3 Month Summary

So I'm going to go ahead and start off by apologizing to everyone who we told to be checking our blog because I haven't updated in 3 long months. My bad. I could say that life has been crazy, which it has, but I even have to admit that it hasn't been SO crazy to the point that I couldn't take some time to post.

So here I go with lots of pictures and stories to quickly recap the highlights of the last 3 months!

We started off March by celebrating Laura's birthday. We decided to have a party at the house and I volunteered to make a cake, but wanted to find out from Ivan about Laura's favorite cake. The only help I got from Ivan was that she wanted a cake with nuts. Nuts. That's it. So I went for the carrot cake with cream cheese icing and chopped pecans sprinkled on top. I didn't think about the fact that they had never heard of carrot cake and that it didn't sound too appetizing, but they loved it, especially Laura! Ivan got Laura a dog for her birthday prize and she was so excited. Marcello is the name they chose for him. Laura is at home in their FEMA trailer all day so Marcello is a great companion for her.

Later in March, my parents came to visit for5 days. We had so much fun with them relaxing, eating lots of seafood, shopping, and playing games. Ivan and Laura went to eat with us one night for seafood and then beignets. My mom was asking lots of questions about Colombian food so Laura decided to make a traditional Colombian meal for us one night. That was some good eatin!! Everything she made you put in one bowl so it was almost like a stew that we would make. We had rice, beans, corn, pork, avacado and plaintains! I had told my mom the story about the cake with nuts so she decided to make German Chocolate cake for dessert. Ivan and Laura were in heaven!! I was so glad my parents were able to spend time with Ivan and Laura because they have become some of our best friends.

For Easter, we headed over to Lafayette to visit Chad's family. Good Friday ended up being the perfect day for a crawfish boil . . . I think we boiled 60 pounds of crawfish, corn, potatoes, and mushrooms. It was great food and a great weekend hanging out with the Gilberts!

At the end of April we set off on a road trip to Birmingham to visit some friends that used to live in New Orleans before the storm. We went to Secret Church at the Church at Brookhills on Friday night with Jenny and Stephen, which was an incredible time of teaching from David Platt. We had such a great time with the Riddles!! Thanks friends for letting us come to visit!

At the beginning of May we celebrated Ivan's birthday. We surprised him by taking him out to eat at and Italian restaurant, which is his favorite type of food. Then we went back to their trailer for cake and prizes. Earlier in the day Laura called me frantic because Ivan had decided that his favorite cake was the one my mom had made, German chocolate, and she had no idea how to make it! I had to call my grandma, Mama Sue, to get the recipe so Ivan's birthday would be complete! Laura did a great job with the cake and Ivan was so excited. We got Ivan a desk lamp for his birthday because he will soon have his own desk in his own office. They have to be out of the FEMA trailer by August, but they found a house to rent starting in June. They are so excited to have space and a yard for Marcello. Laura got Ivan a huge poster of bats to go in his office because evidently he loves bats!

Chad finished the semester last week, but unfortunately is taking 2 weeklong workshops in May. So school really isn't over yet, but if we can make it to June we will be great. Graduation for the seminary was this past weekend, which is exciting, but also kinda sad. Great friends will be moving on soon. Chad went to graduation, but I got to babysit the most beautiful little girl, Austyn, because her daddy Owen was graduating and his wife Amanda wanted to be able to fully enjoy the time. I had a great morning with Austyn and just thought I would include some pictures because she is so cute!

So that finally brings things up to date. I'm really going to try to do better about posting from now on! We are so thankful to all our friends and family for your encouragement and prayers. God is so Good and Faithful, shoeing us many times through your support. Thanks!