i must post, i must post....

okay, every day i come to this blog and am just tired of being on the computer checking email and doing other odds and ends. there are just too many things in the day that something has to give! so, i dont know if i'll get any pics up--i posted the rest from our trip to Indy on facebook, and i think that's it for those.

anyway, we are keeping busy here. I (shauna) am helping with our summer Kids Camp that goes for 4 weeks. so far, Aaron has stayed home a couple mornings and kept everly, and one day Everly came with me for a few hours. I'm helping with the kindergarten/1st grade class, which is crazy! a lot of these kids come from rough homes so we do a lot of disciplining, but we have a lot of fun, too! A family from Indian Creek came down to help with camp for 2 weeks- the Denny's. Eric and Marcy have 6 kids and they are a great bunch! it's been fun having them around. and i think they are enjoying their adventurous mission trip of living at the middle school!

aaron's been doing a lot too--as always! he's at the bowling alley right now. he said they had to repair a piece of roof that came off, and i think they're getting ready for some volunteers to do a little work on it too. he's also been helping a lady that lives down the street from us who is trying to rebuild her house. she's a Christian and she has been through a lot! her husband died a couple years before the storm and when she left for Katrina she was in a bad car accident- had to have wrist surgery i believe. sometimes we find it strange when someone moves back and has no family here, or much else to move back to, but i think her biggest reason is because her husband built their house. so, without any other items left to remember him by, i think she is trying to hold on to the house for that reason. Aaron has also been becoming quite the tiler. he has been helping another small Church body help a lady with the tile in her house. and i'm sure he's doing more- he always has so much going on that i can't always keep up with it!

well, that's all for this post. Everly is as cute as ever- her hair is getting long and she is getting smarter. we'll have some new pics up soon, i promise!

it's cold up here!

i love indiana mornings.
we woke up at 5:45 this morning to the sounds of birds chirping and a cool breeze coming through the windows. The sun was rising slowly and it was just beautiful coming through the trees. i don't have the luxury of this at home and being here makes me miss it. i love green, the grass in my toes and the shade of a tree!
well, it may be summer here, but they just got a cold front in and it's chilly! to us atleast. we have jeans on and my feet are a little cold. poor everly, mom didn't pack her jeans and socks because we haven't used them in months! but, she doesn't seem to mind. she has a new outfit on today, too, from Grandma Johnson- at little skirt and top duo. so cute.
anyway, we've been able to see most of our family so far and are enjoying our schedule falling into place. everly only had one short nap yesterday, but slept hard at night and is finishing her first nap today! love the flexible baby! :) here's some pictures from yesterday.
opening presents with Grandpa

Everly loves baby Keturah!

holding a daisy with Nana

kisses from Aunt Satora

our friend Tammy came to see us

cousin Audrina tries to teach Everly how to say puppy correctly :)

promised pictures

some recent photos:
for Father's day we made a scavenger hunt with some gifts for Daddy. his card from Everly, for instance, was in the paper!


Aaron got Everly to help him while he was changing his oil


we had to wash the oil out of her hair that night!


we enjoy our night time hugs and books with Everly


she's so sweet when she's sleepy!


Everly and I took a weekend trip to see our friend Claudia who's in Birmingham for the summer. It was soooo nice to go somewhere so green and pretty and to be with a good friend!


Everly and I at one of the B-ham malls.


a couple of just Everly: in her shades...


and taking the shades off!


a great wake-up hello!

