Sunday School

Today was a big day for us! Wes and I have started teaching Sunday school classes and Aubri went to her Sunday school class for the first time ever! Yes, you heard me right; Aubri has Sunday school not nursery. Our church actually has Sunday school starting at 12 weeks. They even have a little lesson and a time that they prayer over each child. I love how intentional our church is with teaching children. The teachers really see the importance in fulfilling their covenant with parents to come alongside them in the shepherding of their children in the Lord.
Wes was asked to teach a study on the Biblical book of Mark and I am teaching 1 year olds.

Due to the hustle and bustle of all of us getting ready and out the door early this morning I didn't remember to snap a picture to capture the big day. But, you know I rarely post without a picture of Baby Bri! So, here ya go!

Women of Faith

The Women of Faith Conference was great! We heard some wonderful testimonies from the speakers of God's amazing work, we sang our hearts out in worship, we laughed until we cried, and cried until we laughed. Glory be to God! Mom, I look forward to doing this AGAIN, maybe next year?!?

Mandisa (a former contestant from American Idol) was there! She did a little mini concert! I have never been to a REAL concert before. (I know, I know, it's hard to imagine.) The closest I have ever been is the little "concerts" at the fair. And I don't really think those count. Anyway, Mandisa sang a medley of songs at the beginning of her concert. The audience all got out their cell phones and started waving them in the air! (You know, like lighters...) It was just like I imagined a concert to be! Ha!

This picture is terrible. But you get the idea.

She also sang this song. It is based on the Ecclesiastes 3 passage.




Psalm 46:7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Dallas Day Trip

My mom and a few of her friends (CRAZY friends, I might add!) are in Dallas for a few days for some shopping and the Women of Faith Conference. So, Aubri and I hopped in the car to meet them for the afternoon at Northpark Mall. It was so fun watching all of mom's friends "ooo" and "ahhh" over Itty Bitty. They tried hard but I don't think she even gave them a glimse of her toothy smile!

Me and my Nana

There's a smile!! Check out my 2 teeth!

We had a great time visiting and strolling around-actually we used the stroller as our shopping cart because mom couldn't put Aubri down! ha! I think she must have been missing her granddaughter! I am planning to head back over to Dallas tomorrow for a day of the conference. That means Aubri and her daddy will be getting some quality time! That should make for some fun stories! I'll keep you posted!

I CAN'T IMAGINE!

I was reading my sister's blog and a few other friends that posted about their children heading off for KINDERGARTEN yesterday! They all had pictures of their little ones sporting their new outfits, with coordinating hair bows in place, new back packs packed with brand new supplies, lunch boxes in tow, and my eyes filled with tears! All the memories they are making with their babies made me think of my Bri getting bigger and us snapping pictures to capture each moment of her first day of Kindergarten. At the rate we are going, this day may never come for us! We struggle putting Aubri in our church's nursery-and its only for 1 hour, 1 day a week! ha! I CAN'T IMAGINE! For now, we will hold her close, rock her gently, and soak up every precious little moment!


Esther, I am so proud of you, Big Kindergartner! And Ashley, I am proud of you too! You made it through her first day!

Did you know?!?

Does your digital camera eat batteries like ours does?!?

Before we left for Hawaii I went to Target to stock up on some batteries for our trip. I saw these that said they lasted 7x longer in digital cameras. It had to be too good to be true! But, decided to give them a try anyway. I loaded my camera with these bad boys the day we left town. And now almost 2 weeks later (2 weeks of using my camera multiple times a day) I am still using the same 2 batteries! AWESOME! Worth every penny!

Now on to the good stuff!
A video I thought the grandparents might enjoy!


This video is a milestone in the making!
Our little Roly Poly is TRYING to crawl!

Aloha and Mahalo!

Some of our good seminary friends, James and Jenny, got married! Jenny is from Oahu, Hawaii and she wanted to have the wedding back home. So we traveled with our friends Anthony and Tasha, and their son, Marcus, to witness their covenant! How could we pass this up?!?

This picture just about sums up the whole trip! If you know my husband at all, you probaly know about his love for pineapple. Well, we just visited the home of all pineapples. We bought 4 pineapples while we there. And ate all of them. (Aubri doesn't eat solids yet and I don't like pineapple...so really WES ate all 4 pineapples. Not to mention the pineapple at the luau, the pineapple at the Dole plantation, the pineapple at at different restraunts, and so much more that I can't remember it all!! ha!)

