M&M Perdue

Church Work Day

2008-11-20T22:22:00.000-06:00

Miss Valerie helped me organize the kitchen

Danny, Justin, Brandon and Emily

2008-11-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

Michael getting ready to cut a tree down

Danny brought his tractor to the work day. We got so much work done having that tractor there!

Mr. Kevin getting some stuff organized

Miss Pearl helped me mop the multipurpose room. It was very dirty!

2008-11-20T22:14:00.001-06:00

Brandon raking while Mr. Kevin and Zachary pick up sticks and tree branches

Zachary picking up all the sticks that were still on the ground from the hurricane

Jason and Michael repaired the deck where the tree fell on it.

Justin cutting up the tree stump

Happy 30th Birthday Michael!

2008-11-20T22:11:00.000-06:00

Michael turned 30 on November 9th. I got his truck bed sprayed for his birthday. I did not get a picture of it, but I did get a picture of his small gift I got him. A huge jar of pickled eggs. He always beggs for them when we are at the grocery store, so I thought that might be a little treat he would not be expecting.

I baked him a Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Icing

Top view of the pound cake

Michael eating the crusty butt of the pound cake!

Chili Cook Off!

2008-11-20T22:01:00.000-06:00

Michael and I went to the Chili cook off that was held in the mall parking lot. I had to get a picture of this one, I thought it was so funny! Emily and the kids met up with us that day also

Michael dropped chili on his shirt. For once in our lives, he was the one with the stained shirt!

I loved the Chili and cheese chimichanga!

Emily eating her chili and savoring every drop of Dr. Pepper!

2008-11-20T21:58:00.000-06:00

Emily giving Adeline a taste of Dr. Pepper

Jude was there too!

Michael and Emily ended up wearing the same shirts! I had to get a picture of them looking like twins! For all you in Virginia, these are our new church t shirts

Adeline was so upset, I had to take a picture. I like to tease Emily that she was because she had a leash on!

Air Show

2008-11-20T21:53:00.000-06:00

Michael and I took a few of the kids from church to the Air Show last month. We had a really good time. I think everyones favorite part was when the jets came out in the end and did all kind of tricks!

I took a picture of myself to prove I was there!

More Air Show

2008-11-20T21:48:00.001-06:00

Here is a picture of the group

Zita eating her nachos

Corinthian enjoying the Air Show

Ernie eating a hamburger

Chick fil a Grand Opening

2008-11-06T21:56:00.000-06:00

Brandon, Emily, Adeline, Jude, Michael and I went to the grand opening of the chick fil a that is right down the street from us. If you are one of the first 100 in line you will recieve 52 free combo meals for free. I had been to one grand opening before and we knew they fill up fast, so we loaded everything up at 6am and headed to chick fil a to fight the crowds. When we pulled up, there were only two guys there so far. We signed in and unpacked everything. Once you sign in you can not leave the parking lot til the next morning when the store opens. We kept waiting for the crowd to show up, but the people did not start coming til 5pm. I guess chick fil a is not as popular as they are in Virginia. It was a long day, but we had a good time relaxing and playing some games!

Here I am signing in. I spent my 30th birthday in the parking lot of Chick fil a!

2008-11-06T21:51:00.000-06:00

Michael took this picture of Adeline in her sunglasses. He loves it since it looks like she is a giant about to take over Chick fil a!

Cookies for Breakfast?!

2008-11-06T21:50:00.000-06:00

Sice we thought they were going to feed us breakfast, none of us took the time to eat in the morning. When we got there, we were informed they do not feed people breakfast. I made oatmeal pecan white chocolate chunk cookies so that is what we had!

Of course there were no complaints from Adeline about the cookies!

Getting set up

2008-11-06T21:46:00.000-06:00

Brandon and Emily getting their tent set up. Notice Adeline is helping too!

The guys work hard to get our area together. We only had one parking spot to fit a hug tent, a canopy, a baby swing, a card table and our chairs in, we made it work!

The crew minus me and Jude

Adeline took her morning nap in our tent. When she woke up she tried to figure out how to get out of the tent. She could not figure the zipper out so she tried to squeeze out of a little hole!

Lunch time

2008-11-06T21:42:00.000-06:00

We got chicken sandwiches, salad and Cheesecake for lunch

Emily enjoying her salad

Michael resting after lunch

They gave Adeline and Jude a stuffed chick fil a cow, Adeline is showing the cow how to walk!

