Catching up! July Fun

I can't believe it's been since June 21 that I posted anything! It has been a very full month. At the first part of the month the kids went to Lufkin to stay with my parents - Grandmother & Papa for an entire week. They do a "Grandmother & Papa Camp" for all the grandkids. Each year there is a theme with t-shirts, crafts, lessons, songs and everything! And don't forget the field trips! This year the theme was Facebooks - they studied and learned the books of the Bible. They learned that they can see more of the face of God through the characters in the Bible. Jordan is still singing the songs that she learned about the Old & New Testament. It's quite adorable to hear her version of books like Chronicles and Ecclesiastes!


This was JP's first year to go to Grandmother & Papa camp. We were very blessed that he got to go! Thanks guys! But before we could let him go - he HAD to get a haircut. But this was not just an ordinary haircut - this was his VERY FIRST haircut. He loved the place when we first got there. He even loved getting up into the airplane chair. However, when the clothes cover was put on, he let us know just how much he did not want to be there! He pretty much cried throughout the entire process. Then when she used the shears that was the last straw. But at the end... we had a VERY cute little boy with a big boy haircut. I think even he liked it better than the long hair! I am totally in love with his new look!



CLICK HERE FOR MORE HAIRCUT PICTURES!

Later this month, a sweet lady in our church gave the kids one of her old small guitars. They kids LOVE it!!! Every morning it's a rush to see who can get to the guitar first. This is truly a test in sharing for them both. Margaret-Mary gave it to them at church - which they both entertained their friends with their guitar playing skills!

Orange Beach

Our church youth group went to camp with StudentLife in Orange Beach, Al. John went to visit them on Monday night and he let us come with him! We had a blast! Jordan has been so excited to see the beach again ever since we left Houston. If she loved Galveston you know that she was thrilled with Orange Beach!!! They loved staying in the hotel and playing in the sand and yes - even loved the hotel pool. Thank you John for letting us have a little family getaway! While you were doing the Youth thing we had a blast!

Here are just a few pics from that trip!





CLICK HERE FOR MORE ORANGE BEACH PICTURES!

Random Fun Moments...

This has been a great week! Everything from fun new adventures outside the house to just cute things around the house. You can definitely say that our children are following their Daddy's footsteps musically - they both LOVE to play his guitar. JP though is the spitting image of John when he plays any guitar. Oh... and he calls it "tar" - it is soooo cute! I really think they could make a great new duo!!


One afternoon we made a fun craft for John. JP & Jordan painted heart shaped frames for Father's Day. They both really got into and and had a blast. Jordan commented that it sure is fun being creative! I'm really going to take a cue from this statement and we're going to start having craft time every day. I was most surprised at how well JP did with the paints. Yes, he mixed them - but he only painted the frame! All floors, tables, and furniture were left as they were before we started!!!


Also this week we went to the Children's Museum. What a fun place!
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES FROM THERE.

We finally went on a family adventure to the Lakeside Mall. We took a trip to Orange Beach Alabama to visit the Youth at Camp. So while we were in the Disney Store we found all kinds of great deals on swim stuff for the kids. Here is Jordan showing off her new duds! We'll post pictures of the actual trip later...


Again - we're loving being in New Orleans and all it has to offer. Plus, I think our kids have really adapted to their new home.

End of May Activities

I still can't believe my little girl is 5 years old!!! To Jordan's dismay the 10 day birthday celebration has finally come to a close. Her birthday was May 20th, and she's been receiving presents either from family members coming to visit or sending them in the mail and the grand finale was the family & friend party this past Saturday. And boy did she clean up! She wanted it to be a Littlest Pet Shop (LPS) party, but when we got to Party City no LPS's were to be found. So sweet little Jordan didn't miss a beat! She happily changed her mind to Barbie! In addition to all the regular party accessories, we found a great New Orleans bakery to make the best Barbie cake ever! Check it out!








She had loads of fun splashing around in the backyard. Thanks to all our friends who did both Littlest Pet Shop and Barbie. You made one 5 year old super happy!


Also to end out the month of May we took the kids, along with their new friends - Hannah and Rebeccah, to the New Orleans Aquarium. They had a blast! Jordan even was brave enough to pet a shark! JP on the other hand was fine just to meet new friends in the play area.









We are really enjoying all the fun sights of our new home. I think next on our agenda is the Children's Museum!


Every morning the kids struggle to let John out the door. At first they kiss him good-bye, but when it comes to him actually walking out the door they want to do everything they can to convince him he should really take the day off and play with them. This morning, Jordan tried the ever popular, "PLEEEAAAASSSSE"! It got her an extra hug and kiss. But then JP pulled out the clincher - he put John's cowboy hat and said, "Da-ey's hat! Da-ey's hat!" Then I got the camera and he said "Cheeeessse!" Too cute. It did buy the kids a few more precious minutes with their hero.

Parents 1st Visit

This past Saturday my Mom & Dad, from Lufkin, Texas, came for their first visit to New Orleans. God gave us a wonderful gift... there was a 70% chance of rain for all weekend - but it didn't rain a drop every time we went out to show them the city! Thank you God!

They were here all weekend - but this is the only picture we got of them while they were here... right before they pulled away to go home Monday morning.

They enjoyed getting to meet all our new friends at Journey Christian Church as well as seeing fun things around town. They brought a birthday gift for Jordan - a huge Littlest Pet Shop House and some fun new books. They brought a little ambulance for JP that even came with a little EMS man. However, my Dad picked up these cute little flyshooters from Bass Pro Shop and these were the hit of the weekend! Imagine that! No worries Mom & Dad... the big toys were picked back up once you left! LOL!!!

We really are enjoying visits from our friends and family from Texas. This week our dear friend Christiana is coming and then Lynette in June and my sister and her family in July! Yeah! We can't wait to see you all!!!

Yes, we're still here!

Hello Friends & Family!
I know it's been a while since my last entry - we are still here, we are still enjoying our life in New Orleans and we are still experiencing new and wonderful things.

On Mother's Day weekend we went with some new friends to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. What a great time we had! They have have a beautiful waterfront home there. We enjoyed a great time watching the kids swim, a nice boat ride, and awesome food! JP & John even got to enjoy a nice ATV ride around the neighborhood. Thanks Ben & Liz Licata, & your great kids - Nick, Zach, Ann Marie & Emily - for sharing your incredible home with us! We had a great time! I should also share with everyone that this gorgeous home is brand new! They had just bought their lakefront home just 7 weeks before Katrina hit. They found the roof of this home (version 1) at the front of the neighborhood. They had to rebuild after only enjoying their weekend home for 7 weeks! The resilience of this place and the people here still amazes me!

I still can't believe that we are so close to such pretty places. It only took us an hour to get there!













Recently I had the extreme honor of getting to serve in our church's nursery. What a great group of kids we have in the 1-2 year old class! Not than I'm biased or anything. But watching JP, Natalie and Griffin play together was truly a joy & a delight! Natalie is so sweet to share all the toys, and JP just wants to explore every part of the room and it's contents and Griffin, has such a sweet spirit that you can't help but smile when you're around him.









This next week my oldest child is turning 5! I just can't believe it! I really seems like yesterday I was giving birth to Jordan at West Houston Memorial (in a really small delivery room!). Just today she told me that "day after tomorrow she was going to wake up and look in the mirror so she could see what a 5 year old looked like". Is that cute or what?!

We love you all dearly!