Random New Pics

Jocelyn started walking a few days ago!!! It's crazy seeing her actually walk. She still prefers crawling because she can get where she wants to go alot faster :) Gabbie is trying to take some steps now, too. I think she will be walking pretty soon. I think it is hard to keep up with them now. I'm sure it will be a whole different ballgame when they both are walking.....yikes!!

This is rare...1. for all four kids to not have clothes on all at the same time and 2. to have them sit together in one place long enough to take a picture...that is a small miracle! I can't remember why Jayden and Journey didn't have clothes on, but mine, simultaneously pooped and pee'd out of their diapers all into their carseats. It was awesome. Please look at Jayden's arms....he looks like he has dard brown elbow high gloves on...hilarious! and Journey...can you be any more layed-back?? I think not!

Jocelyn's first word (besides momma and daddy) was "please". She says it all the time. Of course, mainly when she wants food...which is continuously!! It's so sweet to hear them actually say words!

Gabbie also recently said her first word. It is "Dat"(that)...she points to everything and says it. She can be slightly "demanding" at times :) haha. I am hoping she adds Jocelyn's first word to her vocabulary soon to compliment her first word :)

Jocelyn continuing to think all things are horsies to ride :)

Jocelyn loves to bend over and look between her legs at us. She thinks it is hilarious! You can't see her face in this pic b/c her cute little tennis dress that Aunt Julia got her is in the way. Jocelyn will hate me one day for taking this pic, but I couldn't resist!

Gabbie "dropping it like it's hot" in her tennis dress from Aunt Julia :)

My children like to bite one another. We are having a hard time with this. Jocelyn has WAY more teeth than Gabbie, so she causes some major injuries. I would love any advice on dealing with the biting sisters!! This is Jocelyn's mark she recently left on Gabbie...ouch! I have no idea why Gabbie is smiling!

Are they too big for the jump-ups? Yes. Do they still love to jump in them. Yes.

10 years?!?!?! What?!?!

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

On May 8th, Shane and I celebrated our 10 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! WHAT?!?!? I cannot believe we have been married for 10 years! And what a 10 years it has been......I am SO thankful that the Lord has blessed me with the most gracious, loving, caring, compassionate, and incredibly fun man in the entire universe! I would have never made it through these years without him by my side. He is a special gift from the Lord. I can't believe He gave him to me!

So, in honor of our anniversary, I wanted to post some fun pics from throughout the years. However, I could only go back so far b/c many of my pics were before the amazing era of digital cameras and I couldn't scan them because they are all packed away in storage at the moment. So, I had to use some I had on my computer.

The one above was the most romantic pic I could fine (haha). Oh, the days of take-over skits at Summer Beach Projects....fun times :)

The things one will do (or wear) for the sake of "ministry" . We could not be any "cooler"...seriously

This is a picture in honor of my "tan" years. Those are long gone since the girls arrived. Dang I was tan!! :)

These are our two "children", Zeke and Taco, that we had for the majority of our ten years. We thought it took alot to take care of them. We were mistaken :)

My 30th birthday. I was severely depressed b/c I was turning 30 (don't ask me why, I just was). The sweet students (thanks Georgie!) on summer beach project threw me a surprise birthday party along with tickets to see the American Idol tour. We were incredibly pumped as you can tell. We were totally obsessed with American Idol. We still are.

At the American Idol Tour. We acted like 13- year-olds. It was awesome!

This picture represents the zillion weddings we have had the privilege of being in. Shane has been in 49. I have been in 28.

This picture represents the 10 years of taking Christmas pics in front of someone else Christmas tree for our Christmas card. It was usually at whatever house we had the staff Christmas party at. Their Christmas trees were always so cool :)

Summer Beach Project. Shane has been on 15. Me, 12. The picture below says it all :)

This was at dinner shortly after we found out we were having twins! I was sick as a dog and couldn't eat anything, but I was ecstatic! We love you, Georgie! SO glad you were there to experience that day with us!

