best friends, take 2

A few posts back I posted an entry entitled, "for Bre," and posted a photo of me with my best friends (minus Nikki). Well, here's one with all of my best friends!

Last night Louisiana came to Texas - homemade crawfish etoufee, red beans and rice, and shirmp fettucine alfredo, topped with a King Cake and Mardi Gras decor. The occasion?


My 32nd birthday!


I think I say it often (well "often" for how little I actually blog these days), but... the ladies you see here in this picture are the cream of the crop. I mean, really. They are regularly encouraging me, pointing me to Jesus, asking me hard questions, walking with me as I endeavor to walk in freedom rather than live under the bondage of religiosity and legalism. They laugh with me. Cry with me. Do silly things with me. Make me a better wife. Make me a better mommy. Make me a better friend. Make me a better follower of Jesus. Which in turn hopefully makes me a better daughter and sister and woman in general.

My entire life the Lord has blessed me with absolutely amazing friends at different seasons of my life. And these are the ladies who are my bestest of friends at this season of life - and, I'm so blessed. So blessed. Lindsey, Bre, Nikki, Michelle, Elizabeth, and Natalie... it is an absolute privilege to be in community and in relationship with such sweet, caring, thoughtful and absolutely wonderful friends. I am a rich woman because of you. Thank you!!

boys will be boys.

"You might be older and bigger than me, Elliot, but...I got you!!"

"Oh yeah? Well, take this, my best friend Josiah!"

"Ah....you boys! What are we going to do with you?"

cleaning up the backyard.

So, we neglected to finish raking leaves in the backyard in the fall. But...spring is coming! It's almost here! And, the boys and I will be in the backyard a lot this spring and summer I'm sure. They "helped" me rake leaves, but mostly enjoyed jumping in the big pile of leaves that I raked. I love making memories with my boys!!

highlights from Colorado

My dad turned 59 this year. On his list of things he'd like to do that he's never done was snow skiing. But as of a couple of weeks ago, it's no longer on his list of things he's never done. He did it!! We did it! We took him skiing!!

We enjoyed a long weekend in Winter Park, CO with my parents, and my sister and her family - our first big family vacation since Daniel and I have been married. And, my dad was AWESOME! We are so proud of him - one day of ski school and two days on the slopes. He was fantastic!! And my mom? She was awesome too! She didn't ski, but she was the babysitter for all 5 of her grandkids (did I mention their ages range from 15 months to 4 years old?) Yes, she's a trooper!!

The last time Daniel and I had been skiing was 5 years ago when we were dating. I have to admit, I was surprised that it came back so easily. I guess it's like riding a bike - once you get the hang of it, it sticks. I mean, when is the last time I rode a bike? But, I'm certain if I jumped on one today, I'd have no problem. Skiing was the same way. Granted, I chose to stay on greens and green/blues. I'd rather enjoy my skiing than be stressed out that I may fall because I'm going too fast or going down too steep of a slope.

Daniel skiied with me some and skiied some with my brother-in-law and sister so he could do some more advanced runs. Here he is skiing "Ski Papa," a bumpy path through the woods.

The boys enjoyed the trip. And we made yet another memory as a family! Thank You, Lord, for being our amazing God. Seeing Your beauty in the snow is yet another reason we give You praise! Really, You are the Master artist. Your creation cries out and sings of Your beauty!

post entry by Daniel.

I love the beauty of my husband's writing. The Lord was really stirring things in him recently as he was reading a passage in Joshua. So, Daniel put pen to paper and wrote out his thoughts. Enjoy the read and be challenged, inspired.

Are you willing to go to war with your brothers?

So the other day, I was reading something in Joshua (chap 22) I had never read before. Backdrop: the Israelites had just entered the Promised Land and were wiping out all the enemies around them. Joshua was divvying up the land among the tribes, and the tribes were starting to occupy their new land, build homes, familiarize themselves with their new surroundings, find the nearest Starbucks, etc.

Well, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh decided to build an imposing altar at Geliloth. As it turns out, they were building this altar as a memorial to show that they belong to the Lord, that they worship the God of Israel in the Temple, that they have an inheritance.

However, the rest of the Israel had heard that they were going to build an altar, and it made everyone nervous. They were afraid that they were building this altar so they could make their own sacrifices, and that they could be turned aside from the LORD by pagan practices. They were ready to go to war against them. Selah. They were ready to go to war with their brothers.

They sent a delegation led by Phinehas the priest to speak with them before they sent an army to bust ‘em all up. They said essentially, “how could you do this? What are you trying to do, get us all killed? If you sin, it affects us all. Don’t you remember when Achan disobeyed God and kept some of the gold for himself? We were all affected by his sin. That’s why we were torn apart by Ai. Why are you trying to destroy all of us? Give us a good answer or you’ve got a war on your hands, brothers.”

The tribes explained their reasoning, war was averted, and all was well. But I was struck by the whole episode. I started to ask myself if I’m willing to go to war with my brothers. We in the Western church live such independent lives that we don’t really think that one person’s sin affects the whole body. We think, “Geez, that guy has got some really wrong views about God. He sees Him as an unloving task master who is always disappointed, angry, and moody. That’s too bad. Hope he gets over that.” We don’t really see that our brother’s wrong view affects the Church. We see someone in our small group who has deep-rooted issues with needing to control everything, or a guy addicted to pornography, or a woman who is negative and biting and sarcastic in everything she says, and we pretty much see that as “their problem” that they need to work on. It’s not just their problem! It’s my problem because we’re part of one Body!

Do I believe that? And am I willing to “go to war” with my brother because of this? Go to war gently, in New Covenant love, but go to war. John Donne said it well:

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee.”

