This weeks happenings

Today we're headed up to Ohio. We're pretty darn excited. Nine hours in the car? It's a breeze when you have so much to look forward to.

Let me count to you all the reasons we're excited.

1. Wednesday we will see these pretty people again:

Notice that round bump on Angela's tummy?

That's because last time our babies were all in utero.

So, not only do we get to see Angela and Peter whom we love more than the world, we get to meet their children, Sebastian and Katharina.

And in case you didn't know. They're gorgeous.

It's been nearly a year since we were all together (last July 4th), and being on separate continients exacerbates the "I miss you." There are time zones, class schedules, work days, baby routines and bad internet connections that make communication a little harder. 

Screw the FaceTime - we're ready for this face-to-face-for-real thing.

And they also get to meet Ralphie, whom I'm pretty sure they'll like a lot. :)

It's been a monumental year for both of our families, and we're so excited to come back together and celebrate with each other.

Understand how much fun - and emotional - this is going to be??? Good.

2. These pretty people are getting married!

Remember our wedding back in June of 2010?

How could you forget, right? Best. Day. Ever.

But do you remember THIS part about it?

Yeah, me neither. ;) But it happened.

Then this happened.

And then this.

And we're already to the wedding!

Exciting, exciting stuff this is!

3. I get to see ALL of THESE pretty people again.

I love all these people so much. My hugs and snuggles are going to be maxed out by the end of this trip! (actually, that's not possible.)

For all of the males in this picture it will be their first time seeing my own little man. That's pretty exciting.

4. And there's a whole big laundry list of people we can't wait to see, in addition to the above. However, if I were to post pictures of them all this post would never end. You know who you are. ;)

5. After all the wedding festivities Daniel, Ralphie and I are going to visit Daniel's Grandpa in the Dayton area. Great Grandpa meets Ralphie!

6. My parents are hosting a Willeke Family Reunion June 10th - golly, it's been forever since I've seen my cousins! 

My heart is just about to burst with all the goodness!!!

Easter Day 2012

Easter Sunday was full of great times with our two different church families. We're still in a transition of sorts as far as worship goes. Neither of us felt ready to leave our Charlotte church when work in Rock Hill started full time, and since Hill City only worships in the evenings at this point, we've been attending both for the time being. This has allowed us to say goodbye, and let our old church meet Ralphie a little more.

Ralphie was baptized in Charlotte (post to come), and we had our Easter meal in Rock Hill, followed by an egg hunt for the children of our neighborhood, and church. 

"What do I do with it?"

 

This little guy, Thomas, was so adorable. I watched him scamper across the grass, grab a handful of eggs and then plop down and begin happily eating his candy. He didn't seem to care that there were dozens of more eggs to be had, he just wanted to eat the candy as soon as possible.

comparing :) 

searching high and low 

counting 'em up - and looking for "prize" eggs!

We had a "little kid hunt" and a "big kid hunt" - we made the big kids look extra hard for their eggs!

Southern Gentlemen - complete with seersucker bow ties

  

the seersucker crowd

Spending Resurrection Sunday worshipping and fellowshipping seems just about right to me.

"Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!"

Showered With Love...

... and presents for Baby, too!

Saturday my sweet friend Carolyn and her mother, Peggy, hosted a baby shower for me and Baby. 

Carolyn's mom wanted a theme, so I suggested Beatrix Potter, since that's how we'll be decorating the nursery. She took it and flew! Everything looks so sweet. The morning brunch was delicious, and my northern family got a real taste of tradition southern hospitality.

The shower was just beautiful, and I am so thankful for everyone who could come and celebrate with us.

playing "According to Ashlee..." where guests had to answer questions like, "What will the baby look like?" and "how will Ashlee react when she meets her baby for the first time?" as if they were me. My Mother-in-Law won! Getting 15 out of 20 questions right! Aliza got 11 right. :)

Janet flew in from Florida, and Rebecca flew in from Texas. Aliza, Anna, Mom and Mare flew down from Michigan and Ohio. 

 

It was a beautiful day! Bringing home all the sweet and useful things for Baby makes the arrival seem more and more real. Only 54 days until Due Date!

2011

I know this is a week late... but we can celebrate 2012 all year long, right?

This year we have been so incredibly blessed. We're not the party-it-up type (did you guess?? :P). We actually did have plans for a party(New Years Eve), but ended up not going for various reasons. Instead we spent our New Years Eve together, playing Mario Kart on our new Wii, and watching The Cosby Show. I fell asleep well before midnight, and even though Daniel assures me he gave me a New Years kiss as the ball dropped I have no memory except for waking up at 12:15 and asking if it was 2012 yet. :)

We are especially excited for 2012 because we will get to meet our sweet baby face to face, but as I reflect on 2011 I'm aware that, baby or not, we have been incredibly blessed. It was a great year!

The first week of January Charlotte got dusted with snow, and we enjoyed a "real" winter... for about a month.

We celebrated our first Valentine's as Mr. and Mrs. by stuffing our faces :-P at the Japanese steak house (so good!)

And at the end of the month our home was full of visitors!

Jonathan, Chloe and Oliver - then still in utero. :)

and Mom and the five youngest kiddos.

By March spring and love were both in full bloom. We got to see two of our best friends fall in love, while the daffodils popped their yellow heads through the dirt. [Cue Audience to "Awww"]

We began thinking and praying about post-seminary plans, and Daniel buckled down on his last few weeks of classes.

By May, he officially had his masters, and we celebrated with his mom and sister, and my sister.

My sister also spent a week with us in May, and we had a ball just being sisters again. (Well we're always sisters, but we don't live together anymore - that's what I mean) :)

And for better or worse this feisty mutt joined our family. We think we'll keep her. She was pretty darn cute, huh?

June 5 we celebrated our 1st anniversary. I was sick so it was rather low-key, but we were both thankful to have made it through a year together.

A friend and I threw a baby shower in Ohio for my sister, then 20+ weeks pregnant with twins

I spent several days in Michigan with my family the second week of June.

I nannied these crazy kiddos 9 1/2 hours Monday -  Friday and had a blast of a summer!

July 3rd, 2011  we found out Baby was on the way!

And we celebrated the 4th of July with my family in Michigan

Towards the end of July we took a road trip down to Tampa to spend some time with Daniel's family.

We also used some vacation time to visit the beach and soak up some rays.

In August Daniel celebrated his golden birthday. :)

September and October we dipped into some different cultures and visited the Greek Festival...

... and the Renaissance Festival (which were not on the same day, even though Daniel is wearing the same outfit... whoa!)

September 28th, we became Aunt Ashlee and Uncle Daniel for the second and third time as our first nephew and second niece made their entrance into the world! (We can't wait to meet them face-to-face this summer!)

and in mid October we got to see this sweet lil face for the first time.

 Thanksgiving we spent here in Charlotte with friends, and traveled the following weekend to visit Daniel's mom for her birthday.

Then Christmas season hit!

... and here we are in 2012.

God Bless!