Houseful Of Rodgers: 2012 in Pictures

We started 2012 with a really cool wedding. No, not ours. :) Brian's cousin Josh married an amazing girl I've come to know and love named Kirsten. She blogs here. They had a beautifully simple wedding at a small country church with just a few wildflowers and heirloom quilts. The reception followed at Early Works museum, where the coolest folk/banjo/square dancing band played and BBQ and sweet tea were on the menu. The centerpieces were Mason jars. I knew I really needed to meet this girl. I didn't get to meet her that night, as she was obviously very busy :), but I saw her and her daughter Magnolia at Fresh Market about a month later and said, "Oh, Kirsten!" and hugged her like I had known her forever. HA! She just went with it as I explained that I was Josh's cousin's wife and had come to her wedding. We became fast friends. :) Here we are at that super-cool wedding in January:

In February I went from this hair

to this hair

and these two girls had birthdays. Penelope turned three on February 14 and Rosemary turned two on February 24:

With March came a new wave of love for all things green and growing. We grew lettuces on our kitchen table since we couldn't quite plant outdoors just yet:

and we grew caterpillars into butterflies indoors as well. Here we are the night the cocoons finally started shaking and opening:

. . . enjoying them as long as we could indoors:

. . . and then releasing them to their natural outdoor habitat.

We continued planting everything we could in April and May; sunflowers that grew taller than me!, dahlias, tomatoes, peppers, and several different kinds of herbs. I thought it made a nice display next to our For Sale sign that now went in front of our house, and it gave the kids something to do:

Maggie turned five on May 17 and Samuel turned one on June 18:

We spent lots and lots of time outside over the summer. We made lots of messes. In the yard. With very few clothes on.

I pressed on to know the Lord.

Had some mountaintop spiritual experiences while running in the mornings. He spoke to me through the sunrise. I became obsessed with seeing each and every sunrise over the summer, and capturing as many as I could through the camera.

Every day I went a little further, or took a more challenging route. It was the best summer spiritually and physically I think I'd ever had.

Allie was gone for the longest she had ever been gone- five whole weeks. I held my breath for a lot of it and prayed a whole lot. I learned to depend on God to care for her when I couldn't. Here she is the day she left:

and looking ten years older the day she came back home:

While she was gone we entertained ourselves by going to the Farmer's Market, eating in the front yard, picking blueberries, and spending countless hours at Hays Nature Preserve.

When she got home we took a family canoe trip and let her experience Hays Nature Preserve herself. Then it was time to start the school year. . .

August, September and October were pretty school-focused. Then the first week of November we left the friendly, close-knit neighborhood in the heart of southeast Huntsville to go live in a house on a 30 acre farm near Valhermoso Springs, AL. A long-time dream of ours was finally being realized.