End of year update!

Soooooo we had a baby! Life has been a bit busy since adding a third little munchkin to the mix! And now, it's New Year's Eve. Ha! I thought I might update quickly and start fresh in the new year (I won't guarantee it, but I am hopeful)! Here are some pics that capture a few moments from the past few months. Enjoy and happy 2014!

My first trip to the grocery store with all 3 girls...haha! We'll just say there isn't much room in the cart now. 

On November 16th we celebrated Viktor's 34th birthday, along with our friend Benton whose birthday was on the 14th.

We took a quick trip to Bloomington so Grandma could meet little Lillian!

Emily all ready for her Thanksgiving party at school. 

  

First snow of the season! The big girls were ready to go play!

 

Gabriella didn't move once she got out there...she wasn't quite sure about the white fluffy stuff!

 

Thanksgiving 2013! We spent the long weekend with our dear friends in London, KY. There were about 30 of us in one house for Thanksgiving dinner and nearly 20 of us staying in one house for the entire time. It was a BLAST! 

 

 The day after Thanksgiving all of the dads and the big kiddos went hiking at Dog Slaughter Falls. Em loved it and did great on the hike. Here she is with just a few of the kids.

 

 My three girls getting ready for Christmas!

  

Mikulas visited our home on Dec. 6...

 

  

At the beginning of December we celebrated our church's one year anniversary! Such a special time and here are almost all of the kiddos from the group! We are so blessed to be apart of this family.

My three are all pictured...can you find them?! :)

 

Emily had a Christmas program at her school...here she is all dressed and ready. She was an angel, but the lighting was so bad I didn't get any good pictures of her during the program. 

 

Love these two girls...they keep us smiling!

 

Love this little peanut, too! 

Both Emily and Gabi came down with RSV and ear infections the week before Christmas. Lillian wasn't too far behind and we found ourselves at the doctor on Christmas Eve with her. All three were pretty miserable for over a week, but are finally on the mend. 

I was expecting a different "first" Christmas for Lillian and for the big girls, but despite the sickness and all that came with it we did have some very sweet moments together!

 -Reading together on Christmas Eve

-The girls snuggling together on Christmas morning

 

And, to end the year right, we are excited to have Natalie here from Texas to help us say goodbye to 2013 and bring in 2014! 

 

I know this is where I should say something well put together about this past year (sorry, don't have much on my fatigued mind). In short, 2013 was a year full of heartaches and happiness.  We started the year thinking we would be moving to Hungary, then found out we were pregnant just weeks into January. Then we were told our baby wouldn't survive (more on this in a later post), then to be told she would be ok. We celebrated Gabriella's 1st birthday and Emily's 4th birthday. We traveled A LOT and met a lot of amazing people. We've welcomed our third beautiful girl into our family, perfectly healthy. We've mourned the loss of Viktor's grandmother and celebrated the marriage of his brother. We encountered a lot of sickness and a lot of health. Through it all, the ups and downs, the mountains and valleys, we've praised God for His faithfulness and unending love for us! We are so grateful for our dear friends and family, both near and far, who have carried us, encouraged us and loved us through this year and beyond! So, I end 2013 with gratitude in my heart and look forward to what adventures might await us in 2014!

Introducing...

Lillian Hope...born September 22, 2013 at 10:24pm. She was my biggest girl, weighing in at 6#14oz and 20 inches long. We are completely in love with her...as are both of her big sisters! I can't wait to share more of her story, but I figured I should at least announce her birth first!

First day of school!

 Emily had a great first day of school today! She was super excited to go and when I picked her up she was just as happy! This year she is in the pre-k class so she goes from 9a-1:30pm. It seems like a long time for her to be gone, but thankful it is only 2 days a week. Gabriella and I had a good time together at home, too. I think it is going to be a great year. I loved hearing about all the friends that Emily made in one morning...not so sure what I think about her telling me about the one who threw up in class today. UGH! I hope that bug wasn't brought home today! :) I'm thankful for my little social butterfly who loves to learn! I'm also thankful for a wonderful school with great teachers to encourage her along the way!

