Visits with friends

We were able to hang out with some of the Brown girls recently. Austin Kate was greatly missed, but she was having a blast in Grammyland. Can I just put it on record how happy I am that they are back in NC. I am pretty sure that 85 is gonna get some miles between our two families visiting :)

I could eat her!

The two redheads

Some Zeke and Ave loving

This picture doesn't do justice to these thighs!

Zeke loves him some Jaime...or her camera...

Soulmates

Quick story: While on a double date, years ago, with Nate and Jaime we found this ship at Frankie's. Check out the name of the ship. We saw it and fell in love! I told Jaime if they ever had another girl that they HAD to use this name. Here is a picture of Atalie with her namesake. Jaime, I think it should be a photo op every time ya'll come this way.

Success!

Spence and I are marriage mentors for our church's Preparing for Marriage course. I so wish we had this when we got married, it is the coolest program, I think. Basically, if you want to be married by a Summit pastor, you have to be a part of this. It includes a weekend of seminars, a mentor couple who has been married for at least 5 years, and a set of afternoon class seminars. Spence and I have had one flop of a couple (never even met them, so I don't count it as a fail). But our second couple was a complete success! We got our couple because Spence teaches a portion of the weekend and he mentioned while teaching in January that we needed a couple. Robbie approached Spence afterwards and Spence came home excited to introduce me to them the following weekend. I, on the other hand, was a bit nervous because this wasn't a thought out matching. We didn't know anything about these people. What if they had serious problems? What if they were socially awkward? What if we didn't mesh? All these thoughts were laid to rest after our first dinner together. I ADORE Lauren and Robbie! They were wonderful! We had Sunday dinners with them for about 6 months. Spencer performed their wedding July 16. It was such a blessing to get to know them. We are heartbroken that they will be moving to Philadelphia so that Robbie can go to med school. We hope that one day they will move back and we can live life some more together.

So cute dancing at their rehearsal. (his dad had them dance their last dance together before marriage, love it!)

Mr. & Mrs.

TOO CUTE!

New necklace

I have a friend, Libby. She is amazing. She made this necklace for me. I haven't taken it off since I got it. Check her out.

Bed, Bubbles, and Buddies

I realized that I haven't taken as many sleeping pictures of Ben as I have of Zeke, so I snuck in towards the end of his nap. Of course, after the first picture he woke up, but as you can see he woke up pretty happy.

Sweet sleeping baby boy

OH, Hello there!

Coming to see mama

PEEK-A-BOO!!

I love you buddy!

Zeke had his first bubble bath, and he loved it! He has asked for them every night since (we actually used up the last of it that night, so he hasn't gotten another). Does anyone have a good recommendation for bubble bath for sensitive skin, but will bubble up? Mr. Bubble wasn't so great for lots of bubbles, but it didn't break him out, so we may have to just use that.

I love this face!

Cheese!

Look closely, he has a bubble beard

I am really slack on this one, these are from 4th of JULY! Our sweet friends the Clarks and Kecks and Nate came over. The Clarks (Matt, Alicia, and Brantley) live here and Matt works on staff at the church, but we have known them since he and Spence were at UNC together. Brantley was born 3 days after Ben. (He was the 4th staff baby born that week! Insane I know) The Kecks (Logan, Melissa, and Ruby) are church planters in Boston. Spence and Logan lived together in college for 3 years. Nate's family (Heidi, Hannah, Noah, and Tyler) couldn't all make it (Tyler is itty bitty, like just a couple weeks old at that time), but he also lived with Spence in college and attends the Summit. Here are some fun pictures from our time together.

B-boy's sweet smile

I L.O.V.E. Ruby's ruffle bootie

Ben and Brantley are buddies

We also got a chance to go and hang out a few weeks ago at the Dunn household. Abby and Charlie are expecting their first little girl in October. Abby had over some friends to help get the nursery ready. We came over too, definitely not to help, but we provided entertainment :) Of course I have no pictures of the room- she is doing a gray room with dark furniture and yellow accents, I am thinking of moving in, it's GORGEOUS! BUT I did get pics of Ben and his bestie Max.

Max and Ben- could there be a more opposite looking pair?

AND Max made out with Abby's dog Tucker

Cows, Climbing, and other Cuteness

Here are some long awaited pictures. We celebrated cow appreciation day on July 9 (our anniversary), Ben has become quite the adverturer, and I help host a baby shower for my sister-in-law.

Daddy Cow

Gaston Cows

Holt wasn't so sure about the cow

Zeke loved him and kept mooing at him

Ben has started exploring

He gets himself into places he can't get out of

Ben hung out with his buddy Landon (his mommy is a lifelong friend my my Meredith Lil Sis)

Sophie likes chocolate

Me and the mommy

Seriously cried over this- this is one of Michelle's bffs, Lizzie, she lives in California and hasn't seen Michelle preggy at all. She flew in just for the shower. This is her feeling the baby for the first time. It was the sweetest thing.

Zeke loved playing downstairs at my mom and dad's. This is a bear that Spence won for me from the State Fair when we were in college.

