Good friends...good times

We were happy to have one of Kris' closest friends from high school perform our wedding! All those years ago, he and his wife, Shannon, were serving with a small church plant in Kentucky while raising their daughter. Chad flew in for the weekend but had to head right back home because Shannon was due with their second child soon.


Many years have passed and our lives have changed slightly. We have kept in touch mostly through Christmas cards and Facebook.

This summer there was an intensive Hebrew class being offered in San Francisco. Chad thought it was a great educational opportunity, so he and Shannon loaded up the family and made it into an adventure! They rented an apt. within biking distance of his class, packed things they could foresee needing, and started driving. We had the privilege of hosting their family for lunch on the first leg of the trip!

It was such a blessing to see Chad again, to meet Shannon, and to get to know their SIX children! We had a blast eating together and listening to the children play. Their girls (5!) and boy (1-the last) are the most polite and sweet children. It is an honor to be friends with such great people.

We took this picture as they were heading out of town - next stop, San Antonio and The Alamo.

What a treat to spend a few hours with friends. They are full of wisdom and so easy to talk to. Hopefully we can meet up again before another 12 years pass!

FLASHBACK: Ann Elise's Spring at Preschool

We were so pleased with Ann Elise's 4 year old Preschool experience! Mrs. Heather was just the right fit for our sweet doll. She really grew academically and learned so much! We knew she was ready for Kindergarten :)

Ann Elise loved having a special day to celebrate her grandparents! They performed a special program in the sanctuary and had a small reception afterward. She was excited to show Bobby and Nana her school work and give them a tour of her classroom. (Lala, my mom, was not able to attend because she is a school teacher in another town)

(Ann Elise with Bobby and Nana)

At her desk she had this special gift for each of her grandparents. Mrs. Heather took a picture of each of the children dressed up as a "grandparent"! Isn't that too cute?!

In May, I got to go to school with Ann Elise for Muffins With Mom. They sang a few songs and we enjoyed some muffins while visiting.

At her desk she had several gifts for me! This picture shows the corsage she made for me to wear (left) and her hand print flower (right).

This picture shows the card she made (left) and her hand print flower pot (right). The hand print flower pot contained a packet of seeds.

The inside of the card she made had many questions Mrs. Heather asked about me. Some of her answers made me laugh! The innocence of a child is precious :)

This is a picture of Ann Elise with several of her friends. She really had a fun class! Can't you tell from the picture?!?

(Michaela, Ann Elise, Gracie, and Anna Caroline)

Ann Elise waited patiently all year for her turn as Star Student. She watched week after week as her classmates told about their favorite things, brought their favorite snacks, brought family pets or family members, etc. Most weeks she would voice some idea that she would like to do when she was Star Student!

The ways we celebrated Ann Elise:

• We made a poster that included lots of pictures of family, things she loves, and showed her growing up.

• We gave her classmates a sample of her favorite snack, Fruity Pebble Treats, with the recipe.
• Our family friend, Lloyd, visited her class and taught them the alphabet and how to count in Chinese and gave them each a bookmark from China.
• Bobby and Nana visited her class. Bobby, a watercolor artist, taught her class how to draw and paint a zebra (Ann Elise's choice).
  
• I visited her class and read the funny book, Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch. I told her friends that Ann Elise has crazy socks that she likes to play in and took a few pairs with me that they could see. I told them about how I would rather her use them for "play socks" and so she always strips off her "mom-approved-school-socks" in the van on the way home from school and gets her feet ready for her "play socks". They thought that was really funny!

(image found using Google image search for Smelly Socks)

They celebrated the end of the year with a program in the sanctuary. They sang all kinds of great songs showing how much they had learned. Mrs. Heather's class did a rendition of "Who Let The Letters Out" to the tune of Who Let The Dogs Out (and when you would normally bark, they pronounced the letter's sound). At the end of the song, after having said "Z", they each pulled sunglasses out of their pockets, put them on, turned to the side and crossed their arms. Very fun! They had been practicing this "move" and Ann Elise had been super excited about it! They worked really hard to keep it a secret from us parents :)

(Ann Elise is third from the left, top row)

Such a super Spring!

