A Look back at 2012...

If you've come today looking for gorgeous photos with beautiful lighting, I am afraid you won't find it here. If, instead you wanted to share in some memories of the past year with me and my family, that is what we will do today with some snapshots taken in the past year.

On January 1st, my little sis, Beth was in town to celebrate Christmas with us:

 

 Little did we know that it would be the last time to celebrate Christmas with Daddy.

The rest of January was filled with basketball games and practices:

And a few board games:

 

February was a busy month:

We had a pizza party for the 2nd/3rd Grade basketball girls team:

We had one little snow on the 13th that the twins enjoyed:

 

The kids made valentines for their friends:

 And I made a Pinterest recipe, heart shaped red velvet pancakes with sliced strawberries:

 (YUM!!)

That weekend, Eric and I took a rare opportunity to go out with some friends, and we saw the Kimberly Helton band:

 

 It was pretty awesome!

A few days later, my mom called to tell me that they had a fire at their house. Fortunately, no one was hurt. I took a few pictures for insurance purposes:

At the end of the month, I was proud to watch my oldest be inducted into Beta Club:

 

In March,  I got to see Evan sing with chorus at the Crockett County Business Expo:

 I saw something on Facebook about brooms standing on end, so I had to try it out:

 The trees and flowers started to bloom early:

Which led to pretty little girls picking said flowers:

 

We had to get our AC unit replaced:

 And I got to see my three younger kiddos perform at their schools' talent show:

In April, we made a trip to Nashville:

Took the kids for ice cream:

And seafood at Joe's Crab Shack (after a very loooooong wait!):

 

The next day, I got to see my little brother get married:

(And gain a son!)

They weren't going to have a "first dance", but the hubs and I "convinced" them with our "awesome moves" ;-)  :

After the wedding, we took the kids to the zoo:

The next day was Easter Sunday, so after church, we had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids at Josh and Amanda's house:

 

May 3, my comfortable world was shaken up when my dad was killed in a car accident. Months later, it still doesn't seem real sometimes.

 

 

The next couple of weeks passed by in a bit of a blur, but as we all know, time marches on, and waits for no man.

 

The twins were invited to a birthday party:

 

I turned 32 on the 18th.

 

And I became the mother of a teenager on the 22nd, which we celebrated with a movie party:

 

I'll be back tomorrow to share June-December!



Top 12 Favorite Animal/Insect Photos Of 2012

A quick look back at some of my favorite animal, bird, and insect photos that I have taken in the past year;

A Lorikeet:

Hummingbirds (They move very quickly, and are hard to photograph!)

An Iguana:

A Beautiful Bee:

Our little furball, Molly:

 A hungry Bengal Tiger:

A sleeping Cheetah:

 

A weathered and wrinkly Elephant:

 A Razor-Back Musk Turtle:

 A Pink Flamingo:

A Rhineocerous Hornbill:

 And a creepy looking Alligator:

Thanks for joining me for another fun look back-tomorrow I will share some favorite family snapshots from 2012!

Top 12 Nature Photos from 2012

Today, I thought I would take a few minutes to share my favorite nature photos that I have taken in the past year:

I took this photo at the Nashville Zoo in April (and fell in love with the 24-70 2.8 lens):

 

A lot of my favorites were taken while we were at John and Trina's cabin in September.

 

They had lots of gorgeous flowers in their yard:

 

And we took some wonderful hikes!

Where we saw this:

And this (Greeter Falls):

Had some beautiful golden evenings with a glass of wine:

 And the kids loved the firepit and the Smores!

We took took a Labor Day hike in the rain, which was so worth it, because we saw this:

 and this:

 In October, we had some amazing and somewhat terrifying lightening storms:

 And we actually had some beautiful fall colors this year!

 Of course, as a Tennessee girl, this is something I love to see every October:

 And this was taken a few days ago  (first White Christmas in ages!):

Thanks for visiting with me-I would love to have you follow me as I share more of my 2012 favorites!

Top 12 Photos I Have Taken of my Kids this Year

When I saw this challenge, I had to play along!

Some are more posed, some are snapshots, but I love them all...

My oldest, Caitlin...she looks so pretty here, but way older than 12, which she was at the time!

My youngest, Cecilia. What's not to love about a little girl and glitter?

This was just a snapshot, taken on a walk through downtown Nashville, but for some reason, it totally takes my breath away. I don't know if it was Natalie's eyes, the wind blowing her hair, or what, but it really made me wish I could buy that rented 24-70 2.8 lens I used!

This photo of my son, Evan, taken at my brother's wedding; it really seems to capture his smart, sweet, serious personality...

Back To School with a bunch of goofballs...Their cheesy, mom-is-making-me-do-this grins crack.me.up.every.time. Especially Caitlin and Evan...

This was such a proud mama moment for me: my son, the quarterback of his flag football team, finished his undefeated season off by winning their "Superbowl":

 

For Halloween, Caitlin wanted to be a Playboy bunny...um riiiight...you're only 13, little one! I have to say that there are not a lot of choices for little girls in womens' bodies, though! So she settled for a "Cute Formal Bunny", and mama made sure that there was plenty of clothing. I like the way it turned out:

 

 Evan made a very good "Scream":

 

 And I love how much the twins' costumes showcase their personalities! Natalie headed straight for fairies and princesses, and all things girly...Cecilia wanted something scary and didn't even look at the girls' costume selection-she went straight for the boys' stuff.

Natalie, the Goth Fairy:

 

Cecilia, who went as "Infectious" (and I absolutely love how "in character" she was!):

Love this one, because it's so rare to get my four together and smiling all at once:

And this one of my son and nephew, taken just a few days ago at our families' Christmas celebration just absolutely melts my heart:

 Thank you for visiting my blog, I'd love to have you follow me...my resolution for the next year is more photo sharing!

Today, I am Thankful For...

Biscuits!

Yes, you read that right. I did say biscuits! As I was making breakfast for my kiddos this morning, I was reminded of my Daddy, who passed away 6 months ago today. I remember him making homemade biscuits and breads for us, time after time. I remember him telling me some of his tricks, like, "for fluffy, tender biscuits, you have to use ice cold water or milk, and handle the dough as little as possible. " Of course, I had to learn some things for myself,the hard way, but I am reminded of him all of the time. And today, I am grateful that I had a father who instilled a love of baking and cooking for my family in me.

Wordless Wednesday: Greeter Falls

Wordless Wednesday