Last night we donned our blue and white (and pink), and headed into Tide Territory to watch the Penn State game with some of our dearest friends. And even though the game itself left much to be desired, we had a fabulous time showing our PA spirit and enjoying the fact that we are one in Christ, no matter what colors we wear. 
We couldn’t get a good photo of everyone in one picture, so here are two.
(that is, if you count Martha’s game face as a good photo)
Doesn’t Glo’s face in this one just make you smile?
WOW! I love the Thanksgiving Holiday! (And it was really fun to be in the States this year where it is actually a holiday and celebrated with cool things, like time off!) It’s such a good reminder for me to take time to be grateful, not just on that one day, but everyday. I am so blessed and I need to cultivate more and more a heart of thankfulness and an attitude that gives thanks to God often and shares with others the good things He’s done and given.
We spent the day in St. Augustine at Eric’s grandparents’ house. They just moved down from New England for the winter so it was the first time we’ve seen them since being back in America. We also had Aunt Suzanne, Uncle Greg, Uncle Steve, and lots of cousins to celebrate with. It was a very special day.
My girls so enjoy being with all the Mason girls. There was lots of sweet cousin love going all around.
Grandma held Gloria for the first time!
In light of giving thanks, I am committing to blogging A LOT this next week or two in order to catch up on sharing some wonderful gifts God has given us since last summer. I would like to say I’ll blog every day, but I don’t want to disappoint so I will stick to promising A LOT (which means more than usual). Some things that are waiting to be shared: a trip to Tokyo Disneyland, photos from our last several weeks in Japan, special time with family in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, photos of our new home, our sweet time with my mom while she was here, and some other random tidbits here and there. God has been so good to us and I don’t want to forget it or miss the chance to share what He has done. See you soon!
UPDATE: Danny posted this video that he took of the kids playing outside on Youtube:
Original Post:
Noa and Martha were super blessed to get to visit with many many cousins in our travels the first month we were back in the States. Twenty-five, in fact. Twenty-five first, second, and once-removed cousins. And that doesn’t even count all the aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents, and so-close-they’re-practically-family friends that we got to see in our many travels. What a treat!
Sadly, I don’t have photos of everyone but here are a few to start off, until I can collect pictures from other people of these special visits:
Seeing Liam and meeting Baby Hudson for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Virginia. Aunt Carly was so sweet to be the potty-book reader to these two two-year-olds.
Grandpa and Grandma were so sweet to invite us to join their already full house. They had 2 grandkids, 2 grandkids-in-law, and 4 great grandkids over-running their home for almost two weeks. They, as always, were super gracious and just loved on all of us so sweetly. We love that special time. Here is Grandma with 4 of her 12 greats.
There are a ton more of these munchkins together, but I am waiting for Carly to send them to me (hint hint!).
In our time in Pennsylvania, we got to see A TON of cousins. One special treat was that Danny and Kimberly drove down for a day with their kids and we got to meet Katy-Grace for the first time. What a precious girl, added to a precious family. We were so thankful for an afternoon/evening with them.
Noa and Daniel Josiah... picking up the fun right where they left off almost a year ago. These two oldest of the Iverson grandchildren are SO fun to watch together.
we spent a few hours out in the yard enjoying the hose and kiddie pool.
breaking for a little snack. Notice the ever cute/happy/content Miss Katy-Grace. This girl has learned early in life to roll with anything, and is thus super laid-back and sweet as can be.
Eating ice cream on Grammy's kitchen floor. Please note the secret giggle shared between Daniel Josiah and Noa. love it!
Saying goodbye until next time. I love being with my big brother and his family!
We stopped in Atlanta on our way down and got to visit with the Mason cousins on Eric’s side. This family is particularly fun for ours, as there are FOUR very girly girls who our girls REALLY enjoy playing with. (There is also a very cool Philip who we enjoy as well ).
It was a really fun day. Noa loved eating with the big girls Tiffany, Amanda, and Charlotte.
And finally, we arrived in Florida to be welcomed so sweetly by cousins Annie and Lily (our newest cousin, at only 5 weeks old!). We have loved these last few weeks of living close to Jonathan and Maggie. They have been such a blessing to us as we have settled and each member of our family has loved growing closer to their sweet family. We are looking forward to many many wonderful times together.
Beautiful Lillian
Annie-Pie
Sharing a boat ride in Annie's GiiGii's pool.
Annie taught our girls the importance of going shirtless at a meal. I love it because it saves me laundry
giggling girls. They LOVE being together.
That’s it for now. I am hoping to get caught up on back-blogging, but no promises.
Thanks for reading!
A big bonus on our trip over the States was having a long enough layover in Atlanta to go to Joel and Mary Stuart’s for lunch. It was a sweet time to introduce Martha to her Aunt and Uncle and get to see their new house!