Wasting Some Time

2008-11-06T21:39:00.000-06:00

Michael, Emily and Brandon

These were the guys that got there at 4:30 am. There names were Justin and Timmy and they drove in from Texas

We played teams scrabble...It was team ME (Mandi and Emily), team JT (Justin and Timmy) and team BM (Brandon and Michael)...in true team ME fashion, we dominated!

This is a shot of our set up and the empty parking lot behind us. It was a running joke since the next person did not show up till around 5pm!

The chick fil a cow

2008-11-06T21:34:00.000-06:00

Jude, Emily and the cow take a picture. Adeline had just left with her grandma so she did not get to see the cow

Me and Michael with the cow

Hula Hoop Games

2008-11-06T21:32:00.000-06:00

Brandon and Michael played the game where they play the music and you have to pass the hula hoop form one person to the other without letting go of their hands. Once the music stops whoever has the hula hoop is out.

Brandon passing the hula hoop to Michael. Michael got out that round. Brandon made it to the final eight

Michael entered the hula hoop contest. He did not even know if he could hula hoop or not. They stopped him at 150 and then two other girls got 150 also...

They had to all hula hoop at the same time to see who would be the last one standing. Michael got out first!

2008-11-06T21:28:00.000-06:00

Our group left to right: Valerie, Mrs. Kathy, Brandon, Emily, Jude and me!

Brandon, Emily and Jude in their chik fil a gear

A guy from the newspaper came and interviewed Brandon and Emily. He took lots of pictures of them with Jude!

We Made It!

2008-11-06T21:12:00.000-06:00

Michael and I waiting in line!

Michael ended up being number one in line by default. There were two guys there before us, but they left the parking lot, so when they came back on they were no longer one and two. SInce Michael was first in line, they interviewed him on the local news channel and he gave our church a little plug!

Michael holding his number one card

We did it, Michael with his 52 free combo meals!

Surprise 30th Birthday Party

2008-11-04T23:40:00.000-06:00

Brandie, Emily, Rachel and Stacey threw me a surprise birthday party last weekend. I was so surprised! We had it at Brandie's house and like any good ole Cajun event we had Gumbo and Cracklin! I did not get very many pictures, but I am going to be getting a CD from Heather so I can post more pictures later. I am so thankful for good friends. Almost our whole church was there! It was so nice to be able to celebrate my birthday with so many friends!

They went all out on the decorations...I had this cute birthday hat I wore most of the night!

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

2008-11-04T23:35:00.000-06:00

This is the biggest pot of Gumbo I have ever seen

Fresh Cracklin!

2008-11-04T23:23:00.000-06:00

Justin made some cracklin. It was so good, I never knew you had to fry that stuff for at least 3 hours!

Stirring the Cracklin

Justin tasting the good stuff.

Michael basically belly upped to the bowl of cracklin and did not leave!

My New Table!

2008-11-04T23:04:00.000-06:00

This is what the chairs look like. We bought the table at World Market for my birthday. I love the fact that it has a bench and chairs. The bench comes in handy when you have a lot of kids over!

Mandi and Adeline Go Shopping!

2008-11-01T08:29:00.001-05:00

I took Adeline shopping with me one day this week. We went out to eat at McAlister's and then we were on a mission to find red shoes to go with a dress I had bought her earlier that day. This is Adeline enjoying a lemon before our meal came out.

We found the perfect little shoes for her. She loved them the instant I put them on her. She kept pointing to them and she held the box the whole time we shopped in Target.

Here she is in her dress and shoes! She is just so cute. She pranced around the house like a big girl all night long!

We are on the move...AGAIN!

2008-10-31T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well, in true Perdue fashion, we are on the move yet again! We just moved to a new townhouse. It is a lot closer to the church and Brandon and Emily live right behind us! We are enjoying the new place and we have a lot more room for all of you to come and visit us. I will post pictures of the new place soon!

It looks like the Beverly Hillbillies are moving in!

2008-10-31T11:06:00.000-05:00

We even made Adeline help us move stuff!

Lydia having a little fun!

The guys resting and talking after the move

Heather and Brandie relaxing

New Basketball Hoop

2008-10-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

Michael and Brandon put up a basketball hoop at the church. Michael dug the hole and then that evening they decided to fill the hole with cement and set the pole.

