Happy Easter

"And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15

 

 

Our Easter eggs lasted an hour and a half in between boiling water and egg salad. That has to be some kind of record.

Happy Easter to you all!

My Auntie Kay's Dress

AP had the privilege of being baptized in my Auntie Kay's dress (born in 1938). 

My parents gave me Kay as a middle name.  Little Bean also has the honor of being named after her Aunt.

Auntie Kay (10 years old) & my Dad, Jay (4 years old)

My Auntie Kay was a wonderful person.  Kind, smart and talented. When I was in high school we lost her to cancer, our whole family was heartbroken.

Auntie Kay and Uncle Dean had an exciting life with their children, my cousins, Paul and Beth.  They lived in Hawaii, Kenya, Philippines and Costa Rica.  

They were settled in Miami when my family moved back to the States from Australia. I have fond memories of visiting them in Miami during summers and the holidays. We also took several extended family vacations together.  My family is very spread out geographically, so we all cherished these times.

After my Grandmother (Georgia May, born 1907) passed away, my parents found this little dress in her things.  I love that it was my Auntie Kay's dress, and I love that this particular dress was special enough to my Grandma to keep all those years. 

It's a strange and beautiful thing to grow up and learn about family in a new context. As a child I saw them as my Aunt and Grandma. Now I see them as mother and daughter.

It was such a blessing to have the past generations of women in my family represented at AP's baptism. 

Such a pretty little dress.

I think my Auntie Kay would say our little Bean did it justice.

AP's Baptism

"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." Genesis 17:7

This past Sunday our little Bean was baptized.

(Judging from the above photo, it may have also been the worst day of J's life.)

Oh wait, here's a smile... but, AP isn't looking. I think this is going to be standard for family pictures for a while.

We were so blessed to have our family there, although we missed those unable to come.  Thank you for your support and for celebrating with us.

The little Bean looked so beautiful.  (More on her dress tomorrow.)

NINJA!

I know that many of you are unfamiliar with the concept of infant baptism.

We in no way believe that this is a condition to salvation, rather we believe it is a blessing and a sign of God's covenants with us and grace poured out on us.

A sacrament that will one day help explain to AP that God knew and loved her from the beginning.  That she has the promise of salvation through grace by believing in Jesus Christ, and that promise was sealed at her baptism.

As parents, we pray towards the day that she can profess faith, because we have faith in Christ's work.

Will, our pastor, reminded us that we are no more capable of salvation than an infant.  We all look to Christ "with humble reliance" to fulfill His work of grace in our hearts.

What a comfort to us as parents (as people). 

Yes, J is holding a pen and bulletin. Trust me, we weren't making it without them

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7

We thank God for our precious children, may they always know Him.

(You can read about J's baptism here.)

Special thank you to my Dad and Whitney for taking pictures (although, I'm not used to BEING in so many pictures)! Whitney is extremely talented- check out her videography website here.

5 Years

5 years ago today, M and I said our vows in a small ceremony on a Friday afternoon at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Alabama. (Why Friday at 2pm? Little thing called the Iron Bowl that weekend... we are nothing if not practical.)



Reception at Greystone, Auburn, AL.

2005 was a whirlwind.

Our first date was just 11 months prior to that November day, January 14th to be exact.



Spring 2005- Alpha Psi rodeo. I LOVED the shaggy hair. Little thing called "a real job" got in the way...


Our first real conversation was December 2004- the night before I left for the Christmas holidays. The night before M graduated.  I would have said "yes" had he asked me to marry him that night. (Turned out, I didn't have to wait too much longer.)



Summer 2005- one of many trips to Rosemary Beach with friends

I worried the opportunity was lost over the break... but, come January, an out of the blue phone call for a Friday night date changed everything.



Honeymoon, Nov 2005

We spent every single day together from that January 14th date on. The first day we didn't see each other was in May when M rode home with his brother to Macon. To buy a ring, I would later find out.



Wedding shower in Macon, GA.


He was set to stay through the weekend... but, I drove to Macon and picked him up early.  The next night, May 19th 2005, M asked me to be his wife on the front porch of his college house.



Five years later, and we have 2 kids! We often sit and reminisce about how we met. How God perfectly orchestrated the unlikely timing and circumstances.  How He was so gracious and merciful to put us together.  How thankful we are that we share the same world view.



1st year of marriage... our little duplex in Auburn.

M, you are my favorite.  Your work ethic and devotion to our family still impresses me.  Most of all, you love grace. It's how I knew I could marry you after 1 hour. For that, I will ever be thankful.



Rehearsal dinner... J Williams, Auburn, AL. November 17, 2005. Excuse the purple teeth... and the duct tape on M's finger. He sliced it open with a knife (trying to remove a pen top, if I remember correctly) at Amsterdam's having dinner with my parents. The photographer had a hard time getting her obligatory "ring" picture.


Our children will see how you treat me- I thank God that J has that model to follow, and that AP will know what to look for in a husband someday.



October 2010

The song below was the (instrumental) recessional at our wedding.  My hope is that we are always keenly aware that our family is an undeserved mercy from God.

Thy Mercy, My God

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue.
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here.
Sin would reduce me to utter despair,
But through Thy free goodness, my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground
And weep for the praise of the mercy I've found.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own
In the covenant love of Thy crucified Son.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

©2001 Same Old Dress Music (ASCAP).

Happy Anniversary, M! I love you.

