shopping when he went to the factory outlets. Thank God for technology! One of his fav place in New York was the Natural History Museum and he’s promised to bring Dana and I there when she’s old enough to appreciate fossils (and endure the 20-hr flight)!

Brooklyn Bridge…

Street Photography

A replica of the Humpback Whale in NHM…

The Great Wooly Mammoth that’s now extinct…

Daddy requested that I baked something for him to bring on his trip and so I produced these Macarons in an assortment of flavours which he savoured one each day.

We bought a Family Photography voucher from Groupon and went for our family photo shoot at the Botanic Gardens (on the morning before Daddy’s flight). The photographer Ashley did a great job at helping us encapsulate these beautiful moments!

When Daddy returned from New York, we spent a most enjoyable 4D3N at our first ever Club Med vacation in Bintan. The Kids Club is the best we’ve ever experienced. With Dana well taken care of, Daddy and I managed to go for our couple massages, sipped cocktails and boogied to our hearts’ content. If resources allow, we hope to go on another Club Med vacation in 2013.

Thumbs up for our first Club Med experience!

The allure of Club Med Bintan…

Endless fun and adventure at Club Med!

A most relaxing mid-year vacation…

Dana participated in her second OCBC Bike Race in March. It our way of encouraging an active, healthy lifestyle and building resilience in our girl.

With her Cycling Buddies Davien and Alaric!

Our Biker Girl with her iconic Green Bike, just before she turns 4…

The pals enjoying their isotonic drink after the race…

April 2012:

April is a special month for it is the Princess’s Birthday. She turned 4 this year and we threw two celebrations: one in her kindy and the other for close friends at Amazonia Play gym.

A double-layer yummy Cake from Pine Gardens

Turning 4 at Amazonia!

Home-made Hello Kitty Oreos for the Party Packs

With her N2 Joy classmates…

Surrounded by friends as she made her wish…

Cupcakes and a big Rainbow Cake baked by Yours Truly!

May 2012:

The celebrations continue in May with Mother’s Day, my Birthday and Daddy’s Birthday all within this month…Thankful to be able to celebrate these special milestones with our family and a small bunch of close friends.

My surprise Birthday dinner at Jpot, Vivocity

June 2012:

For our mid-year vacation, we ventured to our first Chinese speaking country – Taiwan and we fell in love with it! You can review Daddy’s trip review here.

July 2012:

We sent a video recording of Dana’s rendition of Annie’s ‘Tomorrow’ for a Straits Times contest and she was picked one of the three lucky winners to watch the Musical followed by an exclusive backstage tour to meet the cast. It’s the second Broadway Musical for the Princess after the Lion King.

August 2012:

Dana’s first Concert Performance in BRMCK, with her picked as the Emcee for Nursery 2. We are so very proud of our little girl’s courage and confidence!

We celebrated National Day by catching fireworks by the bay with our family (during Preview nights) and by going on board an old steamship with friends on 9th August 2012.  It’s an awesome month!

As part of the National Day celebrations, Dana visited The Istana for the first time and participated in her first On-the-spot Art Competition. She also shook hands with President and Mrs. Tony Tan.

The Gate to the President’s Residence…

Her completed artwork…

Our family portrait on Istana Green…

September 2012:

We went on a short trip to Bangkok, Thailand, primarily to take a breather from work and bring Dana to visit Siam Ocean World. On this trip, I discovered that all massages are not made equal and Thai massage is really not my cup of tea. We did enjoy the many delicious local cuisines though.

Another highlight I’ve to mention was being able to meet Mr. Maker for the second time (last year and this year)!

October 2012:

Dana’s first MYC Concert was held at ACJC in October. She performed a song and dance item named ‘Riding my Pony’ with her classmates and thoroughly enjoyed herself. We look forward to her next concert. 

We attended NTUC UFamily’s Picnic at the Marina Barrage and took one of Daddys’ favourite family portraits against the sunset.

We attended Elly’s Lantern Carnival and celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival with Valerie and many cool little supporters of Elly.

November 2012:

We received a Media Invite to review Legoland Malaysia and spent a most delightful (albeit sweaty) day there. The kids loved it to bits and it re-ignited the love for all things LEGO.

December 2012:

Our long awaited holiday for the year, a Winter Vacation to Korea where we visited some UNESCO sites and tried many fun new activities as a family for the first time (these will be blogged in greater detail once the photos are done)! 

At Beautiful, Windy Jeju!

Horse-riding in cool, harsh Winter!

Extremely cold but happy in Korea!

Looking back, it’s been an extremely hectic but colourful and fun filled year – packed with many new and exciting experiences for our daughter.  We thank God for the resources He provided to make all these possible. Some of these opportunities came about because of the revival of this blog and I am crediting these exposure to the collective powers of Singapore Motherhood Bloggers group (to which I’m grateful to be a part of).  Even as I’m gathering my thoughts for this post, I’m preparing a sumptuous steamboat feast for a couple of close family friends tonight as our way to thank them for standing by us in 2012.  To another year of great exploits and learning adventures, here’s wishing all our readers a blessed 2013.