catching up - caroline's school easter party

caroline is all business

pile up looking for the eggs

all done and now on to the treats - love how caroline's legs are crossed!

caroline digging into some oysters on the half shell, her fav!

papa, caroline and grandad

whew, it has been a crazy couple of weeks! the busiest month of the year for us, besides christmas, is april! it is filled with birthdays, usually easter, spring break, throw in a recital, etc...it's going to take a few posts, but i'm determined to catch up :) the grandparents came in town for caroline's second ballet recital and we started their visit off right with some yummy seafood!

weariness...

please pray for forester and the bradburns...today was not a good day and they are weary. poor forester barely ate at all. he has no appetite and all the meds he has to take daily make him so nauseous and scared of swallowing anything for fear of throwing up. my heart hurts so much for all of them. go to their blog for more specifics, www.thebradburns.blogspot.com and pray, pray, pray for a better day tomorrow...thank you :)

nausea and vomiting :(

please pray for forester, specifically against nausea and vomiting. he has had a very hard time the last few days keeping any food down. tomorrow will be a long day at the hospital. my heart just breaks for he and the family...cancer does suck, but God is cool (direct quote from whitney on her blog)!!!

praise the Lord, o my soul!

forester at the hospital today

slade hanging out at the hospital with big bro...if i'm preggo soon it's b/c of her!! she is so precious!!!!!

i'm praising the Lord tonight for answered prayers! God is so good, kind and generous. forester and family have had 2 good days at the hospital for treatments and his headaches have been relieved. thank you, Jesus! psalm 103 below is one of my favorites!!

Psalm 103

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶ The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

⁹ He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

²¹ Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

²² Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

heavy heart

forester

my heart is so heavy this morning for our dear friends, the bradburns. forester started his chemo and radiation yesterday and it was a long, rough day. he has been having horrendous headaches off and on since the spinal tap almost 2 weeks ago and for some reason, nobody can figure out why or how to stop them. it has been incredibly frustrating and so hard on that sweet boy's body and his parents who have had to watch him be in such intense pain. please pray today for the following things....

*that they will see a neurologist and he/she will have wisdom regarding the headaches and how to treat them
*that chemo and radiation will go as planned today and that they will be at the hospital for as short a time as possible
*strength and endurance for whitney as pete leaves town this afternoon for work (thankfully her parents live here and are amazing)
*strengh and peace for pete as he has to be away - can't imagine how hard it is going to be to get on that plane

my human head and heart do not understand why this is has to happen, but i am clinging to what i do know....that God is good and He has a plan.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28

their blog has tons of info about his treatment and how to pray specifially, www.thebradburns.blogspot.com

this little girl is a mess :)

wearing daddy's crocs

so proud of herself!

poor girl :(

but, she was incredibly happy to have an ice bag!!

i love this little girl...she is a complete mess!! the scratch under her eye came from falling off a little plastic kid chair and having a run in with one of the little legs :(

please join me in praying for this precious boy tonight at 7pm est! thank you so much!!
www.thebradburns.blogspot.com

nyc, day three

the whole crew at norma's for breakfast

my choice, huevos rancheros - it was delicious!!!!!!!

after the show, we got a group shot

dinner at john's pizzeria in times square

my cousin ashley (who lives in nyc) joined us for pizza

strawberry shortcake cheesecake for dessert at world famous "junior's"

day three - we started off the day with breakfast at norma's in the le parker meriden hotel and it was without a doubt one of the best meals we had!! our waiter was extremely flamboyant, so nice and so fun. i had the most delicious huevos rancheros ever :) we headed back to bryant park to see if we could spot any more celebrities at fashion week. we saw jennifer love hewitt and that was about it. next, we were off to the gershwin theatre to see "wicked". it was excellent!!!!! after the show, we went to get pizza at john's pizzeria in times square. my cousin ashley, who lives in nyc, recommended it and joined us for dinner. of course, we had to get dessert so we stopped in the famous "juniors" for cheesecake. needless to say, we were never hungry on our trip!!
this wrapped up our last full day in the city and the next morning we all flew out and back to our real lives. girls, it was an absolute blast!!!! i can't wait for the next trip!!

nyc, day two

me, jaime and lauren at pastis (in the meatpacking district) for brunch

the new york public library

heidi klum - yes, i was this close to her!!!

gorgeous and so nice

dijimon hounsou, kimora lee simmons and kimora's children

carrie and our bouncer friend - he loved us!

new york fashion week at bryant park

amazing guacamole made tableside at rosa mexicano

chocolate bread pudding at rosa mexciano

the plaza hotel

jaime and me and some pretty flowers

the outside of the plaza hotel at night

day two - we started off the day with brunch at pastis in the meatpacking district. the food was pretty good, but the service not so much :( we shopped a lot this day, had a quick lunch at dean and deluca, checked out the new york public library and then stalked celebrities at fashion week at bryant park. i turned into full on paparazzi when heidi klum came out. i made a made dash for her with the paparazzi and got some good shots. maybe i found a new career!! we saw kellie pickler from american idol, too, but i didn't have my camera out. we had dinner that night at rosa mexicano and it was wonderful. the service was awesome! the guacamole and chicken tacos were amazing. of course, i'm just slightly partial to mexcian food. jaime, carrie and i walked to the plaza hotel after dinner. we thought about having a glass of wine, but $17 a glass was a bit steep for our budgets. it was beautiful, though!!

nyc girls' trip 2009, day one (friday, feb 13)

first stop...lunch at the famous carnegie deli

on the double decker bus tour, downtown loop

carrie, jaime and me

ground zero

eating cupcakes at magnolia bakery - yummy!!!

lauren and valerie

lacey and her baby boy brooks - she let us invade her home!

meatballs at carmine's

chicken parmigiana

me, lauren and val chowing down at carmine's

oh, how much fun did i have on my girls' trip a few weeks ago!!! president's weekend, i joined 5 of my samford girlfriends in NYC! my college roommate, lacey, lives on the upper west side with her hubby and baby boy so 3 of us crashed her place. thank you, lacey!! we came from charleston, birmingham, florence and memphis and got to spend 3 full days playing, eating, shopping, celebrity stalking and having the time of our lives! it was so awesome! thank you to my husband and my in-laws for taking care of my girls while i was gone. i loved NYC, but i have to say, this laidback charleston girl had a tough time keeping up with the pace. i kept wanting to tell people to slow down!!! can't wait for our next trip...probably somewhere warmer with sun and sand :)

day one - my flight thur night got cancelled so i flew out bright and early friday am. i negotiated laguardia airport and getting a cab and made it to lacey's apt safe and sound. my friends jaime and carrie got there the night before so we visited for a while and then headed out for the day. we ate lunch at carnegie deli and then did the double decker bus tour. we got to see lots of sights, got off and saw ground zero, bought some t'shirts in chinatown, etc. it was a great way to see lots of landmarks. we met our other friends who flew in that day, valerie and lauren, and ate a cupcake at magnolia bakery, so yummy!! we then all went and ate italian at carmine's for dinner. oh, it was delicious!!!!