"Let's just open one..."

As most of you know, because Aubri is due to arrive any day, this year we are celebrating Christmas in Fort Worth, i.e., not at "home." Well, surprise-surprise, yesterday we received a box in the mail from mama Peggy. Inside the box we found several Christmas presents for Jen, Aubri, and me... our first Christmas presents of the year!! After much pleading from Jen, I agreed (at 10:00pm, same day) that we would both open 1 present. We agreed that we would open two of Aubri's gifts. The gifts were great, a sweet little oufit and a beautiful white cardigan sweater (both pictured above). Well, as you've already noticed, there are more gifts pictured than just the two of Aubri's. That's right, we couldn't stop! In classic Jenny and Wes fashion, we ended up opening ALL the gifts last night. We had such a good time!! A few gifts are pictured above, but as you know, pictures can only capture so much. Thanks, Mamaw, for the gifts. We look forward to seeing you soon. merry Christmas!

Last Prenatal Appointment?

We had (hopefully!) our last a doctor's appointment today. Aubri seems to be doing well with a very strong heart beat - 160 beats per minute! She usually runs around 145 beats per minute so she must be getting excited about her debut into the world! Our doctor is pleased with the way both, Aubri and I are progressing, but unfortunately there is still no dilation! We may be seeing a small glimpse of her personality as she makes us wait for her to arrive! Praise the Lord that our faith in this, as in all things, is in Him, the One in control!

BIG O' BELLY!

My 2 Sweethearts, next to the tree! Talk about the perfect Christmas giftS...
At this point, Aubri seems to be like her mom... not big on change, especially moving. So, I'm not too surprised that she's staying in momma's belly as long as she possibly can! ;)

Our Christmas Tree!

"It's the lights... It's the lit Christmas lights that finally make it feel like Christmas!"

Aubri's Room

Aubri's room is ready for her arrival! And now we wait...hopefully not too long!

All moved in!

Saturday, we spent the day moving into our new apartment! We were blessed with lots of help from our church friends and my parents came down from Arkansas to help us set up home. Thankfully, mom was able to stay for a few more days to really help me "nest"! She was on her hands and knees bleaching our bathroom floors, vacuuming, sewing, greasing my toes to help get my toe rings off my swollen feet, and the list could go on and on! SHE IS AMAZING! We really couldn't have done it without her wonderful servant's heart!

Alright, Alright...

Ok, so I know that I said we are back and business and then nothing...no post for several months. But, we are now about ready to have our baby and so, it is time to get this thing going again.

Aubri's estimated time of arrival is December 23. So we have about 2 1/2 weeks to get ready for our little one's debut! We have read the books, taken the classes and now we are waiting! We can't hardly wait to meet our little girl face to face!
However, we have lots going on in the meantime. We are moving to a new apartment, Lord willing, next weekend. This is a large feat for a full-time student/full-time career employee and his 9 month pregnant wife, so we are bringing in reinforcements! With the help of our church and family we should be relaxing in our new apartment and taking on the new commitment of being dorm parents, this time next week.
I have just finished up my last week as a full-time seminary employee and will be moving to part-time this next week! The Lord has opened many doors for us, and after Aubri is born, I will officially be a stay at home mom! YEA!
Wes is finishing up his first semester as a PhD student and will have a few weeks off to get accustomed to his new role as DAD before next semester starts! He has recently started his new job as the manger of financial aid for the seminary. We are very excited that the Lord is teaching him something new everyday through the on taking of this large department and we are trusting Him to continue to show Wes the appropriate steps to take as he develops this program.

Well, that should catch you up! We will try to be better bloggers in the future! HA!

Back in Business

Well, after a longer than expected delay, we are back blogging again!  We have lots of news to catch everyone up on, but by far our biggest news is....WE ARE HAVING A BABY!  It has been about 6 weeks now since I took a pregnancy test that came back positive! (Well, more like 2 or 3 tests because Wes wanted to be sure!) Unfortunately, due to a couple of cancelations, we have yet to have our first prenatal appointment.  But, our first visit is scheduled for Monday, June 23.  And we can't hardly wait!  I think it is awkward to Wes that I am excited about not being able to button my pants!

