winter wonderland

this weekend we had our first real snowstorm since we moved to japan!
we went for a walk, threw snowballs, built a tiny snowman... and this is what it looks like outside our apartment.




it's been fun to enjoy it together.

also, we went for a walk the other day when it wasn't quite so cold... and both wore red hoodies. (aren't we cute) :P


we are trying to enjoy these last moments together before ben leaves again for a while. hope you're having a fun weekend too!

the trip home: part two

after spending time in kansas, we went down to georgia for some time w my family!

we were able to see our friends brook kent, gwen joel, and their cute little babies...






we got to see my sweet yammie (my mom's mom)! (and ben got some new glasses)


and some sweet friends from church and the hallmark where i used to work (which i found out is closing next month! so sad!)




we went to the chick-fil-a bowl and saw ga tech lose :/ but still had fun watching...









and got some nice time in with my family






we were so thankful to get to go home and see people near and dear to our hearts. we can't wait to get to come home again! :)

christmas at home: part one

ohhh man. we finally were able to go home after almost 2 years of being here in japan, and what a wonderful time we had!!!!! we spent the first part of our time in the states in kansas with family and friends, and we had an awesome time! we were able to stay with jessie and joe and were able to see lots of people dear to our hearts. as always, here are some pictures...

here we are at the start of our journey, boarding the first flight...


and here we are over 24 hours later, still smiling...


our nephews have gotten so big!!




our sis and brother in law


mom-o and don-o


my handsome hubby!


we love the hawkinsons!





people came from miles away to visit us! we felt so loved.




we got to see ben's dad (who i hadn't met yet!)




and we toured the capital building which was super neat! this is us at the very very very top of the dome. SUPER cold but awesome!


also, my sweet amazing husband surprised me with THIS a few days before christmas. he and joe had been scheming, and when we dropped off our rings to get cleaned and re-dipped, this is what i got when we picked them up! he's so sweet, isn't he?!?! :)


all in all we had a wonderful time and are so thankful we were able to go!
there are WAYY too many good pictures to choose from, so go to our flickr to see them all :) and look for the trip home part two: georgia sometime this weekend, hopefully! we are still recovering from jet lag and i am running a little slow.. haha.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!