New Years Eve

We sure know how to party! ;) A little easy bake oven, coke floats, party hats and glasses, a balloon drop, and a living room dance party. My kind of New Years celebration!

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to say about 2012. It hasn't been a year that was filled with any major events (with the exception of a trip to Disney World and a couple night stay in the hospital for Caroline) for us, it has been a year filled with everyday ordinary happenings. I like years like that. As I looked back on our blog, I saw lots of days of fun times as a family, a few new experiences, and some new milestones. Asher and Leila have both started new schools, Cal and Caroline turned 1 and are reaching many milestones, and we continue to march on. Don't get me wrong, things have changed too....normal life stuff. I looked back on some of things that I said we wanted to accomplish in 2012. Some are checked off and some aren't. Oh well! We've talked, briefly, about what we hope for 2013. It pretty much goes like this.....We hope to have continued health and happiness for our entire family. We hope that this year we grow closer to Him. We hope for continued employment, food on our table, and our home to grow in. This new year will carry us out of the baby phase and into the toddler phase with the twins. Asher and Leila will both be enrolled in full time school. We hope to use this next year as a year of preparation. For what? For whatever God has in store for us. We plan to prepare ourselves spiritually, intellectually, physically, and financially. We want to grow and mature in our habits in these areas. I still hope to learn to filet a fish and knit. We want to begin to learn a new language. We hope to take a family vacation to the beach. We don't want to look too far into the future because we want to live present in each day we are blessed with. I love our life, I really do. We laugh together. We love each other. It's basically, pretty uncomplicated and we like that. We have amazing family and friends and coworkers. We are blessed. Praying for continued blessings and guidance for 2013. Happy New Year!

18 months

How is it having 18 month old twins, you ask? Crazy busy and crazy wonderful! Especially when you consider that we have two other absolutely amazing kiddos. The twins are getting around very well now. They climb, dance, run, crawl, and keep us chasing them through the day. They pretty much wake up at 7ish each day and go to bed around 8. They have been giving us a run for our money at night....they wake twice each night. Cold, crowded, hungry, teething, who knows? I wish we could figure it out though! Tyler said tonight that this is the most tired that he has ever been in his entire life. Agreed! Thankfully, we have wonderful mommas and nanas to give us little breaks every now and then. Caroline is very verbal. She is starting to talk in sentences. "Uh oh, it broke." (They are our most destructive munchkins!) "He's coming!" "I want a drink, go bye-bye, etc." Cal is pretty much a one word kinda guy still. Hey, he gets his point across. He is so loving and laid back and totally rough and wild! Caroline is sweet, affectionate, and definitely all girl! She can be a little dramatic! ;) She loves to give kisses and has a slight jealous streak when someone else sits in our lap. These kids love to explore! I am constantly restocking my kitchen cabinets and drawers. Cal is gonna be a trash man....can't keep that kid from playing with the trash can and throwing things away. They are both fish! These two love the water, they swim in our bathtub. Caroline still sucks her thumb and loves to cover her face with a blanket to sleep. Cal is a stomach sleeper. My favorite part of having twins....watching them interact together. They sometimes reach over in the car to hold hands with each other. It's absolutely the cutest thing you have ever seen! So thankful for these children that God has so richly blessed me with!

Ice Skating

Yesterday, we went to Bentonville to ice skate. It was so much fun. I loved downtown Bentonville....the pretty old houses, the original Wal-Mart, Main Street, and all the neat little parks and food vendors. We even ran into 2 lovebirds on their anniversary trip. We are making a habit of running into Mike and Emily in the most unexpected places!

We were all a little wobbly at first...

But everyone ended up doing quite well!

And we had a super cute fan section!

Snow Day

Hit the Road, Jack

Ok, the kids were not really ready for the elves to leave. I was and I wasn't. I got a little teary eyed wondering if next year would be as magical for the kids with Jack and Scarlett here. I sure hope it is.

Thanks to everyone that sent Christmas cards. It's one of my favorite gifts of the season!

White Christmas 2012

Present time with Nanny & Papa

Thanks to Nanny, Papa, and Uncle Kyle for the wonderful surprises! The kids loved everything! Thanks for my surprises too!

Merry Christmas

It has been a duck calling, game playing, bb gun shootin', horsey riding, car cruisin', doll loving, kind of Christmas. Our Christmas was lots of fun! Lunch was so yummy! Thanks to Mom, Gina, Nana, and Emily for contributing to my holiday weight gain! ;)

(My beautiful box from Tyler. I love it! It was worth the wait! ;)