Beauty

There is beauty all around.....

Life is SWEET!

Last weekend we celebrated spring by going to the Maple Festival at Asbury Woods. It was so fun, with nature crafts, face painting, scavenger hunts, tours tapping maple trees, and of course.....pancakes with maple syrup!!!

Any sap in there????



Tree stump necklaces



A taste of Pennsylvania

The Monkey Club

You know you want to join!! Being in the Monkey Club is a special status you earn at Elli's gymnastics center when you can climb to the top of the gym rope and ring the bell. The rope is really high, and I get scared looking at the little 5 year olds trying to do it, but Elli has been determined. Well, she DID IT! (see her way up there!) And now her teacher can't keep her off of it! We are so proud of our monkey.

The Impossible Truth

Our little Kate turned one this weekend! It seems impossible that a year has gone by. It's truly been a full year, and so in that light as I think about all the experiences we've had in her first year of life it makes sense that time has flown by....but if I close my eyes I can feel myself going right back to holding her in that hospital room as if no time has passed at all. Life is funny that way...and I love it.

We celebrated sweet Kate's birthday with a Spring theme...bug and butterfly cupcakes, bunny ears, jelly bean jewelry and bird nest crafts. Topped off with chocolate cake, fun friends, and lots of smiles....oh, and a splash of pink...always!

I couldn't stop kissing her little cheeks....




Cake Time!




(Obviously, the crafts were for the older kids...but we just had fun being together! Plus Kate was very helpful eating the jelly beans....)




Pictures of her first year....





We love you so much, Kate!!!

Moments

Life is made up of so many small moments, emotions, and experiences...that when rolled into one create memories, force you to dig deep, and define who you are. 2009 was full of some of the most wonderful, and most sorrowful, moments of our lives. Here's a look at our lives this past year......


We said hello and goodbye to our beautiful niece, Alexis Lynne Whitney:




We welcomed our sweet miracle, baby Kate:
(she misses her cousin)






Grandma and Nana came to visit! Oh how we love them!





Celebrating Easter:






Elli's birthday...celebrated with a trip to Splash Lagoon Waterpark (it was freezing outside!):






Mother's Day with friends:





My wonderful father's retirement party:




A family 5K at the zoo:





Our YW Presidency...I love these women...and our fabulous YW (some pictured here):





Gymnastics shows:




Selling our home in New York (insert tears here):





A family reunion in Utah's back country:









Ashlan's Baptism & Kate's Blessing, on the same weekend. We loved having our family come to share it with us!







Ashlan's birthday beach party:





A move to Harborcreek, Pennsylvania. Matt accepted a position as a professor of Evolution and Genetics at Penn State in Erie, PA. (insert cheers here):





First day at a new school!




Selling our home in New York AGAIN! (after many long months, the first buyer backed out):




Fun in the Fall...hayrides, pumpkin festivals, beautiful leaves.....:





("say Hi to your mother for me, alright?") :)





Uncle Scott spent time with us....we loved having him here!




Halloween: Hermione, Ariel, and a little ladybug






Thanksgiving in Massachusetts (thank you dear friends!):




Christmas: We spent it with Matt's family in Utah, and New Year's with my sister Kristin's family. We loved being with them! Matt and Carrie (his sister) took the girls to Goblin Valley in Southern Utah. It's beautiful covered in snow:








Add in laughter, tears, fun family nights, pizza and movies, trips to the park, lots of traveling, packing and unpacking, goodbyes, fervent prayers for family and friends... battling job loss, cancer, heartache, homes exploding...and tons of hugs and kisses, and you've got a year truly full of "life".

Thanks for sharing it with us....