partying all weekend....

i'll be glad of my blogging one day when i print all of these for a scrapbook and i can have these to reference where all the time goes. :)

headed for fort smith friday night to stay with my dad and celebrate my papa's birthday on saturday.

joe and i took a ride on his new motorcycle.  he's pretty excited that he's only spent $13 on gas in 3 weeks.  so that's a winner i guess.  i even tried not to lecture him on being careful, although i did mention it a couple of times...i figure there will be enough people to take care of that for me. 

granny made this cake per papa's request and it was GOOD, and it's probably also why my jeans are too tight.  and i'm going to be a food photographer. :)

opening birthday cards!  i failed on my job as family photographer and didn't get any other pictures.  but the birthday fella and the cake are the two most important of the day.  

celebrated shawn's birthday saturday night with an evening of bowling at fast lanes.

 

bryan, greg and paul

brandi and zeke were in town at the last minute, so they came over sunday and ate and hung out until early afternoon.  it's fun spending time with them since we hadn't seen them in a year.  but the fun part is we don't really miss a beat.  

annalyse and sabin sitting under our entry way table.

 so fun to catch up with our college besties and for me to see my "marg", short for marguerite.  i am trying to remember how it all started, but in college we started calling each other marguerite and it has stuck.  and we have shortened it to "marg" and now we have annalyse, our new smallest marg.
we love our weirdness.  

treasures...

b's granny is turning 90 years old today!  she's quite a lady, and we love her so much.  she has lots of clothes she doesn't wear any more (you get quite the collection over that many years..spanning decades.  so fun), and i have been picking through them finding some new treasures for myself!  bryan told her the other day that i have been wearing her clothes, and she said she has more for me.  yippee.  i am so excited!  here's some iphone pics of a few of my new treasures....

fun.

i think i am going to add a flower pin and wear on Easter...maybe.

i wore this one already, and added the belt.

off to work I go..in Granny's jacket :)

today's winner.  scary facial expression, yikes.

i'm so excited about my new special clothes and b LOVES his granny so much, so i think he likes that i am wearing her stuff.  he said a few of the clothes he actually remembers her wearing when he was little.  so funny.  happy wednesday!

and not that granny will read this, but happy 90th birthday, we love you!

lately...

sticker princesses have been at work.  

 my sweet and wonderful bestie came for the weekend!  

we explored my favorite places, including tea time at Mama Carmen's!

 we like pretending hadleigh is our baby

sweet lena is no longer half way around the world like in this picture, but probably less than 4 miles down the road from where i sit and type this.  such an answered prayer.  you can keep up with this sweet, beautiful girl and her family here and here.  i love anything written by either of her parents.  

and last but not least, my sweet, beautiful, "kindred spirit" friend abby and her husband are adopting!  i feel like i could type a lot on this subject so for tonight i'll just share a favorite picture and the link to her story.  it's a beautiful story.  join me in praying over their family and little girl.  our God is SO good.

Breckenridge!

We are home from a week in Breckenridge!  We had fun, I forget just how big the mountains are!  It's crazy.  I went skiing 4/5 days we were there and loved it.

My airplane photography...and my last glimpse of flat land for the week.

We stayed at a house outside of town and the elevation at our house was around 12,000 feet, the oxygen was scarce.  I was winded every time I went up or down the stairs.  I also have a chronic cough that's been hanging around for 2 months, so that didn't help!  The people we rented the house from our huge Razorback fans and we enjoyed our stay in their beautiful home!

our room.  my mission every morning was to make sure every blind was open so we could enjoy the views.  God sure made beautiful mountains.  

 everyone enjoyed the hot tub, well except me.  i of course forgot my bathing suit, and getting out there in regular clothing did not sound appealing.

 getting ready for his days of skiing!  Riley spent two days at ski school and that's just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.  the silver helmet helped us spot him out of the other little munchkin skiers.  well, that and safety first...had to protect his little noggin.

 going up the mountain.  the first part of the week they were making snow, but luckily on wednesday we got a day full of snow, and it was beautiful!  and made skiing so much more fun!

 b and his brother!

 handsome skiers!

 we spent a lot of time playing.  i am very good at barrel of monkey's we found out!

 this boy is a mess.

 sweet lena beth

 this is me on the snowy day, it was cold!  and i was wearing chad's old goggles and had around 35% vision.  after i wore them he told me he wore them duck hunting years ago and they got really scratched up...i'd rather have 35% vision in the antique goggles than drop money on new ones for one day!  i also questioned why exactly he owned pink ski goggles....

 hanging with sweet girl.

playing in the living room.  b's mom fell the first day we were in breckenridge at our house and ended up having surgery monday night, she broke both bones in her lower leg.  it was a mess, but she's making it and made it home with no problems!

pa, lena beth and our friend the newly acquired walker.  

 the snow baby and her dad.  

