Ahhhh Vacation

This is us for the next couple weeks...

Plus kids...and sand toys...and baby float...and cooler...and umbrella...you get the picture.

Love yall, but I am taking a blog break.

There might be a few pictures :)

You never know!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Greg and Caed's Birthday! If you have spent any length of time around the two of them you know how appropriate it is that they share this special day. They are two peas in a pod!

Happy Birthday to two of my three favorite guys!

Our New Baby Spa Tub

AKA The kitchen sink... ;)

We are all in!

Thank you all for your prayers, we are all in our new apartment! The move was as smooth as a move can be! We had several friends and students show up to help. We fired up our (much missed) grill and ended the day with a cookout complete with a surprise birthday cake!

Unpacking is slow. I go from one room to another setting things up only to feel like I am just moving messes around the apartment! Oh well.

We leave on Sunday to head down south for a couple weeks, I feel sure some of the mess can wait until after vacation!

Today I need to find the top of my washing machine so I can get some laundry done!

Things might be a bit quiet around here.

The apartment is ready! Greg and I are going to start moving the small things ASAP. I probably will not have a lot of time for blogging for a few days. Please pray for a smooth moving process!

The Holy Spirit

I just finished reading a little bit about the Holy Spirit and it has let me absolutely giddy! Before you call the loony bin... let me share a few verses with you.

Luke 11:11-13

¹¹"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Romans 8:9

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

John 3:34

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

Ephesians 1:13-14

¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

For those of you who don't know...June is a month of birthdays for our family. Mine (Ashley) is the 13th, and Caed and Greg share the 2oth for their big day. The passage in Luke got me thinking this morning. I love coming up with presents for friends and family. Especially my children. The gift I got for Caed this year will knock his socks off. I am smiling right now just thinking about how excited he is going to be when he opens it.

In the words of Luke "how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him"! In the words of my native vernacular NOW DON'T THAT BEAT ALL!

(Insert giddy laughter and slap of the knee here!)

Talk about the PERFECT gift.

A few of the girls

Oh how I miss them!

This pic was taken after an AMAZING brunch sponsored by the Women's Ministry at NLCC. We heard the incredible story of Anita Keagy. Good times.

The day is set...

We are officially moving to our new apartment on June 13. Hmmmm...There is something else that is happening that day that I think I might have forgotten...let me think...oh yeah, it is MY BIRTHDAY! What a gift right?!? This will be the 2nd time in 3 years we have moved on my birthday! BUT I am getting a great gift this year.

Greg has been working hard on getting the apartment ready. The painters are coming today. Hopefully it will be cleaned the middle of next week, then we can get started on the small stuff. Thankfully we have a few friends lined up to help move the big stuff on the 13th!

Thank you all for your prayers concerning this apartment. I know that in the big picture things like larger kitchens and extra bathrooms really do not matter. But I thank the Lord that He chooses to bestow "one blessing after another" (John 1:16 )

Drum roll please...

COLE IS CRAWLING!!

Sorry for the 2 Cole videos back to back but this is a momentous occasion! ;)
(it is a bit dark, but you can still see his white little arms and legs going!)

Where's Baby Cole?

Deut. 33:12

I just finished my bible study for today and I ran across this verse. I was so excited by it that I had to run right over to my computer to tell you... ;)

Deut. 33:12

"Let the Beloved of the Lord rest
secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the Lord loves rests
between his shoulders."

There are many days when we don't feel particularly BELOVED. But today IS one for me.