Like father, like daughter

I always say "It's been way too long since I have posted..." So I'll just move on...
I want to catch up on a few posts that I have been meaning to write for several weeks.
Let's start with Father's Day...

Father's Day was just a few days after Nate's birthday so we had several days of fun celebrating him. (He is the most fabulous after all, and he deserves it!) We spent the morning at church and came back home to let Zoe get her nap in. After she woke up, she got into her Father's Day outfit...here it is:

Adorable, right? Her gift to her Daddy was a football jersey (that's what the rest of the world calls soccer, apparently) so she dressed the part. She almost looked like a little boy, so we had to put a barrette in her hair to make her a little more "girly." Nate loved it. 

That night, we went to a beautiful little restaurant on the water (we had a gift certificate!) and had the most wonderful time. We got there in time to watch the sun go down and with quite a bit of breeze in the air, it was so nice. Zoe sat and watched the ocean and ate her pretzel sticks until it got dark and after that she sat and watched the little girl at the table next to us. It was a perfect end to a fantastic weekend!!

happy birthday to nate!

So, the love of my life turned 26 on Thursday. The day started with his favorite breakfast—breakfast casserole and the first presents of the day. For years, Nate has been wanting Converse Chuck Taylors…and he finally got them, along with some brand new socks (this guy did not own a sock without a hole). 

For my birthday, my parents got me one of those insulated cups with a straw and Nate has been so jealous ever since, so one of the gifts from my parents to him was his very own insulated cup with straw!! He was super excited.

Later that afternoon, our good friends and neighbors were so sweet and watched Zoe while we went to a movie. We saw Prometheus and had our favorite caramel popcorn and soda at the theater. When we got home, he opened the rest of his gifts. He got a new shirt, a new book, lots of candy and snacks, and a movie from my parents. For dinner, Nate requested Creole Chicken Pasta and we had a marathon of Parks & Rec. Lots of fun!

The next day, we went out to dinner with some friends here to celebrate and Zoe & I cooked a funfetti birthday cake to share at dinner. His birthday isn’t quite over…he is still awaiting a big gift from his parents in the mail which should arrive shortly. It won’t be a surprise, but he is super pumped about it!

The past few days have been a much needed break and relaxation from the events of earlier this week…more to come on that soon! But for now, happy birthday to my most amazing husband who I love with all my heart!!

the countdown has begun...

That is the countdown to our Stateside Assignment!! We are at less than 6 months now. Since we got our four volunteers in January, we have been going-going-going absolutely non-stop. And since they left almost 2 weeks ago, we have had a chance to reflect back, look ahead, and catch our breath. It's weird and exciting that we will be spending our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in 3 years at HOME! We are looking forward to family, friends, our church home, shopping, cold weather, Chick-Fil-A, Olive Garden, Taco Bell (well, I could go on and on with places to eat so I better stop there). We have soooo much to look forward to. We have both made resolutions to get in shape so that we can eat-eat-eat when we get home. Nate is lifting his weights and I am back on my Jillian Michaels workout! (I'll be honest and say my motivation partly came when I asked the guy at the market for a head of lettuce--a big one--and he responded "big, like you.") Rude.

I know my blog posts have been few and far between, but one of my resolutions is to get back to posting more regularly! (Yes, I know I have said that before) But I'm going to try really hard this time! The students take their finals next week and go home for break until October, so I will have more time to stick to my goals. For now, I will leave you with a few recent pictures of Zoe...these have also been few and far between. Let's just say she has not been in the best of moods for the past several weeks. She had 6 teeth all coming in at the same time (staggered at different stages of growth for the past few weeks) and a cold to boot! Thankfully, we are all healthy and happy again!

(this was one of the bad days...)

(this was a better day...showing off her new teeth)

way behind...

It's been waaay too long, I know! But Nate is out of town and Zoe is asleep so I figured I better update now while I've got some time. We have been staying pretty busy here lately and it will be more of the same for about another month until our volunteers leave, the students begin finals, and we get a minute to breathe!

Nate has been preaching quite a bit. He had the privilege to preach on Easter Sunday and did a FANTASTIC job. All the glory to God! He is still teaching his classes on campus--basketball and ultimate frisbee and those are going well. He is beginning a new ministry next week based on the Secret Church model of David Platt, which he is super excited about. He is beginning a new bible study with bible study leaders to pour into them and disciple them. And on top of all that, he is preaching the next two weeks at church and doing a series on relationships. He's a busy guy...

I had the opportunity to teach a bible study last week on marriage with some of the students. It was so much fun and I learned so much just in preparation. God's desires for marriage and families has become one of my passions lately as the Lord molds me into the wife and mother He wants me to be...so teaching on marriage came at the perfect time!

We had the opportunity to go to the children's hospital on the Saturday before Easter to do a little party for the kiddos. They are so sweet and we had a great time singing songs, coloring, snacking, making crafts, and talking about the Easter story. We also visited last Saturday because we received a VERY special package from my BFF Jenny Graves and her church. They made mission dolls and shipped them all the way to us. The children at the hospital (most suffering with cancer) absolutely LOVED them. The little girls tied the dolls to their backs like they see their mothers do all the time. So precious! So, so thankful for Jenny and her church family. They put smiles on these precious faces!

Zoe is growing more and more. She is getting to be such a big girl. Her favorite thing is playing video games with her daddy! She is talking more and more...she calls herself a "good girl" and she loves asking for "crackers."

riding in style

She's got expensive taste and she's already working on her daddy...

never met a stranger...

We made a trip to Orca this weekend. That is our closest thing to Walmart here in Dar, although there is a store called Game that is now owned by Walmart...but trust me it's nothing like it!! Anyway, we are walking the aisles and Zoe is having a grand time now that she can actually walk. Well, she walks up to this little girl and just takes her hand and walks away with her family. I did the typical mom thing to get her back and said "Ok, bye bye Zoe!" and waved and started to walk the other way. She just waved back and kept right on going with the other family.

It seems to be pretty typical these days. We went to a different church this morning which by the grace of God has a nursery (usually I fight and struggle with Zoe on my lap through our church services!) Anyway, we dropped her off no problem. We come back after the service to pick her up and the lady walks her over to the door; we reach our arms out to take her and she turns back to the lady and clings to her!! I have to pry her from this lady who is no doubt loving the fact that Zoe prefers her over her own mother and father. I guess I should just be happy that she likes to be around other people and is wonderful at making new friends!

date night

We had a MUCH needed date night this week. It was just dinner, but it long overdue time with my best friend! The wonderful Placke family took Zoe for us and she had a great time hanging out and eating pancakes. When we came to pick her up she was sitting and watching Discovery Channel, learning about alligators and sharks and she smelled like syrup...