7 Year Anniversary

I skipped my Mission's Monday post yesterday because I was busy celebrating my 7 year anniversary! My hubby planned a wonderful day of fun for us.

I started the morning waking up to this:


Then we headed to Bailey's to eat a yummy breakfast. Lolly I was thinking about you while we were there.




After breakfast we headed to the Dallas World Aquarium. We have never done this and have wanted to for a really long time. And it was so fun!!!




Ella was so cute to watch. She got so excited about each little bird, monkey, penguin & fish we saw.


Ella watching the otters.


Ella watching the turtles.


And the stingrays.


The sharks.




My sweet little poser!






Look out for the shark!




I love this picture of Heath & Ella because you can see their excited expressions in the reflection of the tank. They are one in the same when it comes to their very excited & infectious personalities.


Scary!




At on point along the path, an aborigine dance broke out and this guy lit this fire and proceded to hold parts of his body over the flame. Not just for a second but for several seconds before he would pull away. It was a little disturbing.


We ate at this yummy restaurant at the aquarium.




During one of Ella's 5 potty breaks of the day, I asked her what her favorite part has been. She said thinking very deeply, "My favorite part wwaaassssss...playing tag in bed." At first, I was kind of defeated because we had just spent this amazing day together at this very fun place. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I was touched by her response. Even with all this flashy stuff, 3 year olds just want to play and spend quality time with their parents. Our game of tag meant more to her and made more of an impression on her than all the fish and sharks and penguins we saw that day.

After going home and a short nap for Ella, we took Ella over to my parents and Heath and I had an amazingly yummy dinner at the Keg. I had the best steak & crab legs that I have ever had.

After dinner, we came home and enjoyed this:


One of the things that Heath definitely does well is planning things for me. He is so careful to give little surprises for me and puts in a lot of thought into days like this. I wrote an example of that sweetness a couple of years ago.

Thank you so much for a wonderful 7th anniversary. You are an amazing father and an incredibly hard worker. I had two people tell me that they read in a study that the 7th year is the hardest, which means we just made it through our hardest year. So it's only uphill from here. :-)

Heath & Vernon on Power 89.7 TONIGHT

If you are in the DFW area tune in at 9PM this Sunday evening (TONIGHT), May 24th. Vernon along with Heath (MY HUBBY), the leader of the First Baptist Irving team, will be interviewed. They will be talking about His Voice for Sudan and what is going on in Southern Sudan. Don't miss it!

If you are not in the DFW area or don't own a radio, you can click here to listen to the station online.

I'm SO excited!!! I think it's going to be really good! Vernon is brilliant and knows everything there is to know about Sudan. And Heath is brilliant and hilarious. So it should be very entertaining and insightful!

If you listen, let me know what your thoughts were on what they talked about.

Weekend In Houston!

This past weekend, Ella & I (thanks to Amber) were able to go to Houston and spend the weekend with one of our favorite families...The Jones'!!

Amber and I arrived at their door at about 9:30 Friday night and as soon as the front door open, Jackson and Ella literally ran to each other with arms spread wide and embraced. It definitely goes down as one of the cutest things I have ever seen! Since the Jones' were just up in Dallas about a month ago, they were still fresh on each others' minds. I just love it. I love that they will never forget each other.

Last January (I can't believe that was a year ago), Amanda, Jackson, Ella & I all stayed at Bibby's house and I remember the squeals of delight every morning when Jackson and Ella realized they were waking up together in the same house. There was such joy. I got to experience that excitement again this weekend.

Before Ella & I even woke up Saturday morning, Curtis had already gone and got us yummy donuts and kolaches. Jackson making Ella laugh. Pretty much this never stopped.




"Cheers"


Getting ready to go SWIMMING!


Holding hands one the way to the car. I know...too much cuteness to handle!


This was our first swim of the year and I was so proud of Ella. She was still very timid last year in the water and this year she wanted to swim all by herself wearing her borrowed arm floaties! It was so fun to watch. She's getting so big.










After we got back from swimming, the children took a nap while Amanda and I enjoyed some hot tea and t.v.! When they woke up, we made sugar cookies with princess cookie cutters from William Sonoma.








Pink fingers are the yummiest!


Sunday morning, Ella and Jackson played while we finished getting ready for church. I loved this scene because I remember so clearly Ella and Jackson on the floor playing with the etch of sketches at Bibby's house last year. It made me happy that even though they seem so much bigger, not much has changed.


