. My Momma .

Here's to My Momma- 

Happy Mother's Day!!!

So grateful for you and the way you have poured your love and life into your four daughters.  

(Not an easy task, we all know!)

But you stuck it out with us... through good times, difficult times, painful times... and the Lord has been good and brought abundant JOY through it all.

For this and for you, I am grateful.

Wish I could give you a real hug and spend the day with you today- please know that I love you and my kiddos are quite lucky to have you for their Nana.

 Let's take a fun stroll down memory lane and remember the fun times we had while you were here visiting:)

Nana & Pappy weren't here but maybe 5 minutes and Levi was already summoning them:

"C'mere Pappy, Mere Nana" 

To which they gladly endulged!

My mom rocks- she helped out SO much at bath time with these two little ones.

I'm kind of missing her these days ;)

The Ol' Aflac duck made the trip- Levi would always beg for this duck on Skype with them, so he thought it was AWESOME to have it here to play with :)

It's even better when Pappy is right by your side to play!

No rest for the weary- 

There are some things like "jet-lag" that a 2 1/2 year old little boy just doesn't understand- 

As soon as he woke up, he'd make his way up the stairs hollering for Nana & Pappy.

He loved checkin' himself out in Nana's mirror :)

Lots of cuddle time!

Remember good times @ Fellowship- good food, worship, & chatting?

Nana loving on her baby grand-daughter and Riley LOVING it:

Levi found Pappy's hat and thought it was pretty cool- He was looking pretty smooth!

 

We attempted some Nana & Pappy photos, but Levi switched into grumpy mode real fast- thus he is only in a couple. haha.

 

           Riley wasn't complaining... Extra time for her :)

Pappy brought this super cool "Bridge" game on his i-pad and Levi was in his glory getting to drive cars, vans, etc... across the bridge and watch them "Crash". 

(Because he was never patient enough to build his bridge strong enough. LOL)

Shhhh- Don't tell anyone but they MAY have brought us some awesome Jerky!!!!

Even Levi couldn't resist, poor kid has never had much opportunity to eat real beef jerky- 

but he realized real quick what a treasure it is :)

"YUMMY!!!"

Stay tuned for more memories with Nana & Pappy.... 

"Thanks Nana, for being my Mama's Momma!"

...:::* Riley Joanna~ ONE MONTH OLD *:::...

March 27, 2013

Riley Joanna has been with us ONE MONTH already!!!

She's no longer a newborn :)

Although she made quite a cute one!

Memories & Milestones:

• 2/27 you entered this world (in South Asia ;)) and our lives, and we couldn't be happier
• You got to meet your big brother, Levi, that very same day
• 2/28 we got to come home from the hospital with you
• You like putting your hands on your face (like your big brother used to) but you do a great job not scratching your little face.
• You have mastered "sucking" and do great with a pacifier
• You have started sleeping really well at night already- YAY! At least 4 or 5 hours straight right off the bat :)
• 3/1 sucked your thumb for the first time
• You are a great little eater and only fuss when you are hungry or ocassionally gassy
• You loop your fingers onto my shirt while eating- so sweet
• 3/2 first trip to Starbucks at 3 days old :) Everyone was happy!
• Your hiccups are awesome, you sound just like a squeaky toy, thus your brother and I have decided to name you "Squeaker" in the mean time.  He giggles so hard when you get them that he gets the hiccups himself. hehe.
• You LOVE sitting in the sun
• 3/18 Your brother gave you your first head butt, yikes! You handled it like a trooper.
• First trip to the beach- @ Goa. 
• You have already flown on 5 planes! Plenty more rides ahead :)
• You have loved being on your belly since the day we brought you home and your little neck is so strong you can totally move it from side to side already.

Riley Jo ~ Our precious daughter,

Your quiet, peaceful, beautiful, tiny self has changed our lives in more ways than you can imagine... for the better!
Your Papa has never seen such a beautiful little girl in his whole life- and I agree and  never would have imagined pink could be so much fun. :)
You don't even have to do or say much and your big brother already adores you.
 He gives you bunches and bunches of kisses on your head and loves looking into your eyes.
You have had so many fun and exciting moments in your life, but our favorite "moment" is just having you by our side.

We are praying the Lord will continue to grow & sustain you,
as well as form in you a heart for Him.


~All Our Love~
Mama & Papa

REWIND: Easter Eggs @ the "EGG"LETONS

Well it was the Saturday before Easter and we had some friends over for some pizza.

