No really, this is the LAST one for 2012

So it appears I forgot one more little blog post...our family pictures!! I left you with a teaser months ago. And it was only when I got ready to print the ol' blog for our second blog book that I realized my error.

Once again Chris from Christopher Roe Photography captured our family perfectly. Like the blog, its great to have a snapshot of our family at this very moment in time =)

Ella- 6 years old   Aubrey- 3 1/2 years old   Ainsley- 5 months old

With all this cuteness, we really can close out this year!

big Big BIG milestone from the archives

My last (I think) post from the trying to play catchup archives is our last camping trip we did last summer. It was a big trip. And by big, I mean 8 adults, 7 kids, 2 infants and a dog!! There were plenty of looks and wonderment from the other campers who walked by and saw our massive set-up. Kerner's go big or go home when it comes it camping ;-) We had 2 side-by-side campsites; one for eating/hanging out, one for sleeping. In the sleeping site, we had 3-8+ man tents that each played their own white noise at night to drown out the sound of all the other kiddos...we had a rainy heartbeat white noise trio! A few steps away, we had our campfire pit with 15+ camp chairs surrounding it, 2 state park sized tables set together, a 2-burner campstove next to our fullsized home BBQ, dishwashing table, numerous coolers and even more bikes and toys. But the weather was nice, the company was refreshing and we left with the same number of children we came with ;-)

Ainsley and Caleb hanging out while the big kids play in the water

Our 1st day of hiking the falls

Very beautiful falls

big Big BIG accomplishment.... Ella learned to ride on 2 wheels! It helped that the 3 kids older than her also could do this task, provide a little motivation ;-)

She picked it up with surprising ease. No major wrecks or wobbles, just a riding machine created!! As she began mastering this skill, I was struck by how proud Neal and I were of her. Not that this isn't a huge accomplishment, IT IS, but more by how it is a natural milestone just like walking or talking and yet as with each milestone we as parents celebrate it with pure joy...almost as if no one has ever done it before! And yet, as each child reaches these milestones, the celebration never ceases and the joy never decreases. Just another marvel, if you will, of the unending love of parenthood.

More hikes to more falls, this time with a little picnic at the end!

Breakfast by the campfire

Ainsley was still in the middle of the worst of the tummy troubles during this trip =( Looking back, I'm sure the steady diet of biscuits and gravy, cheesy everything and lots of iced coffee with milk may have contributed slightly... Grandma Marian persevered! Ainsley would fuss, so Grandma would walk. They did many laps around the campground so that I could do basic things like shower or pack up camp. Thanks Grandma!!

 And so it ends! This post officially wraps up everything I think I was supposed to blog about in 2012. It was a bit scattered, a little sporadic and sometimes short on words but in the end our year has been put into words and pictures. Given the nature of our year, it only seems fitting to end in January with a post from August published after the Christmas blogs

Onto 2013.........

We miss you Uncle Jason, Auntie Sarah, Jude and Jenna

And Selah, we are so excited to meet you!! It's hard to believe that it was 6 months ago that you came to spend a few special days with us. How about a little trip down memory lane??

This is a pretty clever cover for my post that I never got around to doing in July ;-) Thanks for humoring me!

We crammed as much fun as possible into 3 days and 2 nights with 5 kids and 4 adults! We went to Build-a-bear, Red Robin, the zoo, shaving cream fun, and the 1st ever Kerner family baseball game. Sit back and enjoy our little stroll...

Large bathtubs are a great place for fun! Jude cried when he couldn't take a bath at our house the next time they came over.

Auntie loves you!!

Uncle Jason is so much fun when he is reading a bedtime story!

The trampoline was a great source of fun too!

Aubrey and Jude making "funny faces"! I think there may be a little family resemblance here...

Ainsley was too little to partake in all the fun, but she was here for snuggling time!

Jude and Jenna got to experience some shaving cream fun with us too.

Another parenting oops... leaving the bottles of food coloring outside with the children! I went upstairs to run the bath water, dads left in charge of supervising. Somehow how the children turned colors in those few minutes!! At first we laughed, then we realized we had family pictures the next day...oops!! Thank heavens for Google and the multiple recommendations for how to return your children to their natural color =)

Jude is ready for the big league! He was a natural as soon as he picked up the bat.