Bed Bath & Beyond the Call of Duty

Thanks to one of my best friends and former college roommate, Leslie, I now have a new set of cookware!  While together for our girl's weekend in Memphis I mentioned that my non-stick cookware that we received for our wedding was in horrible shape.  Leslie, always the bargain shopping diva, suggested that I go to Bed Bath & Beyond and return it. WHAT? It's almost 5 years old, is warped, pealing, and has some questionable coating of grease.  Try it she said.  Days later Leslie left me a voicemail she had just returned all her cookware! Off to BB&B we went.

I wish I had a picture of us walking to customer service.  A laundry basket (with duct tape holding the handle together) full of nasty pots and pans (washed, but still, bad shape. I'm telling you, not impressed with this non-stick thing), a toddler, and a pregnant lady.  I explained that I had registered at BB&B, yada yada, and that while I was not perfect, I did believe I had taken reasonably good care of my cookware and it was falling apart.  WITHOUT A SINGLE QUESTION they took back FIVE pots and pans (the only one that could not be returned was a bonus piece, no complaints there!).  With $316 credit I went over to the NEW shiny pots and pans to pick out a STAINLESS set.

Naturally, because it's BB&B, they were running a deal- spend $300 and get a $50 gift card.  Spend $400 and get a free dutch oven, spoon and towel.  Low and behold, the set I find is $399.99. Perfect. After tax I spent $66... and came home with this...

Please disregard everything about the rest of the (messy) kitchen.

3 saucepans and lids, 3 frying pans, a saute pan (deeper frying pan with a handle?), stock pot, and the free dutch oven.

Unbelievable! Christmas morning.

I am still so giddy.  Can't wait to cook something.

What else is going on besides loving BB&B?? Well, today was the last day of VBS.  I was co-coordinator of the volunteer snack room.  So, if you need some lemonade mixed, I'm your gal. I'm also very good at evaluating baked goods. J had a great time going to various nursery activities: the rec room, music and crafts.  I think by today he was wiped out.  If you remember last year he brought home some precious crafts.  This year was no different... my friend Amanda was in charge of nursery crafts & music and did an amazing job.  I am planning on framing them for his room, so a post to follow on that.  Till then, here he is (on the duck) with his "class".

Alright, off to clean the bathrooms. Yay.

Another busy week ahead, hope to be back soon!

AND, last but certainly not least--- Happy Birthday to my Dad for yesterday, and to my mother-in-law for today!!! Love you both!

Easter

This was J's first coherent Easter.  Of course, next Easter will probably be dubbed, "The first Easter he could really hunt eggs", and the next will be, "the first Easter he will actually remember", and the next "no, this one he'll actually remember"... and so on.

Lots of pictures. I hope you don't have problems loading it. Proceed with patience.

Saturday, we packed up our Easter basket and chick-fil-a and headed over to Brooks' house for an Easter egg hunt (more of a collection as no hiding was involved) and picnic with fellow one-year-olds.  The wet weather that morning moved us indoors and on the porch, but the toddlers didn't mind at all. And no one ate dirt. Win, win.



To be honest, it was a little overwhelming at first... so, we had to work through some tears.



Group shots with 1 year old's are a challenge. The Roosta was contributing to the challenge. The hostess, Katie, captioned this one the best: "uh, are you going to do something about him?"



"I'm so done with this." (kicks Easter egg)



J started to warm up to the process once everyone else had lost interest.  There were probably 200 plastic eggs on the ground, but all J wanted were the 2 plastic balls M had shown him the moment we got there.







Eggs and all, I think the car was the clear Easter winner for J and Walt.



Fast forward to Sunday morning...

Easter basket time! We put Veggie Tales fruit snacks in the eggs and of course, Peeps.  Defining moment in every child's life, do I like Peeps, or do I hate them? I hate them. Roosta felt differently.





"So... you're just gonna let me eat this?"



and... sugar rush.

(for some reason I couldn't get the color just right on these)









THERE ARE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





OH MY GOSH, IS SHE STILL SHOWING US PICTURES OF HER CHILD EATING PEEPS???





and then, we dropped him off at the church nursery. :)

but, first... THIS is the photo I got of J all ready for church.

So here we are in the laundry room, cat food and all. Boys will be boys.



After church and Sunday school, the 3 of us came home and got ready for M's parents, Glynice, Rob and Mallory to come over for Easter lunch.

I made my first glazed ham. Felt like a real grown up.

After lunch we took J outside to play, and for some family photos...

Here's an adorable one WHERE MY CAMERA IS ON ALL THE WRONG SETTINGS. Boo. Oh well...



Better (with play shoes)



with Daddy...



Our family...



J with Momo and Popo



Glynice & Rob (I cannot believe we didn't get Mallory in a picture! She was kind enough to be the photographer when I was in the picture)



Last one... promise. Your computer is so tired.



It was a great weekend spent with family and friends.  Most importantly, we celebrated and marveled (though we can never possibly fully grasp on this earth) the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. A celebration of grace.

Here is my favorite verse from one of my favorite hymns, Beneath the Cross of Jesus...

I take, oh cross, thy shadow

for my abiding place;

I ask no other sunshine than

the sunshine of His face;

content to let the world go by,

to know no gain nor loss,

my sinful self my only shame,

my glory all the cross.

I believe that says it all.

*Quick last minute note if you've made it this far in my lengthy post!!  What to do with all that left over ham?? I made the following recipe last night, adapted from one on allrecipes.com, and it was delicious and super simple.

Leftover Ham & Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups cooked pasta (I used a mix of bow tie and penne because that's what I had! Any type would work)


• 1 cup cooked, chopped ham


• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 oz)


• 1 1/4 cup milk (I used 2%, and just measured it from the soup can)


• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated


• 1 tea onion powder


• 1 cup frozen peas & carrots

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375


• Mix all ingredients in a greased casserole dish


• Bake for 25-30 minutes, till bubbly