Bananas for Sam from Guatemala

What a fun weekend we had! We got to celebrate life at its finest…Sam turning ONE and Jack choosing new life in Christ. It doesn’t get much better than that. Sharing both occasions with family made it even better.


I am really not great at throwing birthday parties, but this one ended up being low-key, yet cute and fun. Try as I might, it seems like I can’t do any party planning more than a week out. So, we spent bits and pieces of this week putting together some cute monkey décor for Our Little Monkey.

I can’t take credit for most of the ideas. Gotta love the internet, and the blogging world specifically. And the super fantabulous cupcakes were done by our resident cupcake expert – Grandma. The were almost too cute to eat.

The fact that all of our Alabama family was able to make the occasion made the whole day extra wonderful. Now if we could only have the Texas peeps as well.

(Sam loves Grandma and Grandpa's dog, Shelby. He just walks around behind her all day and will gently touch her if he gets close enough. Shelby does not share the same fondness for Sam, but she tolerates him well.)

(Emily went for the sprinkle cupcake rather than the chocolate monkey, which was no surprise to those of us who know her well. For those of you in suspense, I went with the chocolate. But don't think I didn't swipe a bite of the cream cheese with sprinkles, too.)

Sam was a doll, as usual. I mean, this kid is unreal. He’s just the happiest little fella and cute to boot. It makes me wish I could freeze time, but I haven’t figured that out yet. He wasn’t too interested in opening presents, which I don’t think any one-year-old is, but he had plenty of siblings who were willing to help him out with that. Luke also helped out with the candle-blowing.

The weather was picture perfect on both days. I certainly don’t deserve it, but I had a wonderful time celebrating the blessings that are overflowing in my life. I’ll have to show pics of the baptism later since I don’t have them yet.

And wouldn't you know that the bananas at the party were grown in Guatemala? How's that for a segue into the topic I keep teasing you with? My looming mission trip to Guatemala. To put it as briefly as possible…it’s in two weeks. Yikes. A month ago, I almost had a panic attack during and after our meeting. I was completely overwhelmed by fear and doubts. But, after praying with several people about it, the fear left me. Now that the trip is drawing closer, I can sometimes feel the fear trying to creep in again, but I’m focusing on truth. The two things that keep me grounded are God’s power and His goodness. He is able and He can be trusted. Why should I go to the ends of the earth to proclaim a God who my life declares to be powerless and vindictive? That’s not the God I believe in, and my life needs to show it.

I am choosing to trust Him and not dwell on the what ifs. Prayers are appreciated, though, as the time draws near where I will put my babies in bed and then vamoose before they wake. That’s the hardest part, especially when they’re as precious as this…