the sweetest sound

I've been meaning to update you on our life happenings, and tonight was a very important reason to! I had one of the best moments a parent has with a little one. I was reading to Everly one of her favorite books, "What is Christmas, Anyway?" I know it's not the season, but she loves to look at the pages. It goes through the different traditions of Christmas--making cookies, singing carols, the tree, Santa, etc.--and then gets to Jesus. Now, every time we get to the picture of Jesus being held by his parents, Everly points at him and says "baby." She knows that He is important, and I thought that maybe she thinks because she is/was the baby and life might seem like it revolves around her... atleast in her mind. Nevertheless, she points out baby Jesus on all the pages and I tell her that she's right--that He is important. Well (here's the exciting part!), tonight she didn't just say baby, she repeated after me- "Jesus", in her own little baby talk. :) It made me tear up, to hear my baby say the name of Jesus for the first time. We've been working on getting Everly to learn the names of those we do life with and she doesn't always want to repeat after us, she's a little stubborn! So it was awesome to hear her choose to say the name of Jesus. I had to stop and say a prayer that she would say the name of Jesus for the rest of her life, and then I sang "Jesus loves me" to her. I think it's going to become a favorite song now too. :)

alright, it's late so I'll put some more photos and updates on soon!

fun times with Everly

A picture Aaron took from bath time tonight. We are excited how she is growing to be so smart- she'll hand you the wash cloth or wash herself with it, put her toothbrush under the sink faucet for some water, try to put the milk cap on the jug, and so forth. I was trying to teach her how to dip a cracker into dip the other day, however, and found out that this is too advanced for a 14 month old--her entire hand ended up in the dip! :)

Cruising to Cozumel!

We just returned yesterday from our first cruise to Cozumel! It was a lot of fun relaxing and spending time together without Everly. Here are some pictures:

We embarked from New Orleans on Thursday evening and sailed down the Mississippi River by our own Parish. This was one of Aaron's favorite parts of the trip. Here he is in front of the Domino Sugar Plant in St. Bernard.


We ended up getting a room with two port holes! Aaron's parents said it's rare to get a window, so we were excited :)


The second night of the cruise was the dress-up dinner and Captain's Gala. Here we are sipping free drinks in our fancies while we met the ship's sailing crew.


On Saturday we ported in Cozumel--here's Aaron in front of our ship.


We decided to head to the beach for most of the day we were in Cozumel--it was a cheaper excursion with lunch and drinks all included. They had a trampoline, paddle boats, and an inflatable iceberg to climb! It was a lot of fun!


Of course, it was just nice to relax on the beach, too!



Some other highlights from the trip include:
meeting other people from Chalmette
playing ping pong
aaron playing 21 with some guys and winning!
taking swing & latin dance lessons- both of us! Aaron really enjoyed it, too!
hanging out with our table buddies, Bryan and Toni
watching the dance shows
playing chess on their giant board!
not having to take care of Everly (as much as we love her!)
and sleeping and eating lots!

Some of the low points were:
never being able to get room service, ?
being the quickest ones to lose in the corn hole tournament, ha!
attempting to play miniture golf on the highest deck and the crazy wind kept blowing our golf balls around!
our new spray sunscreen not working that well, and getting a little burnt, mostly Aaron, poor guy!

We were pretty psyched to see Everly when we got home Monday. Her reaction? She just stared at us for about 10 minutes with a confused look on her face, poor girl. She grew so much when we were gone and has a little bit of a different personality, too.

And, pretty much as soon as we got home they started tearing down the house next to us- the lot we'd like to purchase in the future if we can. It was kinda scary with it being so close to the house! here's a picture Aaron took.



well, i suppose that's all. we really appreciated the chance to make this getaway. now we're just trying to get back into the swing of things! No more napping and already prepared meals! :)

jeremiah and our 3rd anniversary

I've been reading Jeremiah and today this verse stood out-

"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Oh Lord God Almighty." 15:16

Our church family talks a lot about where our joy is found. I want to be like Jeremiah--really grasping what it means to bear the name of the Lord, and to find my joy and my delight in His words above all else. That's my prayer today for you and for me!

Also... thank you to all who wished us a happy anniversary! We had a nice dinner last night to celebrate the day, and took Everly with us since we are "getting away" for our anniversary in a week. We are using some vacation money that we were blessed with to take a long weekend cruise out of New Orleans. It goes to Cozumel for one day, and we're pretty excited to just relax and enjoy being a couple. Our friend Amanda is going to watch Everly while we're gone at the house. hmm.... I feel like I've written this before, but I can't remember! Anyway, thank you again!