Rosalyn's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Rosalyn's 6th birthday on Sept.3. I just can't believe that she is already 6. The moment she was born, she changed my life and I have loved every moment of getting to know her. She is definitely a first born in the way she "likes to lead" aka bossiness, she likes order and structure. But most of all she has a heart for God. I pray God has chosen to save her and will use her in many, many ways for His kingdom.

For her party, we went to Harry the Potter and painted pottery! She invited 8 friends and really had a great time.

Early morning gifts

Birthday Streamers!!

A wonderful present from Nana and Pops...a real vaccuum for
both girls to use! Love it!

The cupcakes are overpowering here but I

didn't get a great picture of them

Very intense little girls painting

Nate had to finish painting Rosalyn's giraffe because she was trying to be

very precise and the other girls had already finished their item.

Opening presents. I loved hearing the girls talk

about the gift they brought. So cute!

Peru Mission Trip

One of the members on our trip to Peru put together a great slideshow of pictures from the trip. It does a good job of capturing the sense of the trip. Please click here to see the slide show.

Knox enjoying bubbles

The other morning while Knox was suppose to be eating breakfast, Katie started blowing bubbles. This was Knox first time to play with them. He was so funny! Hope you enjoy the video....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9YV_roCf1E.

A Month of Craziness...yet again

I've been telling Nate that I'm ready for our life to be normal for a few days. We have had one of the hardest years with the kids being sick, loss of family members and friends, and then other thingsthat seem to happen at the worst of times.
One of those things occurred a week and a half before our beach trip. The kids and I were eating lunch in the kitchen and I knew we were about to have a bad storm in our area. As we were eating, the rains start and the hail and the wind. Nate calls and asks if our roof was leaking (this is a very normal occurrence b/c the roof is old) and I say no I can't believe it, there's no leaks. Not even 5 minutes later, I hear a loud rush of water in our house and I run room to room to figure out where it is and look in the girls room. There is water gushing out of the ceiling onto Rosalyn's bed and the floor. I get buckets, call Nate in a panic, and Rosalyn comes to the rescue with all the towels she can get. This is the "bubble" as the girls call it that is now on the girls ceiling. We've had much drama associated with this bubble but I won't get into all that.

Oh, and besides our roof being old, the other reason we have this leak is because a raccoon had gotten into our roof and ran around our attic one night. We thought the roofer had fixed the hole in the roof...but he did not!

Thankfully we are getting a new roof this week!!! We are excited even though the noise is really loud!

Another thing this month.....

Katie was diagnosed with Salmonella the day before we leave for the beach. I had called the doctor late Thursday night b/c of some things (too gross to mention on here) going on with her. He was immediately worried and said she may have to go into the hospital that night if she started throwing up and crying in pain for long lengths of time. She was having to go to the bathroom every hour that night so she ended up in bed with us. She had an 8:30 doctor appointment Friday morning. He started Katie on antibiotics that day and we monitored her and her fever. He said we could go on the trip as long as her fever stayed down. So on Saturday morning we left. She was sick til Wednesday but praise the Lord she was okay. Evidently she came into contact with raw meat as we were cooking. She didn't eat it or she would have been alot worse. I've always been cautious with raw meat but now even more so.

So we go to the beach and have fun and get back on Saturday night and on Monday night....

I went out grocery shopping b/c we literally had nothing to eat. As I was driving back home, I was going through an intersection and another car hit me. Yep. I had my first big wreck. I am fine, Nate's car isn't. We think it's totaled though the insurance company hasn't told us only the wrecker man did. I'm still sore and there's things I try to do around the house and realize I still can't but I'm praying to feel better soon.

So as we get a new roof this week we'll also be out looking for a new car.

Beach Trip 2009

We had a great time at Rosemary Beach again this year with Nate's family. Here are a few pictures of our fun times!

Katie giving Knox a wagon ride through Rosemary

Rosalyn with Cousin Marty -- eating at the Red Bar!

Knox allowed one wave to come to him and I was able to capture the moment. The water was really cold this day!

Rosalyn loved the ocean and sand this year more than ever.

