Where have we been???

Where has the Small family been? Going CRAZY!

      What a whirlwind the fall was for our family. I have no idea how we survived our crazy schedule. I would say our biggest adjustment was Ashlynn starting Kindergarten. I had no idea how much it would change our lives. Ashlynn is rocking kindergarten if any one out there was wondering. Ashlynn has performed with Heaven's Footprints ministry dance team. She has participated in the Festival of Faith, Whirligig Festival, and multiple Christmas parades. Not to mention her dance classes she takes on Monday and Friday of every week. She is getting ready to attend Dance Revolution in a few weeks with her ministry team and she is so excited. 

     Everett has not had as busy of a schedule as Ashlynn. He is happy to take part in preschool twice a week and do whatever I am doing the rest of the time.   Everett and Ashlynn both practiced over the fall and participated in the Wilson Community Church production of Cookin' Up Christmas. Both of my babies did a fabulous job. 

     We have watched Hunter grow and develop over the fall season. It is crazy to think tomorrow I will have a 1-year-old. He is growing from a baby to a toddler so fast. Over the fall Hunter has learned to stand, walk, talk, and eat on his own. Even though he is still technically a baby, anyone who knows Hunter knows that there isn't anything "baby" about him except his size. It was a fun season experiencing so many firsts with Hunter. 

     I would say the theme of the past few months has been children and church. Enjoying all the activities that the fall has to offer. We have continued to attend WCC and become more active in the church. Also Small group started back up over the fall so we have had fun attending our weekly meetings and play dates/dinners with our small group friends. We took the kids to the Wilson County Fair which was a lot more fun this year because Ash and Ev were both big enough to ride all the kiddie rides. Our family then took the kids the Hillridge farms to enjoy all the Halloween fun they have to offer. Of course this year was a lot more fun with Ash and Ev being older and experiencing these activities with Hunter for the 1st time. We took our annual family trip to the North Carolina State Fair again a lot more fun because the little people are getting older and they can enjoy more of the rides and exhibits. We especially enjoyed watching Hunter take in the hustle and bustle of it all.  

     We enjoyed our 1st Halloween with Hunter and even dressed up as a whole family and hosted a truck at the WCC Truck or Treat. Ashlynn was Snow White, Everett was Grumpy, Hunter was Dopey, Don dressed as Prince Charming, and I dressed as the Evil queen. We had a blast handing out candy to all of Wilson. Of course no fall season is complete with out Thanksgiving and this year we had a lot we are thankful for. Hunter was old enough that he even got to enjoy all the yummy food Papa cooked for the Thanksgiving meal. Our highlight of the season of course was preparing for Christmas. Christmas is so magical with children. They get so excited about the special Christmas shows, decorating, the activities, Santa, etc. Hunter was even old enough to really enjoy his first Christmas. We loved spending our first Christmas with our WCC family and really enjoyed the dinner and Christmas play. It really was a special Christmas this year with so many firsts mixed in with our continued family traditions. We ended the year ringing it in with some of our very special friends from WCC. Everyone made it to 12:00 to help ring in a brand new year for the Small Family. 

     As you can see the past few months have been spent making some awesome memories with our family that we are so very blessed with. We look forward to celebrating Hunter's 1st birthday and so many more fun activities in 2013.