Sisterly Love

A quick moment of sisterly love before we're off to church!

Backseat Riding

Running around all over town in the car with the girls can be quite an adventure. It's often the most stressful thing I do! The other day, however, the girls were being so good in their carseats that I just had to take a couple of pictures.


Trust me, it's not like this most of the time.

Spring Time in Mississippi

Like many of you, we're experiencing a beautiful spring here in Mississippi. Every chance we get to soak it up we go for it. It's during these days you have to almost lock me inside (and if it weren't for my allergies, I'd probably live out there!) This is a short time for us Mississippians, as summer will be here at least in temperature before we know it. Here's two pics of the girls enjoying the wild flowers blooming around our townhome.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We celebrated Nate's birthday on Sunday. Rosalyn was a big help with cooking and decorating the cake for her daddy. What a special day it was!

My Lil' Helper

Ever since Katie was born she has been a child that is easily frightened. As an infant, if anyone sneezed or talked too loud she would cry in fear. She's gotten lots better, but you never know what might scare her. She used to be scared of the vacuum. Pops and Nana gave Rosalyn a play vacuum for Christmas, and it has been the miracle cure for Katie. She now loves the vacuum and pushes the pretend one all around while I clean. She's such a good helper!!!

New Car!

What a blessing it was when we were offered a great deal on a Chevrolet Impala! We sold Nate's truck for the car. It's nice to have 2 cars now that we can all ride in. The truck was so small! It's been neat to watch how God works things out in an amazing way while we've been in seminary.

Spring Break

We were able to go to Granny and Papa's the beginning of Spring Break. It was a beautiful weekend so we spent lots of time outside. The girls love to play with their Cousin Ethan while at Granny's! The end of Spring Break we went to Pops and Nana's (the Cones) and had a great time there too!

All Smiles

I was looking through some of our pictures the other day, and I couldn't help but laugh at all the pictures we've taken of Rosalyn's ear to ear smile. I thought I'd share a few of them with you!

"Cute Katie" at Snack Time

Katie was being too cute the other day during snack time, so I just had to grab the camera and take advantage of her good mood. Funny girl!

Little Ballerina

Rosalyn is a big "Angelina Ballerina" fan, and just a few weeks back, she got her own ballerina dress. Now she dances around the house just like Angelina and her friend Alice. She loves it. Isn't she cute? Who knows, maybe she'll be a famous dancer?

Minister of Young Adults

As many of you know, we've been wrestling with where the Lord wanted us to serve after seminary. Big decision! Many different opportunities came around, and we're thankful for that. But when it came down to it, we really didn't want to leave FPC Jackson just yet, and we sensed (both Nate and I) that we should remain there for a season of time after graduation. We've so enjoyed our ministry and relationships there, and I can see that Nate has grown in his knowledge and ability to minister as the Christian Ed. Intern for the last three years. It's been a real blessing.

Yes, as some of you know, it took me some time to get used to everything. It's so different from how I was raised! But, over time, it became a real home for me, as well as Nate and the girls. So, after much prayer and counsel, we are very pleased to say that we will be sticking around Jackson a little while longer. We have accepted the new "Minister of Young Adults" position at FPC Jackson. Nate will oversee college/career, young couples, and young families. He will continue to teach/preach, disciple, counsel, and est. new kinds of ministry and outreach in the wider Jackson area. I think there's huge opportunities with this position, and I can see how the Lord is already using him in these ways. Plus, I think it's exciting to lay down foundations for a new ministry in a very established church.

We know that many of you have prayed for us, and we want to thank you for doing so. In fact, please continue! Since we're going to be around a little while, we will probably buy a house, put Rosalyn in kindergarten, be purchasing a car, etc. It will be a crazy time. We hope that you who are a little ways off (our TN friends!) will come down and visit us soon. We miss you terribly, and it would be such a joy to see you! Okay, I've gone on long enough. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Before I go, here's this weeks "First Epistle" (FPC newsletter). It announces some of the new changes.

http://www.fpcjackson.org/general/first_epistle/Epistle%20Art/First%20Epistle%20Feb%20%2016%202007pdf.pdf

Happy Valentine's Day!!

We hope all of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

reformation21

Hey everyone! Just wanted you to know that Nate has a couple of new articles posted on reformation21, the online magazine of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. If you have time, check them out. The links are below.

http://www.reformation21.org/Window_on_the_Past/301/

http://www.reformation21.org/Shelf_Life_/Shelf_Life_/296/vobId__5234/

An Evening at Twin Lakes

This last week we spent a wonderful night at Twin Lakes eating supper and catching up on lost time with our very good friends Paula and Tuan La. We had such a good time. Here's a picture of Katie and Johnny swinging on the playground.

Cookies Anyone?

It was a so called "baking day" at the Shurden house today. While daddy was at work, we decided to whip up a little something special: Valentines' Cookies! Here's a few pics of Rosalyn decorating the cookies. Couldn't have done it without her!

Imaginary Friends

Rosalyn has really grown up so much in the past 2 or 3 weeks. One evening we were playing and she came up to me and said "Here comes Carolyn, Cheeza, and Robert." I said, "Really? Where are they?" She said, "Here they are!" Thus began a new life for us....imaginary friends. That evening we spent lots of time playing with them. The next day she created "Kelly" who is 6 years old and "wears panties". This was a very big deal to her. That afternoon after bathtime, Rosalyn said Kelly had to go to the potty. I said okay, why don't you go with her. Unbelieveably, she went! What a huge step! She really potty trained herself with the help of Kelly and other "friends"! We now have even more new friends...Molly, Lindsey, and Jackson. When we eat at the dinner table, they eat; when we go to Wal-Mart, they go. It seems whatever we do, they do. It is really fun to watch. Some of her friends have purple hair, others have red hair and wear non-matching clothes. Oh, but she loves them! The month of January has been a huge milestone in Rosalyn's life. We're so proud of her!