FLASHBACK: Baby Birds

During the first few years of our marriage we lived on Melba, two doors down from some very dear friends. They had a little boy, Tatum, that we loved. He would occasionally strap on his backpack and walk across the yards to visit. We would have such fun "playing parents" and entertaining Tatum :)


During one Spring on Melba, a bird built her nest atop the wreath on our front porch. Tatum and his mom, Christi, would walk down every couple of days and we would check out the nest's progress. To our delight, one day the nest contained eggs! It was so much fun to watch the eggs hatch and the baby birds grow.

This past Spring we were able to share that same excitement...but with our own children! We had noticed a bird frequenting the light outside our french doors in the kitchen. And soon realized she was making her nest above the fixture. The location made it impossible to see inside the nest, but we worked around it by using a mirror! The kids were fascinated.

We have eggs!

They've hatched!

Look...they're hungry!

Getting bigger!

Ready to fly!

Throughout this whole adventure, we remembered to read one of my favorite little books, Bluebird's Nest.


This became a favorite read when Wes was younger. It shows the bluebird preparing his nest and with each turn of a page another piece of brown yarn appears. It is such a fun way to see the nest be built!

FLASHBACK: It's a Broadway Spring! (Volume 2)

Shortly after purchasing our tickets to see Jersey Boys at the Orpheum in Memphis, I discovered Wicked would be touring near us! It would be in New Orleans at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. We still had a few months before the tickets went on sale, so I noted the day and started talking it up with Kris. We decided it would be great fun and we'd make it a trip for my birthday/Valentine's Day (we'd be celebrating about 2 months late, but that was OK!).


When the day came to purchase tickets, I sat at the computer ready to go. It was so stressful! I kept trying to buy 4 tickets on days that we had talked about (and ones we knew we would have childcare) and they were all SOLD OUT! It was very frustrating. I kept trying and looking at my calendar and asking Kris and pulling. my. hair. out. Are you that way? Once you find something you want, figure out how you can get it done, wait and wait for it, only to be told NO? Do you then have a huge desire to make it work!?! That is where I was. It had to work out. It had to!

After a couple hours of going back and forth, four tickets finally became available. Kris and I hurriedly discussed the pros and cons and agreed to do it. I made it through the purchase before Ticketmaster could count down - whew. YAY! Success! We were going to see Wicked! Woohoo!

Only have to wait four months and we have ourselves a little getaway!

I was flying high on such a feeling of accomplishment. After all, I got what I wanted ;) I pulled out my calendar to write in the approaching FUN day only to find out...I had purchased tickets for Easter Sunday. DOH!

It was done now. We would be traveling to New Orleans on Easter Sunday to see Wicked. I felt so bad. How could I have made such a mistake!?! But, it all turned out good...Kris responded with, "Hey! Don't worry about it. Easter is every day for us!" (He is a good man, isn't he?) and, our friends were good with it.

Easter Sunday came and by mid-morning we were on our way. We stopped and ate at Copeland's in Slidell and then made our way across the bridge. We found the theater without too much of a hitch and were eager for the performance!

I was not very familiar with the story line of Wicked before buying the tickets. I just knew it was widely popular and a "must see" from everyone I knew who had seen it! Our friends, Jaimee and Michael (who were with us), had seen it in NYC and owned the soundtrack. They knew which scene was coming next and the words to every song. Between them cluing me in on the way down and from watching a few videos online, I knew to be EXCITED!


It was super! I am always taken by the theater. I am just in awe by these peoples' talents. This performance was no different. Top notch! I enjoyed the plot and even recognized a few songs ("Defying Gravity" I had heard on Glee!). Many songs captured me, but I remember "Popular" because it is so catchy and "One Short Day" because it is so fun.

Once again, we walked away saying "So, what are we gonna see next?"!

Will you vote?

Now that my story is over, I hope you may beinspired to vote. Please support this ministry and help other children in our area who need a home to be served. We can't all give lots of money or even lots of time, but every vote counts. Let's get a second cottage built soon!


You can click on the word "vote" above and go directly to Homes of Hope for Children's voting page. You may place one vote for this ministry per day, per e-mail address.

Thanks!

