Caroline's Birthday

Now and Then

We had another milestone this past weekend (Feb. 24). Our little tiny baby girl turned 1 year old on Sunday. I am amazed at how quickly this year has gone by, and I am also amazed at how many changes happen in that first year. Her personality is really developing, and while she has moments of exerting herself, she is a sweet tempered, smiley, happy baby. These pictures show how much change a year brings! Our orange Oompah-Loompah (brought on by jaundice) is now so big and healthy. There aren't many signs pointing to her walking anytime soon, but that's okay! Her favorite things are dogs (da-da), her daddy (da-da) and mommy (da-da). She's not sure of the cold (brrr) but loves every kind of food put in front of her (mmmmm). As you can tell, she's brilliant!

Unfortunately, the Preston family was struck by the plague this weekend as well. Asa started having stomach "issues" Friday night and shared his problems with Caroline. We couldn't figure out why she wasn't interested in her birthday dinner. And we were especially confused by her lack of excitement about her cake. Well. . . about 2 hours later we found out why she wasn't interested. The poor girl couldn't keep anything down and finished the night by falling asleep in my arms. Some Birthday! She is happier now and had her 1 year visit to the doctor today (she got 3 shots - she's going to think that being 1 is the pits!) She is over 20 pounds which means her car seat can turn around, so she can now see where she's going instead of where she's been. She is enjoying her birthday presents so much more now than she did on Sunday! And we were happy to attend church service tonight for the first time in 3 weeks. Our kids are very generous . . when one gets sick they happily share it among themselves!! Here are some pictures of Caroline's birthday! Hope you enjoy!

Playing with Aunt Becky's pretty ribbon . . um, I mean present!

We didn't know at the time that she was sick, so we couldn't figure out why she was screaming so bad. We had to sing "Happy Birthday" twice so she could hear us.

"HMMM...maybe I can be convinced to try the cake."

She couldn't decide between her fingers or the cake, so she tried both at the same time.

What good 1st birthday celebration doesn't end up with a bath? Of course, this was bath #1 out of 3 since she threw up all over herself after this, and then pooped in the bathtub during bath #2!

Update

A popular question for us lately has been, "What's going on with the ministry?" Are we moving to Bermuda, are we staying here, what are we doing? I wanted to use this blog as an opportunity to update everyone.

Basically, we have no idea what the Lord is doing or going to do with our lives. We are still in the 2 bedroom apartment, because everytime we try to move, something comes up to prevent us moving. But the Lord is abounding in grace to us. We are content (most days) and peaceful living here until he "allows" us to move. We have had 2 churches where Logan has candidated for positions, and in both cases, although they didn't work out and that was painful, the Lord grew our faith and our dependence on him, and for that we are thankful. Looking back on both situations we see how we have grown and changed through the process. Also, they both gave us a clarity in what to look for in the future as possible pitfalls and cautions in ministry positions. We have learned not to presume that the Lord is doing a certain thing because his path for us is not always the obvious one or the smooth and easy one. Basically, we've grown up alot!

Although we try to minimize any hope about future positions that we hear about (who wouldn't get excited about moving to Bermuda??), we are getting really excited about an opportunity that has come up in Boone, NC. Although it's early to say too much, Logan has had a really encouraging first phone interview and we're (gasp!) hopeful! Our first friends when we moved to Louisville (the Burnses) are serving at this church and feel that we would be a good fit for the children and families pastorate opening. Please be praying about this. We truly desire to be serving the Lord full-time, but we are trying to stay open to whatever his plan is for us. He has made his path completely obvious to us with every church we've interviewed with, and our prayer is that he will continue to do so. We'll keep everyone updated. And certain people (you know who you are) had better stop praying against every position that comes up!! :)

Bermuda

As many of you know, in November Logan and I took a trip to Bermuda to check out a church there. We (Logan, Caroline and I - the older kids stayed with my parents) had a wonderful 9 days of relaxation, fellowship and awe at the wonders and beauty of God's creation. Our first sights when getting there were of the incredibly blue ocean and bright colorful houses with white roofs. The roofs were painted that way because their water supply was from the rain - off the roofs into underground storage tanks. Logan and I were very careful to inspect someone's roof before accepting a glass of tap water. The pastor thought I was entertaining as I marvelled at the beautiful plants and flowers growing everywhere, wild aloe plants as big as a house, banana trees (who knew they didn't come from Kroger?), and chickens and cats running wild everywhere. When we arrived at our room, we discovered a house owned by a Christian couple with the downstairs room converted into "hotel" rooms. Our room was located on the backside of the house, overlooking a cliff with a panoramic view of the ocean. Sublime! Everyone was concerned that we would be cold in their 70 degree weather, but we'd just left the 30s, so we assured them that we would be just fine!

I can honestly say that I have never met nicer people in all my life. The church there was so full of joy, and the fellowship was amazing. They cared for us and loved us as their own even though they didn't know the purpose of our trip. We had so many wonderful experiences (bike tour of the country, the beach, eating in peoples homes, church meetings, shopping, a hair-raising trip on a ferry through a hurricane (ok, it was a mist and some wind, but it was SCARY!) We will never forget our experience there and praise God for the opportunity to be encouraged by a wonderful body of believers. Please be praying for the church there. They are experiencing many trials as the elders try to determine the future direction of the church. Although we are not going to minister with these people, we love them and pray for them often. I thought I would post some of the pictures for you to enjoy. This picture is of Logan, Pastor Troy and Caroline.

The view from our front yard right after a storm.

Caroline had no idea the danger she was in on this ferry that we were promised would be "as smooth as glass". "You won't feel a thing," they said. Huh! Notice the dark clouds looming on the horizon!

"The official tip of the Bermuda Triangle" - we barely escaped with our lives!

My attempt at a postcard cover

Preston Playground - YIKES!

I can not believe how much Logan and I are entering this whole internet thing. We have recently started selling items on Amazon and Ebay (let me know if you need some good stuff ... I can hook you up), joined an online photo developer and now I'm doing what I always said I wouldn't. I'm blogging. Hopefully it won't be lame. My hope is to share our lives with all the people that we love that we can't seem to stay in contact with by phone. We would love for you to share in our journey as we try to figure out how in the world to raise our kids, love each other, glorify God and generally do it all!! Any advice is always welcome!

Last night, we went to Dick's Sporting Goods and took Asa to the rock wall. In these dreary winter months, we are always looking for ways to wear that boy out (and get some PE credit for school). I've included some pictures so everyone can see how awesome it was. The lady who was spotting him was amazed that I wasn't more nervous, but after watching my son climb the Carriage House North holly tree all the way to the top -- what's a wall when he's tethered to a harness and a woman?? He did really well. He made it about 20 feet up before his arms and legs started getting quivery. He started doing more swinging than climbing and decided he had enough. I think it was a really good first stab at climbing. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Asa suited up and ready to go!

Maddie being dramatic!

Caroline rooting on big brother!