Growing Up

In both of our girls, Nate and I have noticed that the girls will do something or give a look that makes us think, "They are growing up!" Katie is 15 months now, and she's hit one of those stages where it seems like she's changing daily, developing into a little lady. It happens far too quickly!

Fancy, Fancy

For Christmas, Rosalyn got a bunch of new costume jewelry from her Aunt Ellen. And from the way she struts around the house, you'd think she owned the world. It's so funny. She really thinks she's something. But of course you can tell that much from the picture!

Hide & Seek

Katie is still young enough to where almost anything is fun. And we've found that the simpler the activity, the more fun she has! One of her favorite things is trying to find Rosalyn and Nate as they hide from her. Of course it's pretty easy to find them when all they do is camp out under a blanket on the couch!

A Late Happy New Year!!

For Christmas, Aunt Andrea gave Rosalyn the well-known, much beloved kids game, Candy Land. It has very quickly become one of her favorite games. Fortunately she is not very competitive, so it's fun just to play--regardless of who wins. I hope it stays that way, though I have my doubts...

By the way, happy New Year to all of you. We hope and pray that you have a great 2007!

More Christmas Fun

One of the things we enjoy during the holidays is unscheduled, uninterrupted time together. During Christmas, we've had several days to enjoy each other, and to spend time talking, pretending, reading, coloring, etc. What fun it has been! Here's a few pics of us as we enjoy a little down time.

Shurden Family Christmas

We just arrived back from a big time at the Shurden family Christmas in Laurel, MS. What a great, crazy time we had! We're looking forward to a nice little Christmas at our own house tomorrow morning with the Cone clan. It will be nice to start some traditions of our own!


Merry Christmas to all of you!

Holiday Baking

Each holiday we experiment a little in the kitchen. This year, so far, we've tried our hand at several new soups, some new appetizers, and a delicious new bread pudding recipe! Good eatin' at the Shurden house! Would've never made it without Rosalyn's help though. She's turning into a perfect little Betty Crocker!

Beautiful Fall Leaves

We had a beautiful fall this year. We were amazed at all the different colors of the leaves and how long it seemed to last. I let the girls play in a big pile of leaves and they had a blast! I just had to share the pics with you.

Cute Girls!

I love to match the girls whenever I can. I thought they looked adorable in these dresses. Katie didn't want her picture taken but we managed to get at least one of them together! Thanks Aunt Andrea for the dresses!!

Decorating the Tree

Rosalyn and Katie were really big helpers with decorating the tree! Katie preferred to take the ornaments off as soon as they were put on. It's been so fun to watch Rosalyn learn and understand about Christmas this year. What an exciting time!

Christmas Tree Fun

We had a lot of fun this year going to pick out our Christmas Tree. The girls enjoyed looking at all the big Christmas displays at the store. Here are a few pics of our time.

The Past 2 Weeks

I know it's been too long since we last wrote so I thought I'd catch you all up on the past 2 weeks of our life. I wish I could say our life has been slow and boring but it's been quite crazy for awhile. It seems like ever since Katie was born we've been exchanging colds. Once one of us gets better another person gets sick, if we're not all sick at the same time. It's been so unusual because Nate is never sick and this year he's had several colds and one trip to the doctor.
November has been really wild. Katie got her 1 year immunization shots the end of October. She got an upper respiratory infection with a deep cough 2 days later and was on antibiotics for a week. On Nov. 11, we noticed Katie getting a rash on her arm and hands. She had been in the wind and cold that morning so I just that she was wind chapped. She woke up crying at 4:30 am and when I looked at her face, the rash was all over it and her eyes swollen. I took off her pants and she had huge hives all over her. We took her downstairs and she began throwing up. We got really scared. We rushed her to the ER and the doctor told us it was a viral infection coming out through her skin. She should begin throwing up more and have a high temperature. Well, we waited for this to occur but nothing happened. By Sunday noon she was completely covered head to toe in hives but was in great spirits. I was giving her Benadryl and that would help the hives go down a little. I finally called my doctor and she told me it was a reaction to the MMR(measles, mumps, rebuella) immunization she had recieved. What a huge relief! I was imagining some of the worse things. She is all better now. Oh and she is now walking! It's been so fun to watch her learn and become more confident each day!
Okay, so we had taken Katie to the ER on a Saturday night and she had the rash til Wednesday. Meanwhile, Nate gets in his truck on Monday morning and the face of his CD player is on his seat. Someone had broken into his truck during the night. On Wednesday night, the robbers decided to come back and take the CD player. It is so frustrating. We have had several car break-ins occur while we've lived here. My car has been broken into twice. The seminary put up a gate around the townhomes, but apparently they haven't worked to well. I will be glad to move to someplace a little safer soon!
We're now packing and getting ready to visit family for Thanksgiving. It will be nice to see everyone and hopefully relax a little. The girls love to see there grandparents. And the good news is that no one is sick right now. How exciting! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and are able to thank God for the many, many blessings in your life!

Holiday Cookies

One of the best things about the holidays is the food we enjoy, especially the sweets! With a little help from Mom, Rosalyn whipped up a batch of sugar cookies that rivaled even her Aunt Andrea's prize-winning recipe. The cookies were in the shape of pumpkins with orange icing. A perfect treat for harvest time.

Trick Or Treat

All Hallows Eve was a lot of fun this year with the girls. Rosalyn enjoyed being the princess that she is, and Katie was a Titan's cheerleader, which is pretty close to being a princess, right? The Smith family joined us for the event, and together we enjoyed a night of fun and lots of candy. What else could a kid ask for?