Emily's 4th birthday

I am almost caught up with the blog! ha! Since Emily starts her Pre-K class tomorrow I figured I should finish up her birthday post.  :)

I love celebrating birthdays and especially love making the day extra special for the girls. Emily really wanted a Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony) birthday this year, so we had as much color and rainbow as we could fit into one day! I made her a rainbow layered cake with Rainbow Dash's sign/symbol (whatever you call it...) on top. The thing that is so funny about this cake is that she watched me bake all the separate colored layers, but didn't realize what I was doing until we cut the cake and she was surprised by the rainbow! You'll see a fun picture below. On the day of her actual birthday we enjoyed a quiet morning at home. Then, as our annual tradition, we went for mommy-daughter icecream in Lexington. This year we invited her little buddy, Nathan, and his mommy along. After icecream we stopped at a nearby park to play for a bit, then went to the mall to have her Rainbow Dash from build-a-bear stuffed. The rest of the day we celebrated together as a family. The following Saturday we had a party with our church family in London. She loved getting to share this day with some of her closest friends.

The set-up the night before her birthday...

Her Rainbow Dash cake.

After she went to bed the night before her birthday we filled her room with balloons to surprise her the next morning. The happy birthday girl!

So fun!

Earlier in the year our friends had sent a gift card for Build a bear. Emily wanted to do a Rainbow Dash, but at the time they didn't have one in stock. She ended up doing a Pinkie Pie (another My Little Pony). When we returned to the mall a month or so ago they had Rainbow Dash back in stock so I bought the shell and saved it for her birthday gift. Needless to say, she was so excited upon opening her Rainbow Dash!

Emily and Nathan ready for icecream. He even brought her some flowers and a balloon. They are the sweetest little friends...born just 4 days apart and have grown up together the last 4 years.

Ready for her cake!

Look at that excitement on her face! Priceless!!

Happy about her rainbow cake!

Getting ready for her birthday party in London. She and Syd hadn't seen each other for about 6 weeks and were so excited to be reunited!

We were supposed to play "Pin the tail on Rainbow Dash" but the kids were having too much fun playing outside that it was neglected. We'll have to pull it out on a rainy day and play!

Her rainbow cupcakes to share.

Viktor and Walt putting up the rainbow decorations. Walt was in from CA visiting our friends. We had just met him about 20 minutes before, but he put on his grandpa hat and was a huge help in getting everything ready!

Emily opening her presents. She has been asking for a Barbie phone since before last Christmas. I have no idea where the idea came from (we don't really do Barbie around here), but she has asked for one over and over. Well, her wish was fulfilled at her birthday thanks to our sweet friends, Johnie and Amy, who were able to find one on Amazon. She was thrilled!

Saturday was Amy's birthday, so it was actually a joint birthday party for the two of them. Em adores her aunt Amy and didn't mind sharing the day at all! (And thankfully Amy didn't mind having a rainbow themed birthday party!)

We are so blessed by our sweet 4 year old!! I'm so proud of the big girl that she is becoming!

Road trip...out east

I appreciate so much about my girls, but one thing that stands out during this season in our life is their ability to be at ease during travels and to make new friends wherever we go. We have been told so many times that our children will open even more doors for ministry and it is so true. Though it takes Gabi a little bit more time to warm up to others, Emily can instantly make a new friend and seem to never forget one. It is precious. In July we had the opportunity to take a road trip out east and visit with many people. Not only did our girls make great friends, we did, too!!

Our first stop was in Pennsylvania where we stayed for a night with Terri and her son, Josh. Viktor had known Terri back about 10 years ago when she went to Hungary on a mission trip. Though she and I had connected through Facebook, we had not had the opportunity to meet until now. It was great fun to listen to she and Viktor share stories and reminisce about the good ol' English camp days in Hungary. Gabi loved chasing her cats around the house and Emily loved doing crafts of all kinds with Ms. Terri. Such a sweet time of connecting.

