Life!

With momma in bed with the flu, I figured I could pass time by catching up on the blog with iPhone/iPad pictures. Seeing I haven't posted since September (!!) I wanted to catch up to the holidays. Life never slows down....over the last couple of months we have had camping, Halloween (Harry Potter and a Packer cheerleader), a yummy Thanksgiving, a visit with Santa, a Christmas/7th birthday celebration at the beach with family, time with the new Daisy troop, decorating for Christmas, and birthday manicures, just to name a few highlights! Whew!

Fall Soccer

Riley is our soccer star. Between practices over the summer and week-long summer camp, she considers herself quite the pro. It has been great for her self-confidence. She loves helping Jack practice his skills and now its time for him to shine on the field. First games of the season were this weekend, and Jack surprised us all with his timidness and tears. A quick pep talk from grandpa finally got him on the field and its was all smiles after that. We need to work on his aggressiveness, but he will shine like his sister in no time!

 excited to get there...

 then come the tears!

 finally getting in the game....he was scared he wouldn't score a goal and all he wanted to do was kick the ball!

 organized chaos :-)

 eat. him. UP.

I can't believe how big she is getting

 no fear!

First Grade!!

first grade SASS

 checking out her new cubby with daddy

 she was SO excited to have her two best buddies from kindergarten in her class again, bella and lauren

miss hopkins (giving her the halo) and mrs. pinkleton. this is going to be a great year!!

Smith Mountain Lake 2012

I'm telling you, I have the best group of friends. Not only do all of our kids love each other, but so do we. Its so nice to have that network where we can travel together, have play dates, have happy hour, and just be ourselves. I consider myself and our kids to be so blessed to have these people in our lives. Not to mention, they occupy me so I don't drive Linc crazy :-) This past week, we went to Smith Mountain Lake with the Transou's, Hofbauer's, Noel's, and the new Mrs. Walden. The kids were in seventh heaven, especially Jack. We are definitely beach people, but we LOVE a good time on the lake. Boat rides, lots of swimming, exploring, jumping off the dock....the kids had the BEST time!!!

this dude is DESPERATE for gpa to get another boat.....pretty please??

ri was totally in her element

hanging with paz, cameron, and emma

jack and isabella...they are so cute together :-)

HOURS were spent jumping off the boat and floating around. the momma's were VERY relaxed and happy :-)

Hanging Rock 2012

Since getting back from the beach, we have really taken advantage of some day trips/activities with our friends. We chose a beautiful day to head to Hanging Rock, one of our favorite places, to hike to the waterfalls and swim on the lake. To make it even better, we went with the Lowe's, the Noel's, and the Transou's. The momma's know how to have fun :-)

such a pretty view...one of our favorite places to hike to

clowns (hunter and jack)

our cutie patooties

with becca and bella in the lake (MUCH warmer than the falls)

ri and cameron posing on the beach

A final beach week recap...

Take four...

happy 21st to katelyn...finally :-)

pinata time





mandy and katelyn were very sweet and patient

 alex doing what he does best :-)



really katelyn?

thumbs up for an awesome family vacation (and yummy crab!!)!!



And some more beach week....

Take three...

Our traditional Fiesta night!

getting in the spirit

monkey buddies

master of ceremonies enjoying a well-deserved margarita

 gabe working on the carne asada (yum!!) ignore the small black patch on the deck to his left ;-)



 riley and her main mexican squeeze



just like jack, this girl does not stop grooving to the music!