Day at the Beach!

Last Saturday we took a group of 27 people to Gulf Shores for a day at the beach. It was so fun and absolutely beautiful! The 20 students were all international students so it was great getting to know them and see them interact with each other. There were 8 different countries represented! We even had one guy from Romainia come that was afraid of water . . . I guess he just needed to get out of New Orleans! I have lots of pictures so hopefully they communicate how much fun we had better than I could tell you.

We set up a tent for those that wanted to hang in the shade.

The Gilberts!

Me and Laura (from Columbia)

I love this picture . . . when would you ever see 2 guys from China, 1 from Trinidad and 1 from Austria talking and sitting in a circle on the beach!

3 of the girls getting to know each other.

Nadia and Christian from Ecuador.

Lei was getting bored so the guys buried him in the sand.

Here are all the guys that came with us.

And all the ladies that came along.

What a great group!

The trip was so encouraging for Chad and I! We love hanging out with these students and getting to know more about their countries and cultures. They are so brave to come to the US, not to mention to go to the beach with a bunch of strangers. Speaking of the beach . . . Chad and I are headed to Orlando tomorrow to vacation with my family!! We're so excited and some rest is much needed!

Dads and another cute baby!

Two weekends ago, Chad and I made a spontaneous trip to north Mississippi. My dad was going to be there visiting his family, it was my dad's birthday, we hadn't seen the family since October and we had a 7 week old cousin that we had never met. It was great to be able to get away and to see all the family for the weekend. Kate, our cousin, was the best baby and is such a cute little girl.

Dad is going to be a great grandpa someday!

So I mentioned that it was my dad's birthday. He has the biggest sweet tooth this side of the Mississippi and a mom that spoils him, which means that he had two banana puddings and a german chocolate cake waiting for him when he arrived. For some reason I didn't think about us having candles and singing, so when I got hungry in the afternoon, I just took a good number of bites of the amazing german chocolate cake. Well, you can see in the picture that I slightly messed up the take-a-picture-with-your-cake-and-candles thing. Oh well, the cake was really just that good!!

For Father's Day, we decided to meet Chad's family in Baton Rouge to do some grilling. I didn't really understand why Mr. Boone was cooking for us on Father's Day, but Chad said he loves cooking/grilling so much that we should just let him. I really think Chad just loves eating what his dad cooks!! The girls played cards while the boys threw the football and Mr. Boone slaved away over the grill. We had a feast of steaks, baked potatoes, corn, salad, rolls and brownies. What a great day! Chad and I are both blessed with incredible dads!

Noah Langford

How cute is this little guy?!

Our friends, Justin and Melinda, are now parents, which is so crazy! Noah was born on May 30th at 6 lbs. 5 ozs. He is so cute and such a good baby. We have gotten to visit a lot since they live on campus, just down the street from us. Justin and Chad have been friends since 8th grade . . . they've been together through high school, college, and now seminary!

Doesn't Chad look like a natural?!

Speaking of Chad . . . I have to brag on my wonderful husband. I've been a bit stressed out at work the past two weeks so Chad has had to be very patient with me. One day he came in my office and put a paper sack on my desk. I love prizes so I was really excited. To my surprise, I pulled out a bottle of the moisturizer that I use each morning. I was almost out of it, but I didn't plan on buying another bottle for myself even though I love this lotion. So Chad noticed that it was almost gone and ordered me another bottle. How sweet and thoughtful is that?! I'm blessed!

Party Time!

Going Away Party for the Neases :(

Last Friday night we had lots of friends over to the apartment for a going away party for our great friends Owen, Amanda, and Austyn Nease. They are moving to Oklahoma for a great ministry opportunity and we are really excited for them, but as Amanda would say, "This time is bittersweet, but I'm still at the bitter." They are such a great couple and its been so fun watching Austyn grow up so we are really missing them already.

The party was really fun . . . I think in total we had 27 people and 6 babies/kids at the house, which I might add is not that big. It was tight quarters for a while, but I don't think anyone minded! Evidently though, our party wasn't wild enough to keep our friend Jason from snoozing on the couch!! He had a long day of work so we didn't hold it against him, we just took pictures instead!

Chad and I did realize, however, that this party signaled the transition from having mostly friends that are married to now having several friends with kids and more on the way. It was a new dynamic for us . . . not that we don't love the kiddos, but it was just that we realized that the season of our life and those around us is changing.

Austyn has Chad wrapped around her finger!

Graduation Party for Blake

On Saturday we drove over to Lafayette to celebrate Blake's high school graduation. It was a really great day. Mrs. Tina had lots of good food, not to mention that Mr. Boone made the best crawfish etouffee I've ever had for lunch! We had the party for Blake in the afternoon and then went to his graduation at 7 pm. Blake's class has 450 students so Chad and I ended up leaving after the G's so we could head back to NOLA. Way to go, Blake!!

Blake and his best friend/brother Andrew

Chad and I with Blake

The Siblings . . . aren't they cute!