2012: Year in Review

I always love the posts at the end of the year.  They cause me to reflect, look back, think on the good, the challenging, the blessings, the hardships.  I like it.  Mostly.  Then on the other hand it makes me realize just how quickly time flies...

But alas, despite the fact that we're about to enter a new year, I cannot pass up this opportunity to look back on our 2012 and reflect with some of my favorite pictures.  So much happened this year, but these are just some highlights.  Care to take a look with me? :)

January

I love love this sweet shot.  The first of many stories that daddy will read/has read.  Just a sweet moment captured.

Not pictured in January:  Zuzana taught me how to cook rezen (European dish)

February

Freezing cold, of course...but we still took a fun date to the frozen over pond for some much-needed hubby/wife quality time :)  Love him (and we're total dorks!).

E sports her first 'hawk and looks cute as ever.

Not pictured in February:  Lots of snow, thirty day photo challenge

March

This marks the month where E's great appetite began (though we've recently encountered some toddler appetite opposition).  Here she's eating avocados.

Not pictured in March:  We all flew to Germany for a conference and it was E's first flight.

April

Elise hit the (indoor) pool for the very first time in her (really cute) red polka-dotted swimsuit.  We went with our friends Boba and Filip.

And we took our debut Easter family picture.  One of my all time fav's (so far ;)...

Not pictured in April:  E tried green peas and couldn't stand 'em, and we found out our sis and bro-in-law were expecting a baby BOY (who was born in September).

May

That photo just melts my heart every time I see it.  Too much sweetness going on.  Definitely a favorite May moment captured on camera.

Not pictured in May:  Jas went on a trip to England, E went on the swings for the first time :)

June

Four generation photo taken when my mom and grandmother visited us.

Not pictured in June:  First Daddy's day for Jason and Elise, summer camp #1

July

We headed to Greece for some meetings and ended up catching this hilarious face from the little one :)

Not pictured in July:  summer camp #2

August

Palmer side visits for some quality time and we got this shot while out and about "sight-seeing."

Then the three of us went on our family vacation to Italy.  This is one of my most favorite shots of the two of them.

We also went to the park for E's one year photo shoot (which she wasn't so happy about).  We got some good shots, however, and Jas caught this post-shoot fun going on between my girl and I.

Not pictured in August:  I turned twenty-six!

September

E takes her first steps!!!!

And then she turns the big ONE!!!  (Big month for the little girl)

Not pictured in September:  Jas turned thirty-one!

October

Jas takes this amazing picture while out and about with Elise (they spent a good bit of quality time together this month since I was feeling pretty rotten from pregnancy with number 2!)

And then we announced that someone would be a big SIS...

Not pictured in October:  E goes trick-or-treating here at home and helps carve her first pumpkin.

November

We headed to the Christmas market for some good food and fun with our community group.

Not pictured:  E starts trying to use a spoon, Jas grows a 'stache for Movember (he did end up raising some money to fight again mens' cancer! Go hubs!)

December

We surprised the families in the states for Christmas :)  It was a GREAT time (still going through all the pictures).  Above, Elise got a fun tunnel and she also got to hang out with her baby cousin Bryce.  What a blessing it all was.

So that's 2012 in a nutshell.  Good year.  Full year.  Challenging in some ways.  But we're thankful.  Prayerful and hopeful for a fruitful 2013!

Christmas in Vienna: Night Lights

The best part of Christmas in Vienna...hands down, the lights.

Instead of talking about it, let's just show you...

A view looking straight at the entrance to the market.  Lovely lights, just lovely.

Love this shot above, but one of my favorites from the night is this one below...

Closely followed by this one,

And my last favorite (are you tired of my favorites yet?) is...

Ok, you should now be thoroughly convinced that you need to come visit us.  We'll take you to the market...promise!

May all your days leading up to Christmas (and every day) be filled with JESUS and sparkly lights ;)

Christmas in Vienna: Around Town and Market

Are you ready for an onslaught of Vienna photos?  Ready or not, here they come :)

This year, just like last year, we took a day and packed up (er, bundled up) to go to the Christmas market in Vienna.  The atmosphere is WAY fun and festive, despite the bitter cold (and yes, it is intensely cold).  But we had a great time and when our fingers weren't freezing we snapped quite a good many pictures.

