Pictures from Kellie and Josh's Wedding

As my last duty as a dutiful and attentive bridesmaid and as an ongoing duty as a wonderful friend, I am dedicating a post to Kellie and Josh's wedding.

I'm hoping Kellie's family overseas will be blessed to see these pictures!

caption: the engaged couple engages everyone at the rehearsal dinner

Everyone kept telling Josh how lucky he was.

And Kellie was also being told how lucky SHE was.

Caption: luck abounded equally

Matt and I enjoying visiting with old college friends.

Caption: Yes, they really are this wonderful.

Aforementioned college friend Ashley.

Also sitting at the table was her husband Greg, Suzi Schmoyer, and Matt Snead.

Caption: Let go Josh, she already cut the apron strings :)

Literally.

Caption: Only Amy would post this picture.

Okay, I'm taking a break from captions for awhile.

These are all very beautiful pictures that one of Josh's cousins took.

Annah and Kellie's little brother Terry got engaged that morning!

Grace (on the right) is Kellie's niece.

Kellie's sister Kimmie in the background

Kellie and her sisters Laurie and Kimmie.

Grace is Laurie's daughter.

Broadway pose was totally my call!

Kellie's mother who will always be Ms. Diane to me!

Old Southern habits die hard...

Kellie calling her grandmother (nursing home near Atlanta) right before the ceremony

Kellie and her dad, Mr.Hill.

They have one of the greatest father/daughter relationships I have ever seen.

The creative and personal program

If you are getting married, you might want to consider how they wrote theirs.

Instead of the formal and mysterious traditional descriptions like "Friend of the Groom" or "Nephew" they wrote personal and often comical descriptions. For example, for Kellie's nephew Marcus, under his name it said something like, "Kellie's nephew Marcus is just waiting for the ceremony to be over so he can go back to the hotel and play on the elevator and go swimming." Simon's said "Simon has helped Josh master the fine art of zombie slaying by only using a plastic clothes hanger." All were personal and some were serious, too. The description of Kellie's sister Laurie said something like, "Kellie's older sister Laurie excitement and joy when she became a Christian made Kellie want to know Christ, too."

That was all from memory and not verbatim, but you probably get the idea.

The music selections were very worshipful.

The wedding party came down to "All Creatures of Our God and King" (the relatively new passion-hymn remix) and Kellie came in towards the end of Chris Tomlin's "Glory in the Highest"

Mr. and Mrs. Josh Johnson walked down the aisle to the doxology.

Oh, and the two ring-bearers weren't stuck carrying a lacy and empty pillow down the aisle. Kellie and Josh gave the boys a gift the night before, and that's what they carried.

Marcus and his new yellow truck.

Simon and his new sword.

Josh as Kellie walked towards him

Love how Simon is standing guard here!

Little Terry and Annah

(He proposed that morning)

Evie was a bit timid right after the ceremony.

Josh's parents

Josh's two sisters Jackie and Jill

Jackie was my R.A. my first semester at Bryan College.

The super awesome video my super awesome husband made for them

How could you not love them?

Wait, Josh is laughing at his new mother who was crying!

Ms.Diane half-crying/half-laughing saying that she deserved to cry and have a meltdown.

And Josh is now holding in his laughter.

But now, Kellie is having fun at her mother's expense.

I can just imagine Mr.Hill threatening Kellie,

"Now, you better tell Josh to take good care of you or we're coming to get you back."

so long

"What is love?" dedicated to Matt

"What is love?" Evie breaks out into some interpretative dance moves.

Evie and I both miss Matt during the day.

Thankfully he is able to come home for lunch sometimes and brighten our day!

The adult interaction is nice for me, too!

Fun Times

This is an old picture of Evie, but it makes me laugh.

It's helpful, since Evie is in the less-cooperative two year old stage,

to look back and remember how cute she was ... and still is ... and will be.

This too shall pass.

I know that. Things I used to get so stressed out with concerning Simon .. well, he grew out of them. Life gets easier as they get older and can COMMUNICATE!

So, I see the light at the end of the tunnel and am not going to get worked up as much.

I hope.

But, as my mother has reminded me, I was a very late communicator.

And, since Evie takes after me in so many ways, it seems like she will also be following the late-to-talk route. My parents thought I was mentally challenged, and when I did speak, it was so unclear that they thought I was severely hearing-impaired (or mentally challenged.) So, they took me to a speech-therapist and did some IQ tests and found out nothing was wrong with me.