James and Jenny (our friends that got married) both said "I do." and we had a great time so I guess you can count this trip as a success! Here's a run-down of all the Hawaii happenings.

Wednesday, August 5- We arrived in Honolulu, and were greeted by Jenny's parents and sister who gave us leis. We then went to get our rental minivan. Side story: Once we got our van we noticed that it made a funny noise, but we had just stood in line for 1 1/2 hours to get the van so we just blew it off and headed to find our lodging. Once we were settled, we headed out to get dinner and find a wal-mart to buy diapers and snacks.

Jenny (the bride) and Aubri at the Honolulu airport.

Thursday, August 6- Woke up early (due to 5 hour time change) and headed out to hike Diamond Head -an inactive volcano that looks over Oahu. We ate a late lunch and then headed to the rehearsal dinner.

The dads and their babies.

Almost to the top.

View from the top! It was beautiful!

Friday, August 7- Woke up early. Headed to Pearl Harbor. We saw a historical video to refresh our memory of the events that took place and then toured the Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and a U.S.S. Boefin submarine! Then we headed back to the house to let the kids nap and get ready for dinner.

On Arizona memorial. (L to R-James, he's the groom, Anthony, Marcus, Tasha, and us.)

Saturday, August 8- WEDDING DAY! Congratulations James and Jenny Williams! It was a beautiful ceremony and reception. Which reminds me of a funny story. At the reception, the wedding party was supposed to be announced as they walked in. Well, the MC announced Wes and the bridesmaid we was escorting and no one came in...so, the MC announced them again. Still nothing...then all the sudden, Wes and the best man, Anthony, swing open the doors to the recepiton hall and start breaking it down! Ha! I have never seen Wes dance like that! He was pretty good! Ha! Then the bridesmaids came dancing in, followed by the new couple! It was hilarious! I wish I had it on video but by the time I grabbed my camera I had missed it.

Wes walking out his bridesmaid.
Isn't he handsome?

Sunday, August 9- Woke up early. The boys had reservations to swim with the sharks so we drove to a little historic town on the water to drop them off. They had a great time and saw lots of sharks! BIG ONES! Wes will have to tell you this story! After they finished with their shark enounter we drove to the Dole Plantation. This was really cool! We took a train through pineapple fields and ate pineapple ice cream, drank pineapple juice and got t-shirts too! ha! This wore the kids out so we took them home to rest and then headed out to Waikiki for dinner.

The Dole Plantation.

Pineapple Ice cream!

Monday, August 9- Woke up early. Remember that story about our van making a funny noise? Well, it was getting worse each day. And today, we got all loaded up to go to the beach and started backing down our STEEP driveway when...DAD STOP READING!...the breaks went out. Thankfully, Wes was smart and hit the emergency break before we ran into the road. So, needless to say, we spent the morning on the phone with our car rental agency and waited for a tow truck and a new van. Then, WE FINALLY WENT TO THE BEACH AT WAIKIKI! There was a threat of a hurricane coming and we were beginning to worry that we were going to have gone to Hawaii and not gone to the beach!

Beach Baby!

Tuesday, August 10- We woke a little later. Finally able to sleep the day before we head home. ha! We headed to see the only waterfall in Oahu. This was probably my favorite day! It was BEAUTIFUL! Then we headed back to Dole to get some more pineapple ice cream. YUM! We headed back home to get ready for the luau!

Walking to the waterfall.
We forgot to bring Aubri's hat, so we had to stop at the gift store and get her one.

Getting a Somoan temporary tattoo at the luau.

The underground oven...where they cook the pig.

Hawaiian doing the hula dance.

Wednesday, August 11- Headed back to a beach that we had seen when were driving to the waterfall the day before. It was so beautiful! While we were there, the boys and I went cliff jumping! That was crazy! On our way home, we stopped to get some shaved ice. It was just like the sno cones from New Orleans-with ice cream at the bottom and sweetened condensed milk on top! YUM! Then headed back to the house to clean up before we flew home.

It was such a great trip! We can't wait to tell you all the funny stories! Aloha and Mahalo!

*please excuse the font sizes...I don't know why they are all over the place. I can't get them to change.

Happy Birthday Motorcycle Millie!

Happy 3rd birthday Millie Moo

We wish we could have been there to help celebrate!

Aubri - the motorcycle babe- giving birthday wishes!

Aubri's cousin, Millie, has always LOVED motorcycles...or at least motorcycle MEN! ha! So she had a Harley Davidson birthday party! Check out the Beller's blog for pictures!