Celebrating Carolina Grace's 1st Birthday

Oh we had such a wonderful time celebrating Carolina Grace's 1st Birthday. Since Ian was in training we celebrated the weekend before and Mimi and Papa came in for the big festivities! I can't believe our baby girl is 1! It seems like yesterday that she arrived in Germany and stole our hearts! Oh we feel so blessed that God has entrusted Carolina Grace to us. Every day she adds such joy to our lives with her smile and her sweet personality. Thank you God for our precious baby girl!

Papa and Mimi with the Birthday girl

Ready to celebrate

The do-over cake...they spelled her name wrong at first...yikes! But yea...we finally got it right!

A little cake just for Carolina Grace

We walk around all the time singing, "Carolina Grace with the cutest face...Carolina Grace!"

Let the party begin!

Happy Birthday to you!

Ella Rose helps her Sister blow out the candle

hmmm...this looks kinda good

You mean I don't have to share this with anyone

A cake just her size

Our sweet birthday girl

I think she likes it!

Sharing with Mama

and Daddy too

What a special day

PURE JOY

Slowing down

Finger lickin' good

Celebrating 4 years of marriage

I never thought in my wildest dreams that marriage would be this great. Ian and I talk about it all the time and just marvel at how good God has been to us in giving us each other. I waited such a long time for Ian, and I thank God every day that I did not settle for less than what God had for me. We have some precious examples of what marriage should look like in my parents (married 45 years) and last year when we lived in Germany we took a great marriage Bible Study at our church called Love and Respect (totally recommend) led by Mickey and Rita Folsom, and they are such a great example of a Godly couple whom we really admire.

Ian is my Rock, my heartbeat and I absolutely love him with every breath of my being. Ian treats me like a Princess and truly honors me, and I thank God for having the privilege of spending a lifetime with him! He is an incredible husband and a great Daddy to our girls! I respect this man so much for his character and for his spiritual leadership in our home, and I love him with all of my heart! We have been all over the world in our short 4 years of marriage, but God continues to sustain us and is gracious in protecting us no matter where we go! Lord, thank you for bringing such a man to me and may our marriage always be a testimony to your GRACE and no matter where we go in this world or what we do, may we always glorify you through our marriage! I feel so blessed!

Celebrating our 4th Anniversary at Benihana's...Ian gave me the necklace and earrings for our special day!

The love of my life

With our 2 sweet girls...Mimi and Papa took them to Golden Corral (they love that place because of all the variety) while we went out

Playing at the pool right before going out

This was our 1st Anniversary to celebrate in The States since we were married in June 2005. The 1st year we celebrated in Rome, Italy...2nd year we went out to Tomato's in Kaiserslautern Germany while our sweet friend Amy Blehm watched Ella Rose and the 3rd year we went to Casimir's in Kaiserslautern Germany while Mimi and Papa watched Ella Rose. We also were only 4 days from having Carolina Grace last year so this year we went out and celebrated at Benihana's (Japanese) and had some great sushi too (and I could actually eat it since I am not pregnant). Mimi and Papa were here for Carolina Grace's birthday celebration so they watched the girls while Ian and I went out on the town to celebrate!

3rd Anniversary in Germany and great with child

3rd Anniversary at Casimir's in Germany

2nd Anniversary in Germany

2nd Annivesary...Ella Rose was 3 months old

Celebrating our 2nd Anniversary at Tomato's in Germany

Celebrating our 1st Anniversary in Rome, Italy

Our glorious wedding day-June 12, 2005

My Prince Charming

I love this man more today than I did even back then

Our visit to the Zoo

Searching for the perfect picnic spot

I love jelly sandwiches!

This pix was taken when we were still clean and not too sweaty! It ended up being in the 90's that day

The San Antonio Zoo

My Daddy has only ONE vice...COFFEE!

Ella Rose is not so sure about this bird

I think I see Carolina Grace

The Zoo has this great natural area where children can experience different things and of course Ella Rose immediately found the water!

Really sweetie...we can give you your sippy cup!

Having a great time

Mimi and Ella Rose checking out the log

Look at Carolina Grace smiling while Mimi feeds her

Priceless

Love this pix where Mimi is kissing Carolina Grace's forehead

Hmmm...the shoes need to come off!

Finally...my feet are in the water

Time for a "you better be a good girl" talk

Poor thing...she wasn't even allowed to touch the animal...what's the point of having them so close huh?

Much more interested in her snack cup (thanks Aunt Bethy) than the bald eagle

She hasn't even looked at that bald eagle

They had brushes for the children to brush the goats...I could see it coming

And oh yes...I about died...Look at Ella Rose with the brush in her hair...YIKES!

Ella Rose got a hug from the goats every chance she could get

Very very friendly goats and Ella Rose wasn't one bit worried about that goat head butting her

Carolina Grace shares her Sister's excitement for animals!

