God is good. I am enjoying what is going on here, and my girls are loving life here too. Isaiah Grace is making more friends than Bekah and I are (actually she draws them to us with her smile, and wave- she waves to everyone here, and we leave a room? She is waving to everyone and saying "Bye-Bye!") We have an incredible child, who most of yall in Georgia probably wouldn't even recognize at this point as she is so different from when we left.

Today I was walking across the campus lawn, the air was crisp, the wind was threatening winter, fall has arrived! Bekah says it is her favorite time of year, and I think I am with her. Its just the perfect temperature here. Minnesota may not offer the most comfortable winters but they have amazing fall seasons. We went from 80s and 90s to 40s and 50s in like a day. There were actually a few days when it was colder in Atlanta than it was here. Bekah has become freakishly observant of the weather, as she now has to dress two in the morning.

I wanted to say that the Lord has blessed us a lot so far. We have everything we need here, and then some, cause thats just how the Lord rolls. He loves to give good things to his children. For some reason they waived our rent here for the month of September. Amazing. I just wanted to let everyone know that God is blessing us. We don't know what kind of support is going to come in, but I felt like God told me this week to not worry, but to trust him. I think he is also opening up a job for me on campus, more on that as it unfolds.

She has a very refined palate!

Isaiah Grace and I are having tons of fun these days. I think I'm most amazed by her emerging personality and how she loves to be the source of other people's laughter...she delights in it! A couple days ago I walked with her to the play ground here on campus and we did our usual swinging, bouncing on the spring-enforced animals and taking a few trips down the slide but on this day I thought that sand would be fun for her to discover. So we plopped ourselves down in the sand and enjoyed letting it escape through our fingers... Isaiah thought it was facinating. At one point I looked up and with a silly grin my girl stuck her hand in her mouth! Yes, her sand and dirt covered hand went directly in her mouth! When I went to pull her hand out I saw bits of dirt stuck in her two little teeth and I started laughing so hard! So she in turn started laughing and got more dirt and stuck it in her mouth causing both of us to laugh even harder. I know I should worry about germs and all of the horrible things floating around sand boxes but she was having so much fun and it was so darn funny I couldn't bring my self to tell her to stop. Those of you who have heard her belly laugh and watched her bounce up and down with laughter know why I just had to enjoy the moment. So now shes a dirt eater and I'll just have to be ok with that. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera or the video camera w/ me at that moment but I think if I had, I might have missed out on the fun of just laughing with my girl. So these are 'back at home' pics and most of the dirt was gone... c'est la vie!
Today is the UGA/ Tenn game and father and daughter are decked out for the big game. GO DAWGS!

Mama's gotta brand new bag!

Yep, yesterday I realized that I got a package from the home town and I was CRAZY excited! There are really no words to explain the feeling you get when something comes in the mail just for you from someone that you miss so much. So I picked up my package and saw that it was from katie B and I told JM 'I don't know what it is, but I know its something fun.' I knew it was fun because it was from B and she is just fun and I love that about her. SO I opened my box and it was a lovely bag that has more pockets than any mother would need in a bag and love it because it holds everything and its super cute on top of that. (I love how my pink grandma couch really complements my new bag!) Yep, so yesterday I felt like a queen and I switched all my goods into immediately, John Mark thought it was pretty funny. Every time I pick it up to leave the house I smile because it is a little treasure from home that came from the heart of a great friend.
Thanks B! You don't know how much it means to me!
Oh, and here are a couple random IGN pics from playing and walking in her room:)

bekah, signing on.

