The Latest Camping Experience

Oh, this picture makes me laugh. But, in all reality...we had SO much fun. Bradley's parents have this pop up camper (which hasn't been used in YEARS). We decided to try it out on our latest camping trip. And it was really fun...especially when there was a 2 hour thunderstorm on the 2nd night that we were there. If we'd been in our tent, we would not have been nearly as comfortable!! This may be the future of camping for us...I'll bet in 50 years we'll have another picture that looks just like this...:)


Bradley was not very amused that I was taking pictures of him setting up the pop up camper at 9:30 at night. But I was just so excited to be there and wanted to capture the moment forever. Thanks for being a good sport Bradley! :)

Tomlinson Family Vacation

In April, Bradley and I went to the Caribbean for a vacation with my family. We all had a blast! This picture was taken at the pier in San Juan, Puerto Rico on our first night together.


Bradley and I in San Juan, Puerto Rico.



The next morning we had several hours to kill before we got on board the cruise ship. So we went to a really cool fort and on the way we passed by a park where people were flying kites. The weather was really windy, so we bought a couple of kites too and decided to sit back and have some fun. Here is Bradley helping Jake (and Charlie is looking on) fly a kite.



This is a picture of our cruise ship from a bridge in a city that we visited. It was enormous! It held almost 4000 passengers and another 1200 crew members. That's over twice the population of Coats!! :)


One of the cities that we visited was on the island of Curacao. Curacao is about 40 miles north of Venezuala. We decided to rent a dune buggy while on the island. We drove around for a few hours looking at some beautiful beaches and historical sites before going back on board the ship.


This is one of the forts that we visited on Curacao. It's so neat to be in a place with that kind of history.


The cruise ship had many kinds of activities that we could do. We were never bored!! There was a small ice skating rink on board ship and one day Bradley and Angy took Jake ice skating. They all had a blast!


One morning Angy and I were hanging out with Jake and Charlie while everyone else went to explore activities on the ship. As soon as we stepped foot in my stateroom, the boys wanted to play with our masks and snorkels. Before we knew it they had the masks on their faces and snorkels in their mouths. Oh well...what are you gonna do?


Charlie, of course, did everything that Jake did. It must be so fun having an older brother that can show you all kinds of trouble to get into. :)


I had to include the next few pictures...Bradley and I had a BLAST hanging out with Jake and Charlie. Every night we all dressed up for dinner in the dining room. We had amazing food and they'd really serve us anything that we wanted! Here is Charlie one night at dinner. He looked so precious in his little sweater vest.


And here is Jake that same night at dinner. Doesn't he look SO handsome in his shirt and tie??!!


Unfortunately, it took me about 10 minutes to get this picture. As soon as Angy raised the camera to take the photo, Bradley stuffed food in his mouth, hoping to avoid having his picture taken. Little did he know that Angy and I would wait until he was finished so that we could get this pic.


Several years ago, Bradley enrolled me in a SCUBA class to get certified. This, by far, was something that I never in a million years thought that I'd be doing in my life...breathing underwater where there are all kinds of crazy animal life swimming around you. Well, it's now something that I've come to LOVE. Bradley and I can never go to a tropical place, without diving at least once. This week of vacation, we were fortunate enough to be able to go twice. Once in Aruba and once in St. Maarten. It is such an amazing thing to do!! This is a picture of a barracuda that we saw.



In St. Maarten, one of the dive sites that we went to was a place called Shark Hotel. It is a place where some of the dive shops go to feed the sharks while doing a dive. Well, we certainly were not feeding the sharks (I doubt I'll ever be brave enough to do that) but we dove at this site and while we were there, we saw this amazing reef shark.


Bradley in all his SCUBA gear.


Well, this certainly is not one of my favorite pictures (my hair is caught in my mask and my mouth seems to be bigger than my head), but it's the only one that I have of us diving together.


When we were diving in Aruba, they took us to a place where there was a sunken airplane. A lot of times different groups will purposely sink an object so that underwater plantlife and animals will grow and live around it. It ends up being a really cool place to dive and look around too.


Bradley happened to capture this picture of me. I think he was probably about 10 feet above me at the time. The water clarity is so amazing in the Caribbean!!


