more pics from waco weekend

waco weekend

we went to waco this past weekend and had a wonderful time (wow lots of "w's").  jordan's cousin and family were in town and we enjoyed spending time with them at the ridgewood pool.  we also went to zoobilee and kid's zoobilee.  it was so much fun.  jayden got this precious shirt for his birthday saturday morning and it was the perfect item to wear to a zoo party.  (check out alacritydesigns in the etsy shop for more great creations)  jayden had his first popsicle and i did not realize the mess it would create with the new shirt.  as you can see in the pictures it made a nice tie die look on the front of it.  fortunately - alice came to the rescue and was able to get all of the color out so we will be able to enjoy the adorable shirt again!  hope you are having a happy monday!

birthday boy - almost

we had jayden's first first birthday on saturday (does that make sense?)  jordan, my parents, and my youngest sister are going to be gone on jayden's birthday so we had a party before his actual birthday to celebrate!  it was so much fun and my mom and sister did such a good job of decorating the house and making a big celebration about it.  alice got the yummiest, most adorable cake as well.  it had a little "smashing" cake on the top of it just for little jayden!

here are some pics - thank you all for making it special and loving jayden with us!  

ps - jayden is officially walking now.  independent and somewhat confident.   as long we don't make him perform - he does great - it is a whole new world we are entering into!

houston & the harps

sorry - it has been long and i have a couple of posts to make.  life has been a bit crazy and i apologize!

thank you to all who prayed for jordan's dad.  his surgery went great and he is recovering well.  it was a serendipity when we were in houston because we were able to see our dear friend the harps.  it was so much fun and great to be able to catch up as if we saw them every day and hadn't skipped a beat!

here are some pics from that day . . . 

happy anniversary & please pray

Today marks 6 years of wedded bliss for Jordan and I.  I am so thankful to be married to such a wonderful man who I not only love to share life's ups and downs, joys and trials, but also just love being with.  God knew that he was the perfect match for me.  It is so great to be able to share life with someone that you love and is your best friend.  

We got to celebrate our anniversary last night by going to this fun, new restaraunt in Victory Park called Nueve.   It was not our usual style of dinning but it was fun to do something special to celebrate the anniversary.  

We look forward to many more years of growing, maturing, and going through each new adventure the Lord has for us.  I am confident when I have Jordan by my side that whatever the adventure is - we will be okay.

Also - please pray - we leave tomorrow night after work to go to Houston for Jordan's dad's surgery.  He has prostate cancer and is having surgery at Memorial Herman in Houston.  We would love your petitions on behalf of our heavenly Father for this surgery and his complete healing.

Have a good week.  

hiking in dallas?

this past wednesday we went on our second annual sudan family dallas hike.  last year the hike consisted of my dad, sister and i (and little jayden along for the ride:)) going to lakegrapevine and hiking the trails there.  we had such a good time we decided to make it a tradition (my family really likes traditions - just fyi).  so this year we decided to indoctrinate jayden into the sudan world of hiking.  

growing up all of our vacations were spent going to national parks and going on all day hikes - this meant waking up at 5 and getting on the mountain by sunrise.  it was always such a wonderful time to be together and bask in the glory of God's creation.  usually my mom would stay back with the siblings who were too young to go.  my dad always led the way.  our first hike was in Big Ben National Park when i was about 10 or 11.  the funny thing about our hikes is that it always seemed to be an adventure and we would have near death experiences most of the time.  but it was amazing how we learned to trust God in whatever the circumstance and He would always show himself to be faithful.  if you ever want an exhilarating experience then go for a hike in a national park.  you will be able to see the awesomeness of God's creation and it is such a good bonding experience with whoever you are with.  plus - hikers seem to be the nicest people.  all games or off - you are all "equal" in the world of hiking - everyone is there to do the same thing and it is great.

so for our second annual sudan dallas hike we decided to go to cedarridge preserve.  it is a really beautiful unique place in cedar ridge.  there were some area's of the hike that were very lush with cedar trees and small streams and other areas that had quite the prairie feel to them. this hike was a little more difficult in our eyes because we brought the jogging stroller with us.  there was some elevation and a lot of big roots in the ground that made pushing the stroller a bit difficult.  (thankfully my dad took that job most of the time!)  the hike consisted of me, my parents, my sisters amy & marybeth, & of course little jayden.  we had a wonderful time of being together and enjoying a random day in the middle of the week to experience and take part in God's beautiful creation.  (even in dallas texas!)

here are some pics from the trip! 

thoughts & the arboretum

let me just say . . .  i love not working - i have had a nice 13 day break from work and it has been fabulous.  just a couple more months of working 2 days a week and then i will be down to once every 2 weeks - which will be so great.  i love my work, who i work with, what i do, the hospital, the patients, the doctors, being apart of a topnotch hospital that is on the brink of exciting new things in the world of pediatrics BUT i love being home with jayden even more.  not that all days are easy but i know that this is my calling - to be a mother and i am so thankful to have the opportunity to do just that - mother.

anyway - today amy (my sister), jayden, magen, sara & i went to the dallas arboretum for a picnic lunch.  it was so much fun and of course i have some cute pictures to share!