Before we get back into life

I just have to say thank you for your prayers and support over the past couple weeks. It has been amazing how people have reached out to Keva and Trevor through me. But what has also blown me has been how you have reached out to Spence and me. It has definitely been a hard walk and will continue to be as we grieve with our dear friends. I have been completely astounded at your generosity, kindness, prayers, and love shown to not only our hurting friends but to us as well. Please continue to pray for Trevor, Keva, Micah, and Isaac. If you haven't read Trevor's words from Chai's funeral or his thoughts about how God prepared him for this, please visit their blog.

Blog Break

I will be taking off this coming week. This past week was an absolute roller coaster of emotions. I have tons to blog from a few weeks back as well, but those are just going to have to wait. In the meantime I am going to hug and love on these sweet ones a little more. I'll be back July 26. Love ya'll

Our church is hurting

We have had a rough week. You know about our dear friends, but our church family has been rocked by more tragedy. A dear sweet church member lost her battle with cancer. One of Spence's small group leaders, Bob, lost his son in the terrorist attack in Uganda. If you live in the RDU area, you also saw about the plane crash that injured Bob's other son who was coming to be with the family. We are on our faces crying out to the Lord. We are not turning our back on our faith, it is pulling us closer to Him and each other. I pray that it will point you to Christ as well. For a post with more information, read our pastor's blog.

Atwood Family Update

Chai Samuel Atwood went home to heaven this afternoon. While we mourn his death, we know that he is in heaven. Keva reminded me tonight that his name means "Alive". While we may be grieving his death, she is reminded and reminded me that he is not dead. He is alive in heaven with our Lord and Savior. In his short 24 hours of life, Chai Atwood has brought glory and fame to God. If you have any questions about the mighty God we serve, please ask. I would love to share His great love for you with you.

Prayer Update

Meet Chai Samuel Atwood. He weighed in at 2lbs, 6 oz and is 14 in long. He is currently in critical condition. He has an infection in his lungs, is carrying blood and his blood oxygen levels are low. Please pray for healing from his infection. Pray for the next 24 hours for him. Pray for his doctors. Pray for his parents to find their strength in the Lord.

Chai has arrived

For the full story please check their blog. Also please sign up for meals. Even if you do not live nearby, you could order food to be delivered or something that Trevor could just run to pick up. I know that they will greatly appreciate it. Please also continue to pray, this journey is no where near over and they greatly covet your prayers through this.

Chai will be here soon

Please pray for his arrival. Keva has been taken in for a c-section because of a risk of infection. I'll update when I know more

Pray for the Atwood Family

This is the Atwood Family: Micah, Trevor, Keva and Isaac. Trevor is on staff with Spence up at the church. Keva is my bff (but so much more than that 8th grade term can grasp). Micah and Isaac are some of Zeke's favorite play pals.
They desperately need your prayers. Long story short, Keva is 26 weeks and 5 days pregnant with a high risk pregnancy. The entire pregnancy they have known she probably wouldn't make it to 40 weeks, but we were all praying for her to make it to at least 30. Keva was admitted to Duke early this morning because her water broke. They are working to keep their baby, Chai (like kite with out the "t"), inside and keep them both infection free for as long as possible. It is really a waiting game right now as to when he will make his grand appearance.
We all know that God knew this was going to happen. We know that this is His plan and we know that He is perfect. We are praying that His glory will be shown through this situation. We are praying for Chai and Keva's health. Specifically tonight we are praying they make it to the morning with out having Chai.
You can read more about what is going on through their blog. If you live in the area, please sign up to take them a meal. No matter where you are, please lift them up to the mighty God we serve.

6 and 6

Spencer and I dated for six years before we got married. As of today, we have been married for six years. I want to tell you my top 6 reasons for why Spencer is the best husband and then share some pictures from each year of our relationship.

1. He is a man of God. This man strives to be like Jesus each day. He is truly the feet to the Lord each day with his job. He desires for people to grow closer in their knowledge of God and to do that through the community of their local body of believers. Those of you at the Summit know that his greatest joy is plugging people in and getting them connected into a great small group.

2. He is a servant for me and our family. He puts me before himself constantly. This wonderful man gets up every single morning with our boys and lets me sleep generally another hour and a half.

3. He works extremely hard outside the home as well. He loves the Lord and desires for others to know Him intimately as well.

4. He is a fabulous father. He adores our boys. They are truly his best friends and he loves hanging out with them. Some dads are just in the same room with their kids, not Spence. He is down on the floor with both of them crawling all over them. He teaches them about sports, gardening, God, and so much more. He walks through the door after work, ready to take over and jumps right in to my aid most days.

5. He is a lifelong learner. This is huge for me. He is constantly reading something and talking about it with me. I love that even after all this time we still have so much to talk about.

6. He forgives me easily. He never holds a grudge and quickly offers forgiveness to me. Trust me that in the past two years this has been especially wonderful.

7. He is my very best friend. There is absolutely no one else I would rather hang out with. I look forward to when he gets home just because I miss him during the day. There is no one else in the world that I would want to be walking through life with than him. I am beyond honored to be called Spence's wife and to share the title of Ben and Zeke's parents with him.

NOW to the pictures:

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003
June 18, 2003- the night we got engaged!
July 9, 2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010