Shane is, ummmm, just a LITTLE paranoid when it comes to medical issues, health, really anything in that arena. He has gotten slightly better over our 10 years of marriage :) Here we are painting the nursery (with water based paint). He made me wear a mask of course.

This is just a couple of weeks before the girls were born. I love this picture.

For most of our 10 years of marriage, I never thought that I would get to have a picture of this....having our CHILDREN baptized. I'm SO incredibly thankful that God chose to give us a family. It was worth all the years of waiting and praying.

I love you, Shane! I pray for many, many, many more years together!!

Random Pics

The girls helping me cook dinner :)

They are obsessed with baskets right now (esp. Gabbie). They like crawling in them, taking all the clothes out of them, and pushing them all over the house :)

Gabbie "caught" again....see the look I'm talking about? I can't help but laugh!

I could not believe she fit in this tiny basket. She never ceases to amaze me with her skills :)

Gabbie has also recently found her nostril. She has her finger up her nose most of the day now. Sometimes I think she is going to actually touch her brain b/c she sticks her finger so far up there!

The other morning when we got Jocelyn out of bed, this is what we found. Apparently she wanted out of her PJ's RIGHT NOW! We are still trying to figure out how she accomplished this because she also had her sleepsack on over her PJ's....hummmm?

They are cruising fast behind their walkers these days. They like to crash into each other. They think it is so hilarious.

The girls are ALWAYS SO HAPPY when daddy gets home. They basically wrestle him to the ground and try to smother him. It's really cute :)

This is our "let's pretend it's Easter" picture. They girls were really sick on Easter, so we weren't able to go to church. This was a few weeks later when they were feeling better.

They have been really sick again for the past two weeks (boo!). So, please pray for them (and us!). They need to get better soon!! Thanks!

Let the mischief begin....

Yes, the mischief has begun....the girls definitely know what "no, no" means, I am confident of that, however, they have become quite sneaky as of late. What used to take them several minutes to accomplish can now be achieved in seconds. It's really quite remarkable. There are several specific things that they are "obsessed" with right now and no matter how many times I discipline them, they just can't seem to stay away from them! I have had the privilege of catching a few of these things on camera....Gabbie (as you can see) loves to take ALL the CD's out of the CD holder. These 3 pics are actually in progression of how the deal went down. Pic #1: In the middle of the act...she has no idea I am standing there Pic #2: CAUGHT! with the evidence all around her! Pic #3: She immediately tries to hand me one as if she is actually just taking them all down so that she can share them with me :) We battled the CD holder for weeks. It is now in our room behind a dresser. Go figure.

While Gabbie was flipping through the CD's, Jocelyn was going through the sales papers....to find the bargains for me, of course.

Dinner/Bath time are ALWAYS hectic around here. Amy and I usually have to take on these two lovely tasks by ourselves most nights cause the hubbies get home a little later these days :) This picture is a perfect snapshot of what our house is like between 5:30pm and 7pm every night....Utter Chaos! Jayden, Jocelyn and Gabbie all LOVE to pull the neatly folded laundry off the couch or even the back of the couch and fling it all over the place. Obviously on this night, we just let them have at it :)

A while back I got this slide thingy for the kiddos at a multiples consignment sale. All of them have had a blast crawling up the slide and sliding back down. However, recently, Jocelyn thinks ALL THINGS are horses to ride, including this slide. She is not afraid of anything. That kind of scares me! :)

Gabbie has become quite brave lately. I had to go to the bathroom (which now can happen in like 3 seconds) and then when I came back, she had already crawled up these and was trying to get on top of the pink one. She always has the funniest face when I catch her "in the act"!

Both the girls are obsessed with Jayden's paci's. I'm am taking his paci's away from the girls all the time. I thought this pic was so cute. They have the exact same paci. I don't know where the girls find them at (apart from just going up to Jayden and snatching it out of his mouth)...it's like we "grow" them in our house or something :)

Weddings & Friends

Wedding #1 David & Jenna (Pensacola, FL)

Me and Jenna

So, this past month has been the wedding month for sure! We've had 3 weddings in the past 5 weeks! (and all of these were out of town). It has been adventurous to say the least :) We consider it such a privilege to be in someone's wedding. It is such an honor to stand up with someone on one of the most important days of their life. (Random Fact: Shane has been in 49 weddings during his lifetime. I have been in 30....that has GOT to be a record!)