Jenna is also a natural....camera ham!!! But she does it so well =)

Then Uncle Jason decided to step it up a notch.... we were ready for our 1st game. To simplify things, we had one base (notice the helmet in the middle of the yard). Aubrey is closed to the camera with her glove on ready for the ball (nevermind that she is a lefty so wearing a glove on your left hand creates immediate challenges). Ella is standing in the middle waiting, Uncle Jason is directing traffic and Jenna has left the game already for a ride in the car since Jude is not currently playing with it! Jude is up to bat. Once he hits the ball, he immediately joins Ella and Aubrey in the hunt to grab the ball! He has no desire to run to the helmet base. Once Uncle Jason coaches him back to the helmet base, the girls also ditch the idea of getting the ball and they too run to the helmet base! Oh the laughter and chaos that we had =) We will be practicing until next time Jude!

Our idea behind the build-a-bear trip was two-fold. One, its fun to make your own stuffed animal! Easy enough. But second, I thought it would be a tangible thing for the kids to all have to remember our time together. Its hard to go TWO WHOLE YEARS without seeing family, especially after having such a fun-filled month with cousins. So we filled our animals with extra love and kisses to stretch across the ocean.

Ainsley with Lovey bear. (We made one for Selah too!)

Ella with Ollie

Aubrey with Mickey the Octopus. Jenna also made a pink Octopus appropriately named Bear! Jude opted for Sid from Madagascar and named him Siddie =)

Lots of love, hugs and kisses to you!!!

 

8 months have flown by!

Yay for Ainsley!! I love my new skill...clapping =)

Sweet sweet baby

Little peanut
finally wearing size 9 month clothes (but still fits in 6 month jammies)
still in size 2 diapers
has 2 bottom teeth- top teeth are trying hard to make an appearance
rolls all over the floor and spins in circles on her belly
sits up and can lay down without a big flop!
loves chicken and sweet potatoes, green beans
gags on peas, will tolerate carrots only if mixed with applesauce
on good days (not running errands) will take a 2 hour morning and afternoon nap then a 1 hour evening nap
sleeps from 5-10 hours in a stretch at night.....HALLELUIAH!!
loves giving kisses...but watch out because they turn into love bites ;-)
has an ear-piercing shrill/screech when she is happy or wants attention or is mad

.......is the perfect addition to our family! We all love her to pieces!! 

Christmas in Riddle

Our Christmas celebrations ended with our trip to Riddle. We love spending time with the family we don't see as often as we like.

Auntie P and Ainsley doing a little reading

Aubrey, Zoey and Ella in matching outfits from Kristy

Ella and Zoey have so much fun playing together =)

Great Grandma Bernice and Ainsley

Kristy and Ainsley

Christmas at our house

I felt like I struggled a bit this year with Christmas. I wanted to keep the joy/excitement/wonderment of the gifts alive while at the same time keeping the commercialism in check and remembering the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus. I have to say that the girls did seem to get it. We had grateful, not greedy hearts and were able to enjoy the true joy of the season =) And now, a photo recap of our holiday...

 

 

Opening jammies on Christmas Eve

Matching jammies and treats for Santa and the reindeer

Thank you Pinterest for the tips on getting that perfect shot of the Christmas tree!

A Kerner family tradition... picture on the stairs Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas!

Ella was so surprised Aubrey bought her the exact Barbie that she wanted!!

Yay for "I can be...A teacher" Barbie

Ella has a very practical side. She was super excited to see that Grandpa Rick had got her a desk. But then she noticed a missing piece...the chair. This was her saying "I guess I'll have to buy my own chair!"

A funny side story along the same lines. When we got to Amah and G-Daddy's, cousins Logan and Quin were surprised to find out that they were headed to the airport in an hour to go to Disneyland. Ella was helping Logan and Quin read the cards that had all the details for their trip. Once she read the ticket for Disneyland, she made everyone pause and said "But wait, there is an expiration date on these!!" She did not want such a good gift to go to waste because of an expiration date oversight ;-)

With Aubrey, expressions say it all! This girl is definitely an open book when it comes to her feelings.

Its "Princess and the Popstar" our most favorite Barbie movie that Ella and I love to sing and dance too!

Yay for toothpaste!

Its a princess couch!

Ainsley made sure to taste-test her new gifts. Piggy bank tasted cold!

Hmm.. what's in here?

 

 

Ainsley's 1st Christmas

Thanks for the hats and mitts G-G and John! They kept us really warm when we went to zoo lights.

Merry Merry Christmas! From our house to yours...