My best friend, Shay

This is my best friend, Shay. She is amazing. This picture was taken at her baby shower/girls' night out the night before she went into the hospital to be induced to deliver her third baby. She had a baby boy named Ty Orlando. He is precious and his big brothers, Aidan(4) and Eli(2), think he's pretty wonderful.

I have been friends with Shay for, at least, 10 years. We were bridesmaids in each others weddings and have been there for each other during many of life's major milestones.

The two things I appreciate most about Shay are her faithfulness and her wisdom. She is a great example of a faithful wife and friend and she gives amazing, biblical advice. She has such a gentle spirit but she can crack you up with her sense of humor...just ask her what sound a dinosaur makes. :>)

I feel the Lord has blessed me with many things: a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, a fantastic family. But He went above and beyond when he put Shay in my life. Thank you, Lord.

new pics posted on Flickr

Welcome home, Zoey

We're home!!! And we couldn't be more excited. Zoey, 7 1/2 months, doesn't seem to remember our house at all and so she is a little nervous about everything. She doesn't know her room or her bed and she has had a difficult time falling and staying asleep. She has figured out that she can sit up in her crib but I don't think she knows she can lay down when she's ready to sleep. I know she'll get back to her normal schedule and that we all just need a few days to re-adjust. It's been difficult to unpack because when Zoey's awake, she cries unless we're holding her or playing on the floor with her. Our house is significantly bigger than our one room cabin at kamp. She must think when we leave the room, we're never coming back. She also has a bad cough which keeps her up at night and at nap times. As soon as we get unpacked and her cough goes away, we'll get back on track.

The state of Texas pushed back the start date for school, so we actually have a week off between kamp and the first day of school. We can't begin to tell you how amazing it is to have down time after kamp. What a treat! It's 109 degrees out today so unfortunately we'll be hanging out inside, but at least we can do fun stuff.

Gotta go...Zoey's calling.

new pics posted on flickr