The Shopping Cart

Bryn received this red shopping cart from her Grandpa and Grammy for her birthday and Carson and Bryn equally enjoy it! Bryn will occasionally go for a ride in the cart with Carson pushing her. It's quite a funny site. They both seem to love it. I bet Grandpa and Grammy never thought it would be used quite like this.

Visit with Angela, Bailey & Jackson

Today my friend, Angela Shepherd, came to visit with 2 of her 3 kids. Angela and her husband, Scott, were good friends of ours before any of us had kids when we were at Clemson on staff with Campus Crusade. Scott and Angela now live in Athens, GA and work with Athletes in Action at UGA. Angela and I haven't seen each other for 4 years so this was her first time meeting my kids and my first time meeting her third baby. We had a great time together catching up and reminiscing the good ol' days and our crazy stories. Here are the only pictures I took of our time together. Jackson and Bryn didn't make any pictures:(

Weekend in Myrtle Beach

This weekend we all went to Myrtle Beach for the Converge Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) conference to publicize Crosspoint Generation Link (summer and year-long internship opportunities) by setting up a booth with information. It was a good weekend to get away (especially after our week of being cooped up in the house with colds) and get some family time. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

At dinner our first night...we all got shrimp...yummy!

Saturday during "nap time" Darci (the Clemson BCM director's wife) and I went to the outlets for some shopping without kids (a rarity) and this is what I came back to. Glad to say that I didn't worry about their naps at all while I was shopping:)

sound asleep on her daddy, so sweet!

Saturday afternoon we went to Broadway at the Beach and saw a show at the IMAX 3D theatre called Deep Sea 3D. It was Carson and Bryn's first experience in a movie theatre. It was fun!

Don't we all look so cute in our 3D glasses!?

We finally made it down to the beach on Sunday morning. Bryn was taking a nap in the room.

Learning to walk

Bryn is taking more and more steps everyday! I finally got some on video. It won't be long and she'll be walking all over the place. Such a big girl!

More pics from our time with Andrea & Ethan

We had a fun day on Monday going to the mall play area, shopping, and eating lunch in the food court. We also had fun playing board games. This might have been the longest game of Sorry ever! Here are a few glimpses...

the best part about playing the game was watching Ethan play the game:)

My date with Ethan

Whenever I am around my sister's boys I like to take them on special dates. The great thing about them and this age is that it doesn't take much to make the date "special" so going to Walmart to buy a couple treats and be silly is a hit! We had a fun silly time as you can see in our "hat theme" pictures. I love this boy!

Andrea & Ethan are here!

My sister, Andrea, and nephew, Ethan, got here Saturday afternoon for a 3 night visit and we are so excited to have them at our house. They live in Richmond, VA so we don't get to see them as much as we'd like. We've already had a great time and we still have 2 more nights with them! Here are a few pictures from our time together so far.

Snow!

It started snowing last night and we woke up to this beautiful site! There is just something so peaceful and pure about the snow. We loved looking out our windows and seeing this beauty of the snow on the trees and covered on the ground. Carson was so excited to get out there and play. When we got outside we saw Matt Lewis (our neighbor and Pastor's son) and his dog (Abby) coming down the driveway so Jeremy and Carson played with them for awhile. Carson stayed out the longest until he couldn't stand the coldness. Here are a few pictures from this morning.

Carson playing with Abby and Matt is on the left

Funny things kids say...

So we were sitting down eating lunch today and all enjoying some cantelope which I had cut up. After Carson ate his first helping he asked for more and said, "But Mom, I don't want it cut up; I just want it like a moon." Too funny!

Our Connecting Point Group

Last night we had our first CP home group, which is specifically for juniors and seniors in college, after Christmas break. It was great to see everyone again after being away for over a month. Jeremy and I have really gotten attached to these students. This semester we will be reading the book "Stop Dating the Church" by Joshua Harris together. So you know more what the book is about I'll give you the write-up on the back of the book:

We are a generation of consumers, independent and critical. We attend church, but we don't want to settle down and truly invest ourselves. We're not into commitment - we only want to date the church. Is this what God wants for us? Stop Dating the Church reminds us that faith was never meant to be a solo pursuit. The church is the place God grows us, encourages us, and uses us best. Loving Jesus Christ involves a passionate commitment to His church - around the world and down the street. We can't be apathetic. It's time to fall in love with the family of God.

I'm excited about the things God will do in our lives as a result of this book and our times together every Monday night!

The Walker

Bryn is really getting the hang of her walker that she got for Christmas. She is even getting the "turning" concept down. She is so proud of herself. I don't think it will be long before she's walking!

Crosspoint College Social

College students are back! The little town of Clemson changes a lot when they come back. It was fun to see downtown bustling tonight. We had a social for the college students tonight. We all met at the church for pizza and then they got into groups and went out for a digital camera scavenger hunt. I had the kids with me so I had to leave after the pizza so I don't yet know the winning team. It was good to see our students after the Christmas break. It makes me excited about the semester with them and especially our Connecting Point home group. Here are a few pictures from tonight.

April giving direction for the scavenger hunt

Carson and Bryn had fun too:)

Not often enough...

