Updates

So much has happened in the last couple of weeks! Life has its lulls and then its exciting moments where everything seems to happen at once!

We had vacation bible school at our church last week and 5 children were saved! Two of them were baptized on Sunday morning! We thank the Lord for these precious souls that have been drawn to Him and hope to see them grow spiritually in the future!

Mike has had several opportunities to preach in the last couple of weeks and is really enjoying it! He is a wonderful preacher and I love listening and learning from his preaching!

My mom and dad and youngest sister, Brittany, came down to visit this past week- we had a great time going to the zoo, swimming at the pool, cooking, talking, and spending time together. Mike and I always enjoy it when family comes down to visit! Thanks mom and dad for all you did while you were here! We had a great time!

Mike and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on July 23rd! Hurray! We've made it 3 whole years! Ha ha! God has been so good to us, allowing us to be together and love each other! What a privilege to be married! I can't imagine my life without Mike, the most amazing and wonderful man on earth! Sorry everyone, I got the best catch!

Caleb had his birthday on July 28th- he turned 2! He has no concept of time (obviously) but we keep telling him he is 2 now so he is excited about that since we are! The grandparents spoiled him with so many gifts! Such a lucky kid!! We had a fun birthday party for him while Papa and Gramma Johnson were here visiting, and then on his birthday we had cake and ice cream and he opened a few MORE gifts! I think he's had plenty of sugar and new toys to last for awhile! Thank you, you wonderful grandparents you!!

A few days ago, Caleb was running around the pool and slipped on the wet concrete. He landed on his head and ended up gashing his forehead to the bone! So, off to the ER we went. Thankfully, my mom and dad were in town when it happened, so they watched Abbie for us while Mike and I took him in to get stitched up. 11 stitches and 2 stickers later he was feeling much better! He just got the stitches taken out today and he looks pretty good! What a blessing he didnt knock any teeth out or get a concussion! I think we can handle a few stitches. :) Guess we should get used to this since Caleb seems to be a bit accident prone. :) Boys....

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!


Abbie is always smiling!!
Brittany and I at the zoo.
Lovebirds....
Caleb trying to grab the camera!
Abbie at the zoo, smiling again!

Caleb's "owie"

Happy Birthday to Yoooouuuuu!
He loves candles!! So he was SO happy to blow those two out!
A cool hat from one set of grandparents, and a cool "Cars" tub with accessories from the other set of grandparents!
Its your birthday! Its your birthday! Have a par-tay! Its your birthday! Uh-huh!

Dollywood

We were able to go to Dollywood (a family oriented amusement park here in TN) today with some friends and had a great time! Here are a couple of pictures we took today.

This is a sand carving that some guy did- it was really neat to watch him work with the sand! I think that's supposed to be Dolly Parton driving the train...
Dad and Caleb on the carousel.
Me and Kayla with a giant pickle. Don't ask why Im trying to kiss it.
Mike and Caleb (he's in there somewhere!) on the flying elephants!

Our little princess.

Mike bought a cowboy hat to keep cool.
Abbie wearing Caleb's hat...
Caleb thought it would be interesting to drink the water off the ground in the water play area- fortunately Mike grabbed him right before his mouth actually touched the ground. Yuck!
Caleb LOVES to play in the water!

It was a pretty fun day all around. We are blessed to be able to have family days like this! Our kids are such a blessing to us and so much fun to be with- we truly enjoy them!!

The Zoo

Caleb and Dad waving "hello!"

Caleb, Dad, and Abbie.
Anything that has wheels is a friend of Caleb's. We could barely tear him away from this truck- he loved it!
Caleb looking at the ostriches.
Family picture at the zoo.

Trying to keep lil' Abbie cool in the 85+ degree weather!

Me and the love of my life by some bamboo. I like bamboo. I want a whole forest of it!!
At the "farmer's market" in the kids center.

"Wanna strawberry mom?"
Caleb letting go of Abbie while we try to snap a picture. Brotherly love....
Mom and Abbie by the elephants!
The rhinos were awesome! One of the neat animals we got to see!

Caleb thought that milking the fake cow was really cool! Dad helped show him how to do it!
Abbie just chillin.'
Caleb leaping from lily pad to lily pad in the water area of the kids center at the zoo. He loved this part!
Chili cheese fries- a great snack after all that playing in the water!!

He got the best view from up there.

Mom, Caleb, Dad.
Abbie was awestruck by all the neat animals!!
Ridin' on the red panda.
Caleb's "smile."

Pictures from our 4th of July weekend!

Here is a cute shot of Mike and the kids taken on Thursday.

Dad woke Caleb up to come out and enjoy the fireworks with us- he was a little sleepy at first but then he really got into it!
Mom and Caleb doing BIG sparklers!
Dad and Caleb shooting off one of the fireworks we bought.
Dad and Caleb doing sparklers.

Caleb really enjoyed the sparklers- and we had lots of them!

Mike lighting rockets for James and I.
A picture I took of one of the fireworks we shot off. We had some pretty big ones!!
The Guys- Tim, James, and Mike.

Mom and Caleb.

Caleb and Uncle James.
Mike lighting sparklers for all of us!
Ahhh, the American family tradition on the 4th of July....

Mike and I invited a couple of friends to spend the day swimming at our Pastors house. They have a huge inground pool and said we could spend the day at their house since they wouldn't be home. We had a blast! Mike and Tim grilled chicken and steak and we had a feast for lunch! And the boys spent the whole day in the pool doing what boys of all ages do best- playing!! Caleb had a great time walking around the pool and occasionally getting in, but I think he had more fun watching Mike, Tim and James! He got stung by a bee while he was near the diving board, but we all cheered for him and he smiled and got over it! :) The whole day was wonderful and we really enjoyed it- we ended it with some great fireworks that the guys all pitched in and bought. Then we set up chairs and watched the neighbors shoot off their fireworks all around us!