Carolina Grace getting in on the action

Our sweet baby girl

Look at Carolina Grace's foot IN the snack cup

As Ella Rose was climbing this statue of lions, she was saying, "I DO DIT!" She's a very determined little girl!

A long day at The Zoo makes a girl tired

Fun times with Mimi and Papa

Mimi and Papa came in at the end of May to spend some time with us and every day while they were here we had an event planned. Unfortunately Ian was on his cross country that weekend so he wasn't able to join us but soon this training will be over and he'll be FREE AGAIN! YEA!!!

Ella Rose & Mimi

You've got to love this! She doesn't care one bit that one of the lens' is missing!

Push me higher!

That's better!

What a GREAT MIMI! She gets right in there and plays with them!

How many 64 year olds do you know who can slide down a slide? Impressive huh! Yeah and my Mama sometimes walks 8 miles a day too!

Always fun times with Mimi

and Papa too!

You've got the cutest little baby face!

I'm kinda like my 2 year old sometimes

Something happened several weeks ago that makes me want to throw a temper tantrum just like my 2 year old when she doesn't get what she wants. As most of you know we are heading to Columbus, MS in just 2.5 short weeks, and I have been looking online for a house since December when we found out where the Air Force was sending us next. So back in March, Ian and I made the trek to Columbus, MS, looked at 20 homes and did not feel good about anything we saw. But then early May, I found this AWESOME home with a wrap around front porch and swings to boot and it looked GLORIOUS! Ian went on a cross country a couple of weekends ago and he took 25 minutes worth of video for me, came back and showed me the home and right there on the spot, we decided we had found THE HOUSE! Nothing was wrong with it...NOTHING! So we called up the owner, made a great offer and he said enthusiastically, "Y'all have a deal!" We were thrilled as the house search was finally over! The owner told us that he didn't want to do any bidding wars as another family was coming the next day but that we had a DEAL!

Well 2 days later, the man called us back and said the other family was willing to pay $25,000 more than the original asking price. We were puzzled, shocked and quite frustrated to say the least! WHAT??? You have got to be kidding! Ian and I thought we were coming back to a depressed economy NOT a market for bidding wars! We were so disappointed that this man had not been honest with us when he said, "Y'ALL HAVE A DEAL!" Now we understood why he didn't want to take the earnest $$$ we insisted on. So after Ian and I talked about this for literally a full day we decided to make an offer higher than the other family. When we called back the man was not home and wouldn't be back until late that evening so Ian and I kept praying about it and finally came to the conclusion that this house was NOT where God wanted us to be. It was perfect in every way, but we no longer had a peace about it as we felt like God was really blocking the way. So we called the fella back the next day and told him we just didn't have a peace about the home but if something fell through with the other family to give us a call.

So this is where the temper tantrum comes in...so many times we want things in our own timing, but God is saying "NO" and He knows what's best for us just like Ian and I know what's best for our girls. But we wanted to stomp our feet and we wanted to make this happen, but we know that we would rather live within God's protection for us any day than be in the house of our dreams and NOT be where God wants us to be.

Ian and I are so tired and kinda weary and ready for this training to be over and we are SO READY to get settled in Mississippi after being in transition for 6 months...that is 1/2 of the year! But we were just talking this morning before Ian left to fly that we are so very BLESSED to have the sweet marriage God has given us and our precious girls too! That is truly what is important!

I had visions of sitting on that front porch with the girls and waiting for Ian to come home from work and all 3 of his girls greeting him with hugs and kisses...and that front porch would have been perfect for sippin' on some sweet tea with friends and family, but for today I will trust that God knows BEST and that He knows which home we need and which neighborhood He will place us in.

And on another sweet note...when it was all said and done...my precious husband looked at me and said, "Ya know that other family might have needed that house more than we did!" I teared up and thanked God once again for my precious husband!

Happy Birthday Ian

Ian's birthday was June 3, and we had a blast celebrating with Daddy! We started out the day with our traditional Krispy Kreme doughnuts and an ice cream cake but because Ian was initially not going to be home until late I fixed one of his favorite dinners the next evening. We had Chicken Cordon Bleu, Parmesan Smashed Potatoes, Green Beans wrapped in Ham, Bread, Sweet Tea and then I made a Coconut Cake because the ice cream cake was a big disappointment, and I couldn't imagine my husband not having the BEST when it came to his Birthday Cake. Thank you to all of our friends and family who remembered Ian on his special day...it meant a lot to him that he received all of the birthday cards, emails, and phone calls!
Ella Rose just couldn't resist

Daddy's love bug

Daddy loves his girls

Happy Birthday Dear Mimi

Today is Mimi's birthday and we have a treat from the girls for her! We were so excited that we were able to celebrate Mimi's birthday with her when she and Papa were here just about a week and half ago. I'll post pictures soon, but Ella Rose has literally sung Happy Birthday every day since she left! The video also shows Carolina Grace taking 2 steps. She took her 1st step a couple of weeks ago, but I believe she is now gonna be moving and shaking! Mimi, we LOVE YOU SO MUCH!