So this picture was taken almost 2 years ago! This was April 2006 when the 4 of us went out to celebrate my birthday and that was our last double date until last night! Last night the 4 of us went out to celebrate Cayce's birthday and we had a great time. In this picture shown Cayce is pregnant with Stuart and Clark and I am pregnant (but didn't know it yet) with Bryn so it's been a big 2 years and there has been a lot of water under the bridge. Of course I couldn't find my camera last night as we were leaving for our double date so I don't have a picture from last night. We went to The Peddler and all of us thoroughly enjoyed our salad, steak, and potato! Happy Birthday Cayce! Let's not let it be 2 years before we double date again:)

Week of Doctors Appointments

This week we had doctors appointments on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning so needless to say I'm glad that they are all behind us. Here is a summary for ya. Monday was Bryn's 1 year well check and besides the 5 shots, flu shot, and finger prick for iron it went well. Tuesday morning was my appointment with the OB and the best part of that was hearing the heartbeat! It was great! I'm 11 weeks so it was questionable whether or not we would be able to hear the heartbeat on the doppler but we did! Right when she put the doppler on my stomach we could hear the heartbeat! Then on Wednesday morning the kids and I had to leave really early for Greenville to make it to Bryn's eye doctor appointment. We have been concerned from early on that she had a wondering eye and we took her to a pediatric eye doctor when she was 6 months and so this was the follow up appointment from that appointment. Good news is that he thought her eyes looked better but he wants me to bring her back in 6 months. So, we are thankful that it wasn't bad news. So there is the summary of our 3 doctors appointments this week. So glad that they are behind us and that we are all healthy for now.

my cup runneth over

I had some good snuggle partners tonight after dinner as you can see in the picture below. I love this kind of time with my kiddos; just laying together and giggling and talking. This is when I don't just "believe" but "feel" like I have the best job in the world! I would rather be nowhere else on earth!

Today I took Bryn to the doctor for her 1 year well check appointment and her throat looked all cleared up so we are thankful! She got 5 shots today for immunizations and the second round of the flu shot and they tested her for iron so that wasn't very fun but she got over it fast. She is still in the 95% for her weight, length, and head. I'm so thankful to have healthy children!

Bath Time

Our kids love bath time! I love this age where we can throw them both in the tub together and spray them down; they love it! They are also really enjoying the new bath toy that was given to Bryn for Christmas from her Uncle Jon & Aunt Leigh. They could probably play in there for hours....sometimes that's tempting;) As you can see from the pictures they have a good time getting clean. Will there be room for baby number 3 in there?

Longing for that day

The more I get to know Jesus and the longer I live in this world the more I long for that day when I will meet my Savior face to face. I read this morning from Beside Still Waters (a devotional book of the writings of Charles H. Spurgeon) and this so encouraged me that I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoy these portions from the devotional I read today.

"The sight of Jesus as He thrusts in the key and opens that gate of death will make you forget the supposed terrors of the grave. They are only suppositions; you will find it sweet to die. Since Jesus has the sepulcher's key, never fear it again, never again. Depend on it. Your dying hour will be the best hour you have ever known. Your last moment will be your richest. Better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death. It will be the beginning of heaven, the rising of a sun that will never go down forever. Let the fear of death be banished by faith in a living Savior. You do not pass from one province of your Lord's empire to another. In that spirit-land above, they speak the same language, the language of New Jerusalem, which you have already begun to speak. They acknowledge the King that you obey here. When you enter heaven, you will find them singing the praise of the same glorious One whom you adore. You will find them triumphing in the love of Him who was your Savior here below.



Reading this just makes me long that much more for the joy of being with the Lord. What a glorious day that will be. I hope this encourages you today as it has me.



Oh, and on a different note....Bryn is feeling much better now that she has some medicine. Thank you for praying!

Our sick baby girl

Starting Sunday afternoon we noticed that Bryn was not acting herself. She was fussy and clingy and really sleepy. Monday she ran a high fever most of the day and was not feeling well at all. So this morning I called the doctor right after I got her up and took her temperature (103.5!) and we went to see the doctor this morning. Turns out that she has strep throat and they put her on some antibiotics. It's amazing how when you have a sick child the whole world stops....it's very consuming. Everything in me screams "take care of that baby!" I have just hurt with her. I miss my playful and happy little girl. She is very clingy, not eating well, and just wants her mommy. She has slept well and we hope that tomorrow will be a better day now that she has some good medicine! Please pray for Bryn. Here is our picture from tonight. Although we both look sickly, it's Bryn that feels worse:( Poor baby!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! We have much to look forward to in the year 2008. We have several new family members that will be joining us this year! Jon (Jeremy's brother) and his wife Leigh will be having their second baby at the end of April. Andrea (my sister) and her husband Bryan will be going to get and adopt their daughter (Ainsley) from China hopefully in the Spring/Summer. She will make them a family of 5! And then we will be expecting our own bundle of joy at the end of July. What a year it will be! We are excited about a new year to trust God and walk with Him. The pictures below are from New Years Eve. We had our nephew Kolson for the night and Jeremy took the boys out to do some sparklers. They thought they were big stuff!

Jeremy getting the sparklers ready

Kolson with his sparkler

Carson and his sparkler