We decided it was also necessary to carry on some fun American traditions like coloring Easter eggs :)

So we boiled eggs, mixed the dye, drew some designs, dipped our eggs...

and had a GREAT time doing it with our friends!

Let's be honest... who better to color Easter eggs with than the "EGG"letons? 

Seriously!

 

Aren't they pretty?

 Don't worry, Riley may not have dipped any eggs but she squeezed in some extra loving from our friends :)

"Thanks y'all for coming to color eggs wiff me!"

-Levi

Beaches, Buddies, and Blessings among Barfing

 Got your attention, eh?

haha.

Well I will slowly get to my story, but first enjoy some pictures of our time at the South Asian beach trip we take every year to spend time with fellow co-workers and are sharpened by our leadership.

We kept telling Levi we were going to the beach... and when we arrived at the hotel and he saw the pool he said, "BEACH mommy, BEACH!"

It took a few days before we finally made it to the real beach, so until that time the pool was officially named "The Beach", and he loved it!

Especially with his buddy, Gus. (above)

I could stare into these eyes all day long- LOVE him!!!

Our new buddy, Lucia Rose, with her mommy :)

 Such a big boy walking around the kiddie pool all by himself:

 

 Gus was having the time of his life, and we caught one of his awesome expressions on camera.

 While Levi had fun splashing with Papa, Riley snuck in some cuddle time with our friend in our city, Sarah:

I will take one of these hugs- any day, any time!

 Gotta get some girl time by the pool/ "beach"

AHHH- we finally arrived at the REAL "beach", so hopefully all confusion has been resolved :)

 Levi had a blast running into the water with Papa, jumping waves with Mama, and playing in the sand with his little buddies.

 While Levi and Papa played, Riley and I kicked back in the shade and relaxed as we celebrated her turning 3 weeks old, then.

My Guys:

Can you tell he was enjoying the sand ????

 And she was enjoying a nap by the ocean:

Precious moments I will treasure with my little girl by my side:

Ok ok ok... Now you want the rest of the story, right?

Here it is:

After a great time with friends at the beach, we packed up and were heading home.

We shared a taxi with some of our friends, and were on our way to what we thought was a smooth ride to the airport....

However, about 30 minutes down the road- our new little friend, Lucia Rose (pictured above), after just finishing her bottle of milk- decided there was no need to store that in her stomach- so UP it came.

Our sweet taxi driver pulls over, we all empty out of the vehicle (they, of course, were all the way in the BACK) and we "clean up" everyone and the seat as best we can.  Even the taxi driver assisted, bringing his water bottle around to help rinse stuff off.

Deep breath, ahhhhh- crisis semi-overted.

NOT! Just 2 minutes after loading back up, everyone shuffled all around into new seats, Levi decided to join the party- and UP came breakfast.

YUCK!

All over himself, all over my jeans, down one of Beth's bags, on the floors....

You get the idea, right?

Don't leave me yet-

So in the midst of repeating the drill all over again, everyone unloading, stripping Levi's clothes off, trying to clean the car, rolling down windows so an ADULT doesn't join the fun :)

A BLESSING comes walking up the hill from the slums beside the road we are on. 

This blessing is a precious Indian woman, dressed in a saree, carrying a huge container of water. 

Without hesitating, she proceeds to gently pour the water down over my jeans so I can scrub the "chunks" off of them.  (sorry for the weak stomachs reading) :)

At one time, I even started to gag, and she looked in my eyes and said "Take it easy, Take it easy" haha.

She proceeds to pour the remainder of her water out for us- on floor mats, Levi's clothes, our shoes, etc....

Wonder what makes this moment even sweeter?

It is most likely that this very woman had to walk, some distance, to fill that container when the "water came" that day, for cooking, bathing, etc...

Water here in South Asia cannot be taken for granted, especially for folks in this type of housing during the hot season. 

As water gets slimmer, there are certain locations where water will "come" for maybe an hours time, and people will line up to fill their buckets for the day and carry it back to their home.

However, on that particular day... this kind woman decided to turn her water into LOVE.

Love that she willingly and generously POURED OUT on us.

I began to wonder, am I always so QUICK to LOVE those around me every day like this?

 To push myself aside and be POURED OUT for others?

To LOVE as Jesus LOVED?

I'm afraid not always, but I pray the Father will continue to show me how my life is not by own and open my eyes to those He places around me, those to whom He longs to POUR OUT His LOVE on.

So that's my story :)

And I know my "Thank You" that day could never communicate the depths of my gratitude to that kind kind woman, who chose to be a BLESSING!

~Humbled & Grateful~