Family Photos

A while back I posted about the IKEA photo wall I've been working on in our dining room. I finally finished it last night!
This one has BJ and I's paternal side photos. I'm halfway done with the family photo scanning project - hopefully I'll get some photos from our mom's sides next!

Ellen's Party

FREEEEDOM!!!
Mom and Peggy!
Peggy and Grandma!
Three chicas!
I'm not really sure what Jen's doing but I love her expression.
I am just going to NOT explain this one because it's funnier that way. :)

Wedding Picts

This weekend I went home for my cousin Ellen's graduation party and to help Kate shoot a wedding.

It was a long fun day! :)

Our Roses

Swim Party

Here's a few from our swim part last night. We had SO much fun!

Bon Fire

Last Saturday was so nice and full - we saw a movie, went hiking, went swimming, gave Pudge a haircut and had a fire. Here's a few from the bonfire... Did I mention we love our 'kids'? We do.
Here's the bon fire from across our pond. It was such a nice night.

Juevyllee

Just thought we'd share this photo of our sponsored child from the Philippines Juevyllee -- We don't get to many photos so we cherish them! She just finished 'grade 2' and was first in her class! :)

Three Years Ago Today...

Dumb Hummingbird

We have never seen a hummingbird around our house until yesterday... when one got himself stuck in our garage. Despite the two garage doors open to the ourside world, this little guy kept banging his head on the window to get out. He finally made it. :)

Sleepy Meerkat

Sorry you have to turn your head to see it... but we just loved the Meerkats at the Louisville Zoo! I think we could have watched them for hours.

daZoo

Jeff Rubies

BJ and I took a few days off last week to extend our Memorial Day weekend into a mini vacation for our anniversary. This Wednesday it will be three years! :)

We headed down to Louisville to see the Louisville Slugger Museum, eat at Jeff Rubies, and go to the zoo.
Here's BJ and I at dinner. Before we ordered the waiter said the steak is so good that it would made us want to slap someone.

The Year of Living Biblically

I just read this great article in Relevant about AJ Jacobs - who spent a year living Biblically - in its strictest sense, making for some very humorous writing. :)

Here are some quotes:

You shall not trim the corners of your beard. (Leviticus 19:27)
I let my beard grow until I looked like Moses. Or maybe Ted Kaczynski. I got called both. I got searched at airport security. I itched like a madman. Plus I was subjected to every beard joke in the history of facial hair, including about 412 ZZ Top references.

Stone men and women who commit adultery.
Thanks to those pesky U.S. laws—and my conscience—it was particularly difficult to abide by this Old Testament law. I did, however, manage to stone one adulterer. Here’s what happened: I was in Central Park. I was wearing my most biblical garb—sandals, a walking stick, white clothes—and an elderly man came up to me and asked me why I was dressed so “queer.” I explained I was following all the rules of the Bible, right on down to stoning adulterers. He said, “I’m an adulterer, you going to stone me?” I said, “Well, yes, that would be great.” And I took out of my pocket some pebbles that I was saving for just this occasion. (The Bible doesn’t specify the size of the stones.) The old man actually grabbed the pebbles out of my hand and threw them at me. So I figured I should toss one at him in self-defense. And in that way I stoned.

Do not wink.
The Bible has no fewer than four anti-winking passages, including this one: “He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity” (Proverbs 16:30). Possible explanation: Many believe that the Bible’s “wink” referred to a tacit approval of evil. As in “I saw what you did, but I won’t tell.” But let’s face it. The wink is a creepy gesture no matter how you cut it. So the Bible is correct to condemn it. If only the Bible condemned people who call strangers “captain.”

[check out the full article from Relevant]

Birthday Weekend

Well, I'm 28!
Here's BJ and I at the Red's game.
My sweet brother Eric and I at the Red's game. Yea for a 6-game winning streak!!
BJ took me to the Krohn Conservatory to see the butterfly show. It was a bit crowded but still amazing. :)
This one was hyperactive. :)
They put Gatorade on our hands to trick the butterflies into landing on us. So sneaky.

[View the whole gallery]

Mother's Day Visit to Granger

BJ and I headed up to South Bend this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day with my family. We had a really nice time with them.

Here's us gals.
We got to see Kate, Lilly, and Matt a bit and meet baby Judah for the first time.
BJ and Lilly. :)

[view the whole gallery]

Heartbreak

While in South Bend we found out some tragic news. One of our high school students, Tara (she's in a photo below with BJ) was in an accident friday night and two of her close friends were killed [Enquirer Article | Fox Article]. We didn't know Stephanie or Rachel, but our hearts are broken for Tara and everyone else coming to grips with this loss. Please pray for her and the families & friends of the two girls.

Seabird! (shouted like you might shout Freebird!)

Here's BJ and Tara at Lee's Chicken. :)

So Needtobreathe was the headliner, but of course my favorite is Seabird. :)

I *heart* small groups

Every week during the school year BJ and I meet with 15 or so high school sophomores. This is our second year with them and we'll be together until they graduate. We'll be so depressed on that day!
Buzz is such a cheese-ball. :)
Getting ready to play some form of ultimate frisbee... :)

Knock-Out Roses

If your looking for a great addition to your landscaping, we highly recommend knock-out roses. Ours have tripled in size since last year! We can't wait for them to bloom!

Here's the post from last year so you can see how much they've grown. I hesitated even adding this because of the whole Chad Johnson thing at the beginning of the post. Cincinnati does NOT like that man at the moment.

Moving the Dogwood

We're hoping to someday rid ourselves of the ditch/sink hole that runs though our lot... and so we decided to move the Dogwood to a better, less ditchy location.
Here's BJ starting to dig...
We actually tried towing the tree our via lawnmower at one point. Not successfully.
...and the tree in its new happier spot (it's former home in the background). :)

This is me saying hello!

It's a gloomy but good day!

Congratulations Kate & Matt!!!

Kate & Matt's baby came this morning at 12:18am! Judah is a big boy at 9lbs, 3oz!

Congratulations!!!!