Oh, Minnesota. There are so many things that I think about being here and everyday is a little bit more 'normal'. Before we left our wonderful family and friends of M-town I was so busy packing and worrying about Isaiah Grace's transition that I didn't have a personal emotion concerning the move. I knew that once i arrived here in MN and got settled I would realize that the sweet familar faces that I love weren't showing up in my life the way they once did. And sure enough about 4 or 5 days after being here I started crying, yep, couldn't stop, just cried.
So now we have lived in our new place for about 2 weeks and a dear friend has moved in down stairs, I am feeling better and more at home. I mean I still tear up when I think of time with the fam and such but I know what we experience here is setting us up for greater things with the Lord. I'm so thankful for the blessing of a supportive husband and the opportunity to take adventures with my best friend (it makes this life SO much more fun). We seariously experience a WHOLE NEW culture here and I don't just mean mid-westerners, but the cultural diversity here is HUGE. There is a huge Somali populationand there are a large number of Indians (people from India, not native-americans... but they represent pretty heavily also). So its a cool town and I look foward to spending some time in the city.
IGN UPDATE: She's amazing... are you suprised? She is loving community life and getting the attention she feels her life deserves:) She has won the hearts of young and old here on campus and parades around waving at everyone she sees (she's practicing for miss america, I guess). There are people from home that she misses when she sees their pics but for the most part she has embraced her new life and is loving it. There are 4 kids here in our building ranging in ages from 12 months to 2 1/2 years, so the girl has friends all around. She's walking around like a wild woman and learning how to make this whole "shoe-wearing' thing work. Basicly, she's perfect!
Well I better get a move on... i think I'm going to blog more in the future!

Bulldogs and Bottles

Yes my friends these are the words that my one year old princess can now say clearly, and I mean what else do you need to know, really? She can let us know when she needs a bottle, and when she needs her UGA fix, life doesn't get much better. We also have video documentation of this to prove it, but we gotta figure out how to download them on the computer.



In other news, I have finally found out my schedule while I'm up here at the house of prayer, as we have just been doing orientation until now. I am excited about what I will get to do as they are training me on the sound board/video. I will also be able to play bass and guitar in several different watches, which I am really looking forward to.

Everything else is good here, as the weather is starting to turn, and get a bit chilly, but we are taking advantage of the outdoors, as much as we can, before the winter comes. We are having to put Isaiah Grace in shoes now for one because its starting to get colder, and also cause she is cruising around pretty well these days. She walks a lot better without them on, but she is quickly getting the hang of it.

This weekend the group for IHOP (in Kansas City) is here for their onething conference in Minneapolis, and other than being gone from my ladies all weekend, I am looking forward to it. Last night I was the cash register dude at the bookstore, good times. More updates to come....

Home sweet home.

This was schmales favorite er I mean only position on the way up here, our ride was LOADED down.

This sunset was absolutely amazing, but I didn't quite capture it, at least I got the golden arches though.


I mean seriously what machine could use these freakishly large tires?

Okay so Minnesota is where we have landed, at least for now. It feels good too. I guess thats just one of the rewards of being in the center of Gods will. I never thought I would say that it feels like home here, after leaving all the family, friends, church back in Georgia, but strangely enough it really does. We have pretty well moved in, and are getting adjusted here good. I am still in Orientation for the House of Prayer, but I am really excited about what the Lord is going to do with us in this ministry. Bekah and Isaiah are doing well, as they are both taking a much needed nap right now. We had a bit of a scare as Isaiah Grace came down with the Croupe the other night and we had to rush her to the ER, but it turns out its normal here, and tons of other parents here have gone through the same thing with their kids. Thats about it for now, I will write more as it comes.


Isaiah getting a Bath with a sweet do.

The time has come...

Well this time tomorrow I will probably be "somewhere in middle America, getting right to the heart of matters, its the heart that matters more..."sorry I couldnt resist the counting crows shout out there. That song will without a doubt get some play time on the road trip to Minnesota, its a given. Right around the Illinois/Wisconsin area is where I always think of this song, even though its clearly about Omaha. Anyway, we will pack up our things into the trailer this evening and head out first thing in the morning with Schmale as my copilot. She is getting a new home in Minnesota, as Dwight and Janna offered to keep her up north (4 hours north of Minneapolis on Lake Superior). I think she will dig the snow, and if she doesn't well, yeah she doesn't really have a choice at this point.



This has been a crazy few week, as I got to go to the dawgs opener a few weeks back, to see them pull out a lopsided victory, sadly the trend didn't continue with Spurrier in town. Then we had a BD party for Isaiah Grace. Good times.
Thankfully the Bedingfields opened up their home again for a 1 year old throw down for our girl. Then of course we were commissioned at Riverstone on Sunday. God has been so faithful along the way, and we are blessed.







Tonight we are having my last supper at La Parilla on Cedarcrest/41. If you are so inclined please come and have some grub. Chips and Salsa and waters are on me, no really its something I want to do. I know its late notice but you can make it.