They forgot the flood light so they had to get creative! They used the light off of a old projector!

mixing the cement

setting the pole in the cement

Church BBQ!

2008-10-31T10:57:00.000-05:00

We had our first church BBQ a couple of weeks ago. We had hamburgers, sausage po boys and all the fixins! Justin did all the grilling and it turned out great!

Some of the ladies setting up the chairs!

Adeline and I matched on Sunday!

2008-10-31T10:54:00.000-05:00

Emily got her food before everyone came in to eat so she could take care of the kids. She is hidding in this corner so everyone will not see she was already eating!

The line of hungry church goers!

Adeline enjoyed staying at the dessert table!

Some of the ladies cleaning up after we ate

Ranger's Trips

2008-10-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

Michael get the opportunity to drive the bus for the Ranger's trips at Westminster. It is a hikking program the school offers to 9-12 graders. Brandon's Dad, Mr. Scott, is the guy who started the program and Michael really enjoys being able to help out!

This is a Puppy (1st year in the program) group learning the trails.

Time to cool off!

2008-10-30T22:42:00.001-05:00

Time for some down time, Basketball anyone?

Some of the tents

Mr. Scott striking a pose

A cool tree

Lunch at the Kitchen Shop

2008-10-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

I had a rare Friday off last week so Emily and I took full advantage. I had never eaten lunch at the famous Kitchen Shop so we loaded up the kids and went out for lunch! It was such a beautiful day we got to eat outside. I had peach tee to drink and Emily got the Peppermint Lemonade. Both drinks were very good, but Emily's was a little better than mine. Who would have thought Peppermint Lemonade would be so good. If any of you ever get a chance to try it, I say you should go for it!

Chocolate Bread Pudding...

2008-10-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

need I say any more? This was the best dessert I have had in a long time. It was Chocolate Bread Pudding with Caremel Mousse and then had a cooked sugar sculpture. It was so yummy!

The lady took a picture of the four of us getting ready to dive in!

2008-10-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

Adeline had ham, sweet potatoes and mac and cheese

Emily had a spinach and feta quiche

I had a ham and three cheese quiche!

Hair cut!

2008-10-14T08:04:00.000-05:00

This is the guy that cut my hair...I really liked him and he really liked my hair. He wanted to try to straighten it so I went ahead and let him. He told me it would stay like that for two days if I did not get it wet. By the time the night was over, I had curly hair again. I guess the humidity hates my hair!

I am fixin to say something to Emily so I have a retarted look on my face, but here is the finished product

The back view, I love the way my hair looked from the back!

New Hair Cut

2008-10-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is the view from the back

Side View

Front view

another front view

Jesus Loves the Little Children

2008-10-09T08:23:00.000-05:00

These are some of the kids I have in Children's Church every Sunday morning. It is such a blessing to be able to teach these little kids about Jesus.

I had to bribe them to do a real picture by telling them they could do a funny pose after the good one!

Macaroni Grill

2008-10-09T08:18:00.001-05:00

We ended our very long day at the Macaroni Grill in Baton Rouge. Jude had a major blow out right before our food got to the table!

As you can see by this picture everyone was very tired! We had such a fun day!

Cafe Du Monde

2008-10-09T08:15:00.000-05:00

No trip to New Orleans is complete without going to Cafe Du Monde for a Cafe Au Lait and hot Beignets! This was Adeline and Jude's first visit to Cafe Du Monde.

Michael always dips his Beignet in his coffee

Emily got a hot Cafe Au Lait

Even Jude got in on the fun!

French Quarter

2008-10-09T08:11:00.000-05:00

Since we were in New Orleans, we had to stop at the French Quarter. We had someone take this picture of all of us on the river walk.

Another one of the Nealy family

I really like this picture of me and Michael. Look at the sky behind us!

Photo Opp!

2008-10-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

We had to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and take some pictures of the families. I LOVE this picture of Jude and Emily!

This is their first picture with all 4 of them together!

Michael took this one of us, I really like it!

Jude Sees a Turtle

2008-10-09T08:06:00.000-05:00

Michael and I watched Jude while Brandon, Emily and Adeline went into the petting zoo. There was an 80 pound turtle just walking around eating the plants. I wanted Michael to put Jude on top of the turtle, but Michael refused!

Michael and Jude

This is the closest Jude got to sitting on the turtle.

Audubon Zoo in New Orleans

2008-10-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo in New Orleans with Brandon and Emily this past Saturday. We had a really nice time and the weather could not have been any better!