This helps me not worry as much about Evie and it also helps me to be more patient with her. I can imagine it would be really frustrating to not be able to communicate well.

Our new-to-us car!

Yay-we are no longer a one car household.

It's been a fun 15 month challenge, but it will be nice to have a vehicle during the day now!

It's an '07 Suzuki sx4 with optional all wheel drive (better for our mpg!)

Simon likes the fact that the wheels say 'Hotwheels.'

The next 12 pictures are from the Dallas Arboretum. Simon was out of school two days last week, and on Tuesday, we went to the Arboretum. The weather was nice, even though the flowers are definitely lacking this time of year.

It was Matt's idea for me to go to the Arboretum.

I was half-crazy on Monday and he suggested

I just get out of the house with the kids the next day.

It was a great idea. I'm thankful for such a patient and understanding husband!

We spent most of our time in the old pioneer village there.

These pictures are from the inside of the chapel.

I forgot how much fun it is to walk and pick up Simon from school.

(When the weather is nice.)

Today my friend Kellie is over and I was able to walk by myself to get Simon while she stayed here and Evie slept.

Simon yelled at a man riding his bike, "HEY! I LIKE YOUR TATOOS. THEY'RE COOL!"

Simon is very friendly.

This is me only 1/4th crazy.

By the next day I was normal and felt like I had a new lease on life.

Funny how those two days come around every month .... :)

Our first spinach smoothies!

My sister in law Tania makes these all the time,

and I'm glad I finally got around to trying them!

Simon made this.

It is a .........

camera.

Simon made this.

It is a .........

monkey.

Our finished product - smores cupcakes!

Simon got to choose the dessert we made one night when our friends the Johnsons were coming over. Their son Caeden was going to karate with Simon that night - it was 'bring a buddy week' which I fear is just a marketing technique, but whatever.

Simon really took the idea of deciding what to make for dessert seriously.

He wanted to make chocolate chip sandwiches.

I told him not to be so original, so we found this recipe in the Southern Living Cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas.

Unwrapping our chocolate for the cupcakes' centers.

Tonya Kelly - Simon loves this animal you gave him!

I guess he reconciled himself to the fact it wasn't an alligator :)

This is Evie sick.

We've had a rotating share of it.

Nothing too bad.

yes!!!!

When I first got the wii fit I was '48' but I'm already down to 32 years old!

I love the wii fit my mom and dad gave me for Christmas!

I never thought I would like a video-game accessory so much!

I think the little miis are so cute exercising and Simon and I have had a lot of fun with the different activities! I'll have to take some pictures of the screen every now and then with some of the 'funny' things it tells me!

Wii Fit laughs

Matt and I were dying of laughter while he did the 3 minute Super-Hula Challenge on the Wii Fit Plus. I ran and got the camera and caught the last 30 seconds when he was so tired. Seriously, it is very difficult at the end if you try and get a lot of points.

I have Matt's permission to post this.

A Glimpse of Our Dealings Around Christmas

Our friends the Fletchers.

I stole this picture from Megan's blog.

We were excited to sit with them and pass time together during GFA's Christmas Part.

Aren't they a cute family?

I feel like a creepy person stealing pictures, but some pictures should not be kept to yourself.

This is Ava, daughter of our friend's Tony and Teressa.

Those pigtails are so precious!

Tony took this photo of Matt and I at the GFA Christmas Party.

This is the end of stolen pictures.

(I had forgotten our camera that night.)

Simon mesmerized by a very cool guitar train track at the Gaylord hotel in Grapevine.

Simon and I walked around the hotel and took turns taking pictures.

Simon's friend Noah was there.

My mom in the first of many charity photo-ops.

We teased her that it was like a celebrity visiting refugees the way she would grab a kid and pose for a pictures.

Wonder how I got such a good smile from Simon?

He was stuck on this high box and I wouldn't help him down until he gave me a good smile.

Taylor and Evie.

Oh, another photo op!

A very tall toy soldier on stilts.

My mom drove with the kids and I to the Southeast. Then, on Christmas Eve, my dad and Matt had an early flight from DFW to ATL where they picked up a rental car and met us in Pendleton/Toccoa.

At a Chick-fil-A we stopped at on the way to Georgia, Simon had a very funny conversation with a little blond, blue-eyed girl about age 8.

