2012 Year in Pictures

Christmas 2012

(Mason really likes to 'decorate' the tree, which is why all the ornaments are on the top half of the tree)

There must have been some sort of mix up at the North Pole, because for Christmas Mason got an ear infection and two bottles of antibiotics, we think he also were teething, so needless to say he wasn't exactly spreading Christmas cheer.  

After a trip to the doctor, we headed to Joplin to celebrate Christmas Eve with Nanny and Poppy Snyder, along with Brad, Gala, Noah, Addi, Lincoln and Hendrix Moss.  Even though Mason didn't feel great, he enjoyed opening presents and really enjoyed the steak filets that Poppy grilled for dinner.  

Christmas morning, Mason was up very early (like around 3:30 am).  Richard woke up with him and said he kept asking to open presents.  After an hour, Mason went back to sleep and slept in until 9:00 am (Merry Christmas to Mom!).  When Mason woke up, he still didn't feel very well, but was very interested in the loot Santa left under the tree.  Some of his favorites were a kid friendly laptop computer and a remote control Jeep.  

After celebrating Christmas at our house we headed down to Grandma and Grandpa Gillispie's house.  Even though Mase still didn't feel good, he was very excited to play with Jackson and see Uncle Josh and Aunt Paula.  GG and G'pa gave you a Furby and Mason loved shaking it to wake him up and feeding it from the iPad app.  

Mason loves going to Bass Pro to ride the Christmas carousel and seeing the fish, turtles and the alligator.  As you can see, someone couldn't put their candy cane down long enough to take a picture.   

Well, Mason hasn't exactly made friends with Santa yet.  

Pretty sure Santa would have rather have Mason or Mom sitting on his lap, instead of Dad.   

 Christmas at Silver Dollar City!  Mason loved the lights and riding on the train.  He also really liked seeing Uncle Josh blow glass in the glass shop.  

Merry Christmas from the Moss family!

Thanksgiving 2012

*This blog post copied from The Life and Times of Mason Moss

"Mama, I jump in the leafies (leaf-ees)!"

Mase and mama on Thanksgiving at Nannie and Poppy Snyder's.  You and dad played catch in the backyard.  You also had  fun playing with your cousins Noah and Addy, and Nannie and Poppy's dog, Emma.  

Halloween 2012

*This blog post was copied from The Life and Times of Mason Moss

Halloween 2012 was a great one!  For a week leading up to Halloween, Mason was practicing saying "Trick or Treat, please."  While typically shy, we were really proud how Mase put on his brave face and went trick or treating.  His favorite was anything chocolate.  He also really liked suckers.  One house had a bowl of mixed candy and Mase pointed to a box of Milk Duds and shouted "Rectangle!"  

 Even Superman cries for his Daddy.  

 Ready to save the world... Or at least go collect lots of candy.  

 Mason was so proud of his Superman cape.

Definitely my favorite little super hero!

Say CHEESE!

Well, I recently bought a new to me camera.  I obviously have no formal training.  Mason and Richard have learned to run away when they see me getting it out, but before they learned that, here are a few shots they let me take.  Pictures were taken during the Fall 2012.

Midlife Crisis?

Well, I have wanted to do something for years... And after months of research and some careful consideration fighting the stay at home mom stereotype of wearing mom jeans and driving a mini van, I decided to finally do it ~ I got my nose pierced.  What do you think?

Disclaimer: Mason, someday when you want to get something pierced or tattooed, you cannot use this photo against me.  

Summer 2012

Just a few of my favorite pictures from the summer 2012.  

We spent a lot of time at the pool and on family Jeep rides.  Some of my favorite memories I have from when I was a kid was piling in the brown Jeep Wrangler and going off roading as a family.  I can still remember being ever so excited, anticipating my head bumping up against the roll bar and making a 'ping' sound as it hit the bar crawling over the rocks.  Lucky for you Mason, those roll bars are padded now and you ride in a nice, comfy car seat.  

Richard and I have looked forward to Moss family Jeep rides since before Mason was born.  It was a surreal feeling to be in the Jeep, top down, and look back to see our sweet Mason smiling with the wind blowing his hair.  Bliss!

 Mason enjoying his first popsicle of the summer

 On one of many family Jeep rides

 We spent lots of time at the park; Mason loves to swing

 Richard and Mason preparing for a Jeep ride

 Chilling out at the Halsey's 

 Mason enjoyed several cousin sleep overs at Aunt Jill and Uncle Jack's (Halsey) house

 Looking all patriotic on the 4th of July

 Hanging with mom on a trip to the fish hatchery

 More time spent at the park

Mason and Richard at the zoo.  Pretty sure Mason was going to give the giraffe a cracker, then decided he would eat it himself

And I was RUNNING! (Forest Gump)

It's funny how God presents opportunities in our lives exactly when we need them.  My New Year's resolutions for 2012 were to get in shape: both spiritually and physically.  In January 2012, a friend of mine mentioned she was going to be teaching a Bible study at her church called Run for God.  I had no excuse not to join, this was the PERFECT opportunity.

I was scared to death... you see, I'm a cake school drop out.  Several years ago, I signed up for a cake decorating class a different friend of mine was teaching.  I lasted 2 for two weeks out of the 8 week course.  If I couldn't stick with cake (who doesn't love cake?), how was I going to stick with reading my Bible and running ~ two things that I have failed miserably at before.  

What a wonderful experience this 12 week class was!  It was amazing to feel my body getting stronger, and even more powerful to feel my soul getting more faithful.  The time I spent running, I would spend talking to God and counting my blessings (okay, and admittedly counting down the miles and minutes until my workout was finished).  

My secret bucket list had always included running in some sort of race, but I never told anyone about it because I didn't think I would ever actually do it!  Up through June, I ran in both 5k and 10k races, and even won first place in my 30-34 age group in one of them!  I usually had to run with Mason, who did a great job of cheering me on yelling "Go Mommy Go!" and "Go faster!"

My first 5k - Marshfield's Shamrock Shuffle

March 17, 2012

Time: 30 min 57 seconds

 Finishing my first 10k (6.2 miles)

One Sole Purpose in Springfield, MO

Extremely hilly course

May 4, 2012

Time: 1 hr, 7 min., 7 seconds
As you can see, the run wore Mason out!

Firecracker 10k in Branson, MO

Flat course on the Taneycomo lake front and The Landing

July 4th, 2012

1 hour, 2 minutes

July 14, 2012 my friend Alicia and I completed A Midsummer Night Run 10k in Joplin, MO.  The race started at 8:00pm and was ran mostly in the dark.  Lots of fun!

Time: 1 hr, 2 min. and 52 sec.