A Birthday Party

Though Gareth actually turned 1 on April 19th, we celebrated his birthday on Saturday, April 16th to make sure all of our families could be there.  I think its a bit silly to have themed birthday parties for 1 year olds, as they will have no recollection of the event, but when asked what the theme would be, I always replied: Crawfish.

That's right, Gareth's birthday party was a crawfish boil.  That's what you get when you marry into a cajun family.

So without further ado, a collection of pictures from the birthday party.  Thanks Jenny Dougherty for taking such awesome pictures.

Yes, Gareth is holding a live crawfish.  He was totally unfazed by them.

Gareth & Grandpa

Gareth loves his cousin Aubrey

And his cousin Granger

Nan and Gareth share a dance

The whole gang!

Mom, Dad & The Boss

Eating cupcakes is serious business

But Gareth likes to share

Grandma comes to the rescue!

Hooray for birthday presents!

Thanks to all of the great presents that Gareth received.  We are blessed by the love of our family and friends!

A Place Called Terrible-Land

Life has been....

Severely Complicated for the last several months.

And by Severely Complicated, I mean that there have been lots of tears, lots of prayers and so many unanswered questions that sometimes I'm not sure even the ground is really solid.  We're living in a place I like to call "Terrible-Land."  "Terrible-Land" looks the same as "Life-is-Normal-Land" except that we now know so much more clearly what instability, vulnerability, fear and trembling, and terror mean.

It sucks.

I can't really be anymore specific for legal reasons.  YES.  IT'S THAT KIND OF SEVERELY COMPLICATED.

So why do I bring it up at all?  Because we need your prayer so desperately.  Because your support keeps our fears at bay.  Because I just can't keep it all bottled up all the time.

So here is how you can pray for our family during this sojourn in Terrible-Land.

1).  Pray that we would feel the peace and provision of God in every moment
2).  Pray that we would remain healthy and strong to weather the unending storm that we are living through
3).  Pray that God would bring about miracles for us
4).  Pray that we would be a witness to God's love throughout the pain
5).  Pray however the Holy Spirit leads you

"Fear not, I have called you by my name and you are mine. When you walk through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers, they will NOT overflow you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned nor will flames scorch you... for I am the Lord your God the Holy one of Isreal, your Savior!"

Isaiah 43:1-2

Believe it or not: Gareth is already one month old!

Wow.

It's been one month since our son was born.

One month filled with joy, surprise, heartbreak, despair, love and fear.  

Thank you once again for all your prayers, love and friendships.  You've made this month easier for all three of us.  We're looking forward to our future with anticipation and hope - sure that God is with us!

We love you Gareth Alexandre. 

The Baby Shower

Wow.  Thanks to my family, my church and friends for making this event so awesome.  We got so much great stuff and we're ever so close to having the nursery finished.

On a related note, baby clothes are very small.  Hard to believe!

So, without ado, here are some pics of the baby shower on March 13th.  You'll see I'm very, very pregnant at this point. 
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Here's What We've Been Doing

Hey gang.
It's been awhile, but I do keep promises.

Cliff graduated last Friday - it was awesome.

Here he is before the ceremony...

And now...walking in:

And walking out! Graduated!

His parents,

brothers, sister-in-law, niece, grandpa and great-aunt and uncle were there.

As were my parents and brother. See?

Also in attendance: Gray-ham and The Cachinnator.

Also graduated:Mr. Chris Moore

Sarah Rochelle & the Bentleys

Ms. Van Morris

Here's a picture of us just for kicks. Just one more year!

We then headed over to Cliff's grandpa's house for celebratory barbecue.

Looks fun, yeah?

I'll post pictures from Ren Faire later