Sunday, November 29, 2009

Our Charlotte girl . . .

She entered the world at 6 lbs., 3 ozs, 18 inches long. It's been twelve months; she has gained twelve pounds and grown ten inches, but her weight in the world can't be measured in pounds and inches. She has brought countless smiles, laughs, and moments of joy since she entered our world. We couldn't be any more in love than we are with her (and her sister).

We love you Charlotte girl!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Nine years ago today



Nine years ago today we walked down an aisle and made some pretty incredible promises to one another and to God. We've moved away, learned to live together, traveled across the country, moved back, moved away again, moved, and moved again. We've been through difficult jobs and wonderful jobs; we've made life-long friends, grown in friendships, and said good-bye to friends. We've had two unbelievably wonderful children; we've lost a child and walked through the saddest time in our lives. We've laughed, smiled, cried, celebrated, and grieved together.

There aren't words to express how thankful I am that God led me to make those incredible, impossible even, promises as a 22 year old on November 25, 2000. I am unbelievably blessed that in all these things through the past nine years it's been "we" and not just "me".






"Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Ecclesiastes 4:12

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Oh my!

I've been awful, JUST AWFUL, about posting lately, so to all five of you reading this: I'm sorry!

Here's a little pictorial update of what we've been up to.



On Veterans Day, I had the day off of work, so we took the girls down to New Orleans for the day and went to the Audubon Zoo. It was Charlotte's first trip there, and she was an absolute angel. The weather was perfect, so she spent time soaking in the sun and breeze from the stroller.


It had been about a year since we last took Caroline there, so she was on a mission to find all of her favorite animals. And by "all of her favorite animals" I mean all the animals at the zoo. Except lizards, alligators, and bugs. Let me just say that as much as I like to see those animals from a distance, I had forgotten how up close and personal the white alligator is to you. There is only a piece of glass between you and this deadly creature! It freaked me out a little too, so Caroline and I rushed right on through that little exhibit.

Among other things, we saw Lions,



Tigers (A white one. Yes, he's napping),



And bears (but we have no pictures of bears, so here's Caroline with a turtle). Oh my!



And Charlotte was treated to her first ride on the carousel. It was hysterical. She loved it and Caroline loved having her sister right next to her on the ride.


Charlotte chose the panda. Mostly because of its proximity to the "white sparkly horse" that Caroline wanted to ride.











We had a great day with two great little girls. Two very tired on the way home in New Orleans afternoon traffic great little girls. Theses smiles make that whiny hour or so worth it. In retrospect :-).

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Pure Joy

I think this might be what joy looks like.











Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tuesday randomness

A few weeks back I had the privilege of meeting Anne Jackson and hearing her speak here in Baton Rouge. If you don't know who Anne is, take a few moments to get to know her on her blog. She is a really phenomenal thinker and writer, and after spending just a few minutes talking to her, I can say that she has a really incredible heart. Anne is the real deal.

She is working on a project right now called Permission to Speak Freely. It is a book that will include all of your, yes YOUR, confessions about things you feel you cannot say in church. Go on over to the book website and find out how you can send in your confession. I can't wait for the finished product. I truly believe that God is using Anne and this book; I saw the way her message is reaching people with my own eyes when she spoke.

In other news:
Compassion is sponsoring another Compassion Blogger trip. This time to El Salvador. Following the last blogger trip to India was huge for me. In fact, it led our family to sponsor a child through Compassion. Lizeth is our Compassion child and she lives in Ecuador, a little closer to El Salvador than India, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this trip goes. If you've never seen what Compassion does, follow some of the trip through the bloggers to get a peek into how your monthly gift of only about $30 per month can change the life of a child and his or her family.

And on a really important note:
Caroline does not like carbonated drinks. At all. So yesterday she came to the grocery store with me and I told her she could get a drink at the check out if she was good for the whole shopping trip. She picked out a red drink that said, "Fruit Punch", and it looked harmless enough. As I opened it and let her have a sip on the way out, however, her face looked as though I'd just given her a sip of vinegar. She said, "Oh, no Mama! That drink is not good! It's hot and spicy!"

And finally:
How cute is Asher? That smile kills me! He is precious; I'm not sure how Drew and Amelia are getting anything done with that sweet little boy around.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Tricks and treats

What? Halloween was more than a week ago? Seriously, I'm not sure what happens to the hours in our days lately. I'm finally getting a chance to share these pictures from our girls' night out trick or treating. We had a great night out in the neighborhood with friends. It was a perfect night and despite the LSU home game, there were lots of people giving out candy and plenty of kids out to get their share.

Caroline kept up her tradition of running like mad from house to house in complete awe that she can knock on strangers' doors to have them open it up and offer her candy. And we let her eat it! It is quite a phenomenon.

Charlotte loved every minute of it and discovered her love for the wagon. She could not have been more content riding along watching the big kids all around her.

Jeff joined in the fun and completed the girls' super hero theme by dressing up as Batman. Caroline was thrilled to have another person in our family with a cape!