sweetness

my precious friend whitney took these pictures of natalie back in april 2009 in birmingham...what a sweet surprise to see these proofs in my inbox tonight. i am telling you what...i am a very lucky girl to have such photographically talented friends! thanks whit! check out her website here.

nancy's pictures

my sweet friend nancy took some pictures of natalie last weekend. she did an incredible job, and i love the images she captured...check out nancy's blog for more pics from last saturday morning! thank you so much, nancy!!

the aftermath of the miracle

grateful

Today, mom and dad were in a bad car accident on their way home from dropping Natalie off in Atlanta. It seems that a driver who was traveling northbound lost control of his car, which crossed the median and hit my parents car. My dad's jeep cherokee rolled over several times before landing upside down in the ditch.
Today, I praise God for His protection over their lives.
Today, I am grateful for the passerby's who came to help them get out of their vehicle, which was upside down.
I am grateful for the drivers who stopped to pray for them.
I am grateful that, of all people, the physician who is in charge of all EMT's (emergency medical technicians) in the state of Georgia was driving down I-85 South to a meeting in LaGrange, and just happened to pull up upon the scene right after the accident occurred.
I am grateful to my precious family in LaGrange who saw them through every step of their journey today.
It is terrifying to think of what 'could have' happened. I have had a lump in my throat all evening, and I am just grateful for their survival and relieved that they are okay.
But like mama told me tonight, "no matter what would have happened...either way, God would have taken care of us."
And He does take care of us.
And I have to trust that and be grateful for His sovereignty and provision.
Today, I am beyond grateful for my most amazing parents, and so glad that they are home, [hopefully] resting and recovering from this ordeal.
We love you, Gam and Pappy, and we are praying for you...

Love, us

"The Lord is our refuge and strength; an ever-present help in times of trouble."
Psalm 46:1

happy 4th!

we started the morning at the dunwoody 4th of july parade. my bold little girl immediately wanders across the street to start exploring the crowd. she walks up to everyone and says, "hi", in her sweet little voice!

laying on daddy's shoulder and waving to the firetruck!

"i found a chair!"

we were so excited to discover that cosette and harper were at the parade as well! natalie and harper had some fun together...

later that day, we headed over to tyler's house to visit. tyler is natalie's best friend at daycare. they were born one day apart and they really love each other...it is so sweet!

fixing his collar :)

then we were off to the hipp house for the annual affair...we had so much fun! and natalie LOVED flannery's toys...see john deere tractor above.

she went down the slide about 25 times!

natalie and flannery chilling in the chairs...

sweet liam (and kate and billy) came too! i tried to get a picture of them together, but they were both on the go!

thanks to michelle for pushing nat nat around and cosette for sharing!

show me your teeth...

giving miss ashley a hug after the slide!

we set up shop in the hipp's front yard for the fabulous fireworks show. i couldn't believe natalie made it up that late, but she did great.

she found a buddy just before the fireworks started in miss julia!

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so there we were, my precious family, cuddled up to watch the fireworks on the front yard. it was so fun to see natalie so "grown up" and enjoying the [boom, boom, boom OR boo, boo, boo-as she called it] of the fireworks. i was so thankful for that moment...and for a wonderful day to celebrate our freedom!

the other neat part of the evening was the man who sat just in front of me...one lawn chair up. his story (linked here) is one of a true miracle. and as i watched those fireworks explode, i thanked my God for the miracle and fragility of life and for the simple joys of each day that make this life i live so amazing.

santa rosa trip 2009

We had such an incredible time at Santa Rosa Beach this past week. There was lots of very hot sun, lots of sand, and very special times spent with my precious family! Gam, Pappy, Lonnie and Katy joined our little family as we all embarked on our annual beach trip this year. Natalie got a bad cold the day after we arrived, so the first part of the week was a little rough, but we made it!

Thanks to my sweet family, I did have some time to relax on the beach and get some good reading in. I read the most incredible book this week...same kind of different as me. It was such an amazing story and really gave me a great deal of perspective and lots to think about, especially as a Child of God and in my job as a social worker.

I am very sad that the vacation is over, but glad to be home safely with my family...hope you enjoy the [many] pictures!

table at gam's

natalie LOVES her new table and chairs at gam and pappy's. she could sit there for hours [okay, so 7 minutes is the max], going from chair to chair...pushing the chairs around the room...putting her baby doll in the other chairs...and reading the Paint Pig and Sesame Street books at the table.

little bit

my little bit is growing up too fast! she looks like such a big girl here!

"where's your bellybutton?"

sweet eyes...

celebrating molly

we had lots of fun last weekend celebrating molly's upcoming arrival. i am so excited for my sister, katy, and her husband lonnie. they will be amazing parents and we are all so excited to meet this little blessing!