2012 in pictures

 We had such a fun 2012.  I decided to go through our pictures (That we file by month by event)  and make a picture collage of our year.  It was such a blessed year.  Can't wait for 2013 to see what all it has to bring.  Enjoy looking though our year from January to December.  It was fun for me and Mike to look back over the year.

We started off the year in January with Alex's baptism

Max enjoying the first snow of the year.

Laney turned 3

Max turned 3 years old

We took Max to his 1st movie

Mike's Grandpa's 84th Birthday celebration in Delight

Max had his surgery on his mouth

Alex turned 6 months old

St Patty's Day

My parents WENT TO HAWAII!!!!  They celebrated 40 years of marraige this year

We stained our Kitchen cabinets!

Celebrating Jennie's Birthday with Easter

Easter 2012

Planting our annual garden

Trip to Delight - Hike to Rock House Mountain

On a Trip to Delight - Trip to Blakely's Bluff

Happy Mother's Day

We built a shed

We put our house on the market

I taught vacation Bible school for the first time and all the kids joined.

Max ran his first lemonade stand

Max took swim lessons

Alex took swim lessons too!

Happy Father's Day Mike

We went to the Johnson City fair

We took the boys on an 11 day vacation to Colorado

Me and Mike got to go white water rafting

We took the boys to Great Wolf Lodge

We combined the boy's rooms to where they sleep together now.

Max bought icecream from an icecream truck for the first time

My parents celebrated 40 years in July - we all went out to Sonora to celebrate

We took Alex to his first movie

 We celebrated our 6th anniversary.  Mike took me on a fun date where he different memories all over Northwest Arkansas and surprise cards everywhere.  Such a creative date. 

We took the boys to a very hot Naturals game with our church

Max started Mother's Day out once school started back for the fall

Shannon and Nate came to NWA to visit for the first time!  Here is everyone dressed for the hog game.

We celebrated Alex's 1st Birthday Football style

Alex had his first trip to the dentist

My friend Betsy got married!!!!

Alex got his first haircut

Took both boys to War Eagle!!

Went to Branson to Celebrate the 3 guys Birthdays

Mike turned 32

My cousin Drew got married

 

The boys had a happy Halloween

 We had our last Open House in November while we were away in Delight.

 

   Another successful hunting year for Mike.  He got 2 deer.  Here is his buck.

 

We processed our first deer in NWA

 

We elected a President.  It was a fun night (no matter the outcome :), we made a red white and blue dessert and homemade pizzas.

Dad had surgery on his arm and a LONG stay in the hospital over my Birthday but home in time for Thanksgiving

  I turned 30! My sister, sister in law, and Aunt Phyllis helped me celebrate.  My dad was recovering from surgery and my mom was with him.

 Mike took me to a surprise 30th Birthday dinner.

 

Mike went on his first Van Es fishing trip

New Family pictures

A very Merry Christmas 2012

2013

2013

A New Year

Me and Mike went on our first date in September 2003, that means this is year number 10 for us! Crazy to think about really.  This year we have so much planned, so many goals, so many "New Year's Resolutions", so wish us luck, because we're determined to have an awesome year.  Here's a rundown...

1.   Sell this house!!!  Our Contract on our house ended on Thanksgiving.  We decided not to renew. It gave us a great and needed break for the Holidays.  Now we have to clean up - seriously declutter - make a few changes - find a new realtor - and get this house back on the market!!  Number one goal this year is getting serious about selling this house and doing whatever it takes.  Why the rush?  Well several reasons.  We want to be in Bentonville/Rogers closer to Mike's work.  It will save him time and gas.  We also want Max to get into the Bentonville school district so we would love to start him in Bentonville preschool by this August. Also, we really want to get this house sold and build a home and move into the home all while I am a stay at home mom.  Trying to do that with 2 small kids and BOTH of us working would be near impossible so we really want to get everything situated before I go back to work. 

2.  Get Max on a preschool waiting list.  We have a lot of research to do on this one.  Want him started by August so he can have a whole year in preschool before Kindergarden starts.

3.  Get Max enrolled in a sport.  We're thinking maybe soccer?

4. Lose weight and eat healthy.  This is a big one.  Me and Mike both have some pounds to shed (me more than him).  I think he wants to lose about 15 and I need to lose 40.  I know - big goal - but you have to aim big right?  I just need to eat way more healthy and exercise a lot more often.  This year I'm taking it serious.  No more stopping just because I have a bad day or life takes a turn.  I have to push through and stick it out. Mike is a great encourager, now I just need to do it.  We took before pictures and weighed ourselves today.  I hope I get to give a fun update here in about 3 months.

5. Plan Max's Birthday party.  I mean I have to plan Alex's too but Max's is 7 weeks from Saturday, so I need to get started on that.

6. Plan a beach vacation!!!  Our family vacation this year hopefully will be the beach.  Now I just need to find some dates that will work and an affordable place.  

7. Plan an overnight fun trip for me and Mike.  We're thinking Branson.  Maybe Valentine's Day.  We'll see.  We just think it would be fun to to take a short fun trip together.

8. Blog more :)

So that's a run down of our to do list.  I'm sure there's more that will come to mind. This list however is going to take up most of my time and energy for now.

Happy 2013!!  

Mike, Ash, Max, and Alex

What did I do today? BAKED!

Had fun baking today. Dis some while Alex was with mom and Max was at school, and than did a little bot with the both of them (and made a conplete mess), and than finished up tonight while Mike hung out with them. It all started because we have Mike's work Christmas party tomorrow night, so I wanted to bake some goodies for it, than I figured while I wa at it I might as well bake extras so he can take to people on his team, than I figured I might as well bake a few plates for the neighbors too!!! My mom brought over some plates and red wrap this morning. Im so glad she did because they ended up making everythig look so cute. We delivered the neighbors goodies tonight and Mike is bringing a big box to work tomorrow. I love that I was able to do this today. Sometimes finding time to bake is hard, so I am glad I was able to take a day to bake. Now next week I plan on doing it again for our family Christmases (did I spell that right? Haha) only Im going to bake some different things. Below are some pictures of my day.















































- Ashley

Best part of my day

Some mornings are tough, and times arent always easy....but when both kids are napping and they look so happy, and I get to sit here and rock them while looking at the Christmas tree....those are the moments that make being a stay at home mom..all worth it. These kids are the best, and I get to spend so much time with them watching them grow and learn, and I wouldnt trade for the best job or all the money in the world....


- Ashley

Who wants to babysit?!

Alex has turned into a little handful lately! He is so cute, but if you turn your head for a minute....this kid is into something. I've tried to take just a few snapshots of him this week.

Digs in my purse and finds treasures


Messy eater





Turning on the water in our master bath


On TOP of our kitchen table


Hanging out in the guest bathroom





This kid keeps me on my toes ; )

Ashley