365.31: Libby's Baby Shower for Liam!

It was my privilege this morning to be one of six hostesses for a
shower celebrating the upcoming arrival of
Liam Michael Chalk
to Libby and Morgan Chalk.

Everything was just so beautiful. I really treasured that time to honor my friend Libby, and can't even start to think about how sad I am to be far away when his birth rolls around! Thank heaven for Skype!

365.30: Ava Grace Johnsey, oh and the World Cup, too!

Beautiful Ava Grace Johnsey was born at 11:45am today,
coming into the world at 6lbs 11oz and 19.5 inches long.

Robin was just so graceful during the entire delivery. It was such a beautiful thing to witness. I love this little girl so much already!
Forgetful as I am, I forgot my camera when excitedly racing out of the house. So these pics from my cell phone will have to suffice.

I love this shot of the paparazzi surrounding baby and Mom!


Ava Grace, your birthday was also opening day of the World Cup 2010!
Maybe it's a sign of a future soccer player?
Here's Holden sporting the South Africa World Cup shirt Ryan brought him from a mission trip two years ago!
(He's just now figured out that he can make silly faces in pictures. Haha.)

365.29: Hutsons

Today we spent the morning with our great friends the Hutsons!
The boys loved the wagon ride to the playground.
I loved spending time with my very first friend.
(For real, our parents were friends before we were born, and we are still close as can be!)
So blessed.

365.28: Prayer Postcards

I spent the day today designing postcards to hand out to everyone and anyone we know!
Here was my view for an hour or five today:


It our hope that our friends will hang these on their refrigerators as a reminder to pray for us throughout our journey! (Goodness knows we will need every prayer over the next 18 months of school at Antioch!)

If you're interested, we will be commissioned at One Church this Sunday at 5pm and also at Fellowship Bible Church this Sunday at the 11am service. We'll be handing out these postcards and support response cards at both services!

Here's what I came up with:

365.27: Rest

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:29

365.26: I Make Myself Laugh

So I wanted to post a picture of me and my small group girls. Because they have and will continue to mean so much to me. They are the best friends you could imagine. No, seriously. Go ahead and imagine the best kind of friend you could think of. Thoughtful, encouraging, good listeners, really funny, kind, etc etc etc. Yep. That is them.
So I found this one shot, but Libby wasn't there, so I photoshopped her in! Hahaha.
I make myself laugh.

365.25: Ryan's Tattoo

So Ryan followed my lead and got himself some fresh ink.



It's an oak tree, which represents our family. It is green because it lives, it has roots in that our family is wherever we are. Genesis 18 recounts the story of the three visitors that Abraham tends to. He gets water for them to wash with and prepares a meal for them to enjoy.
The bell is for me. (He has always called me Belle.)
The rye grass growing to the left of the tree is for Holden. (We got his name from Catcher in the Rye.)
The crown is for Turner because his middle name is Frederick, which means "Peaceful Ruler." It has five spires representing the four generations of Fredericks in the McCormick line and the generation(s) to come.
The shepherd's crook is because we want to lead people to rest.
And the mockingbird is for the daughter we hope to adopt one day. (We want to name her Harper after the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee.)
I'll post a close-up asap.