decatur beach party

last friday night was lots of fun! the city of decatur~ where we live~ has a beach party each summer... they pour tons of sand in one of the main streets so that the kids can play, have tons of games, music and food~ including corn dogs and funnel cakes~ yum!! we walked down in the 95 + degree heat, with some of our neighbors and sweated out all the calories we ate! we all had a great time!

our sweet girl playing in the sand
mother & daughter
ilana & michele
our family

elizabeth & abby

surprise!!

so my husband rocks... yes, he does!!

i am still so amazed~ he pulled off a surprise birthday party for me!! ~with the help of a few special ladies~

let me start at the beginning... my birthday was this past monday, june 8th... i turned the big age of 27... obviously not a year ending in a zero~ so a surprise party was the last thing i expected... the night of my birthday was lots of fun~ we went out to one of my all time favorite restaurants~ wahoo... it was extra special because my parents were in town house-hunting so they joined us, as well as jane & jim~ my aunt & uncle~ who are responsible for introducing jason & me... needless to say, it was a great celebration, especially because it included my all time favorite~ bread pudding!! yum!!

so i thought that was that... thursday i received an email from shannon inviting us over for a "low-key, last minute" dinner w/ our mutual friends oliver & ashley... we emailed back and forth about time and what to bring and the plans were set. we saw them friday night too and talked about being together the next evening, etc... so saturday was a nice family day~ we spent time at the pool, took naps, did a little work and then jason insisted that we get ready... well anyone who knows us well, knows that jason is about as laid back as they get, and i am the one who says "we've got to hurry... we're going to be late"... so it was a bit strange for jason to be so concerned about us being at shannon's right on time... anyways, without thinking about it anymore, i quickly got ready, thankfully put on a cute dress : ) and we got ready to head out the door... while doing so, we got a "worried call" from becky- one of our favorite neighbors- saying that she had a leak... jason told me that we'll just stop by on our way to the scheafbauers... well, again, i didn't think anything of it... when we got to becky's i saw the biggest leak, i ever had... i started to get a bit panicked, considering our company had done a lot of remodeling at becky's home, including plumbing work... i couldn't believe there was such a huge "leak"... as i got to the end of becky's driveway, i see a group of people to my right yelling "surprise!!" and a hose to my left spraying a ton of water- i realized why i had never seen a leak that big in my life. ha!

so then the party began and i was so thrilled and so surprised by everyone's effort and involvement!! we had a great time!! we had barbeque, sangria, shrimp boil and best of all~ more bread pudding~ paula deen style~ chocolate!! yum!! thank y'all for everything!!

staying in love...

for 30 years!! yesterday, june 9, 2009, was my mom & dad's 30th wedding anniversary!! happy anniversary mom & dad!! we love you!! thank you for the amazing example you have shown us of a godly marriage!! to help them celebrate we arranged for them to vacation here.

on a similar love note, andy stanley wrapped up an AWESOME sermon series a few weeks ago. it was entitled "staying in love" (opposed to falling in love)... visit here to listen!

truly blessed

in three specific ways that i want to mention here~

i was privileged to have the opportunity to meet kelly from kelly's korner in the middle of may while bella & i were in northwest arkansas (nwa) visiting my parents!! what a blessing!! she is even more beautiful in person~ as the love of our Lord radiates from her and her daughter, harper, is precious!! thank you so much kelly for the ministry you have to the blogging world and for meeting bella & me at mimi's cafe for lunch. check out her entry on our meeting here

secondly, one of the blogs i enjoy reading and am so blessed by each time i read, is sweet caroline's blog... and i was absolutely thrilled & blown away when i saw our family listed on her blog~ see here

lastly, while bella & i were in nwa, my parents announced that they are moving to atlanta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you sense my enthusiasm in the # of exclamations i used?!?! God IS SO GOOD~ He truly answers prayers, not always in our timing, but in His perfect timing!! we have prayed for a few years now that mom & dad would be able to move here and now they are!! my grandmother (my mom's mom) will be living with them and dad will still be with clorox~ they created a position here in atlanta for him that he is thrilled about. this past weekend they came in town to house hunt and as of today put an offer on a house and their home is already under contract~ praise God!!

so like my title says i am truly blessed... thank you Lord, for your blessings. now, may i always remember that i am blessed that i might be a blessing.