Jude all dressed for the zoo!

Adeline loved all the animals! She would point at them and then just jibber jabber!

Brandon, Adeline and Emily enjoying the view!

Ugly Dog BBQ

2008-10-09T07:52:00.000-05:00

Adeline was enjoying the food quite a bit

This is the pulled pork platter. It was so good, the coffee cup is filled with their chilli beans, then they top it with cheese and sour cream...yummy!

NAMI Walk

2008-10-09T07:48:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday Heather, Dominique and I did a NAMI walk. NAMI stands for National Association for Mental Illness. Dominique has a brother with mental illness so we walked with her family. It was a beautiful day for a walk. Our shirts said NAMI walks so you will never have to walk alone!

Heather and Dominiqe getting their walk on!

Me and Dominiqe power walking!

Cookie Monster

2008-10-02T15:51:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when you try to keep a 18 month little girl quiet during Prayer service. You feed her lots of cookies and she makes a huge mess!

Adeline is asking for more cookies in this picture

Cajun Sno

2008-10-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

I know I have posted pictures of Cajun Sno before, but I have never taken an actual picture of the sno cone. When I tell people about putting sweetened condensed milk on a sno cone they think it sounds gross. Let me tell you it taste very good. I always get grape and blackberry mixed with cream on top!

Emily enjoying her chocolate sno cone with extra cream! Emily and I went to Cajun Sno while the boys went to Starbucks!

Teen's Sunday School Class

2008-09-24T07:59:00.000-05:00

Michael and I have started teaching the teens Sunday School Class. Michael and I have never really thought of ourselves as liking teens too much. We have always worked with the younger kids and really enjoyed them. Well, to our surprise, we LOVE working with the teens. They are so much fun! We get to go watch them play football and I get to cook for them and they LOVE it! We are very thankful for the few teens we do have at our church and we look forward to having more come along.

Jude and Buster

2008-09-24T07:56:00.000-05:00

This is the first picture I have taken with Jude and Buster. Buster has not really paid any attention to Jude til Sunday. He kept jumping up and sniffing him. I am sure there will be plenty more pictures of the two of them together. On a side note, I know Buser's ears look aweful, but he had a lot of knots so we had to cut them. No worries, we will not keep his ears like this all the time!

Our New Sunday Night Hang Out!

2008-09-21T21:23:00.000-05:00

Since we get out of church earlier on Sunday nights, we have changed our hang out from Starbucks to Popeyes! We go there every Sunday night, the staff knows us now.

Getting everyone to look at the camera and smile is no small task!

Adeline gets her eat on with red beans and rice!

Working at Church!

2008-09-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

Michael had to work on the airconditioning in the nursury tonight at church. It has been so hot in that room, so while we were there, he decided to try and fix it!

He never misses an opportunity to wear his head lamp. He is such a nerd!

Steve and Buster = Best Friends!

2008-09-19T12:50:00.000-05:00

This is Steve, he is my cousin Belinda's dog. While we stayed at Belinda's house and had so much fun, Buster also got to meet a new cousin. He and Steve played together all day long. They ran around so much I could never get a picture of them together. This picture is at night after they had finally had enough of the running and decided to get some sleep!

Buster looks like a stuffed animal in this picture. He was pooped!

Tug of War

2008-09-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

Adeline LOVES playing with Buster and now that she is older, they play tug of war whenever they get a chance. I know these pictures are blurry, but they were moving around so much! Look closely at Adelines body language...she is frustrated she can not get the duck from Buster!

Ahhh, sweet victory. She finally got it from him!

Lets see...I think I am supposed to put it in my mouth now, right?!

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-15T09:08:00.001-05:00

Hurricane Ike did not really hit us...thank goodness. We got some crazy winds and lots of rain, but that was about it. We are safe!

After the storm Michael and I drove around looking for damages. This was the only thing we could find...a port a potty that had been blown over!

A picture of the dark clouds that were circling around us.

Adeline Loves Dr. Pepper Too!

2008-09-15T09:03:00.001-05:00

Adeline loves Dr. Pepper, or anything in a can! She got a hold of Michael's Dr. Pepper and started chugging. Do not worry, there was only a sip left!

Isn't she so funny?!

Baby Jude

2008-09-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

Jude is getting so big! I finally got some pictures of him smilling. I love being able to be a part of his life!