The first wedding was David Lyle and Jenna Swilley. They were both students at South Alabama and were really involved with Campus Outreach. We've had the privilege of watching the Lord work in their lives for the past several years. Shane, unfortunately, could not go to this one because of school. This is the trip that Amy, me and the 4 kiddos took together in the van. The wedding was beautiful and it was so awesome to see so many of my friends/students at the wedding. Jenna-thanks for letting me be a part of your special day! Congrats!

Me with Jillian and Colleen. They are two students that I am very close with from South Alabama. Shane and I got to see both of them become Christians early in college and now they are graduating! (wow, that makes me feel really old :)

Me and Katie (also a former student from USA....LOVE YOU!!). Katie's mom opened up her house for me and the girls to crash in the week that we were in Mobile for the wedding (thanks again Mrs. Shrop!). My mom, Grandma, sister, and neice came over to watch the girls so I could go to the wedding alone (that was a peice of heaven!!). Thanks so much!

Bethany, Kristina, and Brynn (some Chi-O's from USA)
It was SO great to see ya'll!

This is my brother, Douglas, his wife, Juliet, and their son, Landon (wow! that was ALOT of commas...that definitely wasn't grammatically correct!) They came over to Mobile while we were there and came to church with me and the girls. Douglas and Juliet both became Christians several months ago. It is UNBELIEVABLE how the Lord has changed their lives. What a picture of Redemption! Isn't Landon the cutest!?!?


Wedding #2 Abraham & Kari (Gatlinburg, TN)

Bridesmaid's Luncheon

This was such a fabulous weekend for several reasons: 1. Kari...my bestest friend was getting married!!!!! to a amazing guy!!!! yay!!! Kari and I have prayed for this day for YEARS!!!!
2. Shane's mom and aunt volunteered to keep the girls in GA so that Shane and I could go to Kari's wedding and be "free" for a couple of days. THANKS SO MUCH!!! We had the best time! 3. The wedding was at this resort in the middle of the mountains and it was absolutely gorgeous! 4. We got to see so many of our close friends and the wedding was absolutely amazing! I love you, Kari (and Abraham:). We are SO excited for you guys!!!

Kari and I LOVE watermelon. For the past forever years, we would eat watermelon every single day on Summer Beach Project. We had a special "watermelon moment" before getting ready for the wedding :)

Beautiful Bride :)

Me and the hubby

Shane and I with Abraham and Kari right after they tied the knot

We all played volleyball at Troy State back in the day. I had not seen Emily (one on far left) for 9 years!!! Julia (far right) is now my sister-in-law...fun times :)

Shane with some guys from South and his two brothers (far left). Many of these guys became believers in college. It is SO cool to see how the Lord has grown them up in their faith and where He has placed them today.


Wedding #3 Chris & Mandi (Pensacola, FL)

This past weekend, we (me, Shane, and the girls) hoped in the sexy van and headed to Pensacola for Chris and Mandi's wedding. The girls don't sleep at all in the car so the trip was somewhat hectic, but being at the wedding made it all worth it! Chris became a Christian his freshman year in college and then Shane had the privilege of leading him and Justin H. in a Bible study for the next 5 years. Needless to say, they are VERY close. We feel like our son got married this past weekend :). We had the honor of getting to know Mandi very well too while she was a student at USA. It is so amazing to see the Lord bring these two together! Again, it was SO fun to see good friends. Two students from South, Kristina & Brynn, graciously volunteered to help with the girls during the rehearsal dinner and wedding. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Shane and I with Justin and Leah (and baby Hawarah #2)....we love you guys!!

John and Ariel (and baby Pilger #2 :)....yay!!! it was so great to see you guys!!

The Newlyweds....Kari and Abraham :)