Guarding the door to the playplace he said, "You can't go outside until you eat, Sweetie." Then he was so excited, "Hey! I know you! You're on my Praise Baby DVD. But you're all growed up now."

In the hotel we stayed at on our road trip - Simon said, "This is the BEST DAY EVER!" Mom asked why. He said, "Because it was a road trip."

I guess my mom's enthusiasm wore off on him.

She really enjoys road trips.

My parents had their van serviced and let us use it on the trip since ours is much more endowed with miles and sometimes has issues in cold weather. Plus, we would have had to buy new tires for ours ... not a fun purchase in such a tight month as December!

Plus, they were able to get Matt a ticket using one of their free-tickets they earn with their credit card so that was all a huge help in the Christmas traveling.

Simon took this picture and the following two pictures.

I am very impressed with Simon's pictures.

courtesy of Simon

our talented child when it comes to photography, art, and drumming

Some hand puppets Simon and I made.

We had our family 'Christmas' one weekend morning.

Matt told the Christmas story and Simon helped 'act' it out with our wooden nativity.

Evie undressed herself so I had her open a gift first that had something to wear in it.

Our fluffy little bunny.

She loves this thing!

I didn't take many pictures that day.

Simon received some art supplies, books on drawing, and some phonics manipulatives.

We have fun making crazy sentences with them.

Gigi and TWO rescued children.

good pic!

My dad and Matt discussing the Cowboys.

Scott and Tania - still newlyweds at only 5 months or so!

Simon liked the entertainment of the hibachi meal!

My sister's late 18-th century home in Toccoa Falls, Georgia.

They just put up this picket fence that I think will be painted white ... ?

Not a real snake on her foyer floor...

Gigi and the natives who are literally pulling their own hair out.

This is currently ALL of the counter space and cabinets my sister has.

That is the cost of living in a very beautiful old home.

The closets and storage spaces are small because they didn't accumulate as much stuff as we do!

Kelly and Corey are in the process of combining a huge bedroom and living room to make a big kitchen. Well, Kelly is pregnant so really Corey is doing it all.... ;)

It will have exposed brick and possibly the original fire place can stay.

The deck area they added last year.

Matt taking his turn with the natives.

Evie and Blaize are only 5 months apart, with Evie in the lead.

Love it!

Sitting in the living room that will one day be part of the kitchen.

The four cousins in matching sweaters by family!

And the brunette is the odd-ball.

Funny.

Kelly's festive fare.

My grandmother's house in Pendleton, SC.

Only an hour's drive from my sister's place in Toccoa Falls, Georgia.

Early on Christmas morning, Simon was helping Granny set the table. His job was to put a chocolate santa at each place-setting.

We don't 'do' Santa so Christmas provided many ops for me to get nervous that Simon would frantically and insistently tell a child that Santa was not real.

This did not happen.

Whew.

Matt and I took a walk Christmas afternoon.

This pic is looking back at my grandparent's place and you can see my Uncle Wayne walking in the distance. We passed them and he was of course wearing hunting gear and going for a walk - with his gun - just in case. Because, as he said, if you don't have a gun, that's when you'll see the most beautiful deer.

Kellie's Wedding Day - New Year's Day.

Doesn't she look beautiful?

I'm going to find some more wedding pic from somewhere - probably facebook and post them.

I was too busy to remember to take many pictures!

Thanks for making me smile, Kellie.

Kellie was getting her hair done here.

You know you love us.

The 'kid' table at the rehearsal dinner the night before.

It was like a college reunion with all of the people there!

Matt making breakfast quesadillas one morning at his parent's home in Ringgold, Georgia.

Ringgold is about an hour south from Dayton, TN where the wedding was, and where we went to college.

This is one zombie I love.

Evie cleaning up at my Grandmother's home in Cartersville, GA.

Cartersville is about an hour south of Ringgold.

Nice how God arranged all of this for us when he put Matt and I together.

Matt bonding with my cousin Mason.

Apparently they like the same games.

They will probably play on xbox live sometime together, now that they have exchanged usernames.

Annah - my cousin Eric's little girl.

My crazy guy.

Matt's mom admiring the picture that Matt's dad painted.

Simon and Matt's brother Ollie.

Ollie is really good about spending lots of time just playing with Simon.