Adeline and Buster

2008-09-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Brandon, Emily and the kids came over for dinner one night last week. Buster and Adeline have so much fun when they get to spend some time together. I think sometimes Adeline thinks she is a dog more than a human!

Cattlemen's Steak House

2008-09-12T18:10:00.000-05:00

While we were downtown, we went to Cattlemen's Steak House for lunch. It was so good, my Dad highly reccomended it to us. Thanks Dad!

2008-09-12T18:08:00.000-05:00

Hmmm...yummy salad!

Sherry enjoying the salad and rolls

I got Chicken Fried Chicken, it was so good. When they bring your food to you they give you this serving dish full of cheese, scallions, bacon bits and sour cream for your baked potatoe!

This is they guy who cooks the steaks

Candy Store

2008-09-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

We stopped at this little candy store that had every kind of candy you can imagine. It was a cool little place

Me and Sherry in front of some candy

Michael and Mandi holding M&M's get it....!!!!!

Michael Loves Dr. Pepper!

2008-09-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

While we were in Dallas Michael got to buy some Dublin Dr. Pepper. It is made in Dublin Texas and they use pure sugar cane sugar instead of high fructose syrup.

2008-09-12T17:57:00.000-05:00

We stayed with our cousin Bellinda in Dallas. She was such a wonderful hostess. She took us to downtown Ft. Worth to see the old stockyard. We had a great time

Sherry Visits Louisiana....or Dallas!

2008-09-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

As soon as Sherry flew in we went to the store to get some snacks and then went home to go to bed. We had to evacuate from Lafayette and we left for Dallas at 4:30 am the next day.

Michael driving in some major traffic

While we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, we let Buster drive so we could get some sleep!

A Boy and His Toys

2008-09-12T17:50:00.000-05:00

While we were in Dallas, Michael got a chance to go to REI. They do not have a REI anywhere near us in Louisiana. He got a few things he needed for his camping trips, but his favorite thing was this chair you can sit in and lean back after a long day of hiking.

Damages to the Church

2008-09-05T12:16:00.000-05:00

We are thankful there were not damages to the church building its self. We did have around 6 trees fall and 2 trees that were broken in half. Michael and Brandond quickly started cutting up the big tree that fell right in front of our parking lot. We have a lot of clean up ahead of us, but again we are so thankful there was no damage to the church building.

2008-09-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

Starting to Clean up the Damage

2008-09-05T12:08:00.001-05:00

While the guys cut up the big tree, I hauled branches to the side of the road

Clean Up Day Two

2008-09-05T12:04:00.000-05:00

My job for the morning was to sweep up the parking lot!

Michael cutting down one of the trees that was broken in half

Brandon cutting down one of the other trees that was broken in half

Update

2008-08-30T22:35:00.000-05:00

We picked Sherry up from the airport and we saw military people all over the place...they are getting ready!

These are our hurricane essentials...Baby wipes, pop tarts, M&M's and Skittles! Welcome to Louisiana Sherry!

Preparing for Gustov!

2008-08-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

We went around town today to get some water and a couple of supplies for the hurricane. As you can see the stores are starting to prepare as well! I will be keeping everyone posted as long as we have electricity

Girls Night Out!

2008-08-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

Last night Heather, Dominique and I went out to dinner for Dominique's upcoming birthday. We went to Carabba's for Dinner and Chili's for dessert.

2008-08-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

Since Heather had just bought this white shirt, she wore a bib so she would not get any food on it. I told her it blended in well and no one really noticed!

Dominique got Chicken Parmesian

I got Chicken Parmesian also!

Happy 2nd Birthday Buster!

2008-08-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

Buster just turned two this week! We do not have any kids so Buster is our baby!

Blogging Vacation for the Summer

2008-08-21T14:28:00.002-05:00

Sorry I have not posted in a while. We have been very busy and our internet was having a few issues. I am finally back and I promise to keep up with the blog. As you can see from below, we have been busy. In the last two months we have moved to Lafayette, bought a new truck and recieved a new church building!

Country Girl in the Big City!

2008-08-21T14:26:00.000-05:00

We moved this past weekend. In true Southern Louisiana fashion, we had a huge thunderstorm in the afternoon. Our whole parkinglot was flooded. We could tell that the drain was clogged with lots of leaves and sticks. While everyone was moving stuff into our apartment, I decided to go unclog the drain.

