Our 2016 So Far - August

 Here are some highlights from August:

 

Lydia got to go to the Williamson County Fair with her friend Morgan. They ate too much and rode a ton of rides and came home super late. So basically, they had a blast.

 

The girls got the go to the Redmons' annual back-to-school movie marathon.  This year was Lord of the Rings.  To eat, they had peach rings, pretzel rings, onion rings, Orc-eos, second breakfast and Legolas Lemonade.  Ha ha!  Shelley is so creative with these types of things. 

 In the pic are Summer, Emma, Olivia, William, Lauren, Rebekah, Maddie, and Lydia.

 

Lydia crocheted her own pencil pouch.  This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I used to do.

 

Deep thoughts while playing my game.

 

Jack sent me this adorable photo of GG reading to William.  Look at how patiently he's sitting there listening.  Too cute.

 

I won a gold ribbon at work.  "Why?" you ask.  Well, I'll tell you.  I won't a contest of matching the duck to the duck call.

 

In a staff meeting.  Yup. 

 

Now, why would Jayna, of all people, know which duck goes with which duck call?  Well, that's because we had a guest speaker at church who used and analogy of different types of ducks to different kinds of Christians and used a different duck call for each duck.  So, there you go.

 

I found a new hat pattern and made a new hat for Bekah.  And she loves it, so WIN!!

And here are my Facebook Funnies for the month of August.  LOL.

Adorable Pics of Jayden

Sooo, Jack and Courtney send us cute pics of little Jayden so we can see him getting bigger and bigger...and dare I say, cuter and cuter.

 

The pics are self explanatory.  Cutest baby nephew on the planet.

Conduit Women's Retreat

This weekend was the Conduit Church women's retreat at Deer Run Retreat Center. 

 Here are photos of my SWAG and accommodations for the night.

 

 After dinner and hanging out for a bit, we were presented with a fashion show.  Sue was the emcee and different ladies showed off fashion trends for different women in different walks of life. 

 Bethany was the "crunchy mommy" with her Bohemian clothes, wearing her baby, and Whole Foods bag. 

 Jen was the "fitness lady" with all her workout gear.  Michelle was the "soccer mom" armed with clean jerseys and healthy snacks.

 

 Rebekah was the worn out "stay at home mom" with her messy bun, diaper bag, Starbucks coffee, baby in the baby carrier (and two more strapped to her back).  Annett showed us her "executive" wardrobe.

 

 Holly was "selfie queen" and Phyllis showed off her "menopause" fashion sense, complete with fans and hot flashes. 

 

 We shared stories, played games, and did improve skits.  I think this one below had something to do with a dentist.  Ha ha!

 And I was so proud of my friend Jennifer for sharing from her heart about a hard time in her life and marriage and how God brought her through it all.  She got really vulnerable and might have even cussed a little during her Bible study.  But it was real.  And it was good.

All in all it was a great weekend.

Weekend with the Pappas Kids

Mike and Sarah Pappas are away at a work conference this weekend, so Makayla and Mateo got to hang out with us.

 We were having lunch with the Irwins at their new house/farm and the kids got to spend a little time with the horses, Halle and Ursie.

On the way home, we may or may not have been listening to the song #Selfie when we took this photo.

All in all, it was a great weekend.

Joy to the World

Away in a Manger

First Day of School 2016

 Today is the girls' first day of school.  Bekah is starting her sophomore year.

Lydia is starting her last year of middle school.

And yes, Lydia is now taller than Bekah...although she is wearing Converse with wedges in this photo.  =)

They are ready for a great one!

Hide and Seek

Rebekah and William, playing hide-n-seek last weekend:

 

Rebekah: ...8...9...10

 

William (from his hiding spot): Here I come!

Our 2016 So Far - July

Here are some quick glimpses at a few things that happened in July...

 

 

We celebrated the 4th of July at the Weils' and Purdys' house/pool.

Rachel's friend, Melanie, finished editing the photos of India from the photo shoot she took while we were dropping off their meal.

David got this sweet thank-you note from a teenager he took to Guatemala in June.

Dear David, I just wanted to let you know how blessed I feel to have had you guiding my first mission trip.  If it weren't for you, I would've been like the people puking in the back of our plane on our flight back.  :/ I had such an amazing experience in Guatemala and really just learned how to see God/the effects of God all around me.  It felt amazing to be the answer to people's prayers at the dental clinic and the food distribution.  I loved being able to be the hands of god-working where He needed me to and reaching out to the people surviving on faith alone.  Thank you for making this experience such a memorable one and opening my eyes to the lives of god's people outside the comfort of America.  I really want to be back in Guatemala right now.  I felt so right serving there.  Because my 1st mission trip with you was such a success, I can't wait to go on more.  I admire and respect what you do.  I can't imagine organizing a trip for 20 people in a different country.  And I can't believe you got on a flight to Uganda the day after we got back from Guatemala!  I slept til 11 the next day.  Although part of me wishes I had gone to Uganda too!  Thank you so much again! -Maria Botha 

 Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that David's return flight from Guatemala was delayed on Saturday and he didn't get until around midnight...and they lost his bag...and then we left Sunday for Guatemala...without his bag...and all of his good shorts.  Oh yeah.  That happened.

 

David finally got to meet little India.

The youth had a pool party/slip n slide at Rachel Roberts'  house.

We hit a bird on the way home and some of it got left behind on my windshield liner.

 

Jeremy Scheffel from Oklahoma came through town, so there was a mini Guatemala trip reunion with Brandon, Jennifer, and Christian Bush, Maria Botha (who wrote the letter above), Peri McCoy, Jeremy, and David.

We got to catch up with our friends Dan and Sheryl Ingle from Nepal.

This was my view on the way to work the other morning.

Bekah went with the youth to a Hillsong United concert.

I got to see Julia's blanket in its natural habitat.  =)

My old college dorm-mate Christina Hatcher (now Giannone) came through town for a conference, so we got to have lunch together.  When we were at college at Lee, we each drew names for secret pals and would send encouraging notes all semester and then reveal ourselves at the Christmas party at the end of the year.  I was Christina's secret pal.  =)  We talked about boys, carried on about OJ Simpson, cried over the Oklahoma City bombing.  And on this day, we ate lunch while we watched her two little girls run all over the place.  =)

I finished a blanket and some hats for my new nephew Jayden.

Lydia showed off her art skills to Aunt Judi and Mom.

These are characters she's designed for a book she and her friend Maddie are writing.

While we were in town for Jayden's arrival, we got some hang time with the Shaffers.  The girls had fun hanging with Juliana and Sammy. And we had fun (as always) hanging with Matt & Abi.

As part of my 40th birthday, David got me a DNA kit.  They had a deal, so we both got one.  We sent it off and are waiting on the results.