Family Pictures

 

 

Our family lucked out when one of our students agreed to take our pictures this year for the Holidays. Megan Mitchell is a Sophomore at OSU enjoys taking pictures while being a full-time student. She did a great job with our pictures, and it was so hard to choose a favorite. I know we will look back on this time with so much fondness for our sweet, tiny girls.

Summer Days

I forever want to remember the shape of her sweet little lips.

As the summer draws to an end, the temperature feels like we are just beginning. The days have jumped from hot to humid to even hotter. With my troop of an adventerous three year old and a still small eight month old, we enjoy frequent trips to the park, splash pad, and the backyard plastic pool. Even in these days where a quick errand takes twenty minutes just to get out the door, we all love to get out of the house and enjoy being outside. These two girls require a lot of care and patience, but boy are they worth every second of it.

A Guide to the Best of the Best in Northwest Arkansas

On our way to Ozark Lakes, our family took a quick pit-stop in Northwest Arkansas for the weekend. It's always fun "going home" to the area where we lived as newlyweds, got our first jobs, and brought home our brand new baby. Fayetteville still holds a special place in our hearts, and we had a great time visiting friends, restaurants, and our favorite places during our stay.

If we could make a Bucket List of places to eat and see while in Northwest Arkansas, here are a few that would be on that list.

Fayetteville:

The University of Arkansas

Wilson Park

Geraldis

Slim Chickens

Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese

Ricks Bakery

Dickson Street:

Arsagas

Hog Haus

Fayettechill
Nightbird Books

The Square:

The Mustache

Shindig Paperie

Bliss Cupcakes

Hugos

Downtown Bentonville:

Flying Fish
Tusk and Trotter

Walmart Visitors Center

Onyx Coffee Lab

Crystal Bridges Museum

A Sip and See for Kennedy Frances

 

A little over a month ago, my sister hosted a Sip and See for Kennedy at her home in Fayetteville. It was a great time to catch up with our Northwest Arkansas friends, and have them meet our sweet girl! We enjoyed donuts, quiche, sausage balls, fruit, and juice. Kennedy was our party girl, and slept through almost the entire thing.

We sure love this little girl of ours, and loved celebrating her arrival with good friends! Special thanks to my sister, Bethany for opening up her home for us to celebrate our KFS.

Happy Easter

Kennedy Frances, almost 4 months

Snack time at MDO

Countryside's Egg Hunt

Decorating eggs with Papa and Mimi

Easter Sunday 2016

Happy Easter! 

We had a great time celebrating Easter this year, especially since it was Kennedy's first one. Ruby Kay also is beginning to understand holidays more and loved going on two egg hunts this year. Her sweet Mothers Day Out does such a good job celebrating the holidays, and including us parents for their parties.  On Thursday, Ben's came in town for a few days before Easter, and brought a Easter basket with goodies for the girls. We enjoying dyeing egg, and spending time together. Both of the girls love their Mimi and Papa so much. Jake and Sue also watched both girls while Ben and I went to the movies one afternoon. That was such a treat!

Life with these two girls and their Daddy is so sweet. This year I am thankful for Jesus' Ressurection and the gift of life that he provides! We had a busy week full of egg hunts and easter baskets, and althought they were fun- I hope next year to teach RK more about the real reason we celebrate Easter. As I write this, RK is saying "my bunny give me doctor set" over and over. 

sisters, vol 1

My, what sweet girls these two are! I know it is so clique to say, but I love to see their bond forming. If there love for each other now is any indication of the future, these two will be the best of friends. Since before Kennedy was born, Ruby Kay loved babies and was so excited to have one in our family. Since her arrival Ruby Kay just loves Kennedy. It is especially sweet to see Kennedy interact with her big sister as she gets older. Although she is still young, she smiles and watches Ruby Kay so intently.

This afternoon, Ruby Kay followed me around the house with her baby doll copying whatever I did with her "Baby Kennedy" as she called her. She swaddled her baby, rocked her to sleep, changed her diaper, and even nursed her baby! What a sweetheart. I can hardly wait to see these two as time goes on.

a daddy's love

We are now back from the beach, and settling into life here at home. We had a great 2.5 weeks in at the beach in Florida.We really enjoyed taking our class with Cru and learning more about our Christian theology, and the God we serve. Working for a company that values our personal spiritual growth is so great!

One of my favorite parts of our vacation was taking a step back to watch how Ben loves our girls. The past few months have been hectic with travelling for work and the holidays, so our time in Daytona was a good time to slow down and enjoy time together as a family. After all, we are still adjusting to being a family of four. Ben took Ruby Kay down to the beach every day that it was warm enough, and would play with her for hours. She absolutely loved spending time with her Daddy. Ben also got a lot of "Kennedy time" since we both took the class and each needed time to study. I am so grateful for Ben and his love for our girls. They are lucky to have such a great Daddy!

kennedy frances, two months

daytona beach, florida

for the past week, our family has been in daytona beach, florida taking seminary classes with cru. our schedule here has been taking our class in the morning, studying and homework afterward, and playing on the beach in the afternoons. although the weather has been cold off and on, we have really enjoyed our break from winter. 

ruby kay has enjoyed the beach so much during our time here. from the moment she wakes up till bedtime, she asks to go play on the beach. we have a few sand toys that have provided ruby kay with endless entertainment and fun. we have been spoiled with an ocean view here at our hotel, and the view has captivated us all.

my favorite part of being here at the beach has been seeing ben and ruby kay play on the beach together. they love to build sandcastles and play in the waves. since kennedy is still so small, i haven't spent that much time on the beach. ruby kay is a girl after her own daddy's heart, loving the ocean and they have made some great memories together.