If you see your brothers or sisters in sin, let’s go to loving, compassionate, restorative war with them.

for Bre.

So, my friend Bre asked me to update my blog. And, though this isn't an "update" per say, it is a very fun picture of my very best friends (minus Nikki). I love doing life with these ladies and raising our boys with their boys. And, the preggo one next to me, Michelle, is having her little boy any day now! Little Isaiah, come out when you're ready! We're ready to meet you!!

Here's to you, Bre! I love you and love that you asked me to do this so I'd at least do something with my blog!!!

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

So, we went to a pumpkin patch yesterday morning. My purpose in going to the pumpkin patch was to come home with some great photos of the boys. I'm thinking my expectations are kinda high. I mean, they are almost one and almost two, so coming home with anything decent can be quite the challenge, right? Some of the shots we took in an attempt to get a good photo were priceless....the one of Daniel jumping in the photo on the left and the pumpkin in the forefront of the picture is our favorite! We put a heavy pumpkin in between the boys in an attempt to give them something to be distracted by and something that they couldn't push over. But....I guess we underestimated their strength. ;-) Here it is, along with some of the ones that turned out pretty cute!


No worries, Josiah DID actually get to get away from the photo opps and ran around the pumpkins and sat on the bails of hay. Andrew crawled around and found some hay to chew on himself. Daniel chased Josiah around. We all had a good time! YAY FOR FALL!!

other happenings in the past few months....

Josiah has a best friend. And his name is Elliot.

Elliot and Josiah playing in the back of Elliot's Daddy's truck...

Elliot is 5 1/2 months older than Josiah. They became best friends this past fall. They started hanging out when I went back to work. Elliot and his Mommy, Lindsey, came to keep Josiah. And, their friendship was born. Elliot got a new little brother just one day before Josiah got his new little brother. And, their friendship
became even stronger. Now they talk about the woes and triumphs and joys of being the big brother - and boy, do they have a lot to talk about!

Josiah and Elliot at Elliot's 2nd birthday party - riding horses and catching up on the latest big brother news.

Andrew began propping himself up, getting ready to be a big boy and sit up!

Daniel celebrated birthday #33 with friends at Istanbul Grill in Arlington.

Josiah has a couple of lady friends.

I went back to work at the end of March and a friend of mine kept

the boys for us. She and her daughter came over 2 mornings a week to play with

the boys. Josiah and Naomi fell in love!

Grace is another one of Josiah's friends. We tried to get together with Grace and her mommy about once a month. This picture is at Kindermusik. Grace invited Josiah to be her guest at Kindermusik one morning - he had a blast!

Other fun around our house.

Watching Praise Baby with all of his stuffed animals, the babies hanging out with each other learning how to be brothers, taking Josiah on a date with us by himself to Putt-Putt, playing dress-up with cowboy gear, having a first lick of an ice cream cone, sliding down a BIG slide at our church's carnival (so proud of him!)

the boys.

Well, it's almost June and Andrew is almost 6 months old. I last posted over 2 1/2 months ago. You probably guessed what happened to me... yes! Life has gotten busier with 2 boys and well, lots of things have taken priority over blogging. Though, I do miss it.

Since I haven't blogged in so long and I just got overwhelmed looking at all the pictures I've taken since my last post, I decided I'd just post a series of pics of the boys. Josiah has wanted to hold Andrew from day 1. And now, over 170 days into Andrew's life, Josiah is still wanting to hold him. And, he is sometimes trying to pick him up - THIS is scary! He also tries to sit on Andrew, hug him, pull him out of my lap, kiss him, tickle him, "zerbert" his belly.... he's very interactive with his little brother!

December 4, 2009 - birth day with big brother Josiah, almost 13 months

December 11, 2009 - one week and 13 months

January 4, 2010 - one month and 14 months

January 14, 2010 - 1 month, 10 days and 14 months

January 31 - almost 2 months and almost 15 months

February 10 - 2 months plus a few days

February 14 - almost 2 1/2 months and almost 15 1/2 months

February 27 - 2 1/2 months and 15 1/2 months

February 28 - 2 1/2 months and 15 1/2 months

March 6 - 3 months and 16 months

March 30 - almost 3 months and 16 1/2 months

April 4 - 4 months and almost 17 months

April 20 - 4 1/2 months and 17 1/2 months

May 15 - almost 5 1/2 months and 18 months

life

Life. There is joy, there is sorrow. There is excitement, there is disappointment. But in all circumstances we can rest assured that God is not surprised by anything that happens. And, when the storms come, He will see us through!


Andrew was born with a hole in his heart. He also has a condition called pulmonary stenosis (a valve in his heart doesn't fully open). January 20th we went to our 2nd pediatric cardiologist visit to find out that one of the two issues had resolved on its own - yes, the hole in Andrew's heart had already closed in just 6 short weeks of life. I think this is sooner than most if I'm not mistaken. And here's our little man...



That same week Daniel's dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He'd been having pain in his chest for about a year - the doctor thought it was a pulled muscle. Finally he was encouraged to get a chest x-ray. The x-ray showed fluid on his lungs, and everything went from there. The week following his diagnosis the Audis had planned a trip to see us. Despite the diagnosis, they came. And, we were so glad to have them here! What a special visit it was.

We got to process some of the diagnosis with them, we played games, shared meals, watched Josiah play, read books with Josiah, played in the snow, laughed, prayed, worshiped together. This was the first time Josiah had seen Daniel's parents since July. They are "Grandma" and "Grandpa" to their other 8 grandchildren. To Josiah, they are "Guh" and "Pa-pa". Eventually he'll join the others with the longer names, but for now, I think his names for them are kinda cute!

Here are 3 generations of Audis: Norman, Daniel, Josiah & Andrew Audi.