2014 Basketball- Go Ninjas!

All three of our boys played their first basketball game of 2014 today and they had a blast!  We skipped playing ball last year and we are happy to be playing again.  We have a team for our church Highland Park FBC of 5 excellent players.  Our boys make up over half the team, haha! They gave it a valiant effort and lost 22-24.  Our neighbor, Wyatt plays on the team and his parents organized our team.  Another player is a little guy named Andrew.  We happened to pick up another player who missed his game and we were happy to let him play on our team.  They named themselves "The Ninjas" and sported black shirts...like a ninja :)

I was proud of Josiah who made a ton of baskets, 12 points, high scorer of the game!  But when Kyle told him to pass it, he did a great job of sharing the ball with the team. 

Micah wore an excited smile the whole time and had so much fun playing and dribbling. He came so close to making many shots and I think next time he will!

Sammy did great as well, although he got a little tired and worn out.  He's the youngest on our team. He even made a slam dunk, see pictures below...

Allie walked the halls with me, ate 3 packs of gummy snacks, listened to Mandisa on my phone, and snuggled her blanket...oh, and watched a little ball :)

 Some "shots" from the game...

All three of our boys running.  Jo's about to get the ball taken away!

Jo looking and waiting to see if he made the shot.

Micah passing the ball to his big bro.

Micah sporting a huge smile :)

Sammy looking a little worn out.

Wyatt with the ball.  There's his Dad in the UK sweater.  We are so thankful for this family, they live just a few houses down from us and we are so glad to have friends just down the street!

Andrew dribbling.

The ref picked up Sammy to dunk the ball.  He kind of liked that. Sorry these are blurry, gotta work on my action photography!

Little baby girl listening to music on my phone and cuddling her blanket that she takes everywhere.

It was a fun game!

Wherever the Lord May Lead

Blogging is not something that comes easy for me.  I think of blog posts I'd love to share with family and friends and even mentally pick out pictures for them, then never get around to posting them.  Even on facebook, where I have invested more of my internet sharing with family and friends, I have resorted to uploading quick shots of the family that I've captured on my cell phone.  Part of the reason is the busy life with many little ones.  However, I have an increased desire to change that! 

As many know, we live about 12 hours away from both Kyle's and my parents.  I really delight to share our day-in, day-out adventures with them.  Lately, that has taken place in the form of text messages and emails, which will continue! They will be happy to know that! 

We also have the biggest change coming in our family since having all our children.  On August 15th we will be moving to Louisville KY.  Kyle has been called as senior pastor of Highland Park First Baptist Church in Louisville KY.  The Holy Spirit has made it clear to us and many at Highland Park that Kyle was God's choice as the next pastor.  We leave Springfield, KY with many mixed emotions.  We are excited about what is to come. We are also very sad to leave many very good friends and the church we have poured our hearts into for the past 7 years.  We pray for Bethlehem Baptist Church and for the man God will call there. 

Because of this huge change, I have an increased desire to blog more.  Hopefully I will do a better job of keeping more people updated with our life.  I have been encouraged by others and enjoyed "seeing" their life through the lens of their family blogs. It is good to keep up with family and friends wherever the Lord may lead.

Here are my current favorite pictures of the kids and one of the parents.



This one was taken in October of 2012.  They pretty much adore her.

 Easter 2013

Panama City Beach 2013 

 Kyle and Ashley 2013



Our little bundle of JOY!

 

The following post was copied from my photography blog, and wanted to share it here...

 

Well, the following images should give you a clue...

 

 

 

We've had the complete honor to become the parents of this beautiful baby girl.

We've already been blessed with 3 wonderful little fellas and having a girl, well, it just makes me smile everytime I think of her :)

 

Alexandria Joy

July 25th, 2012

 

Her grandparents adore her...

 

Her brothers adore her...

 

 

 

 

Her parents adore her...

 

 

 

While I have been otherwise occupied with four little people, and have had to cut back on some photography work, even cut it out completely for some seasons(maternity leave), I'm back!

 

I'm looking forward to what God has in store for Ashley Claunch Photography in  2013. 

So, if you are even thinking about booking a photo session, think no further, contact me today!

It would be a joy to serve you.

 

And, hopefully, I can share more than once every couple of months on this blog so you can see some the cutie pie faces that I have been entrusted to photograph.

 

PEACE, LOVE, AND JOY

Ashley

 

 

 



We're Having a Girl!!!!

We can't believe we are adding a little girl to our family!  I have not blogged since we found out! :)

It's been a little crazy! 

Alexandria Joy is due August 3rd, but I'm not sure if she'll wait until then.

We were planning on waiting until Kyle was finished with his PhD program at Southern Seminary before we added another blessing to our family, but God had other plans :)

...and we are thankful!

Here is a group of pictures from her 29.5 week ultrasound.

I absolutely LOVE the pouty face in the middle!

The picture on the left is her peaceful face, but her hand was in her face so the ultrasound tech used a vibrating buzzer on my tummy to get her to move.  The middle picture shows how she felt about that!  The last picture, on the right, is her mad face. 

I just love this little lady already!

The boys have been hugging, kissing, and talking to my belly non stop. 

They can't wait to meet their little sister.

Ashley and Alexandria before her baby shower at Bethlehem Baptist Church in April.

We sure were showerd with lots of love and PINK! :)

A few from the shower

Many thanks to Amanda Mattingly, Andrea Foster, and Shawna Gilbert

for hosting this wonderful shower!

Fellowship...

Food...

Presents...

Beautiful cake!

Our dear friend, Andrea.

Two wonderful diaper cakes.

Fun games!

Amanda helping me measuring my belly.

Everyone had to cut their own string to match my string to guess how big my belly was.

Ms. Brenda doing the babyfood sniff game.  She was such a sport about this picture!

Prizes

Great presents that are such a blessing!

All the gifts at home.

Mommy, Daddy, and Alexandria in May

Our family on Mother's Day 2012

Josiah and Victoria's Birthday Party - Swim!

Josiah had a joint birthday party with our good friends' little girl, Victoria.  They went swimming (which never gets old for kids) and had lunch and cake at our house.  I hope you enjoy the pictures!  

THE BIRTHDAY BOY AND BIRTHDAY GIRL

KYLE DID A LOT OF THIS WITH OUR BOYS...

THE RAMP AT THE POOL IS THE FAVORITE ATTRACTION FOR ALL THE KIDS, SO FUNNY!

SOME OF OUR FRIENDS...

WINNIE AND HER BOYS, HUDSON AND HENRY.  WE ALWAYS LAUGH WHEN WE GO SOMEWHERE TOGETHER.  IT'S 2 MOMMIES AND 5 VERY ENERGETIC BOYS!

VICTORIA - BIRTHDAY GIRL - 5 YEARS

JOSIAH - BIRTHDAY BOY - 6 YEARS

MICAH

SAMMY

MICAH BEING SWEET FOR MOMMY - HE ALWAYS IS

KYLE HAVING FUN WITH SAMMY...SAMMY DIDN'T WANT DADDY TO LEAVE HIS SIDE

YOU'RE NOT SEEING DOUBLE :)  VICTORIA LOOKS JUST LIKE HER MAMA

 VICTORIA'S STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CAKE

JO AND HIS NATIVE AMERICAN CAKE

LIGHTING THE FIRE, THERE'S ISAAC ON THE LEFT, THE FOSTER'S OLDEST BOY

I REALLY DON'T REMEMBER WHAT WAS SO AMUSING IN THIS PICTURE,

BUT I LOVE THE EXPRESSIONS