Katie loved the sand. She prefered the pool over the ocean. But still had a great time!

Knox liked the sand but only made it to the beach one day. The other days we tried to take him but the winds were too strong and sand blew all in his eyes.

Rosalyn working on a sand castle.

A pool for Knox so he wouldn't run away from me. Katie really liked to be in there with him!

Architectural Boat Tour Through Chicago

We had a really good time floating through Chicago, taking in all the amazing architecture. On this particular tour, we cruised out to Lake Michigan and enjoyed panoramic views of the city. This was one of MY favorite things we did!

A Few Chicago Sites

Since we do not live in a big city, Nate and I enjoyed taking in the huge buildings and the sites around the city. These are just a few of the million pictures Nate took as we walked around the city. I'm sure we'll post many more.

A Trip to Wrigley Field

Nate and I attended the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago a few weeks back. It was the first time we had been together alone for more than 3 days since Rosalyn was born! It was a real treat.

We had the chance the stay a few extra days in the city after the conference. One of the highlights of the trip, especially for Nate, was visiting Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs. Here's a few pictures from our time at the ballpark.

Nanna & Pops at Easter

We finally downloaded a few remaining pictures from Easter, and we ran across this cute, funny one with Nanna and Pops. We just had to share.

Easter at the Shurden House

Easter Parade and Egg Hunt at Laurel Park

At Laurel Park in Belhaven last weekend, there was a wonderful Easter parade and egg hunt planned for the kids of Belhaven. This is the first year we participated, but we had a blast. Lots of our neighborhood friends were there, and we met lots of new friends too. We took so many pictures, but I've posted just a few below, so you can "re-live" the experience with us. 

Spring Soccer

We had another great soccer season with Rosalyn. She continues to grow as a player, both in terms of her understanding of the game and her enjoyment of it. Here's a few pictures from our spring season. 

Happy Birthday Knox!!

Knox turned one on February 21st. We had a simple birthday celebration for him this year. We were suppose to travel to Nate's parents and have a party but we thought it best to stay home with Knox being sick. Nevertheless, he enjoyed his breakfast and birthday cake!

Nate was so sweet to cook the birthday breakfast!

(In most of the pictures I took poor Knox had his finger in his ear!)

Special Birthday Boy!

First bites of cake...loved it!

It's hard to believe I have a 5, 3, and 1 year old now!

Breathing Treatments

Here was sweet little Knox getting his breathing treatments due to having RSV.

A quick update and prayer request

I would love to be able to sit here and post all the cute pictures of Knox on his first birthday and of the girls but this is just an update on our lives over the past few weeks.

On Feb. 11th, Knox went to the doctor with a runny green nose and deep cough. I thought it was just a bad cold but it was croup. The doctor put him on steroids and cough medecine. He seemed to be doing much better but still had a cough and congestion. (I unfortunately caught his bad cold and still have a cough and some congestion.) So a week later I took him back in, the 18th, and the congestion had settled into his lungs. He now had double ear infections, RSV, and bronchitis. Wow. To say that just blows me away. He was still in pretty good spirits. He wasn't eating well but hadn't been in a few weeks anyway. I would not have expected all this. The doctor told us the signs to look for before we send him to the hospital. So we began breathing treatments for 3 times a day for 5 days, plus antibiotics, pain medicine. This past Wednesday he went back to the doctor and he is all clear and looks good. Praise the Lord. He'll continue breathing treatments for a few more days. Rosalyn came down with sinuisitis but fortunately it was short lived and she's good now.

On Thursday, we got news that my grandmother, my mom's mom, had taken a turn for the worse. She was put on oxygen and was weak. I was able to go to the nursing home and be with her a few hours that day. On Saturday, the Lord took her home to be with Him. She died peacefully and we are so thankful for that. She was a dear sweet lady and the most wonderful grandmother to me. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about 4 years ago and had been in the nursing home for a year and half. We'll be having her funeral Monday night and Tuesday morning in Hazelhurst. Then we'll drive to Pulaski, TN to bury her Wednesday morning beside my grandfather. Please pray for my family as we go through this grief and as we travel.