Outside Matt's parents home after church on Sunday.

I am going to get cute pictures of my children in these matching sweaters!

Ollie's dog Maggie wearing the spunky outfit we gave her.

Riding along with the McDaniel Fam

Believe it or not, we really have fun on road trips. I think we realize splitting the drive and staying in a hotel is what makes it more fun because we don't really have to 'stretch' the kids too far.

On our way back to Texas the kids watched movies, read books, and I read "Stuart Little" by E.B. White to Simon. Really, it turned out that Matt was more interested in it than Simon. Matt likes cute little storybook mice.

I love in the video above how Evie is also kicking her feet. You'll see Matt's captivating routing with my pink back massager that has been everywhere with us - hospital rooms, India, Europe. It's a well-traveled piece of plastic. It can usually take care of a headache better than Tylenol.

You'll also noticed how loaded our van is, with our stuff and we brought back most of Kellie and Josh's gifts from the wedding, including the big box with the new tv in it. Matt was so sweet and carefully boxed it up for them, taped the box and treated it with care, even lugging it into our hotel room so it wouldn't risk being stolen.

Calcutta - Purulia - Back to Calcutta

My last post on India stopped when we had gone to Calcutta from Delhi.

We arrived in Calcutta and went to our hotel there, but we didn't stay the night.

We left our things there and packed an overnight/day bag.

We went to the Calcutta train station around 9.

Left around 11 p.m. on an 8 hr overnight trip to Purulia where the ministry does leper ministry.

We arrived in Purulia EARLY in the morning and went to a hotel there where we freshened up and then had breakfast and then went out on a day where we saw and experienced amazing sites.

This is on the train after we put up the 'bed' and were getting ready to arrive.

Even though the quality of this picture is horrible, I had to include it because it helps me remember one of the worst mornings of my life!

I had developed a horrible sinus headache/migraine in the night, but couldn't really sit up to help relieve it - there was nothing - no distraction no way to take medicine -- to take my mind off the pain.

Oh, look!

Here's my friend Debbie- she was in our 'car' on the train.

It slept six - three 'bed' to a side so it was Debbie, Jeanne, myself, Matt, one of the brothers from the field, and Philip, the pastor from San Antonio who was on our trip.

That's Matt taking out his contacts the night before.

Yep, that's how much room you have.

Oh, back to my headache.

When everyone was moving around, I could take some migraine medicine and some people prayed for me back at home and I was better an hour or so later!

It was pretty treacherous ground for a bit.

I was just silently crying from pain - I mean, how 'honestly' can you cry when a brother from the field and a pastor you don't really know are sitting right across from you?

Debbie was an angel though and took care of me, providing me with kleenex upon kleenex and helping me get more comfortable.

BUT, all of that was worth it to see this!

Look at her!

This is one of the two leper colonies we visited. We were giving out food.

It was very surreal.

And ... they gave us gifts - they honored us with flowers and two wrapped gifts - a nice journal and pen for each of us and then we get to pass out food - that we didn't even purchase and parcel out but the brothers and sisters were letting us have that honor. They were taking no reputation for themselves.

It was like stacking debt upon debt as we received honor upon honor.

It was eye-opening to just experience what life is like for these people who LIVE here - to imagine. And to think about the sacrifice of those who come here to serve.

The missionaries get to be the very hands of Jesus to these people as they EVERYDAY change the dressing on the leper's wounds. For those who can't come out, they come to them!

Day in, Day out.

This Sister was so sweet - she is a good friend of my friend Rachael here.

Later, on our trip, when we went to GFA's seminary, I heard that this particular student feeling called here and praying for the grace to come was really a great example to many other students who have followed her example.

She liked my glasses.

Jesus Well in action - bringing clean water right to you!

A Goat!

Have you bought some goats yet for a Dalit family in India?

Go to gfa.org and go to the Christmas catalog and have fun shopping.

This is where people live.

There is a Jesus Well right here - think about how much cleaner it is for them to have water that isn't being used by animals and people to bathe in.

Feeling happy yet lame - (for all of the honors being heaped on us)

As I focus on all the light, don't forget about all the darkness that is right there.

I think being surrounded by so much exciting Gospel-work it was hard to really sense the depravity of so many.

Kind of looks like all the store fronts in India - glass canisters lined up.

I guess the ubiquitous 'strip malls' are universal.

