Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2012

I would say life has been more normal this year, but I guess that would depend on your definition of normal.  We began this year by taking a big leap into the world of homeschooling.  After weighing our options, we decided it would be best to pull Noah out of public school and homeschool him.  It was difficult at first, but we have found a good curriculum and are involved in a homeschool group as well.  Noah seems to really enjoy it and is really fast at math. He is a good big brother and helps us with chores and little projects.  Noah continues to amaze us each day and is very curious about how things work.  He celebrated his 6^th birthday in May and got to celebrate it again at Disney World thanks to Ashley’s cousin Robert getting tickets for us. In other happenings for Noah, he started Cub Scouts this fall and has to do all sorts of fun stuff with that.

Foster has grown up so much this year.  He is now almost completely potty trained and is just a little chatter box. He keeps us going and is definitely more challenging that Noah was.  Foster enjoys being the baby of the family, constantly looking for attention and being silly. He likes playing with Thomas train and anything that his brother is doing.  Foster turned 2 in August and we had a “painting party” which was lots of fun.  Our boys certainly keep us busy and we are very blessed to have them in our lives.

 

 Ashley has kept busy with the boys, volunteering at church and being an Independent Director with Pampered Chef. In March, she had a directors retreat in Tennessee and experienced severe weather in the mountains. She has done $10,000 more in sales this year and has enjoyed getting to meet a lot of new people with her business.  Ashley has also been doing a cooking club once a month at our house, which I am the honorary grill master for.  She rarely has a dull moment at home, but welcomes friends and family anytime!

I am enjoying my job at the vet school which allows me to spend more time with my family.  Currently, I am learning MRI and continue to take on more responsibilities at work.  I have worked with a variety of animals including monkeys, tigers, manatees and many crazy dogs.  In my spare time, I enjoy doing various projects at our house or projects for friends and family.  Most days, I bike to work and get to exercise while I commute six miles to and from work.  I also am thankful to have good benefits that allows for paid leave to spend lots of time with friends and family.

As a family we have enjoyed our many visitors that have stayed with us and we would love to have more people visit in 2013. We have also found a church family we love, Anthem- a Northpoint Strategic Partner, and have enjoyed the friends we have met through our small group.  Looking back over this year, it is hard to believe how fast it went by and how our boys have grown.  Next year, we hope to grow our family through adoption.  We are planning on working with a local agency starting in the spring.

  This has been a good year for us and I feel blessed to have the family and friends we do.  Merry Christmas from the Bolins. We hope to see you soon.

hmmm...I am really bad at this

 Noah at his cub scouts badge ceremony

  Playing in the leaves with neighbors; looks like it is snowing in these pics!

 Foster enjoying an apple from his stocking

 We decided to get him a bowl so we could continue to open presents...this is what ensued...

Matt & my Christmas present from Pam and Dave...can you figure out what it is???

So I guess we are already in December and I have posted only a couple of times this year!!! I am not on top of this, but I guess a little is better than none?!? Life seems so busy all of the time and I really do want to get stuff posted here, for my record, for you and for the boys to look back on. It just seems like the best of intentions don't always get finished. Oh well... Here are a few catch ups from the last camera upload.

Guess who?

We have been on a long trip these past weeks to Indiana then to Iowa. We stopped in Indiana first to celebrate birthdays and Angie's wedding...little did I know I was one of the birthdays we were celebrating.

Foster 18mo and Noah 6yo Photos with Linda

We had pictures made with Linda Bainter at Lovin' the Light. You can see more of her work at the link. She always has great ideas for photos. Next time we are with Linda, Matt will be there with us. This time it wasn't possible. Enjoy her work!

Bolin's May visit and Noah's 6th birthday

Some of the things Noah is good at right now: trick shots on the bball hoop on the porch, telling time, counting money, and trying to occupy his brother. He also learned to swim this year! He is getting so big! He is 39 lbs and 42.25 inches tall.

Noah read his birthday poem and had to figure out where we were going before he could open his present. I tried loading the video but it won't work :(

Meeting Minne Mouse...

and Donald...

and Goofy!

The off to the Magic Kingdom for some fun! Noah was the honorary tour guide and got to drive the boat!

We all rode the Merry-go-round!

Noah had a great day! Happy 6th birthday to our smart, handsome, caring, easy-going, exuberant oldest son. God has an awesome plan for you and your life and we are so glad we get to be the ones to help guide you on your adventure.

"S"

I got Foster out of his crib this morning and I was wearing my senior shirt (from high school). It has a big "S" on the front like superman's "S" and Foster pointed and clearly stated, "S." I guess he is already picking up on letter recognition!

Noah's quote of the day

After Foster goes to bed, we usually have some time with Noah to play a game. Tonight he picked to play Connect 4x4. When he got the game out of the closet Noah declared, "That is a dreadful mix of colors!" He likes to put the colors back grouped together, but when he got it out today they were all mixed up.

Playdate with Evan and Lydia; Easter

Evan and Noah wanted to ride the "Gator." The babies felt so left out so they came up with their own riding system...

 Lydia rode the tricycle...

While Foster pushed her around...such a princess, what a prince!

He obviously enjoyed that! There is also a video that goes along with this, but the loader on blogger will not let me upload...so alas. One day I will be able to post videos again.

Easter 2012

Our Easter tradition for the past 2 years had been to practice Easter Egg hunting with the plastic balls from the ball pit. Each child is assigned a different color to find and they practice finding their eggs so their skills are honed for the big day. Foster really enjoyed the hunt this year and Noah is almost a professional!

Foster at Baga Sue's church egg hunt

Noah at Baga Sue's church egg hunt

On Easter Sunday, we went to church with Baga Sue and Baga. After church, Barby, Dean, Mike, Julianne, Leslie, Nancy, Hank and April came and we all had dinner. We missed Helen and little Justin because he was under the weather. Little did we know it would be our last time to see Hank. He was such a great man and is dearly missed.

The egg hung ensued after we all had happily filled our stomachs

Foster went hunting sans pants...Probably the last year he will ever do that!

Julianne and Noah were quite a pair. 

Foster found one of the last ones left!

We had a great time doing the fun traditions our culture and family has adopted, but cannot overlook the true reason that Easter is such a happy and celebrated day for our family: Christ rose from the grave- Hallelujah!