cousins

elise and nora are ten days apart in age, and it's so neat to see them grow up side by side. here's their most recent time together. nora likes to pull elise's hair, while elise likes to try to kiss her face and arms and fall on top of her. at first we thought nora was the screamer, but elise seems to have taken on that skill as well. i can't believe we got a shot with both of them smiling!

here's oma with her girls. this was taken on a cell phone, so excuse the grainy-ness. but elise decided she just had to give nora a kiss. i guess she somehow knew laura and nora would be leaving that day.

elise's first camping trip

our church does a camping trip every summer and this was our third year going. we had a fantastic time with friends. elise did great for her first trip. and though it rained here and there, God was very kind in giving us lots of nice weather and hardly any bugs! here's the highlights.

elise and her daddy practicing with their hiking backpack. i can really see justin in her in this picture. can you? (they got to use this on the trip when we hiked to a waterfall. a friend took some pictures on her camera. i'll post them later.)

elise napping in the camper

on the beach. don't you just love this face? she's finally understanding to smile when i have the camera, and now i can't get her to stop!

dipping her toes in the water. don't you just love those legs of hers?!

elise and her mama

daddy helping her finish her dinner

getting a bath...camping style!

think she enjoyed it? :)

it rained monsoon style our last night there. thank you Lord that my husband bought us the pop up camper. it was a blessing!! here's elise sitting in the car with me while daddy packed everything up.

we were blessed with free tickets to a water park nearby, so some folks from our care group got to go. it rained and we left early, but not before we got some fun in. here they are by the wave pool.

and so ended our third camping trip with church and our first (very successful and fun) camping trip with elise.

care group

i don't know what your church may call it: small groups, mini-church...but at our church they're called care groups and this was ours. yes, i realize it's not very small, and that's why i said this was ours. our group is splitting in the fall and this picture was from our last meeting time together. our group was so large, but so connected. countless folks have expressed how amazed they are at how close our group was, despite the size. and i can't let another day go by without sharing this fantastic picture with all and saying how blessed we have been by this family of friends. words cannot express how cared for we have been by these people. when we first got involved two years ago, we had no idea the depth of friendship, fellowship, and accountability we would receive. though this split has been and will be hard (it hasn't sunk into my brain yet at all!), i know we are all exicted at the new things God has in store, and i know we will not give up meeting together. for all other care groups out there, don't get too excited...i'm sure we'll all still team up for care group races. lockhart care group unite!

and a new post will be up next week about the church camping trip. we are blessed to be going with quite a few couples and families from our care group. it's gonna be a blast! (not to mention elise's first camping trip! i think our "stuff" has doubled in quantity!)

a great day

happy birthday to our nation and my husband. yup, justin's birthday is on the fourth of july. the lucky guy gets fireworks every year for his birthday! here he is with elise and his cake. vanessa and her kids decorated this awesome masterpiece to look like an uncle sam hat with strawberries and blueberries for stars and stripes. so cool.

elise also got her first haircut on daddy's birthday. she had this mullet thing in the back, but only on one side. cute as it was...it needed to go.

so here she is from the back with an even hair line. thanks daddy!

later that day we went to oma and papa's for a family picnic. here's eva feeding elise. she did a great job. but she had a problem with the food dripping off the bottom of the spoon. so here was her solution...

six month photoshoot

what's in a name?

this is a post that i want comments for! it's becoming apparent to me that we need to settle on how we're going to spell elise's nickname. eva started it by calling her "leesey". That's as phonetic as i can spell it, so hopefully you know how it's pronounced. it's the last part of elise, with the 'ee' sound on the end. but how do we spell it?! i've gotten all sorts of variations by people in emails and blog comments...so now's your chance...how would you spell it? i'm open to all options and we'll decide soon! thanks for your help! (and here's an adorable picture of her to help inspire you!)

happy father's day

i feel a strong need to do a father's day post. father's day has been a sad holiday for me over the years. it has been a melancholy reminder of how my own dad did not meet the expectations i had of him while growing up. some years it has been a chance for me to throw a pity party. other years it has been my day to be angry...and some years i think it went by with me hardly noticing at all. some years i have sent a card to my dad...others i deliberately did not. some years i've reached out to him, and others i have aimed to ignore him by not acknowledging the day at all. in the last few years though, God showed me (through my wonderful mother in law)clearly and in a way that made a lot of sense to my soul, that i need to keep in contact with my dad...out of obedience to God in honoring my father...out of care for him...out of a desire to have no regrets when one day i will not be able to talk with him...out a desire to show him the love of Christ in a real way. whatever my motive on a particular day, i realized it doesn't matter...i just need to do it. so, i've been sending cards, photos and making calls throughout the year...with no expectations (much easier said than done, i assure you...but again, the Lord has carried me to this point and i'm so grateful that He allows me to really pursue my father without expecting anything in return.) i don't want to sound like a martyr...it's just a good place to be. my dad is a good man. i wish he knew the Lord. but i can honestly say, that i understand as much as i am able, why things are the way they are.

after justin and i got married, i had the privilege of celebrating his dad on father's day, which was so easy to do! what a man of God he is. it's so evident how he loves God and his family. i love spending time with him, hearing his corny jokes (which i inevitably laugh at), and seeing him smile...and he works like no one's business. you've never seen such a work ethic in a man...and he's passed it on to his son:) seeing them work together (even show up to events dressed similarly) is just a privilege! it was so nice to attach such wonderful feelings of joy and love to father's day.

then my own mom got married to a wonderful Christian man. he is another one who makes celebrating father's day easy. he also has a corny sense of humor (i am surrounded by them!), he loves the Lord, he loves his family...i cannot even describe how amazing it is to watch a man marry a woman with three children and treat them as his own. his love is evidenced through hugs, laughter, even finances. he is dad to us and grampy to elise and i'm so thankful.

but now that elise is here and i am celebrating my husband on father's day...i'm coming to a new level of recognition and appreciation for this holiday. as we rode to church on sunday, i was telling justin how amazing and mind-boggling it is to me, that elise will never have to worry about having more than one dad, keeping in touch with them, wondering how they feel about her, wondering why she hasn't heard from one or all of them...to have just one dad...what a thought that was to me! and if that weren't enough...elise has a father who loves her, lives with her, spends time with her, makes her laugh, prays for her, is gentle and compassionate towards her...

though not perfect...what an accurate picture of God she will see evidenced by her earthly father (and grandfathers).

that is something to celebrate and be thankful for.