4 years ago...

Four years ago today I was teaching an ESL class of Somalis in Arlington on Collins Street. This guy who I worked with at Catholic Charities had been volunteering to help me in my ESL classes some after he had worked a full day. I was oblivious to the fact that volunteering in an ESL class after having already worked 8 hours that day with refugees was probably a sign that this guy had some interest in me. Until....he started emaling me pretty regularly - like, every morning before work and sometimes in the evening, responding to whatever I had replied to him, or inviting me to play tennis with him, or inviting me to hang out at the house where he lived with 7-8 other guys who were a part of a discipleship program at his church. And then, he invited me to meet him at Starbucks on Hulen in Fort Worth. Originally, we were supposed to meet later that weekend because his brother was moving to Arlington that particular October 13th. However, his brother was gonna be late getting in, so he asked if I wanted to bump up the coffee date a couple of days. YES! I did! I was fascinated by this guy. I hadn't really figured him out to this point (and even 4 years later, I'm not sure that I have either!) but I was interested in learning more about him.

That October evening he invited me to dive deep into the mystery of knowing him. He asked me to be his girlfriend! And, I said yes...and the rest was history!

3 months and 3 weeks later, he asked me to be his wife...

Almost 5 months later, we stood at the altar and promised our lives to each other...

Now, 4 years later, we have an 11 month old and I'm 7 months pregnant with our 2nd child, another son.

Tonight we returned to that same Starbucks and enjoyed another coffee together. Daniel worte me a note 4 years ago asking me to be his girlfriend. Tonight I got a note again, an on it were his thoughts of the past 4 years, his wonder at the Lord's works in us these past four years.

How could we have ever known 4 years ago all that would be in store for us at this point? We couldn't. But, the Lord has filled our lives, our marriage, with many, many blessings. And, today we celebrate that great day when He began this story - the story of the Audis!

a visit to the pumpkin patch

The weather here has been amazingly cool and delightful the past couple of days. Today it averaged about 55 degrees throughout the day. We took advantage of the nice weather and went to a pumpkin patch that is just down the street from us. We discoverd it about a week or so ago and wanted to go last weekend, but the rain never let up. Today, though, was perfect! Here are a few of my favorites from today....

oh so close

Josiah wants so badly to walk. He started out by cruising - pulling up on furniture (usually the coffee table) and taking a couple of side steps. That progressed into cruising around and around the coffee table. And then, around and around his exersaucer his music table. Then he began pulling up and side-stepping using just about anything - the wall, any furniture, our legs.... He used to need to hold on to our hands with both of his hands in order to have the balance he needed to walk. Now, he's completely content and balance with just holding on with one hand. I attribute this to recent practice with a hand-me-down push toy from his 2 1/2 year old friend, Caroline. Now, Caroline being a girl means that her toys sometimes have pink on them. And, yes, this push toy has a pink and another pinkish wheel. But, since Josiah doesn't care and we don't care for now, we're just content to get such a great toy from a friend! And, Josiah LOVES it! He pushes it back and forth in our living room until he runs into something. And, often he's able to figure out how to maneuver the push toy in order to get started again. So smart!

Of cousre, we didn't get this next thing I'm reporting on video - who does actually get a baby's FIRST anything on video - would anyone be so lucky??? Well, Josiah took his first step this past Thursday! He's been transferring lately from holding onto one object and grabbing another one, but this past Thursday, he clearly let go of the push toy, took one step, and grabbed onto his baby rocking chair. Daniel had just gotten home from work and we were both watching him, so....Daniel says this DEFINITELY counts as Josiah's first step! He' s such a proud Daddy and was so glad to get to be here for a "first."

our little noise maker

Josiah has proven himself to be quite the noise maker - I know, I know....WHERE in the WORLD would he get that from? ;-)

Anything that he can shake or beat together or bang on a table, he discovers and with a huge grin on his face and excitement in his expression he makes lots and lots of noise!! ....that's our boy!!