A Look Back (continued)...

Picking up where I left off yesterday...

In June, we did a lot of gardening, blackberry picking, and some canning:

 I took the kids to a swimming party with their church youth group:

 Learned some fun songs and moves in VBS:

 And had fun catching some free ice cream and getting pictures taken with Maggie the Cow on Flip Day at Maggie Moo's:

 

We had fireworks on July 4th for the kids with my cousins and their kids:

 The twins got to spend a week at Aunt Amanda and Uncle Josh's house in Nashville:

 I had a couple of silly boys when Nate came over to play:

 Then we took Evan to a week at Lakeshore church camp with his friend, Trevor:

And, August 1st, the kids started back to school (I think it gets earlier every year):

I canned what felt like a billion tomatoes:

And I won some awesome summer CHA goodies:

We started September off with a Labor Day weekend trip to a friend's cabin in the mountain...and I have so many photos from that weekend! Here are a few of the highlights:

Greeter Falls:

We swam out and stood under the falls (check one thing off the bucket list!):

Board Games in the cabin:

S'mores every night:

Check out the local flea market on Sunday morning:

Took a Labor Day hike in the rain:

Where we saw this:

And The Great Stone Door:

 

We had some freakish lightening storms:

I went to a baby shower for a good friend:

And flag football started up (Evan was the QB for his team!):

In October, Evan turned eleven:

 

The 3 youngest had a blast playing in the cotton (something I remember from my childhood):

 

We actually had some beautiful fall colors, which I really enjoyed on my morning runs:

 

I did a few photo shoots for some friends and family:

Did a few tries at our Christmas card photo:

 Till Daddy helped, so they would behave:

Evan's flag football team went undefeated, and won their "Superbowl":

Tracy had her little one, and I got to visit:

At the end of the month, Evan and his best buds, Nate and Trevor, all got dressed up for a Halloween party:

And on Halloween, I took the kiddos trick or treating:

In November, I went to my cousin Jocelyn's baby shower

 

Basketball season started back up with a Jamboree:

The twins turned nine:

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at  home with a yummy meal:

And then decided to work on replacing our kitchen floor...

And, since this post has gotten so long, I will share December photos tomorrow!

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!