2012 wrap up

 Well I haven't been the best blogger as of late.  But, I wanted to wrap the happenings of 2012, since we came back from Ireland.  This post is by no means exhaustive but here are a few snapshots of the rest of our year.  2012 was a very special year for us.  We gained a new nephew and a new niece.  They are absolutely precious and we are very thankful to have them in the family.  To the right is my very first niece, Julia!  And down below we have my 5th nephew Mr. John Lucas. 

 Once we settled back in the States we headed to the beach for a little R&R before the semester started back up at JWU.  We started our vacay run off with a trip to the grocery store.
There just aren't carts like this in any other country I've visited.  Yet another reason to love the USA.

 We hit up Myrtle Beach with Grandma and Poppa by our side.  Lots of castle making and swimming.  We also went on a pirate voyage and enjoyed yummy sea food.

 For Thanksgiving it was off to Kansas for us.  We shared the holiday with our dear Dirks Fam in Garden City.  The weather was great, the food amazing and the kids (and us) absolutely loved our time with Grams, Dog, Roomie, Julia and Uncle Abe.  We even got to spend some time with the Greats!

 We visited Tyler's alma mater, though the location has changed.  Grams is an administrative assistant here so we got a grand tour of the new high school.

 We even got to check out the stage and for these little performers that was a major plus.

 We really loved getting to see our Great Grandpa.

 And our Great Grandma too.

 We are big fans of Cooper as well.

 We hit the pool!

 Read and played with our awesome Grams!

 Loved on our D.O.G.

 Played pretend. (spiderman in the pic)

 Checked on Julia and loved on her every chance we got.

 And even got to check out the farm that D.O.G works at; rode tractors even!

I will post Christmas soon!