Lots of Nichols family pictures!

Suzanna, Reese, Aubrey, Olivia and Allison enjoying each others company!

Eric and Chris..they have lots of good memories together in Grandma's basement in IL.

Dad, Chris and Brayden

When I got home from my grandma's funeral, I grabbed a random magnet and put this picture of her on my refrigerator. After I did it I thought it was kinda ironic...Grandma was always so concerned about souls, especially those of her family and wanted to make sure that everyone she came into contact with knew at least a little bit about her God. She was faithful to share God's love with anyone and everyone. I could always count on my Grandma to pray for me. She was an amazing lady who loved life. I miss her so much and wish I could see her and have her kiss my forehead again. I miss her laugh. I miss her bringing me a comic to read and laugh about. I miss her Amish Friendship Bread. I miss that sparkle in her eye when she knows she's into something she shouldn't be. I miss hearing her holler "CHRISTOPHER" down her basement steps. I miss her warm hug. But, I know she is with her Father that she served so faithfully and wouldn't trade Heaven for another second on Earth. I love you, Grandma and look forward to seeing you again.

Kaitlynn and Emily (My cousin Melissa's daughter) love being together.

Dad and Mom with their flower girl from their wedding.

Allison and Reese (Chris's daughter) getting to know each other a little!

Aubrey getting some time outside at the funeral home in Greenup, IL.

Dad and my cousin, Chris.

Annie was happy to be out of the van and playing in the rocks!

Sleepy travelers on the way to IL for Grandma's funeral and burial.

Happy travelers

A girl after her Papaw's heart! :)

Aubrey and "Aunt Sherry" - one of my best friends - at the hotel in Greenup, IL.

Annie was enjoying Aunt Stephanie's ranch and veggies.

The Lima Pilgrim Holiness Church sure knows how to make a family feel loved and appreciated. They set up this big meal for us after the Sunday PM service after my Grandma passed away that morning.

My adorable nephew Will, me and Annie hangin out for a pic.

Something about this picture is extra special to me. Love how my mother is sitting and watching the grandkids play and Annie is so comfortable on her lap. :)

Annie Marie playing under the table at a dinner after service in Lima.

Suzanna Kate, one of my beautiful nieces!

Aubrey sporting her Easter glasses, thanks to our friend Jenny!

I love my silly girls! They are definitely their fathers daughters!

Annie and Aubrey hanging out on the kitchen floor.

Some of my nieces - Kaitlynn, Olivia and Allison playing at Mamaw and Papaw's house.

Happy Mother's Day!

I was so proud of my Aubrey this morning. She sang her first solo in church. She did an excellent job! If I can, I will post a clip of it on here at some point. (Judging from the look on her daddy's face, he was pretty proud, too!)

Love these two that call me "mommy."

We were privileged to have Adam's Uncle Rowen, Aunt Janet, and cousins, Jeffrey and Emily for lunch today. They are from Colorado and had never met our girls. So happy that they have been able to spend a few days in Cincinnati.

Opening Day Parade

Walking down to the parade.

Me and my love!

I'm so blessed!

Love this pic!

Findlay Market representative.

Photos taken and edited by Amit Dutta

Cincinnati Zoo Part 2

This is the girls favorite part of the zoo. Annie, especially, LOVES riding it. She always gets very excited when she sees the train!

Aubrey was having fun smelling the flowers.

God must like me an awful lot to give me these two! :)

This lion was awesome. The whole time we were there it kept pacing back and forth and growling and making other sounds. Aubrey kept trying to copy him, but she sounded more like baby Simba! ;)

Cincinnati Zoo

For some reason, I can't get my cursor at the top of the post. Anyway, peacocks just hang out all over the zoo, all the time. Very pretty! The other day when I was there (not the same day these were taken) a peacock flew right past my head and it scared me to death. I had my head down in the stroller and when I came up was the exact time it flew right over us. Never had that happen before, don't mind if it doesn't happen again! :)

My beautiful Aubrey and me.

There were so many beautiful spring flowers there.

I love how she is looking up at me in this picture. Almost like, "I wanna be just like her." Makes me want to be extra careful to follow closely to God, so she too, will follow.

They were doing face painting at the zoo and Aubrey really wanted to do it. We found out the charges and our friend (who also took and edited all these pictures) mentioned that he would be happy to do it when we got home. This is what he came up with. Aubrey was very pleased, and it was FREE! :)
(Sis. McCoy, Amit is the friend.)

Happy birthday to us!

In February, both Adam and I celebrated our birthday. Since mine happens to be on Valentine's Day, Adam took some time off in the morning and we decided to have a fun family day. We headed to the Cincinnati Museum Center (we have a pass and go often, but for Adam to be able to go along is a real treat!) for the morning and then went to Skyline - my birthday choice - for lunch. After an afternoon of napping for the girls, Adam said he wanted to take all of his valentines out for supper. We went to Smokey Bones and really enjoyed ourselves! I got a new and much needed camera for my birthday. I am very happy with my Nikon! Aubrey got me a pillow pet, then said, "I should have gotten one for me, too!" So, I told her we could share. :)

Adam's birthday is just 6 days after mine, so we took a date (just the two of us!) the Thursday between our special days. We enjoyed a nice and free dinner at bd's Mongolian grill. It was amazing! I (we...my mom and a friend) got Adam an acoustic guitar for his birthday.

For Adam's birthday, we met some friends at a Chinese buffet for lunch, then our friend Amit made Adam a wonderful stir-fry (Adam's request and birthday gift from him) supper.

Here are some random pictures..

Adam and Aubrey waiting for Smokey Bones dinner.

Me and my girls! :)

Aubrey and me at Skyline.

Amit and Aubrey

Our friends at lunch on Adam's birthday.

Adam's birthday supper. :)

Happy 13 months, Annie girl!

Happy Saturday, Everyone!

Our baby is 1!

On January 25, 2011, our lives were once again changed by the birth of our second daughter. Annie Marie has been such a joy to have around our house. She learns a lot from her big sister and they have so much fun playing together. She was sick with some sort of illness for most of the month of January and it is so good to have our "real" Annie back. You will be able to tell in some of the pictures below that she just wasn't feeling good.

On her birthday, we went to library time (every Wednesday!) and had a nice party here at home that evening. By the time our party was over, she was pretty much "done."

Checking to see who else is joining library time.

Enjoying her cupcake!

LOVE this picture of daddy and baby girl!

"BLOW!!"

Elliott enjoying his hot dogs and mac n cheese!

The best family pic we were able to get at that point...

Simon playing with the party favor. Thankfully, they didn't make any noise! :)

Birthday girl!

Big sis, Aubrey, enjoying her party favor!

The kiddos at the party!

Happy Birthday, Annie girl. We love you and thank God for you! :)