If you look close you can see how high the water actually was by my pants. Once I got the drain cleared it went down pretty fast. I was like a little hometown hero...people kept honking at me and cheering for me!

Yuck! There were a lot of leaves and sticks blocking the drain!

Michael's New Truck

2008-08-21T14:11:00.000-05:00

Michael traded in his Dodge Ram for a Izuzu truck. The difference in gas mileage is so awesome! We are thankful for our friend Jeff who works for a Dodge dealership, he got Michael a great deal. This is our very first car we have owned that is brand new.

Jehovah Jireh

2008-08-21T14:06:00.000-05:00

We have the most amazing news. As most of you know our churh Acadian Baptist Church has been meeting in a store front and we have been praying earnestly for a new building we could grow in. God answered those prayers two weeks ago by GIVING us a building for our church to meet in. This building is only 9 years old and they owe nothing on it, it is completly paid for! The former paster of this church came to our church on a Sunday evening and at the end of the service he talked with Brandon and told him he felt like the Holy Spirit was leading him to deed the building over to Acadian Baptist Church! We had our first Sunday in the new building this past Sunday, we had 82 people there! God is so good! We have decided to change our name to Covenant Baptist Church since the name of the old church was Covenent Christian Fellowship Bible Church. We thought the old memebers would appreciate us keeping some of thier name. Sorry I have not posted sooner, our internet has been down.

This side building is a brand new fellowship hall they just built.

This is the side of the building

I tried to get all of it in one picture!

2008-08-21T13:57:00.000-05:00

this classroom is pretty long so the picture below is a continuance of this room

another classroom

This is the foyer

2008-08-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

The auditorium...it can seat 120 people

One of the kitchens

A class room

another classroom!

Welcome Baby Jude

2008-07-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

I know this is exactly one month too late, but here is a picture of little Jude. He turned one month old today and I think he his three weeks old in this picture. Notice the LARGE feet he has. He is such a sweet little baby.

Had to put this picture in since he is frowning!

Yes, he is screaming, but I thought this was a cute picture. Adeline adores her little brother!

The Lion King

2008-07-23T23:47:00.000-05:00

Sherry, Teresa and I went to the Kennedy Center to see the Lion King. Sherry got us boxed seats and the view was amazing! We had so much fun. We got lost on our way there and ended up picking up a random Polish guy that helped us get to the Kennedy Center on time.

Once you go box you never go back!

You are not supposed to take pictures during the show, but I could not resist. I did not use my flash or my zoom, but you get the idea of how cool the set was!

Visiting Family

2008-07-15T16:31:00.001-05:00

It was so nice to see Grandma and Granddad Shifflett while we were home. We got to see them a couple of times and wish we could have seen them more!

Matching Cuties

2008-07-15T16:29:00.000-05:00

Madison and Bryce had matching outifits on Sunday morning. They looked so cute!

Time to Eat!

2008-07-15T16:27:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen so much bread?

Harris made is awesome chicken. I mainly took this picture for Emily!

2008-07-15T16:24:00.002-05:00

Jen and Bryce

Uncle Don and Aunt Shirley

Me and Michael

THUNDERSTORM!

2008-07-15T16:22:00.001-05:00

While we were eating we started hearing huge thunder in the distance. When it started raining everyone piled into Steven and Stephanies house. It got so hot in the house since there were so many people in there. We went outside on the porch to cool off!

Jason, Me, Sherry, Cody and Jay

Sherry, Cody, Sommer, Jay and Caleb

Caleb decided he wanted to go out to their suburban and watch a movie. We put a trashbag over him so he would not get too wet!

The Good Ole Days

2008-07-15T16:18:00.000-05:00

It was so nice to be home for the 4th. I love this picture of Michael, Paul and Matt. It reminds me of the good ole days when we were all single and hung out together all of the time. How time flies!

Getting Ready for the Fireworks

2008-07-15T16:15:00.001-05:00

Sommer and the boys. Matt is not in the picture because he was helping light the fireworks

Kathi and Dad

Haley Bryce and Madison

2008-07-15T16:13:00.000-05:00

Reagan and Phoebe

Me and Sherry

Matt and Sherry

Fireworks

2008-07-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

These pictures really do not do the fireworks any justice. It was very humid that night so there was a lot of smoke in the air.

2008-07-15T16:09:00.000-05:00

Michael gave Bryce a 4 wheeler ride.

