Visitors

As you may recall from a recent post, my Swedish Au-Pair and her family have been vacationing in the Jacksonville area. We had another chance to see them before they return to Sweden- this time my Mom was able to be there!
Agnes is an animal lover and spent most of her time playing with Edgar and Teddy. She even got Teddy to "sit" and "lay down" using the new words she had just learned!

Dave and Kate 3-20-10

This weekend we were honored to be a part of Josh's Naval Academy roommate's wedding in Pensacola. We have had a chance to get to know Dave and Kate as a couple throughout the years- we especially enjoyed living nearby them when we lived in Pensacola.

Josh and one of Dave's other roommates, Doug, at the rehearsal dinner

Ceremony

Kate's grandmother and Josh

Groomsmen

The beautiful bride!

Husband and Wife


Josh and Whit

Posing for photos

We also had the unique opportunity of watching Dave and Kate's 11 week old puppy for their wedding night. Teddy and he were quite entertaining (if that's what you call it) during their first encounter. For the first time, Teddy wasn't the "puppy".

Although it was a short visit we also had a chance to visit with some wonderful friends who still live in the area- it was so refreshing!

A New Friend

While Teddy is TOTALLY excited to go see his old buddy Kangaroo this weekend, he was SO excited to make a new friend yesterday- Triton!



(Teddy was seriously considering going after the marshmallow)







Triton has a HUGE backyard- and NO fences! We were really concerned about Teddy trying to run away while we hung out with our friends (and came well prepared with a long leash and treats)-amazingly enough-any time Teddy tried to leave the yard to go after a bird or another person, Triton would go after him and herd him back to the "okay zone"- it was incredible to watch! We had so much fun :)

New Member Vows

This Sunday we took our new member vows at Christ Church PCA in Jacksonville. This was such an exciting time for Josh and I as we have longed for so long to join a church and become involved- while this has happened in small ways since we have been married, we have had a hard time getting connected because of work schedules, geographic reasons, and short stays. We are looking forward to beginning to volunteer with children's church, mentoring relationships with youth -hopefully beginning this summer with Adventure week (much like VBS), and fellowship with a small group. I write this to ask for your prayers as we seek direction from the Lord as to how he would have us serve in our new church.

Below are the "Membership Vows" that we took before the church this past Sunday:

1. As a sinner, I justly deserved God’s displeasure, and was lost and without hope in the world. Amazingly, God loved and pursued me in Christ. United by faith with him in his death and resurrection, I am now God’s beloved child.

2. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Lord of my life. I willingly serve him as my King, and surrender my life to the Lord who gave me life again.

3. Relying completely on the power of the Holy Spirit, I vow:

· To live a life consistent with that of a disciple of Jesus. I will seek Him in his Word and in worship, I will live a life of prayer, and I will use my time, talents, and treasures to serve Him in and through the ministries of his church.

· To submit to the care of the elder-shepherds of the church, honoring the spiritual authority of Christ who is the King of the church, and who cares for me through them.

· To guard my tongue, which has great potential for evil as well as for good within the body of believers. For the sake of the peace and purity of the church, I will avoid gossip and slander, will not “bear false witness against my neighbor, and will follow the Biblical processes of Matthew 18:15ff in my dealings with others. And if I fail to honor this pledge, I will seek out the one(s) I have offended in order to express repentance and seek forgiveness.

We thank you for your prayers and encouragement :)

15 Years...

...is how long it has been since I have seen my Swedish Au-Pair, Ann-Charlotte! She and her family are vacationing in St. Augustine, FL (30-45 minutes from us) and she noticed that we just moved to Jacksonville through Facebook.

We had a wonderful time getting together for Lunch with Stefan and her two beautiful (and well behaved) children.

In the picture we are smiling for a picture Josh is trying to take (which we then lost on the camera...). We have plans to see them again before they return to Sweden while my mom is in town- Good times!

My Boys

Josh was replacing Edgar's hay this afternoon and we couldn't help but snap a few pictures of him as he burrowed underneath and all throughout the hay- he was SO excited for the attention!

As youngest "children" tend to do...Teddy attempted to steal Edgar's thunder by posing outside with his newly groomed hair-do...no worries, we eased Edgar's pain with some fresh green beans! (Oh dear...we're not very good pet parents)

(innocent as could be)



Our groomer told us he was a "little brat" a few days ago....hmm, I wonder why ;) Josh seems convinced that Teddy thinks he's the town sheriff with his new scarf!



Sheriffs get tired too after putting in a long day of work

Truvia/Stevia

Tonight we made chocolate chip cookies with Truvia (from a Stevia plant) instead of real sugar. We only made a half batch, as we were wary that they would not taste very good (I have always been able to taste the difference in a dish that has splenda in it). The results?? DELICIOUS! We both feel that the Truvia made the chocolate chip cookies taste EXACTLY the same! We have very discriminating tastes when it comes to sweets ;) However, I will issue a warning here that a zero calorie sweetener in an already rather unhealthy recipe does not make for a zero calorie cookie ;) -I wish!

Celebrating 20 Years

This past weekend we went to Connecticut to celebrate Heidi and Steve's 20th bonemarrow transplant anniversary- it was quite an affair! Close to 100 people were in attendance. The neatest part of the party to us was how clear it was how God had used Heidi and Steve (and our whole family) to share a testimony of God's faithfulness to so many people. Family members, old friends, newer friends, neighbors, classmates, doctors, nurses, and so many others were touched by God's hand in Heidi's life so many years ago and today! It brought tears to our eyes when the floor buffer/custodian from Heidi's unit came to the party- our family has not seen this gentleman since Heidi left the hospital years ago, but he left such an incredible impression on Heidi (visiting her and drawing her pictures).

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

We had an amazing time at the party and with family throughout the weekend. Friday we also enjoyed visiting Heidi's classroom for the first time (see pictures in slideshow). Our visit was rather timely in another way, as Grandad Gropp was admitted to the hospital that Friday. He appears to be on the mend, however, it was an incredible blessing to share this time with him instead of longing to be in Connecticut, but so far away.