Last weekend we drove a ridiculous amount of mileage and spent an amazing 2.5 days in the mountains of North Carolina with my state-side siblings. We’ve been planning this get-together for a while and it was such a joy to be altogether once again (but still missing my parents and Hannah, Micah, and Seth who are all in Japan right now). For those of you who are interested, I will break down the Iverson family for so it will make a little sense as you look at these pictures. If you don’t care, just skip ahead to the photos 
Danny is “numero uno”. He is married to Kimberly (who was my roommate for two years in college!). They have Daniel Josiah, Trinity, and Katy-Grace. Jonathan is married to Maggie. They live here in Orlando with us and are our favorite part of this town. They have Annie and Lily. Joel is married to Mary Stuart (who is the strongest Iverson in Iverson superlatives… because she married Joel. j/k, Joel.). Joel has been busy trying to be everyone’s favorite uncle and to convince my kids that they want to change their last name to Iverson. I (Sara-Beth) am married to Eric Noll and we have Noa and Martha and Baby Bump#3. Martha married Ian almost exactly a year ago. Martha is the namesake of my own Martha, and we’re hoping that this baby will share a birthday with his/her newest uncle on October 15. Mark is a sophmore at UVA and is not married, though we all have plenty of opinions about who he should marry . Hannah, Micah, and Seth are all in Japan with mom and dad. And that’s the 9 of us!
If you were counting, that is 7, almost 8 grandkids for my parents, and they are all 3 and under (they are also all girls, except for Daniel Josiah. We’re all wondering if that y gene made it through for this, the 8th kiddo). That makes for a super fun party when we get them all together. With all of us all over the place, it doesn’t happen often, but the beauty of family is that we can just pick up again where we left off. I just LOVE spending time with my brothers and sisters, their amazing spouses (who have definitely made our family better!), their kids, and watching my husband and children enjoy them all as much as I do. God has been very good to me!
And now, A LOT of photos from the weekend. Enjoy!
Martha kissing Katy-Grace. Getting ready to have a baby around!
Martha with Trinity: busy little girls!
The Candy Barrel: is an amazingly cute, rustic candy store with millions of kinds of candy that (incidentally) both Maggie’s and Mary Stuart’s families traditionally went to when they were kids. It was so fun to bring all the little kids here. They were enthralled, to say the least!
Noa and Daniel Josiah each choosing their one candy, an impossible, exasperating choice!
Martha and Trinity didn’t really get the whole “just one candy” thing. They just filled their buckets with anything they could reach and I just went after them replacing it all.
I don’t know if Maggie or the kids were more excited.
All the girls (that don’t still nurse) got candy necklaces… endless hours of fun!
Those things last quite a while while the girls figured out the most efficient way of getting the candy off.
Of course, our token boy DID NOT get a necklace. But he was very willing to share his cool lollipop.
Ready for naps and on a bit of a sugar high.
Even though our Japan family wasn’t with us in person, we still got to have some special time with them over video chat. I love modern technology!
Annie getting some time with her “uncle eh-ic”)
Jonathan and Maggs
Ian and Martha, slaving away in the kitchen making a fabulous dinner!
Uncle Joel spent a ton of time with the kids out on the porch, bless his heart, rolling golf balls and keeping them entertained in the pre-dinner prep. Little Martha learned how to say “Joel” this weekend, which was special.
All the cousins: Daniel Josiah, Noa, Trinity, Annie, Martha, Katy-Grace, Lily
Noa and Aunt Martha both had birthday this last week so we celebrated together. I made Noa a pink castle cake, but I can’t seem to find a photo of it, though I thought I took one. The kids all lovingly decorated a carrot cake for their Aunt Martha. Didn’t they do a wonderful job?
Cake faces:
Noa
Trinity
Daniel Josiah
Martha
Annie
Birthday Girls
Martha making Martha laugh.
Mark and Martha comparing “ohesos” (belly buttons)
They both have really amazing tummies, don’t you think?
Annie certainly thinks so!
Sunday morning breakfast, before family worship. This was how it was all weekend: we would get the kids ready to eat with their food, and adults would just rotate in and out, entertaining and being entertained by these cuties.
I was especially enjoying this snuggle with my birthday girl.
That’s it! We have so many wonderful memories from the weekend and these photos don’t nearly do them justice. But still, they make us smile to look at them and remember our time in the mountains with our Iverson family. Thanks for making the effort to come, everyone, and thanks for such a special time!
