A Few More Highlighs from 2011

I wanted to make sure to add a few more highlights from 2011, then I can be up to date! 2011 was quite the year for us...we sold our townhouse and moved, Mike graduated from seminary, Mike and I went back to Vienna, we did a road trip across the country for Mike's sabbatical and I ran my second marathon! We have been so blessed and I'm really adding these pics so when I print a book from blog for this year I can remember all that we did and all the ways that God blessed us!!!

After hours of driving to Phoenix for class and hours of reading and doing homework, Mike finally graduated! I could not be more proud of my man and all of his hard work!!!

You would think going back to Vienna that it would be the Viennese food we were excited for...but nope! It was the Turkish Kepabs, ok and gelato too! These are our awesome friends Matt & Tricia who put up with us for a whole week!! :)

We had such a fun time hanging out and going to all of our favorite places from the first three years our marriage! We rode city bikes around all day, which was super fun!

This restaurant has the most amazing ribs and fries!

Now onto a few pics from our Sabbatical. I don't know how I'm going to choose just a few, we had such a fun time just hanging as a family. We are so thankful that we go to a church that values time away for the staff to refresh and just get some extended time with our family!!

First stop San Antonio, which included Sea World. Trenton spent the whole night before throwing up but thankfully felt good next morn cause we had to leave the next day. The boys liked seeing the animals but LOVED playing in the water park area and on going on the lil kids rides.

It took a few nights to get there but our next major stop was Orlando, Fl. Kristi's (my sis-n-law) parents live there and work for Wycliffe Bible Translators and they got us a place to stay at the Wycliffe compound. It was an AMAZING three bedroom apartment and we just spent a few days swimming in their amazing pool!

After a really fun time in Orlando it was down to Miami, where we spent our biggest chunk of time - 2+ weeks. We stayed at Katie's (one of my most fav peeps!) parents guest house. Mr. and Mrs. Munz were so gracious to let us stay. This is Kara's first time to the beach.

Our favorite thing from our time down there was a trip we got to take to the Bahamas! Katie and her fam came down and we went on an amazing adventure. In this pic we are petting wild sharks!! It was a lil scary at first but seriously so cool! We had so much fun in the Bahamas and down in Miami, thanks to Katie and her fam! It was seriously such a fun time and an amazing gift that they allowed us to come be a part of their fam for a few weeks!

Next it was on to Chareleston, SC with Mike's sis Lisa and her new fam! We had a blast staying in a beach house, hanging out, swimming, and boogie boarding! After that we headed to NC to see the Bunches, some friends from Vienna and from there we headed home. I'm so mad I didn't start blogging sooner because it's hard to take the most amazing summer ever and majorly condense it cause if I get too far behind I'll never catch up!!!

Last couple highlights from 2011...I ran my second marathon in 3:44! It was so fun but I'm convinced I can do it faster. :) And finally I'm adding a Christmas pic because it's the best family pic we've taken! I love our sweet family that God has blessed us with!

Kara Turns 1!!!

Kara turned one on August 17th and we always do a big birthday party when the kids turn 1, so of course I had to include this...ok and maybe, just a little of me wanted to make sure that this awesome cake I made got on the blog too!!

This picture could not be more accurate...Kara is such a gift!! I am not an anxious person but I agonized and prayed and prayed before my ultrasound with her. I so desparately wanted a girl! Don't get me wrong I love my boys to death and wouldn't have it any other way but I'm pretty sure I won't be painting their nails or doing their hair. Kara Elyse means "Beloved Promise of God." Before I knew I was pregnant (but thought I might be) I was praying God if it's your will please let this baby be a girl if I'm pregnant. Then I went to read my Bible and one of the verses in my reading (no I didn't go there on purpose!) was 1 John 5:14-15, "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him." Well, of course then I agonized over the next few months, did God give me that verse or am I making it up. But I still clung to it and I love how it so perfectly fits with the meaning of Kara's name.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty stinkin proud of this cake! We call Kara our Kar-bear sometimes, so I thought a Carebear cake would be perfect for the party!

She is SO full of joy! She loves to smile and laugh.

Daddy and his lil girl. She is Mike's lil princess and though he didn't know what he thought about having girls, he now tells everyone now that they need at least one lil girl! Kara really wanted to grab the carebear and threw a fit shortly after this cause I didn't let her so we could sing happy birthday.

Grammy and Papa giving her a bath in the sink after cake! One thing is for sure Kara will be well protected with three older bros. Recently Davis asked me, "Mom if I'm nice to Kara does that mean I get to be in charge of her?" LOL I said I guess so but only if you're nice!

Twins Start Kindergarten!

I decided I needed to do a little back logging so I don't miss out on some pretty BIG events from this past year. The biggest event was that my little preemie babies somehow grew up and started school! How did the time fly by so quickly??? I have loved watching them grow up and they are so full of energy. Kindergarten is full day here.  I was really sad about my boys being gone ALL day and was convinced they would certainly miss me too much to be gone that long. So I decided that I would keep them home for one extra half day a week (Friday's are always half day.) Well, after two weeks, my ultra extroverts had informed me that everyone else stays all day and that I should not be picking them up from school already! My heart was a little sad. They weren't missing me quite as much as I had hoped, actually I'm pretty sure they weren't missing me at all. But I was so proud to see my little boys loving school and adjusting so well. Every morning as we walk to the bus stop (Yes they take the bus! One more way I had to let my babies grow up and trust God!) Mike or I asks them, "Who do  you live for?" They say "God!" Then we ask who do you live like and they answer Jesus. And finally we ask who do you serve and they respond others. We started with one of these questions and somehow through different lessons we've been trying to teach them, we ended up with these three questions. I pray, with God's help, that these questions begin to be a reflection of their lives!

My sweet twins, who really are best friends!

Don't they look like a rockstar band? Davis loves hanging with his bros and has really missed having them around this year!

I LOVE this pic with all the boys having their arms around eachother and having fun! So often people ask us if they're triplets!! Davis is just not that much smaller.

And here is their teacher the most amazing, wonderful Ms. Lynn. She is a family friend and has been such a God-send to this mama who was having a hard time sending her lil boys to school. She sends me texts updates of funny stories and for the first few weeks would text me when their bus left and best of all she loves Jesus! I will be so sad when they have to leave Ms. Lynn's class!

Finally Starting A Blog!

Well, I was pretty sure this day might never come! I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time! I'm not always the greatest at keeping everyone informed with what's going on with us and I wanted a way to document our favorite memories...so I think a blog is my best chance at doing those things! I tried scrapbooking and have completed about half of Trenton's first year (he's 5 now!)...so that's definitely not up my alley! I just don't want my kids to be the ones who say "mom how come you don't have any pics of us" or "how come we don't have any fun books to look through with our fav memories." So I'm gonna try this blog thing out! If you begin to notice it's been a while, feel free to send me an email with a little encouragement that it's about time (since it's been 5 months!) that I share some funny stories and pictures. I feel so blessed by all that God has given me and the amazing family that I get to do this life with and I hope and pray that for those who choose to read my blog that you feel blessed in some way too!