a look back at 2012

The last day of 2012. My, what a year! I believe that I've traveled more in this year than I have in a long time. The last 6 months of 2012 have been quite a blur. I think my new phrase is, "Home is where I do my laundry." It really has been an incredible year, and when I take a look back at posts throughout the past 12 months, I can see that it's a year to remember.

January

I wrote about my one word for the year...risk. Wow, what a year of stepping out to risk and seeing God meet me. Incredible.

 

February

My little girl started playing soccer. She really loves it. It's too bad that it's not a girl's sport in S. Africa. She's asked if she could play but there are literally NO girl's soccer teams.

 

March

I started making angry birds for my boy's epic 10 year old birthday party. Wow, they were such a hit!

April

We celebrated that 10 year old boy and found out that those angry birds (along with some piggies) were, indeed, a hit.

 

May

Joshua traveled with his class to Austin. Little did we realize that was only the beginning of his 2012 adventures.

June

Before we left for our road trip to Connecticut, Jeremy played his original music at the local coffee shop. It set the stage for playing lots in Europe!

 

July

We flew to S. Africa and two weeks I left for Uganda. I fell in love with E. Africa but was also overwhelmed with the beautiful faces I saw among the mud huts and thatched roofs.

August

August, the month where everything changed and we felt led to stay in S. Africa and step back into the local leadership. It was also the month I celebrated my 35th birthday!

September

I started homeschooling my two little sweeties. It's been quite the ride the past couple of months, but I think we're all surviving. We also celebrated our father/daughter birthdays!

October

We started our European adventure. The British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Arundel Castle, the Birmingham canals, Dublin, those were a few of our stops along the way.

 

November

After Hurricane Sandy grounded us in London, we finally made it out just in time to see New England's first snow of the season! We also enjoyed the beautiful Fall Kentucky weather.

December

We continued our travels in Texas from the beautiful East Texas woods to Christmas with family. I think we might have breathed a little here and there, too.

Here's to 2013 and all it has to hold! Happy New Year!

christmas this and that

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I thought I would pop in before the weekend and say hi. I must admit that traveling away from home for so long during the holidays has been hard for me. I love this time of year. The decorating, the baking, the crafting, the lit up tree at night. I love the celebrating in my home, and it's been hard for me to not have it this year. BUT, this week has been full of crafting and family fun so it's been a little sweet spot in the midst of my depressed self. :)

There's been salt dough ornaments, Christmas tree sugar cones, nativity activities. And of course, our annual gingerbread house. The gingerbread house has become a tradition that my kids look forward to every year, and I love it. As you might have noticed, that is the only craft Joshua participated in!

How was Christmas week at your house?

Linking up with Jennifer @ Studio JRU for Sneak Peek Friday.

merry christmas from our family to yours

We've had a full weekend of merry making, Christmas fun. I love this time of year! My posting will be sporadic the next week as I soak in all the family goodness and the reason we celebrate.

Have a great Christmas, friends!

at the perot museum

We had a new museum open up in the DFW area on December 1st. That definitely meant we had to go check it out. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is amazing. It was so interactive and fun for the kids.

Musical stairs,

 

biology lab experiments,

cheetah racing,

reporting the weather,

and perhaps, taking over the world?

Serious fun. Read my full review over at Today's Mama and then go check it out for yourself!

a little getaway

Sometimes getaways, even if only for 24 hours, are very much needed. When I received a voucher for a free night's stay at the Westin Galleria for a blogger event I attended in June, I never knew just how much time away, just me and my man, would be needed after 2 1/2 months of traveling. I hinted at my fatigue about a month ago. It's still there, but a getaway to a nice hotel surely helped a bit.

On the 19th floor, you definitely get a great view of the city. Here's hoping your holidays have been full of joy, laughter, and peace!

down in the arts district again

When it's Fall in Dallas, the Arts District is my new favorite place to photograph family photos. I love the colors! A few weeks ago, we all (all being our family and Jeremy's brother's family) loaded up and went down there for some photo shooting fun.

Do you think I captured the fun, spunkiness of this fam??

fire prophet {giveaway}

I was SO EXCITED when I heard book two, Fire Prophet, from the Son of Angels series was coming out. My ten year old boy swears that he is not a reader. However, he devoured Spirit Fighter, book one in the Son of Angels series. This is how I knew he loved it. When myself or someone else would ask what he was reading, he would go INTO DETAIL, with a hint of excitement, on the plot, characters, and references to Bible Scripture. You don't do that on books you don't like.

Fire Prophet continues to follow the adventures of Jonah Stone and his sister, Eliza. With Jonah and Eliza being quarterlings, or one quarter angel, they often enter the "hidden realm" to engage in battles with the enemy. The nuggets of knowledge they learn along the way are truths that will challenge kids in their walk with God.

Not only is this book a great read that engages the young reader but it also teaches about spiritual warfare from a Biblical perspective. From this mama, this book comes highly recommended!

Giveaway

I have one copy of Fire Prophet geared toward ages 9-12 up for giveaway courtesy of Tommy Nelson! Giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only and ends this Friday, December 21st at 9 pm CST when random number generator will choose one winner.

Entries

1st Entry Answer this question, "What Bible story would you like to see turned into a fiction adventure tale for your children to read?"

2nd Entry Tweet and/or share on Facebook the following...

Enter to #win #FireProphet by @JerelLaw from @TommyNelson via @jenprice77! http://bit.ly/T4LIu1

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. Also, be sure I have a way to contact you should you win.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of Fire Prophet from Booksneeze in exchange for my honest review. The giveaway is facilitated by Tommy Nelson. All opinions are my own.

Comments are now closed. The winner is Thaleia!

dandelion in the sun

so delicate.
so fragile.
so transparent.

this dandelion in the sun.

flowing to and fro in the wind,
sometimes strength keeps it firmly planted
and sometimes the wind carries it,
scattering its seed in a new destination.

so yielding.
yet so free.

this dandelion in the sun.

 

Linking up with Jennifer @ StudioJRU for Sneak Peek Friday.

senior photos {dallas photographer}

A couple of weeks ago, I shot some Senior photos at the local park. This young man was a blast. I loved his enthusiasm. It makes photo shoots that much more fun. I loved this spot with the branches creating almost a canopy and the sun shining through. I've been to this park many, many times and had never noticed this until I went scouting for this shoot.

 

Being a drummer in the local band, we had some fun with the drumsticks. See that movement on the stick in the air??

 

One thing I've learned with doing photo shoots is to put on a different set of lenses to notice the colors, textures, and fun objects that might make for an interesting point in a photo. It's so fun to notice those things in a place that I've been to many times. It's like it makes it new again.

To book a Senior or family portrait session, email me at jeremynjenprice@gmail.com. I still have a couple of openings before Christmas!