What Two Wise Women can do for a Soul...

Yea for visitors!!

My mom and my friend Sue came for a visit in June and I was OVERWHELMED with thankfulness at their arrival!
You see Jon headed to England for 3 weeks and they came to see to it that I survived at least the first 10 days of it! And I did more than that... I loved every minute!
Of course we totally missed Jon...there's just something that man brings to a conversation that makes me
always love having him by my side
(unless we're talking girl stuff, you know!).
And for the record, Jon is STILL NOT HOME!! He gets home Saturday night late, late, late. I am counting down the minutes!!!


There's just nothing like a Mom is there??
I've struggled DEEPLY the past few months
(hence the lack of blog posts),
but I gained SO MUCH healing from her time here.
She had the courage to ask me some HARD questions, but the love behind them really sent me to the feet of the King. I am SO thankful for her presence in my life!!!
There's something unique about her...
...She knows where I belong...
in the nearness of Jesus and my husband's arms!
She's such a RARE jewel!!
Ok. Can we all agree that my mom looks BEAUTIFUL in this photo??
She absolutely hated it, but I loved it so much I couldn't just toss it!

Ok. I've got tons of photos to share, so here we go...

First of all, these ladies sure did bring us the mother load! We got treats galore from them and from wonderful friends back home!!! Thank you Lindsee, Rachel, Jennifer, and The Moss's!!! We felt so special getting so many treasures!!

Every time we get a package, it (inevitably) has toys for Jude in it...and we set them out for him to find the next morning. Oh, and we always take a picture, like so...
Well, Mom & I agreed that she and I both needed to be dressed for this precious photo op, so we kept Jude away from the living room as long as possible before celebrating!!
The pic below was taken "Christmas Morning"
as we call it around here.

This was the FIRST and ONLY picture we got of Jude posing with a SMILE the entire time they were here. Oh trust me, he SMILED TONS!! Nonetheless, I think the reason is obvious. Once he got a hold of those new toys, he just didn't have ANY TIME to stop and pose!!! He's SUCH a typical boy!!

Grammie & Pops made sure this kid was SET FOR BOYHOOD!!! They set him up with a train set, books, bugs, a cool frog (plastic I assure you), a helicopter, an airplane, a motorcycle, and a baby (to practice with before Brennan)!! It was like Christmas!!! The first thing he did was go STRAIGHT to the baby, cuddle it (good sign ;0), put it in the boppy...
and then off he went to the "boy" things! So fun!
He and Grammie had TONS of fun pushing those trains around...and can I tell you??? Those trains still hold his attention for HOURS!!!

Ok. So now the sights...well, take what you can from the ones below! It was so fun to have a good excuse for photos with Mom & Sue!!!
(Real fast...I just have to tell you that the sights you are about to see are NOT our "normal". PLEASE believe me! I can post a pic of our trash dump next door if you'd like proof!!!)

Here are a few overlooking the Meditterean!Jude & I over a Marina...

Fun with Sue!!!
Again, WISDOM! I've known Sue as long as I can remember. I feel at ease in her presence, but yet SO challenged to not settle for just "being my(ugly ole')self". She and I are SO much alike, it gives me hope of what Jesus is making me into!! She turns that controlling/ domineering tendency into HUMBLE LOVE. I'm so thankful for her example! She also raised a pretty impressive BOY... so I'm hoping to take some hints from her!

It was beautiful!!! And INCREDIBLY HOT!!!
(Mom, Me, & Jude)
Grammie & Jude, of course!!
(Jude was so fascinated with the
construction going on over my shoulder,
I just couldn't snag a shot of him with a smile!!)

We certainly made SURE to get PLENTY of these!
My friend Joanie snapped this one unexpectedly! So sweet!!

Speaking of Joanie!! :0)
We NEVER have opportunities for pictures! I was so glad this one turned out!

Sue, Jude, Mom, & I
Ok here's the accurate belly shot! It's hard to believe I was only 5 weeks away from birth at this point. Brennan just feels so much smaller than Jude did!!! Maybe it's all the extra baby weight I had on that made him feel so BIG!!

And yet, another!
I LOVE these WISE women!!
They spoke SO much Truth over me while they were here!
I needed it so desperately! I'm so thankful for friends like these!

Ok, one of our adventures was to a REALLY big grocery store about 30 minutes away. We seriously browsed for about 4 hrs!! How in the world did we do that with an almost 2 year old, you might ask?? Well, the first 20 minutes were like this...(precious, huh?)
Then the kid seriously SLEPT in a shopping cart. We laid down some bathmats and he conked! I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of it!!!

Mom & Sue treated us to some yummy Lebanese food (yep, we've got it here too!) for lunch. Jude's SO into wearing "grown up" stuff. He puts on our sunglasses and says "Cool!"
I just LOVE this shot!

And, for real, is my kid growing up or what?? He's wearing camo and eating his OWN ice cream cone!!! The sweet man at the ice cream shop gave it to him for free!!
Grammie showed him the ropes...but clearly not fast enough! He was a little disturbed when cold wet drops began hitting his feet. Let's just say "Brennan" finished that ice cream cone...and Mommy was thankful she'd dressed him in camo!

Sue gave Mom & I a wonderful treat! She watched Jude while Mom & I went out for Japanese food! It's amazing what you'll find in Tunis!!!Anyway, he watched Fox & the Hound with her...and can I tell you he just hasn't been the same since?? He runs around the house asking for "more..." well, you can imagine a 2 year old saying it!!! It doesn't come out very clearly, but definitely provokes laughter from this oh-so-mature mother!!

Poor us, we just tried and tried to get a good shot of this, but really couldn't manage one!!
Although the picture doesn't reflect it, our time surely did FILL my SOUL! I am so thankful for the gift God's given me in this woman!!!

And finally, I just couldn't let you go without showing you how much this kiddo loves his daddy!! Jon called and we snapped this fun shot of Jude's joy!
A few mornings later he woke up with his hand over his heart,
sadness in his eyes, and these words on his lips...
"Daddy- bye bye- bus- miss"
He misses you SO much Jon!
WE miss you SO MUCH!!!

Thanks so much Mom & Sue for helping me have some fun while he was away!!!
Love you BOTH!