Ten years later

Fast forward about 10 years. Kris and I are at church dropping off our two kids (at the time) in the preschool area and I see my friend, Michael, in. the. hall. In a few minutes we were catching up during Sunday School and I was seeing first hand where his journey was landing. He had gone on to graduate from college, obtain his doctorate, marry a lovely gal, and have a lively son. Life was moving on and he was securing a position to return the love extended to him. The big news? They were moving to our town to begin a grass roots effort and develop a children's home in our community!


Since that initial run in at church - Michael, his family, and his supporters have worked tirelessly raising funds, locating and purchasing property, mobilizing volunteers, raising funds, hiring staff, accepting referrals, raising funds, educating our community, making presentations, and did I mention raising funds?!?



In March Homes of Hope for Children was accepted to participate in the Pepsi Refresh Project. They were in the running for $250,000. They solicited voters with e-mail addresses to go to the website every day and vote. They wanted/needed the money to finish building the first cottage in hopes of being ready to serve children during the summer. After 30 days of signing-in the tallies were totaled and Homes of Hope was notified they had won! What a day of rejoicing. The reality of a finished cottage was on the horizon and children in need were going to have their needs met!

This story will take several posts to tell...please stay tuned to see how it turns out!

**The details of this story are told from memory. I did my best to recount the way the story unfolded.**

Summer of 1997

Can you remember the summer of 1997?

It proved to be one of the most challenging, yet most rewarding summers of my life. (Funny how those two words: challenging/rewarding often go hand in hand!) I had just completed my senior year of college and had been selected to serve on Lifeway's Centrifuge camp staff at Union University in Jackson, TN.

I was pretty excited for a number of reasons. One reason being that it was a different experience. I had served as a lifeguard and swimming instructor in my hometown for five summers and as a lifeguard for Gulfshore Baptist Assembly (our state convention's resort center - later to be destroyed by Hurricane Katrina) for two summers. A second reason being that it was out of my comfort zone: different place, different people, different requirements, etc. And a third reason being that I was excited to share about the many ways God had proved himself to be true in my life in the last few years.


Upon arriving on campus and getting acquainted with roommates, Bible Study rooms, and Track Time expectations, we set aside time to share our testimonies with our "would be family". We spent a few days listening to the journeys each of our lives had taken to bring us to this summer. Every story was weaved with sadness and heartache, happiness and joy, and confusion and knowledge. It was clear that God had brought us together for the summer of 1997 for more than teaching and leading youth to know Him more. He had brought us together to teach and lead US to know Him more through seeing each other in a real live way!

*I am fourth from the left, standing, back row*

As one guy from my staff told his journey, I was overcome with how different our lives had been. I was overwhelmed with how small my heartaches were, my fortune in being provided for, my stability in my family...and the list goes on. For my fellow staffer was telling a different story. He and his siblings had a single mom who loved them, but just couldn't meet their needs. Thus began the saga of foster care. They were split and tossed from home to home. Foster homes that were kind, foster homes that were abusive. Foster homes that were caring, foster homes that were neglectful. His biological mom still wanted more, wanted better. After seeing the system fail over and over in caring for her children, she signed them over to the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home. And as a pre-teen my new friend, Michael, found love, provision, stability, protection, and oversight all while remaining close to his siblings and in contact with his biological mom. Years passed and his mom would not only see him graduate from high school but attend college.

This story will take several posts to tell...please stay tuned to see how it turns out!

**The details of this story are told from memory. I did my best to recount the way the story unfolded.**

Delicious!

I love some cheese dip from one of my favorite mexican restaurants, Las Margaritas. Unfortunately, this restaurant is located in my home town almost 4 hours away! I occasionally get the craving and go on the hunt for some. As we had some friends from out of town coming to visit a few weekends ago, I was menu planning. I came across a recipe for a dessert that everyone was giving five stars. The recipe went great with a mexican themed meal and so that was the direction I took! As I was doing my grocery shopping, I came across



and it was very good! Not to be compared with my favorite...but a good second that can be purchased at Wal-Mart! To go along with this yummy appetizer I chose a menu of Smothered Mexican Lasagna, Chips and Salsa, the above Cheese Dip, sides of shredded lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream, and Sopapilla Cheesecake. This meal was DELICIOUS! I cannot rave more about it! So, I wanted to get the word out. Try these recipes. They are sure not to disappoint!

PS - If you have a cheese dip recipe that you have found to be tried and true....I'd love to try it!