Sommer painted Cami's fingers and toes

Michael eating some watermelon

Pre- 4th of July Picnic

2008-07-15T16:03:00.001-05:00

Matt, Sommer, the boys and Michael and I all went to Carltons's to help get ready for the fireworks on Thursday. After all the work was done, we cooked out. Matt, Sommer and the kids camped out at Carltons. Matt Speck, Cody and Matt Forrester are all in the picture above.

Cami

Dad and Sommer

Emily's Surprise Shower

2008-06-28T19:47:00.000-05:00

We threw Emily a surprise shower on the Friday before she had Jude. It was so hard keeping the secret from her. I love the picture above...look at the faces of everyone, it is so cute. All the ladies in the church ended up coming and they all helped out so much with food and decorations. I am so glad we pulled it off!

We had Emily wear this little pin the whole shower. Isn't she so cute?

Getting her eat on!

2008-06-28T19:43:00.000-05:00

Rachel and Tricia

Sylvia and Brandie

Rachel and Mandi

Stacey

Decorations

2008-06-28T19:38:00.000-05:00

The Ladies even decorated the chair Emily sat in

The food...yummy

I made the cake for Emily

Presents

2008-06-28T19:34:00.000-05:00

Summer Project

2008-06-28T19:27:00.001-05:00

Michael has started a large summer project. For the first week he had to tear down a large shed and greenhouse. Thankfully he had Brandon to help out the first week. More pictures to come soon.

Classic picture of Brandon. He is resting and eating Oreos and drinking a Coke.

Of course Michael had Brandon take his picture while he was holding a large beam!

Through the Eyes of Michael

2008-06-17T23:20:00.001-05:00

I was not going to post this picture, but Michael kind of insisted. He took this picture because he said this is what he sees me doing all day long! So what if I like to play on the computer! Just because I am hiding in this picture, I am not ashamed of my addiction!

Lemon Cream Cake with Vanilla Crumb Topping

2008-06-17T23:16:00.000-05:00

I made this cake on Monday. It was so delicious! It is white cake with lemon cream icing and vanilla crumb topping. Need I say more?

Sommer Visits South Louisiana!

2008-06-01T22:39:00.003-05:00

Sommer came to visit us last week. She flew into Lafayette on Saturday morning. We took her to eat at a cute little Greek Cafe in River Ranch (kind of like a Central Park of Fredericksburg). We looked in all the little shops around the Cafe and found a scrapbooking store. Much to our delight, this store has a HUGE 75% off section. Sommer and I loaded up on paper and spent less than 5 dollars!
We went by our Church and met up with Brandon and Emily. Michael and Brandon had to put a projector up so Emily, Sommer, Adeline and I went to Cajun Sno and then went for a tour of Lake Martin. We wanted Sommer to be able to see the swamps. We hoped we might get to see some wild life while we were out. We saw lots of alligators, turtles, and some local birds. It was a very hot day out so we did our tour in the van with the air conditioning running full blast. After we did our tour we met up with Michael, Brandon and Phillip and ate at the Blue Dog Cafe. We wanted Sommer to eat some good Cajun food!

Sunday morning we went to church. It was so nice to have Sommer there with us. She got to meet everyone I have told her about. She went into Children's Church with me and then after church we went out to eat with everyone. Sommer got to meet Brandon's parents and she really liked them! After lunch Sommer and I headed to Granny's house. Since we left around 2:30, we stopped halfway there and stayed with our cousin Balinda. We had such a great time at her house. Her husband and little boy ares such sweet people. Balinda had just bought the new Wii fitness mat. We played on that for hours and finally went to bed.

We left Balinda's around 6 am on Monday morning and made it to Granny's house around noon. Aunt Teresa was still there so we got to visit with her! I made Chicken Alfred of everyone and Sommer made a pineapple nut cake!

On Tuesday, Sommer and I did projects for Granny and just visited with her. I made Chicken Enchillada's for dinner that evening. We had so much fun visiting Granny. She seems to be doing a lot better.

We left Granny's on Wednesday, it was so hard to say goodbye to her. I am so thankful Sommer was able to come see us. It was a nice visit and hope some day her whole family can come visit!

Zoe's

2008-06-01T22:39:00.000-05:00

We took Sommer to this cute little Greek Cafe called Zoe's. We ate outside, but it was kind of windy as you can see from our hair!