 

In other news, Wes and I both have started new jobs.  Wes began working as the Assistant Director of Student Life at Southwestern in January.  I began working in hospitality at Pecan Manor, the home of Southwestern's President, in February.   We are both loving our new jobs!

Wes graduated with his Master of Divinity and was accepted into the PhD program. He will start taking seminars in August.  Until then, we are enjoying our summer break!

Well, this is a start on catching up.  We hope to do much more blogging, so check back soon!

Technical Difficulties

Hey everyone! We apologize for the delay on getting our pictures posted. We have over 500 great pictures and we can't wait to share some of them with you...However, we are having some trouble with our computer. We will post them as soon as we can!

Leaving the Sea of Galilee

This morning we are leaving the Sea of Galilee and heading for the Dead Sea. We have been without internet for the past 4 days and just happened to stop at a museum that had free internet!

We wanted to put your minds at ease that we are both doing well! We will be posting lots of pictures of everything we have done as soon as we can! We love you all!

Touring Jordan

Hi All!
No pictures this time since I am using the community computer in the lobby of our hotel. But, here is what we have been up to...

Tuesday night, we crossed over into Jordan from Israel. Praise the Lord for no problems through passport control!

Wednesday, we walked into Petra (like on Indiana Jones)! It is one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world! It is an entire city carved out of a mountain side! It was so beautiful. We took lots of pictures so I will try to post them asap.
Last night, like Wes mentioned, some of the girls went to a Turkish bath. We thought it was going to be like a spa with massages but it was what it says it is... a bath. It was definately a memory! (Girls, I will fill you in later!)

Today we went to Herrod's palace where John the Baptist was beheaded and to Mount Nebo, where Moses looked into the Promise Land! On Mount Nebo, Dr. Allen preached a sermon from Numbers 20, Deut. 34, and Hebrews 6. It was such a blessing to be in the place where what we were reading took place!

The game plan for the next few days...
Tomorrow we are touring Jarash, Jordan and then heading back into Israel.
Then, the next four nights we will be staying in Nof Ginosar, Israel, touring Galilee.

Again, thank you all for your prayers! We are having a great time and look forward to talking to you soon!

Journey through South Israel

This is a picture of our guide, Yoni. He is absolutely awesome! He currently lives in Israel with his family; however, he is actually from NEA (for those of you who are not from Arkansas that would be Northeast Arkansas). He is a great tour guide and a solid believer. He is standing by a horned altar.

This is a picture of Jen and I sitting at the foot of the Holy of Holies at an ancient worship sight at Tel Arad. Incredible! Arad is mentioned in Numbers 14 and Numbers 21. I encourage all to read the great story.
This is us after we had just climbed out of a massive canyon in the Valley of Zin. The beautiful hike was estimated to be approx 800ft. Once at the top, the view was amazing. Somewhere in this area is where Moses might have gotten water from the rock.
Obviously, this is the two of us riding a camel!! Yes, I was driving from the backseat. Oh, ignore the length of my jeans... they look like "high-water" jeans, but they're not... really.

After the camel ride, we spent New Year's Eve in a Bedouin tent. They provided a full Bedouin hospitality presentation that was excellent. As you can see in the picture, our Bedouin friend was kind enough to include a couple guys from our group (left, Greg Gaumer; right, John Wohlgemuth) to help him play traditional Bedouin music. We ALL selpt in the Bedouin tent on the floor without heat, pillows, mattresses (you get the point). Hopefully, a few weeks/months from now it will be remembered as a pleasurable experience.

We are now in Petra, Jordan. I am posting this blog becuase Jen is actually with several other ladies at a Turkish bath. Not sure what is included, but I'm sure it will be a memory! I'm sure she will post soon with another batch of pictures.

To God be the glory,

Wes and Jen