This is the harbor in St. Thomas. This picture was taken from our balconey. Everyday I was more and more amazed at the beauty of the Caribbean.

When we were in St. Thomas, the entire fam went to Coral World and to the beach. Here, the boys are playing together at the beach.

Here's a picture that my sister captured of us at the beach.

Our New Home

In the beginning of February we closed on our house in Coats, NC. It's a beautiful home, complete with a fireplace, front and back porches, and an amazing wooded lot. We are so excited and have already made so many memories with friends and family.


Julia with the trusty Greased Lightening. Thanks for helping us get settled in!


The first weekend that we owned our new house we had 5 friends and family come to help us paint. On Saturday we painted almost every room in the house...thanks Bob, Keely, Ashley, Everett and Julia. On Sunday, Chad and Jamie helped us move all of our stuff. We couldn't have done it all without you guys!


Ashley chipped in to paint. He said that the color that we painted the living room was virtually the same that was already on the walls. Yes, it's still beige, but it's a darker beige Ashley!


Bradley bought me a new stove for a housewarming gift. And I LOVE it! Here, Bradley and Everett are inspecting their work. It looks wonderful and I love cooking on it.

Is that the washing machine in the living room?

The Pipes' Family Visits!

In January, Ember's sister, Angy, and her family came to North Carolina for a visit. For John and Charlie it was their first trip. We absolutely had a blast with them and were so sad to see them leave. We hung out at the house, we went for a walk through the woods, and spent a lot of time laughing and enjoying each other. We miss you guys! Come back soon!!


One afternoon we went on a "hike" through the woods. It was an adventure that we all enjoyed. It was cold at times, but we still had a blast.


Charlie loved putting on Bradley's motorcycle helmet. He'd go into the room, put it on, and walk around the house with it on. It was so precious.

Ember with Jake and Angy with Charlie.

Our Niece, Adaya, is Here!

Tuesday, November 27th was a glorious day for the Wilkie's. Steven and Tara welcomed their little girl, Adaya Rose Wilkie. She was 7 lbs 9 oz. We already love her to pieces. Adaya is Hebrew for "God's Precious Jewel" and she is just that!


Steven, Tara and Adaya in their first family photo.

Pretty in pink.

What a sweet moment captured. Steven and baby Adaya bonding together.

Jake's Birthday Party

While we were home for the Thanksgiving weekend, we celebrated Jake's 6th birthday at a jumping party. Kids big and small enjoyed jumping and sliding on all of the balloons.


John rolled down the big slide.



Jake and a schoolmate friend jumping in a bounce house.


Bradley sliding down the big slide.

Thanksgiving Weekend

On Thanksgiving Day Bradley and I, along with my parents, babysat Jake and Charlie. At one point Bradley walked down the hallway and heard the pitter pat of little feet behind him. When he came back into the living room he'd captured two little munchkins...and they all three loved every minute of the fun.


After getting ready for bed, Jake and Charlie spent a little bit of time watching The Incredibles with Nana.


Jake and Charlie saying, "Cheese" for the camera.

Farmer's Day

Soon after we arrived in Coats we went to the annual Farmer's Day celebration. The entire town gets together for a parade. All you have to do is take your lawn chairs down to main street and you'll have a front row seat for the parade.


There were tons and tons of tractors in the parade. It was the most I've ever seen in one place.

One last goodbye

The last few days that we were in Fort Worth were a whirlwind. But, we were thankful that we were able to spend some time with family and friends before we left. Here we're at a restaurant with Jake and Charlie, our nephews. They decided to ham it up for the camera.


Charlie loves his Uncle Bradley. Here he is smiling for Bradley with the camera.


Kevin & Laura, Andy & Lisa, and Tyler & Evie all came out to see us before we left. It was a wonderful afternoon with some of our most treasured friends.

We've Moved!

As many of you already know, Bradley and I moved to North Carolina in September. He was offered a job with the City of Fayetteville as an Assistant Supervisor for a Community Center. It was an agonizing decision whether or not to move, but ultimately, after praying and talking about it, we decided that this is where we were meant to be. We have truly been blessed since we've been here. We miss so much of our lives in Fort Worth, but know that the Lord has wonderful things in store for us here.