Reuniting with Martha was such a treat and so special to get to be with her as she prepared for her wedding. While it was such a busy busy time, we did get to steal a few moments here and there. We enjoyed being with her and Ian so much!
Noa had been OBSESSED with her cousin Liam for months before we went and just about every day asked if we were going to Liam’s house. It was so special to finally get to be with him. They had a great time togther!
Technically they’re second cousins, but from they looks of them, they could be brother and sister, don’t you think?
cleaning grandma’s floors… endless fun!
getting ready for nap time
Martha loved her special time with Grandma Chase, and her bracelets 
This Martha also loves her time Grandma Chase
I got to watch Liam one morning for Carly. He and Martha enjoyed getting into my diaper bag… already partners in crime!
We also got to play with Jude Lookabill, and the 4 kiddies had a grand time together. Here are the three oldest jumping on the bed. Next time we see these families, we hope it will be in Japan, and there will be six kiddies, jumping on futon 
Carly, Martha, and I with our babies… well, mine and Carly’s babies… Martha still wasn’t married at this point 
We were SO THANKFUL to get a long weekend in PA with Eric’s family. The weekend was made of precious moments and was just what we needed amidst the business of life here and Iverson-wedding crazies. What a refreshing and special time. See for yourself. Here are the girls with Grammy, getting in some snuggle time
On a walk with Great Nana. We got to have dinner and Laura and Clayt’s new house… what a treat!
Noa with Aunt “Yawa”(Laura)
5 Noll ladies
Reading with Grammy and Grandpa
I love these of Martha with her Grandpa
I think you can definitely tell she is his.
With Aunt “Kayin” (Karyn)
On a side note, Noa now thinks every brunette is Karyn. She always like “Kayin” in a super excited voice…and then I tell her it’s not Aunt Karyn and it’s kinda sad…
Anyway, we had a little early birthday party for Noa while we were there. Here is the cake that sweet cousin Abby decorated for Noa:
Here she is enjoying some of her new gifts from Nana – Dr. Seuss boooks!
Giggling with Uncle Clayt and Aunt Laura
More of Martha and her grandpa
We had a fabulou lunch out on Nana’s patio overlooking her beautiful yard
Eric and his Nana
Then, it was back to VA for us. It was a whirlwind week leading up to the wedding, and so much fun! We were blessed to get time with some precious friends, the Weavers who let us stay with them. Noa, who proudly wears Waver-girl clothing 90% of the time, wants to be like them in more way than one. This evening, as soon as Sophie got onto the floor to color, Noa copied her. So fun to have thses “big sisters” to look up to.
In fact, having spent a year watching these precious girls and getting to hang out with them so much, I pray my girls will be very much like them, both in their sweet spirits, but also in their precious relationships as sisters. We loved our time with this sweet family!
Some other amazing friends who we were blessed to grab just an afternoon snack with: the Masts. It was so great to see them for a bit and get to visit. Reuben and Hannah are just the greatest caretakers to Noa and Martha and it so fun to watch them just love on them. It wasn’t long enough, but it was special nonetheless.
Aunt Maggie and Annie came up a few days before the wedding and we had some sweet times together. Noa is also obsessed with her cousin Annie and was thrilled to finally get to play with her (last time they hung out, Annie was only 8 weeks old, and couldn’t quite keep up with Noa). They had a blast playing in Grandma’s yard, learning to share, and listening to their Mamas gab away. Baths, course, are very much in order when cousins get together.
Maggie made all the girl cousins matching dresses. Aren’t they precious??? (LTR: Annie, Trinity, Noa, and Martha)
And of course Daniel Josiah, the only boy in the mix so far (that we know of), was just as sweet as could be with all his little girl cousins. He and Noa, like last time they were together, absolutely LOVED being together.
And I have many more photos still to post, especially of all these sweet kiddies, but I am way to tired of blogging at this point. This is hard work! It will have to wait til later…
Continue reading about a million photos of our trip to america
God blessed us with an amazing 4 days at Nana’s beach house with Dad and Mom Noll. It was a special time of refreshment and being together. The girls loved their time with Grammy (“Mimi”) and Grandpa (“Papa”). We just relaxed and enjoyed each other. We played on the beach, walked around town, ate great ice cream, had two intense games of Spades (girls vs. guys), and took some photos to capture the precious memories. Eric and I even got to sneak out for a date at the Lobster House. We spent part of our honeymoon at Stone Harbor so it was special to be back there with our growing family.
Thank you, Nana, for your generosity and hospitality in letting us use the house! And thank you Mom and Dad for such a wonderful time together. We treasured every moment with you two!