The Brother on the right has a ministry of making specific-shoes for the lepers. He was trained on how to measure there feet and make shoes that work for whatever state of disease they are in. Matt videotaping here.

One of our new friends.

Okay, the Brother in the back left standing.

I'd have to look at him twice and make sure he was there sometimes.

It was eerie how much like-Christ this man was.

Never, ever in my life have I been around someone and felt like they were not of this earth.

If Christ were here walking around, I think he'd act like this man, have the same expressions and mannerisms and love as this man.

Yes, you can get in the HOV lane.

WHY do we buy so much for our children here in America?

They hardly even appreciate it or pay attention to it because they have so much and are so distracted by media.

Sorry.

Off the soap box now.

Children at the second Leper Colony we visited.

Front left reminds me of a little girl we used to know!

(Cynthia in case you know her)

Here's our buddy just naturally and instinctively engaging and connecting with the kids.

This Brother serves in Calcutta but came along on the train ride with us.

Matt and I really spent a lot of time with him

and felt like we really got to know him, and him us.

Just the street in their 'neighborhood.'

I know you want to just scoop them up.

We were able to spend some time with these children and pass out more bags - that we didn't acquire and put together, but, it was a gift to us to be able to do that.

The people gathering for a quick meeting and exhortation.

I see pictures like this, and I have already forgotten so much of that day.

I'm glad we have pictures to remind us of what life is like somewhere else.

Not so we can feel sorry for others or feel guilty about ourselves, but so that we can have a 'shelf of realism' about the world on which to hang our thoughts and prayers.

It was a very spiritually-healthy experience to spend so much time around people who have so little and around people who have so much to give of Christ.

Yeah, so these are the girls we later scared with Matt's elephant impersonation.

It came across as scary instead of funny, I fear.

The tires are holding down someone's ROOF.

This is back in Calcutta - somehow I don't have pictures of our return train trip.

We were able to go see Mother's Teresa's ministry site and burial place.

Oh, and a personal testimony as to God not giving you more than you can handle.

Somehow, on both 8 hour train rides, I did not have to go to the bathroom.

I heard what they were like and was so thankful for the grace that I didn't have to find out for myself. See, God remembered that I am the one who cried the first time I had to use a port-o-potty. And that was in Ringgold, GA at a Civil War re-enactment.

I'm sure He thought if I handled that so well (sarcasm) that He'd protect me a bit in India.

Some machine being used to help build the church building.

Look at this sweet Brother taking such good care of the equipment!

Our buddy

The puppets were a hit, even at a ladies' Bible College.

One of the leaders really liked the puppets and wanted to be in the 'show.'

I think I was sharing my testimony here and some scripture.

Don't worry, I went before the puppets.

They aren't an act you want to follow.

O Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Sometimes at this time of year, I have huge mood swings.

I go from happy carefree dancing around with my kids to fun Christmas music

to bawling when I read them A Tale of Three Trees.

Really, who can read that without crying?

I get so excited with Simon about all the fun Christmas things, then I grab him and get all teary-eyed telling him what a gift it was, that God became a little boy .... "Think about what it means, Simon! Jesus was a boy, living here on earth, just like you, so when you pray, you have a great High Priest who can sympathize with you ...." Well, I am a bit clumsy with my words with 5 year old Simon, but it is so exciting despite my articulations.

And ... here is something exciting for you ....

related to the word .... "comfort"

Maybe you'll think of it when you sing,

"O tidings of comfort and joy...."

this season

"God's comfort doesn't walk on tiptoe, as in a sickroom; it marches.

There is steel at its backbone.

It is a bugle call for reinforcements.

It makes us remember that the word 'comfort' is derived

from the word fortis - which means strong.

God comforts us with strength by adding resources.

His way is not to whittle down the problem but to build up the resources."

-- Catherine Marshall in To Live Again - a book I planned on skimming but had to give it more attention than I had planned

And from one of her late husband's (Peter Marshall) sermons:

"There is no hint or intimation anywhere in the Gospel

that they who follow Him shall never hunger

or be out of work

or be left alone.

No, there is no hint of such immunity....

But there is the promise of something far better....

the promise of deliverance...

not from these things...

but in these things.

There is an air of reality about the Gospel....

It is not a fairy tale in which Cinderella's rags

are changed into the robes of a queen...

but rather a promise in which Cinderella in her rags

becomes more queenly."