From there we traveled on to New Jersey to spend a few days with several of our friends. Jim and Mandie opened their home to our crazy, growing family and we absolutely had a blast. They have 3 super great kiddos, so there was never a dull moment with the 5 of them running around. Viktor knew Jim and Mandie from his days at CBC and I worked with Jim at WGM...it was so fun to reconnect with them now that we are married and have kids.  We also reconnected with some friends that Viktor had met during a previous visit to NJ about 10 years ago. Our time together with them was precious. We enjoyed sharing with their church on Sunday and then Viktor cooked a large pot of Hungarian gulyas for about 30 people who came over for a little impromptu pool party that afternoon. It was a great way to connect with others and share about the ministry in Hungary. It was such a great visit and we miss our NJ friends dearly!

After a few days of visiting we packed up the van and made our way back to PA for camp meeting. Thursday was missionary day at camp and so we had the opportunity to share in two services that day. In between services we had a lot of opportunities to visit with and encourage the youth at camp. We love youth and loved those precious, casual times together with them! Emily made some great friends and followed an older "Emily" around most of the time...and it turns out that big Emily lives just down the road from us and will even come babysit for us this week!! God is so good to us!

From camp meeting we made our way to WV. Saturday was a family day for us...we toured a wild game park and enjoyed some quiet time at our hotel. We enjoyed some down time after a busy week. Sunday morning was another busy day for us and I was thankful to have a day to rest in between. We spoke in Stonewood on Sunday morning and met an amazing group of people who are excited about missions. After the service we realized we had several mutual friends through Seminary and WGM. Such a fun blessing to encounter on our way!! After church we shared a meal with the pastor and his family and spent well into the afternoon getting to know one another. We just reconnected with Pastor Sherman this week when he was down in Lexington for a training event.

That evening we spoke at another church in Fairmont and enjoyed a time of fellowship there as well. We not only got to share our story, but we enjoyed getting to hear many of their stories as well. We are thankful for the opportunity to pray with them and their needs as so many of them committed to pray for us. We wrapped up around 7pm and made our way to our friend's home in Point Pleasant, WV (about halfway to our home in KY). We met our friends, Chip and Karyn (and little Gabby), here at Asbury a couple years ago. Just 3 weeks prior to our trip they took an appointment with a church that moved them to Point Pleasant. It worked out perfect for a stopping point on our way home. As I look back on all the logistical details of this trip and the many amazing people we met along the way, I am in awe of God's ability to knit together such a wonderfully beautiful time of travel and connecting. And, for those of you who think of us, pray for us, encourage us, and help us as we travel..we cannot thank you enough!! We traveled 1700 miles on this trip and could not have done it without you. Our hearts are so thankful!

Here are a few photos along the way...

Our first night in NJ...enjoying some pool time!

Viktor and Bill prepping the gulyas!

Em at Brigantine Beach, NJ. (IT was HOT!)

Trying to keep cool...

Viktor and the Ashe boys having some fun in the sun!

Jim and Mandie blessed us with a date night during our stay (something we don't get to do very often!). We enjoyed an amazing *quiet* dinner at this restaurant!

We stopped to visit Bill at work (Chick Fil A!) and shared a box of brownies with him. Years ago Viktor babysat his oldest son and fed him a large amount of brownies...needless to say, Viktor had some parenting skills to acquire in the years to come.  :) And thankfully, Viktor has never done such a thing to our children...ha.

The girls enjoying the playground upon arriving at camp meeting.

Viktor dressed as Moses for his evening teaching at camp meeting! It was only 95 degrees and he had all this extra garb on...

Gabi found herself in the mirror at the hotel and would not stop giving kisses...haha.

Ready for our hike through the game park.

By the time the second Sunday morning came around the girls were TIRED! I'm not sure I can even recall the last time Gabi fell asleep on me...she couldn't handle it anymore and this is how we spent the morning service. I didn't mind the extra cuddles. :) 

Emily even got up in front of the church with the rest of the kiddos to do their morning hymns!