Happy Valentine's Day!

Thankful!

We have so much to be thankful for! Our family has been blessed beyond measure as we have put our faith and trust in God. He has brought us so many joys, so many friendships, and a beautiful new home. We love living close to our family and having a wonderful church that believes in bringing glory to His name!

November was another month filled with wonder and fun activities for us all! Our friends invited us over for a Thanksgiving feast where we made Indian hats and turkey cupcakes.....so fun & yummy!

Keith took Austin on his first hunting excursion on Thanksgiving day! They had a great time together and Keith loved having a little hunting buddy!

Our families gathered for a huge Thanksgiving meal! I am thankful that we have an extended family to share these times with.

Kaitlyn & Cousin Blakely

How We Celebrated October, Part II

We always attend our church's Fall Festival and we always have a good time with the games and, of course, getting candy!

Austin and Kaitlyn enjoyed decorating our front porch with their hand painted pumpkins. They worked hard on them.

Just a fun pic with Gunner (aka Gunny)!

How We Celebrated October, Part I

There were so many opportunities to celebrate October this year......and we did most of them! I, personally, have never enjoyed the fall season as much as I have since the kiddos came on the scene. We have had so much fun watching the trees change colors, stomping on acorns to see what's in them, making scarecrows......just the little things have brought us so much fun!



What is a celebration of fall without a pumpkin patch trip? We got to go with our friends, the Loricks, and the kids had a great time!




First time on a see-saw!

Austin sure liked it!

Dressed up and acting like scarecrows!

Love these faces!

Love her smile!

All the kids loved the barrel train! Kaitlyn held onto her big brother the whole time, but she eventually got to go by herself!

We also spent a whole day at the State Fair with BeBe, Pop, Aunt Ashley, Blakely & Braydee. It was a full day of fried food, rides and shows!

Kaitlyn is 2!

She's 2 already! Kaitlyn had a great day celebrating her birthday with family and friends! The time has gone by fast........and we've enjoyed every minute!





The crew!

She loved this little bear with the flower on her nose!

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Definitely a fan of the bounce house......she didn't want to get out to open her presents!

Cousin Blakely & Big Bro Austin

Celebrating Easter!

Easter is such a special time for me, personally. I have such fond memories of when my family and I first started going to church in high school and how powerful Easter Sunday was for me. I will always remember a rough wooden cross that stood outside our church. There was chicken wire wrapped around the cross and all of us brought flowers and decorated it. It was a physical sign I could "do" that showed my Lord how much I loved him. I think that is why I love Easter Sunday so much, and really any Sunday at church, because it is a way for me to physically show up, worship, and tell my Savior how much He means to me. My prayer is that I can pass that excitement and passion onto my own children.


We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter as a family! Austin and Kaitlyn got to hunt numerous Easter eggs with classmates and family.



Austin ready to hunt some Easter eggs at his school! They had a basket decorating contest.

Our church put on an Easter pageant called, "Bow The Knee." It was a tremendous blessing to be a part of it! There are some neat pictures of the play on my friend's blog, www.keridaway.blogspot.com. I had a couple of lines, but I really enjoyed singing with the choir. It reminded me of the Easter Cantata I sang in high school in my church choir. Great memories!

The kiddos all dressed up for Easter with their baskets full of goodies!

I love family photos even though the kids aren't smiling, but I was so excited that all of us had matching outfits this year! Love it!

Kaitlyn was so excited about those eggs!

Austin had a great time running around trying to find as many eggs as possible! Next year we'll need to get him a bigger basket.

Austin and Cousin Blakely showing off their loot!

Girl on a mission! Love the ponytail! :)