Jas took this one from the train window on the way there.  Lots and lots of snow we've had around these parts...

We found a pretty tree where we grabbed two shots with Elise...but why oh why didn't we get a family photo?  I don't know...maybe brain freeze?

(and I'm not going to lie...I was somewhat jealous of E all bundled up in her cozy stroller ;)

We did get this one, though...does it count as a family photo?  We're all in there somewhere.

And she was a champ.  She was in the stroller 85% of the day and she hardly whined at all.  Such a big girl...and cute to boot.  I do have to say, however, that being in the stroller most of the day is likely the reason the next morning she was up at 5:30 am ready and rarin' to go.

Gorgeous cathedral and tree...loved it.

Slowly we made our way to the market.  We wanted to catch it with enough daylight to spare, but also so that we could get some great night light shots on the way out.

I love all the lights and decorations.  They have this Christmas decorations thing down pat.

I wanted one of those stars in every color...didn't get them, but thought they'd make a great addition to our living room :)

The first candy canes we've seen in, oh, a year and ~nine months.

Below, I thought of Sonya when we passed the Lush storefront.  For those of you who've never heard of Lush, it's a brilliant store full of handmade soaps and smell-good stuff.  Basically, it's a treat to hit this store up.

And we'll end with these pretty candles.  I also wanted one of each.

So that's a quick view of some of the greatness of the market.  Soon we'll be back with Vienna lights at night...you're going to want to stay tuned ;)

Twenty-Two Weeks and a SNOW Bunny!

Time for the bi-weekly preggo photo :)

I remain super thankful that I feel so well these days.  I'm still pretty shocked by it all (compared to last pregnancy...it's just so very different).  Little girl continues to grow and I love feeling her tiny kicks/movements.  I'm already SO ready to meet her!

And, yes, I apparently have absolutely no color in my small winter pregnancy wardrobe.  My constantly stretching body is only fitting in monotone colors these days.  Oh well, I figure it's better to keep the bump covered than share it with the world in bright colors ;)

But let's not talk about my clothing issues, let's look at this cute little bundled baby in the snow:

Marker on her face, runny nose, desperately in need of a haircut, tiny snowman...oh so much cute in those photos.  Love her.

So now you know how we're growing out of clothes and enjoying the snow ;)  Happy Tuesday!

My Girl and I

I love this little chick...

Getting a good shot with her is quite difficult these days, as she's CONSTANTLY moving, but I love those lil cheeks and droopy eyes nonetheless.

In the process of editing a bunch of photos from our Mama's group Mikulas (Christmas) party :)  More to come...!

{Very} Simple Paper Christmas Ornaments

How's that for a straightforward post title?

Our "Fun Under the Parachute" Mama's group is having a Mikulas (think Slovak St. Nicholas) Christmas party for the kids this coming week.  We're going to have a visit from Mikulas (along with the angel and devil-like guy, aka, Jason), eat some little cakes, talk about Advent, and decorate a tree!

Soooo...we needed some small paper ornaments for the tree.  I decided to whip up some small, EASY ones.  All you need for these are any type of leftover Christmas crafty supplies, durable paper, some scissors, tape, and string.

I used some stickers, magazine cutouts from last year, stick-on rhinestones, and glitter glue to decorate mine.  And then all you have to do is let your Christmas spirit come out and get those creative juices flowing!  Easy, cute, and fun.

My (awesome) hubs even got in on the action.  That's what I love about him.  He created a spiral-y Christmas tree of sorts with glitter glue "ornaments."

My favorites have to be this cute little gingerbread couple.  I simply glued them on and added rhinestones and string as the hanger.  I think we'll keep these guys around.

Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread modeled for me on the tree.  How cute are they!?

(Mr. G did get a little dinged up, oops)

And that's IT!  So if you're in a pinch, decorating on a dime, or just need a cute Christmas craft to do with your kids or friends...this one's for you.  Now go get your Christmas craft on!