don't get your hopes up

this does not mean that i will take up regular blog posts again.  i know better than to make promises that i can't keep.  However, i realized two weeks ago that we are at the one year mark of our Arkansas adventure.  I thought that it would be fun to do a year in review.  it has been an amazing year.  it has now taken me two weeks to get this post out.  Since I have started this post, we have moved to a new house and taken our family, including our 7 week old son, on a road trip to colorado - which is where i am now (don't yet have photos of these events in my computer).   As I sit here, I can't come up with the right words to describe this past year.  it has had many surprises, but certainly the blessings have far outweighed the challenges.  Our family, as well as our new church family, has basically carried us through these last two months - some days I have felt like I am just along for the ride.  but the ride has been good, and i have a ridiculous amount of thank you notes that need to be written for all the love we have received.  God has been so kind to us through so many people.


I do not have photos of most of our new friends, or of our church.  I am sad about that.  I have not only not been keeping up this blog, but i have also been terrible at taking photos.  Hopefully John Ransom is the cure for that disease.  he's pretty great. 

So, this is a long and disjointed post.  the photos are mostly un- cropped, un-photoshopped, and truthfully, i have given up putting them in the order i had intended them to be.  it is all taking too long, and if i take any longer to try to make this look good, i will never post them at all.  so here goes:

when their hair was long

lanterns we made for a night walk at Christmastime

GoGo and Papa at Christmas

fordy's first real cleaning at the dentist (note: look for bobby doggie in the next few pictures of ford)

ford has loved playing and reading in frank's bed

a typical scene i find throughout the house at any given time.  this was on the guest bed

a fortress for the star wars Lego men.  2010 - 2011 is the year of Star Wars

ford has learned more names of Star Wars characters from his brother than he knows of his shapes and colors combined. 

a random, not very good photo, but we did love the irises that popped up at our house

one of frank's

our favorite part of the house on Maple street - walking to school.  what a special part of my days this was.  we walked this town together.

sharing Halloween with the Hungarians.  it was their first.

devil's den.  we began our family hiking trips.

ford's first discovery of his soon to be favorite, Lightning McQueen, and the fun of using frank's legos to play with his cars

one of the many times we were without heat/and or air conditioning in this lovely home

frank's drawing of Joseph (note the coat) and Jacob

not too many belly shots of this pregnancy, but we got a few


Below are just some of the visitors we've had over the year.  how blessed we've been in a new town, not to be lonely on the weekends (sidenote, the blogger website is not allowing me to post captions to some of these)

 

we filled the winter months with precious friends.  don needed a trip to Braum's.  i learned that peanut butter on ice cream is pretty delicious

maggie, our houston grandma, what would we ever do without her?

michelle and liam came for a day.  we have been best friends since we were 4 years old. the same age as these boys here. 

the boys learning that they were getting another boy in the family at Hugo's.  if you can't go to Houston's, to open your envelope, Hugo's is a good second choice. 

fordy and sloane got to share their birthdays together.  it was a sweet party of hendersons, guyots, and calloways - we love our family

we finally got a mantel!

and we finally got to make fires.  we LOVE the fireplace

then came the snow. and the sledding.  popee is crazy on a sled

it was a year spent in the sand - either at home or at the park.  we love us some sand

so many days at wilson park - rain or shine

i never get tired of taking pictures of these three.  i promise they are all joyful, lovely people

oh how we love this bathtub.  i am ruined.  i will have one of my own someday - Lord willing

Resurrection Day.  i refuse to post the family picture, because i looked like a whale in toile

and after Easter, the flood that we came home to

in the end, we agree it was a great blessing.  we got rid of so much crap that we had been hanging onto for no good reason

the worst fishing trip of all time

the hailstorm that came less than a week after we bought our new mini van

botanical garden

Frank's last days of preschool.  there was a parent tea - daddy got a tie, mama got a corsage - it was precious

michael's birthday.  frank wanted to surprise him by taking all of us bowling.

we have spent most of the year on this porch - sitting, talking, playing in the rocks and the dirt, and just counting the cars that drive by

pregnant mini golf. just waiting for the baby to arrive

early labor, the night before john was born

the advantage of having your baby at home...just this

 

what needs to be said?

never has a photo more accurately depicted one of my children

my sister has saved my sanity and brought me untold joy this year.  i think she has been to visit us at least four times.  we all love the Hendersons

finally getting to the ice cream truck in time.  pure joy

but nothing has brought us greater joy than this guy.

and then there is this guy.  who always surprises me.  i can't wait to see what the next year brings.