Here is the picture from last year.


After church we went back to the house to rest and then headed to Annabeth's dedication that evening. I was so glad that Amber and I were there this weekend so we coulc be here for this. It was a very special time.

Amber and I were taking pictures and video taping it, so Bibby was in charge of Ella and Jackson. Jackson was SO GOOD...but Ella was a little out of control. Sorry Bibby. I don't know what got in to her, but it was like right when the service started Ella got this huge burst of energy and could not sit still. Even candy didn't do the trick.


After the dedication, we were able to spend some time together visiting while Ella & Jackson ran in circles. We did get them to stop long enough to take a group picture.
Amanda, Jackson, Annabeth, Ella & I


Me & Annabeth. Isn't her dress the cutest thing ever?


It was a good couple of days. Thanks for everything y'all! And thank you so much Amber for driving us. How did we not document our road trip with a picture?!!! Especially at our several Starbuck stops. :-) Thanks for good coffee and even better conversation. I can not tell you how much I enjoyed our 10 hours in the car together. I love you friend!

Michelle & Lindsee, I'm so sad I didn't get to see y'all this trip. Hopefully next trip down all of our schedules will mesh and it will happen.

Missions Monday - Honduras Part 1

So my Mission's Monday is a little late. I have not been feeling well today at all. Not sure what is going on. Maybe I'm just tired or getting a cold or something, so I have been so lazy. I even took a 3 hour nap with Ella when I need to be cleaning my disgusting house which is driving me crazy!

But none of that happened and I'm determined to stick to my blogging commitment.

I'm so excited to share all this with y'all.

Honduras - Day 1

If you go on First Irving's Honduras trip, make sure that you are prepared to be at the airport at 3:30 AM!!! 3:30 AM!! 3:30 AM!!! What I've done the past 2 years is taken Tylenol PM at like 7:00 so it will kick in by 8:00 and I can get a few hours of sleep. Most people would probably just stay up all night and sleep on the plane, but my body does not work like that and by 8:00 AM I would have resembled something that could be described in Revelation. I'm one that needs my sleep.

On the plane on the way. Michelle is the lady sitting to my left and she has been a friend/mentor to me for the last few years. You probably saw her in lots of my pictures last year.


Every year, we always take time to visit this Jesus statue that sits high on one of the mountains and looks over Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It's always a really neat time. This year we got to do it first thing upon arrival. It was the perfect way to start the trip and try to soak in what we have been called to do for the next several days.


These are 3 of my favorite people, Michelle, Lauren & Beverly. Beverly is the older lady in the back. I call her Mrs. Honduras because this was her 7th year to go on this trip. She is such a rock star and her love for the people of Honduras just oozes out of her and inspires all of us every year.




The city! I'm guilty of not taking very many pictures this year, which is so unlike me. But I probably have 50 pictures of this exact scene from years past, but it's still breathtaking. So these are my 2 pictures I took this year. If you would like to see more you can go here to see my post last year.




That was pretty much it for Day 1. We went back to the house we stay at that is AWESOME and got ready for Sunday. We all met together as a group and had some prayer time for the week.

Honduras - Day 2

The next day, Sunday, we always attend Communion Baptist Church. This is the church that First Irving partners with when we go. This church is amazing. It was a tiny church that started several years ago and since then has grown and started many other churches and missions in villages all over Tegucigalpa. The work that the Lord has done through this little church is mind blowing. It really is an honor to get to help them and serve with them. This is always a highlight of the week.


After church, they so kindly made us a yummy lunch!


After lunch, we headed to Cataluna village where we will be all day Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. The picture that is my Mission's Monday is of Cataluna that I took last year. I can not tell you the joy I felt & the others that were on the trip last year felt as we pulled up to this village Sunday afternoon. Immediately we saw things that had changed. Communion Baptist had already rebuilt several homes! So instead of wood crates for walls and a blue tarp for a roof, they had cement walls and a real roof.

We spent a few hours that evening at Cataluna praying, playing with the kids and then Pastor Pena had an evening service for the adults.

The entire time we were there, I was trying to find all of my babies from last year. I knew they wouldn't look the same, so I printed pictures of all of them so I could have the help of the adults or older children in finding them. More to come of that...






That was the first two days. Next week I will post how Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday went. It's exciting!!

And I can't wait to share pictures and stories from our weekend in Houston! It was so fun. To get a sneak preview you can go here and read Amanda's post.