SANTI'S

one of the things we will miss the most when we leave charleston is our favorite mexican restaurant, santi's.  we pretty much keep that place in business.  laurel and i went tonight to meet some friends, and more friends were there at the table next to us -  two for one! 

the swearingens with lauren and matt and linnea

hannah and her brother, andrew

clint and ellison

kennedy and laurel

she looks HUGE in this picture!  she had 3 fabulous naps today after sleeping through the night last night...  she must be growing.

yay, uncle clint!

hannah checking out the hickies laurel has been giving herself on her arms...

will the mexican kitchen in hattiesburg compare to santi's?  i hope so...

busy weekend!

we have been trying to keep busy so we don't dwell on how much we miss daddy.  we're also trying to get lots of exercise and stimulation and learn how to NAP!  so far it seems to be harder than it should be...  

saturday morning we went to the farmer's market and met our friends, the bruces.  

we love getting to hang out with mary preston and jack

and their mommy, catherine!

apparently laurel didn't get the memo that we're trying not to drink bottled water...

after church sunday we had a tasty brunch at a new local establishment called "the recovery room."  our friends linnea, jeff, annie, and nate joined us.

recovering?

look at laurel's tiny little hand on the stem of that glass!  she is reallly grabbing things now.

little strawberry shortcake

getting some love from uncle nate

pat is in africa

our church, redeemer presbyterian in downtown charleston, sent a team of 17 people (including pat) to uganda on tuesday.  they are going to lira in northern uganda, where i went with a team two years ago.  they will be gone for two weeks - leading a pastors' conference, ministering in the local schools, and visiting some of the refugee camps.  please pray for their safety and that the Lord will be glorified in all that they do.  

click here to see updates on the trip.

couldn't resist throwing in a good picture of our pastor, craig, and laurel.  craig complains about not being photogenic.  this is a GREAT picture!  

my birthday at the beach

i had a big birthday on june 7th - i can't believe i'm 25 years old.  that seems so old.  HA!!

my sweet husband cooked an amazing breakfast for us and then we spent the day at the beach with some good friends.  (not pictured - nate and anna.)  we love charleston...  man, we're going to miss this place!

how do you type the sound of a whistle?  like, hey good looking?

sweet girl's first real trip to the beach.  she LOVED it!!

just hanging out in the shade, listening to music, flapping my arms and legs...

lying on a blanket that has my name on it everywhere!

hannah slathering kennedy with sunscreen.  this child is always brown as a berry

precious ellison - i could eat her up.

cool daddio, clint ball -  aka cliff

little beach beauty

is there anything better in the world?  thank you, friends and best friend, for making my birthday special.  

4 months

i can't believe laurel is 4 months old!

we've had a bit of a rough week after she got her shots on monday (although you wouldn't know it by looking at these pictures - she has had her moments...).  she weighed in at 11 pounds and 10 ounces and is 24 inches long.   

bath time is hands-down laurel's favorite time of the day.  now if we could just get her to love nap time and bed time...

princess delight

two years ago i went to uganda with my church and met some incredibly special people.  thanks to email, pat and i have been able to develop a sweet friendship with pastor johnson and his wife, alice.  

when i was there, they also introduced me to their then 3 week old daughter, delight.  

delight turned 2 yesterday.  what a blessing!

i love this family so much.  

pray for pastor johnson as he studies at african bible college and as he brings the good news of the gospel to the suffering people in his country.

and... we're back!

it feels like forever since i posted the last pics on here.  it has been a while - i was away from charleston for 3 weeks.  and what a busy three weeks they were!  i've tried to sort of sum it up in the following posts.  enjoy!

friday we drove home to charleston from the lake house in alabama.  we were in the car 10 hours and laurel was an angel.  she had two 2 hour naps.  i wish she would do that at home!  when we got home we went to a going away party for pat that his special ops squadron was throwing.

here we are as pat's bosses toast and roast him...

pat, accepting his scorpion.  notice how laurel is watching him "deliver the sting..."  i am so proud of pat and the job he has done here in charleston.  we are going to miss these people! (more on that later...)

two of pat's buddies, race and aaron - with race and emily's little girl mollie paige (sp?)

saturday evening we went to a wedding at our church.  our friend erin matthews married our new friend andrew barton.  this was laurel's first wedding.  here we are at the reception at the charleston country club.  everybody had a fit over my darling accessory...

  

what a handsome husband/father!!

this little social bug is exhausted!  so is her mommy...

daddy's home!!

daddy came to pick us up at the lake house after he had been gone for 17 days.  it was SO GOOD to have him back.  he found laurel to be a new little girl - watching them get used to each other again was priceless.

just hangin out with my daddy!

precious girl in a precious swimsuit - thanks hannah and ruth!

how fast will this thing go, daddy?