Sweet Tooth?

I think this is hilarious - talk about sweet tooth!

Texas Man charged with Stealing $250,000 Worth of Skittles

Sisters & Surprises

Ok. Here's my fam in short. 4 girls.

Amy.
(lives in Thailand, dating an Aussie)

Mary.
(married to Matt, mother to Chloe)

Kaye.
(married to Scott, mother to Grace)

Sally.
(that's me)

In that order.
Clear?
Good.

(Kaye, Mary, Amy, Sally)

Kaye lives in Orlando and was wanting some company but was under the impression that she wouldn't be seeing any of us until August. When we would talk on the phone she would say, "Sally, I'm not going to see Jude until he's 11 months old! He'll be walking by then."
Sadness.
Well Mom, Mary, and I devised a plan to go to Orlando and surprise Kaye.
She had NO IDEA we were coming. Not a clue.
Scott, Kaye's husband helped arrange the surprise, clear Kaye's schedule, and keep the secret. He did an awesome job! I could hardly speak to her that last week,
I was so afraid of spilling the beans!

So the three of us jumped on a plane at 6:30am with two babies.
We arrived in Orlando and rented a car.
We drove to surprise Kaye and Grace.

Mary had the idea that we should surprise her in parts. Mom should go to the door. Kaye would be surprised and cry and have a joyful reunion.
Then the doorbell would ring and Mary & Chloe would be there. Surprise, Cry, Joyful Reunion.
And the Jude and I...you get the point.
What a wonderful idea.
And this is how it played out.
I'll spare you the first video of Kaye answering the door for Mom cause really you can't see or hear anything! But here's the picture my Mom took of Kaye's face when she answered the door.
Here's the video of Kaye answering the door for Mary and Chloe. Kaye passed Mary right up and hugged Chloe! Turn the volume up for this one.
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And here's the video Mary got of Kaye answering the door for Jude and I. So fun! Sorry that the last part of the video is dark, enjoy the audio.
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The last one is all the babies playing together right after we arrived. Precious!!
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Here's adorable Grace just zonked after an afternoon of shopping.
And Grammie with the precious babies!!And Aunt Mare Bear with cute Gracie!
(aren't they beautiful???)
You can check out more pictures and a fun video at Chloe and Gracie's blogs.

It was a blast to be all together and we are so thankful for the wonderful relationships we share. There's only one thing that was missing that made the weekend incomplete-- AMY.
We love you Amy and we miss you TONS. We can't wait to hug your sweet face!

Happy Joys (Girls' Weeked and Crawling!)

**If you're just stopping by for Jude Videos, scroll to the bottom of the post. :0)

Here we are!
We've been busy, busy, busy with support raising in Houston and have enjoyed time with our families and new and old friends! Jude has been such a blessing from the Lord. He has successfully switched to a 10pm-10am sleep schedule to accommodate our evening meetings with potential supporters for our ministry in missions!
We've just been so thankful for where the Lord has us and the people He has brought into our lives! We're learning to trust Him more everyday (with some stubbornness) and are praying to be on the field by October! Only He can do it!
Here's a little recap of our last month or so...

The weekend of my birthday, my wonderful husband

gave me an amazing gift!

A Jude-less Girls' Weeked!!!

See...no baby pictured here!
That's right, no Jude! Jon kept Jude for a full 48 hrs so I could relax and enjoy my girlfriends who, in the span of a year will be scattered about the country (and world)! This was the 2nd Annual Girls' Weeked and we sure did have a blast!!!
Our wonderful hosts were Jen & Grant (pictured below) in good ole Baton Rouge.
We enjoyed so many laughs and so many tears. We spoke truth and encouraged each other. See, we're all going through big life changes. We are learning contentment as we're all headed in different directions, some leaving family and friends, and some staying here watching them leave. But God is faithful and we are so blessed!!
I am so thankful for these special treasures in my life. We sure are a good match.
God has given me so much JOY because of them!!
Happy Girls.
Me, Linds, and JoVanna.

We just don't have an ounce of silliness or drama in us!
Jen and I imitating ourselves in a not-so-successful-photoshoot.

One indication that your purse is too big--
if by the end of your shopping trip you need a shoulder rub and nap!!
Joanna and her cute-yet-not-so-functional purse!
Just for the record, I did NOT carry a purse for this shopping trip and I had BOTH hands free for shopping! This was a well enjoyed little treat!

I don't have a picture for this one, but I must say thanks to my sweet friends that bought me my first pair of GREAT jeans since Jude was born! This means I was essentially jean-less for 7 months people. Wow. It's amazing that I survived. Thank you ladies for my special jeans!

Lindsee (aka Momma Long Arms) took most of our close-ups.
and finally, we enjoyed the 2nd Annual misspelled Girls' Weeked Funfetti cake!!
Okay, answer me this: Why, on a GIRLS' weekend aren't we eating CHOCOLATE for our annual dessert???Next year is Montana '08!!!
Judging by the looks of things, there just might not be much shopping... ;0)
******************
So, at the end of this super great weekend, I kissed my baby and my wonderful husband and praised the Lord for great friendships, a retreat to refresh, laughter, and my favorite two men in the world.

THEN....

The next day it began.


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Yep, he's CRAWLING!!
I'm so thankful I was here to see it!!

This boy has SO much personality!! He's started yelling while he's eating. I'm not quite sure what he's trying to tell us...but he gets really worked up between bites. Here he is!


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Our New Look

We do hope people consider us to be knowledgable about the Bible. But I must confess...We don't know THIS much!! Lately when we've tried to access our blog, instead of getting Jude's cute face, this is what we see. The site is titled something like this...

Abundant Bible
A mega-site of Bible, Christian and religious information and studies. By God's mercy, one of the largest Bible-centered sites on the web (app. 6000 pgs). If it's in the Bible, it should be on this site.

If our blog is going to be rerouted to anything...I guess this site isn't too much to complain about. I wish I could say I knew as much about the Word as this site does!

Are you experiencing the same problem?? Do you have any idea how to fix it?? We would love your help if you have any ideas!

Seven Months of Fun!

As you can imagine from this picture, I find myself more at home with motherhood everyday.
I find I'm learning to relax, learning to not fret over every little thing.
I find myself so thankful for this child, this experience, this growth, this challenge, this learning how to love.
I find myself loving Jon as I watch him love Jude.
Some say the way to love your children is to have a healthy marriage. I'm seeing the benefits of that already. Jude loves Jon and loves being loved by Jon.
He's only 7 months old.
I keep saying this is just the beginning...
and it always is.

Seven Month Milestones

Jude is eating solids, sitting up, rolling over, talkin-talkin-talkin, and scooting backwards across the room! He's just SO much fun!

Here are a few videos to enjoy!

Here's our Bucking Bronco! Watch his legs closely. As he is learning to crawl, he's discovered that he can get some elevation! He even kicks back his leg as he lifts. Maybe he's ready to walk instead of crawl!

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Jude LOVES to entertain! Here he's just jabbering away...

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Here he's practicing new sounds like DaDa and BaBa. :0) You can also check out the quite dissatisfied face he puts on for us every once in awhile.


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The Kid just hardly ever stops!! Here he's bouncing and laughing. He has this new gasping laugh that seems to be more for the entertainment of others than because he's actually entertained himself!


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After a long day of playing, this child sure does know how to sleep!


We're in Houston now and my parents are loving having their grandbaby here! We've just begun support raising and are learning to trust the Lord now more than ever. It's a tough lesson, but we are so glad to be learning it. More on that later...

We love you all!