On our way home to Sweet Home Alabama...well, kind of....

We are currently in the airport in Fiji waiting to get on our flight to Los Angeles, then on to Atlanta to see our sweet baby girls!!! We had an amazing time in New Zealand and I have LOTS of photos and stories to share....so stay tuned....posts will be coming!!

New Zealand Bound!!!

I am leaving tomorrow to fly over to Auckland, New Zealand!!!!!!! Two of our dearest friends are getting married!!! We met Georgie and Mark back in 2002 when we led an International Training Project to Dunedin, New Zealand for two months. They both became christians that summer and we have become amazing friends throughout the past 8 years. I will post more about how the Lord brought them together later....but believe me, it's a great story! Shane is going to be joining me over there next week and then we will come back together on the 29th. HayHay and Gigi have graciously agreed to watch the girls for the week that he is gone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!! To say I am excited would be the understatement of the year!! Posts and Pics to come.....

It did it again....

I just did a post "Fun times in the country" and it showed up down the page a bit...so scroll down pass the "silly girls" post and take a look :)

We will miss you, Grandpa....

Joseph (Joe) Burch, my grandpa, passed away a week ago today (Dec. 6th). He was 83-years-old. He is by far the most humble and giving man I have ever known. My memories of him are many and are very sweet. He and my grandma had been married for 64 years. That's amazing. We lived just down the road from them my whole life (pre-marriage, of course). I'm so thankful for that. We were able to see him and my grandma almost every single day. So many memories...so many special memories....

He grew up extremely poor, he fought in WWII and witnessed the horror of the concentration camps, after he married my grandma (who had been an orphan from a young age) they were extremely poor together, they had 5 children...4 sons and one daughter (my mom), they both worked shift work to try to provide for their family, they both became Christians as adults...my Uncle Tim, their oldest son, remembers the day that they both were baptised...how cool is that? In 1981 my grandpa had his first brain tumor that left him very crippled and disabled, he fought hard and walked again against many odds, shortly after this season, one of their sons, my Uncle Mike, died... Tremendous pain and sorrow...he left behind a wife and 3 small boys....a few years later, another brain tumor and all the trials that come with that....then, when I was a junior in high school my cousin, Uncle Mike's oldest son, Mark was killed in a tragic accident...my grandpa and grandma buried their son and their grandson....that doesn't seem possible....the past several years, grandpa's health has declined and he has been in seasons of tremendous pain, particularly the past year and half.....my grandma has lovingly taken care of him all these years....I need to do a post dedicated just to her b/c she is the most amazing woman I have ever known....

Their story is filled with many struggles, trials, heart-ache, and pain....and through all of this they both have been such an incredible example to me of continuing to walk with Jesus and trusting Him during the darkest times of your life. My grandpa fought the fight. He finished the race. He kept the faith. He is no longer in pain. He no longer has tears. He is with Jesus. He is whole. He has received his crown of righteousness.

I loved his laugh. I loved listening to him play the harmonica, I loved hearing him say the blessing for every one of our family meals since I can remember, I loved his determination, I loved his faith, I loved that every single time I would be leaving their house he would give me some money and say "We don't have much, but I'll give ya whatever I got".....I loved the way he loved others....

My grandparents have 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. What a legacy....

We will miss you so much Grandpa. You loved us all so well. Thank you for your example of humility, of love, of generosity, of faith, of hope, of commitment....

Jesus was seen through you. I'm so thankful that now you see Jesus face to face...

Grandpa with me and the girls....

My grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary....with all their grandchildren...

Their children...

Shane and I with grandpa and grandma...

I am SO thankful that the Lord gave me such wonderful grandparents....

At the river on July 4th, 2006

Christmas 2008

Jocie with Grandpa...precious...

My brother's wedding... Feb 2009...

May 2009...

Christmas 2009...Grandpa holding cousin Landon....

Love you, Grandpa......

See Post Below....

I just did a post about saying goodbye to some friends of ours but it showed up below the R.A.N.D.O.M. post....so you'll have to scroll down to read it.....

Silly girls......

The girls got up the other morning, took off their PJ's and then put on elmo panies and pink winter hats....that's it. They are sooooo silly!

Saying cheeeeeese for the camera....

Cheeeeeeese with a mouth full of food :)

That's not the usual Jocie face?!?!? oh, yea, Gabbie woke her up WAY too early....she's still half asleep :)

Preciousness......

Fun times in the country....

Last week the girls and I spent a few days in Jay with my family. My grandpa passed away and I'm so thankful that we live close enough now to be able to get there quickly and stay for as long as we need. We spent a lot of time down at grandma's house and the girls LOVE being down there because of grandpa's ramp that was built years ago for him to get in and out of the house in his wheelchair. They love racing up and down it and chasing each other and this time they even found this little wagon thingy and took turns pushing each other down the ramp. Hilarious! Thankfully (and surprisingly) no major injuries occurred :)

My cousin, Chad, stopped by with is son, Luke. The girls definitely entertained him, as you can see by his expressions :)

PawPaw decided to shovel all these huge leaves and throw them on the other side of the fence. I don't think the girls had ever seen so many leaves piles up together....the had a blast!

The girls asked PawPaw to "take me high!!"....meaning let's get in the bucket lift thingy ( not sure of the proper name for this piece of equipment) and make it go really high!

Gabbie and PawPaw in the bucket about to go "Willllly HIGH!!"

The bucket thingy...

PawPaw and the girlies....they love them so PawPaw :)

Stewart & Summar's wedding!!!

While HayHay and Gigi kept the girls, Shane and I headed to Lafayette, LA for our friends, Summar and Stewart's wedding. It was SO awesome to be able to be there to celebrate with them. I've know Summar since summer of 2003. She was a student on Summer Beach Project and we hit if off from the start. She is definitely one of my "heart" friends :) We met Stewart several years later on a beach project where he was working on staff with Campus Outreach. It's been so awesome to see the Lord bring these two kiddos together!!

The entire wedding weekend was a blast! Summar arranged for the hair stylist to come to the hotel so we were able to get completely ready there. It was SO nice and relaxing!

The bride gettin her hair did.... :)

I LOVE Christmas time weddings because of all the decorations that are already up for the season. The hubby and I at the reception....

Shane and I with the Mr. and Mrs. Childress!!!

These cajans know how to party!!

Everybody danced until midnight...it was SO much fun.

Here is an older woman that was really breakin it down....you would have just had to see it in person to really experience her dance moves :)

This is what the dance floor looked like for 4 straight hours....fun, fun, fun!

Mama was pouring sweat dancing in this huge dress....

Bouquet toss.....

Guarder throw....

One thing I LOVE about weddings is that they are big fat reunions!!! (atleast that is our experiece). I love being able to see and catch up with people we haven't gotten to see in a while. This wedding was definitely a reunion for us. We got to see lots of students and staff that we haven't see in forever....

The Edwards (and baby Edwards in Carla's tummy :)....

Danielle and Brittany :)

Jill and Casey :)

The Hamners :)

Mel :)

Summar, of course :)

The Herbsler's (and baby Christopher inside Lacey's tummy :)

Kristen and Felippe (I hope I spelled that right?!?)

It was FABULOUS seeing so many friends!

Congrats Summar and Stewart! It was an HONOR to be in your wedding!! We love you both!!