I never got brave enough to go up farther than the greens, but in my mind I skied a blue.  In my mind....  I did wander away from my well known route down one day and came to a really steep part that landed me on my rear.  Luckily my hero B was skiing behind me watching and came down to help me up.  He also made me go back and ski it a couple of days later to "conquer the hill."  I didn't want to, but I did, and I made it down with out falling.  Yay!  i told them i need professional help before skiing anything more challenging.  maybe next time!

I had an experience with a Blue Lagoon Crepe from this place, and it was Breckenridge at it's best.  Freezing cold with odd but friendly people every where and a long wait!  The locals took me in and let me stand around the fire with them while I waited on one of the best things I have ever eaten.  i'm sure B wasn't surprised to find me with my new group of friends around the fire.  ha. The crepe was nutella, blueberries, bailey's, and something else...I forget.  I would try to imitate it but I know my crepe making skills would be no where as good.

B and Lena B!

we also ate local at the Whale's Tail and then went to Bubba Gump's one night.  other nights we cooked at home and enjoyed the views and not being out in the cold!   i love the mountains and skiing, and I can't wait to go back!!!  

2011....

was a very good year!  i am thankful. b and I were surrounded by family, friends and new babies!  we took a family vacation with my brother and sis in law in summer that was super fun.  i've had lots of laughs and some cries this year!  i have been humbled and amazed to watch God work here and across the world.  my involvement with TEAMWorks Ukraine has truly been life changing, and for that I am so thankful.  thankful my world has been rocked.  once your eyes see the need, you can not turn back.  thankful i have had the privilege of holding and touching the least of these.

unfortunately, i can't mention 2011 with out remembering a great loss.  two weeks ago i watched helplessly as my best friend's heart broke when she lost her lifelong & childhood best friend mica very unexpectedly.  we cried and looked for comfort in the arms of our Jesus.  it served as a reminder to treat others with kindness and love and to remember that you just never know what someone is dealing with on the inside.

my year in some pictures....
January 2011:: Sugar Bowl trip

 February:: celebrating Valentine's day Chick-Fil-A Style!

 March:: Our youngest niece Lena Beth was born!

and this sweet baby Mac!

 April:: night at concert at George's!

 and I was obsessed with the Royal Wedding!  her style was perfection in my eyes!

 May:: two more friends had sweet babies...Lucas and Parker!

 trying to teach Hadleigh early to love hats....

 June::  Family vacation-cruise!

 July:: playing with Lena Beth and Riley

and we spent a weekend landscaping our house on the hottest weekend of the year, naturally!
before...

and after...

celebrating my 28th birthday!

August:: we had a golf tournament fundraiser for TEAMWorks trips to Guatemala and Ukraine!  we were blessed by raising a good portion of money and helping to fun two successful trips! 

we went to see a fun concert in a dirt field in oklahoma!   my parents really did raise me on country music and dirt roads!  ha.

mama carmen's coffee shop and i began our love affair this summer.  and it's by far one of my favorite places...i go way more than I should.

September:: my two nieces in one place...i loved it!

razorback game with chad and liz!

October:: was SO full of good things...
sweet girl turned 3

 i got to enjoy these delicious Ukrainian made cappuccino's for 2 weeks...

 and i spent 10 wonderful days working with children in ukraine.  when can i go back?  now please.

November::

we went to a Nick and Jarah's wedding!

 and celebrated thanksgiving!

December::

I ran the fayetteville half marathon!  

 and we were proud!

and then heaven got an angel!  if you know me very well, then you know of my friend Mariellen and how much I love her!  and i loved mica because mariellen loved her so much.  they were literally two halves, and I of course spent time with Mica, but also felt that I knew her so well from listening to mariellen talk about her sweet friend for years.  and i also loved her because she was sweet, beautiful, funny and super fun! 

I have no doubt that the friends and family will help create a lasting legacy in Mica's honor of loving life and animals.  can't wait to see the beautiful things that will come from this pain.  

clockwise from top: rachel, Mica B, Mariellen and myself!  we'll miss you so much sweet girl!  

we had Christmas at my mom's...

Christmas at my dad's!

2011 was a good year, and I am excited for 2012!   Happy New Year!