Not Baby....but "Babies" Shower!

Two precious babies will soon be joining Justin, Brianne and lil' brother Xan! Haywood "Knox" and Henleigh Kate are scheduled to arrive Sept. 22nd unless they decided to come before that. We can't wait to meet them and love on them! We had a diapers and dessert shower for Brianne and her babies a few weeks ago! She received lots of diapers (which they will definitely need) and other fun outfits and items off their registry!

the mommy to be! She looks beautiful by the way! Carrying two babies mind you!

the neighborhood girls!

Brianne & I

Life to do list - checked one off!

Triathalon - CHECK!!! Yes, that's right I completed a triathalon - well, it was a sprint triathalon so not a full one. I swam 400 yds, biked 13 miles and ran a 5K! (One of my best friends) Blaire & I crossed the finish line together at 1hr and 39min! yahoo! It was the Acworth Tri-Athalon on Aug.9th! I rocked the swim, could've gone a little faster on the bike, but I think I was trying to save my legs for the run and thankfully Blaire & I were able to run together which was a little extra motivation to cross the finish line together. We had our family & friends there cheering us on from each transition point and of course the finish line! As crazy as it sounds - I definitely want to do another one.

Lighthouse!

Lighthouse --- AHH!!!! You must read more about this organization - www.thelighthousefamilyretreat.org The Lighthouse allows others to serve children with cancer and their families at a seaside retreat helping them to laugh, restore family relationships and find hope in God. Our dear friends Kevin & Amber Price have served as volunteers for several years and always had wonderful things to say about it. The more Phil & I read about it the more we wanted to serve. We were in Grayton Beach for a week at the end of July with the most loving families and friends. We cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for about 200 people every day, we played beach Olympics, we had devotionals and sang praise songs. There was a talent show, movie night, and a date night for the parents! We loved on these families and helped them enjoy time together at the beach.

The pictures below really don't even begin to show our trip justice so I strongly encourage you to go to my website to view all the pictures. www.livinandlovinphotography.com you can click on clients & friends. the password is lighthouse

We were paired with another volunteer family - The Raney's (whom we quickly hit it off with). Us & the Raney's were paired with the Tate family. www.timewiththetates.blogspot.com Oh, how we love each of them. We were able to spend quality time together and take care of them during the week. Elena and Olivia are their daughters. Please begin praying for Elena and that her little body can beat this cancer! As her shirt said "Cancer picked the wrong diva!"

Needless to say we had an amazing time serving at Lighthouse and will definitely do it again. We were able to spend time with Kevin & Amber and their two kids (Mallory and Taylor - who are our godchildren), be at the beach for a week, meet wonderful new friends, and serve Him! It was very clear that God was at work during this week - restoring faith and providing moments to cry out to Him. We serve a might God!

Phil & I with Susu, Sally, Olivia & Elena
precious Taylor & Mallory

Phil & I

us with our Family Partners - the Raney's & the Tate's

Sister moment! Elena & Olivia

Montana

At the beginning of July we (my parents & I) headed out west to hang out with my sister Carly! She lives in Bozeman and goes to Montana State Univ. We were out there for a week and were able to do a lot of fun things! We went to Glacier National Park, tubing on the Madison River, site seeing, farmers market, played games and spent quality time together in Big Sky! If you've never been to Montana - I highly recommend you go asap, however I'll warn you - you might not want to come back. You are surrounded by beautiful mountains, open sky and perfect weather (in the summer) :) It's so peaceful, clean and laid back! Carly was a wonderful host all week - taking us to the best places to eat, bike, walk, hike and shop.

In Bozeman they have a Farmer's Market every Tuesday night. Carly get's a booth each week to sell her fabulous jewels! Check out her site - www.crazymare.etsy.com She has a lot more that she takes to the booth than is on her site right now. She is extremely talented and I'm pretty much walking advertisement for her with all the jewelry she makes me :) thanks sis! Anyways - we were able to go to the farmer's market with her and help her sell her goods! It was great - an open air venue with many local artist selling anything from jewelry, pottery, and produce. They even had snowcones (ahhhh!) which I have decided has become extinct around here. (If anyone knows of somewhere around here I can get one please do share!)

Below are a few picts from the trip! The landscape shots don't even begin to capture God's beauty, but you can get a glimpse of what we were doing in Montana! The highlight of the trip might have been tubing, but unfortunatly we didn't risk taking the camera with us. We had a wonderful trip minus Phil not being able to join us. :( Thanks Carly and Mom & Dad for a great week with the fam!

Flathead Lake - view from our lodge

Goose Island in Glacier National Park

Wildlife in the park! So wild to be this close!

top of our hike - Avalanche Lake

Carly at the Farmer's Market - selling her jewels!