The Lily Pad

36 Weeks

2012-02-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

I'm not good at putting these out on time, but these are my 36 week photos taken with our new Olympus Pen... we recently used some Christmas money given to us to buy ourselves this nifty new camera, we are still learning, but definitely love our new camera!

As you know this has been sort of a busy week, last Thursday my sister in law Cherie gave birth to her little baby boy Judah, what a good experience it was to be there for that... for more details you can read the blog below :).
When I got back from helping with the labor and birth my baby Ava was sick and had a high fever, which I thought would only last a couple days, but she has held on to that fever up until today, which every day till now has been Ava spending most of her time just laying on the couch, taking double the naps, and eating the minimum (but still drinking a lot, so that was good). I think it came to a climax last night. The first time she woke up we gave her a piece of toast and some (almond) milk, an hour later she woke up crying about 3 am, next thing we know she's throwing up every where... which she ended up doing again. TJ went to get some pedialite, bless his heart at 4 in the morning, then stayed with her in and out of sleep on the couch till 6:30, then put her into bed, and she slept till about 8:30. She now has a normal temperature, is desiring to eat and drink, and is actually voluntarily climbing off the couch to walk around which she hasn't done once in the past 4 days. She's taking a nap as we speak (write?) and I would say we are on the uphill swing, which is SOOO good, because I really hate it when my baby is sick!

So as for me and this stage of pregnancy, I am feeling very pregnant, lots of braxton hicks, and my belly is just feeling quite heavy. It's getting harder to breath as this baby is crowding my space, but more than all that the ribs in my back have really been hurting, which also contributes to the difficulty of taking deep breaths, so I'm feeling sort of worried about that combined with being in labor, but hopefully I'll be seeing someone about that very soon. This is kind of an odd stage for me because I gave birth to Ava at 37 weeks... that would be THIS THURSDAY with this baby, I don't quite feel ready for that! I think that I'm going to go farther in gestation with this baby... I don't know why I just do, but I guess only God knows, so just be praying for me if you would I am a little nervous to do this whole labor thing again, it was so much work last time, but I know God is faithful, and I need to continually put my trust in Him.

Cherie's Labor

2012-02-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to stop and write out my experience and perspective of my dear friend and sister in law's labor.

Cherie has been feeling like going into labor for weeks now. For some reason, her body wants to give her extra trouble, between feeling incredibly sick throughout her pregnancy to an irritable uterus, I wouldn't call it a "happy go lucky" 9 months. After weeks of thinking it might be labor, February 1st came... true labor! Yay... we were all so grateful that the time was here for "baby next" to enter the world. Cherie and her husband Kyle got to the birth center around 9:00 am on Wednesday. Lori (my mother in law) and I arrived early afternoon to hopefully be of service. We massaged her some, then drove her across town to buy her some much desired Jack fruit from an Asian market, but to our dismay they were out :( so we decided to stop and have some Vietnamese lunch... mmmmmm! From there we drove to the mall, to walk and get this labor going. We walked around for a couple hours, somewhere in there more sister in laws showed up to be apart of this labor process. After sufficient walking we all headed back to the birth center. Cherie, Lori, Lily, Leah, Harmony, baby Django, Ann Marie, and Kelly... I know what your thinking, that's quite the crew, and it was. Jenny, the midwife was feeling concerned that all of these people were going to take a toll on Cherie's labor process and that she probably wasn't going to have the baby till the next day, so... Leah, Harmony, and baby Django decided to go home, that left Lori, myself, Kelly and Ann Marie, if Cherie didn't progress more as the evening went on, some of us were going to head home to give them some more freedom to just "BE". She did progress more as the night went on, and because I myself am 36 weeks pregnant, I didn't want to do too much, but more than that, I wanted to be there for Cherie and do what I could to help her, she requested my "magic massaging fingers" to be there.
She might not realize this, but some of my most treasured hours of her labor was in the middle of the night, we were laying on the bed side to side facing each other, every time she woke up to a contraction, she held my hand as I walked her through relaxing different parts of her body. I think getting the opportunity to love someone like that doesn't come every day... and so for some reason, I will always cherish that.
She got up to pee roughly every 15 minutes through out the night poor girl! Cherie's contractions had decreased in frequency throughout the night, so the rest of us decided to go to breakfast and let them be for a while. We got coffee and breakfast and then went to Target to walk around for a little while. Cherie was soon asking us to come back, so we came back. Jennie had broken her bag of waters at 10 am and so until the baby was born, I had the privilege of relieving a bit of pain by pushing on Cherie's hips during contractions, which eventually were getting very strong and close together, soon she was pushing, and then she was really pushing... you know freaking out, not knowing what to do with herself, and all of this intense amount of pain waving through her body without relent.
Kyle and I held her legs, as she pushed that baby out at 12:04 pm, and when the baby actually came, I couldn't hold the tears back... for a couple reasons. One of them being that this whole thing for Cherie was finally over, it came to a complete climax, and she now had that sweet baby Judah crying in her arms, at the same time, I knew I would be doing this very soon, and all of the sudden felt the inevitability that this would soon be me. I am so thankful that I was able to be there with Cherie and actually be of some help in such a difficult process both physically and emotionally, I am so proud of her, she did so well in relaxing during contraction, and just bucking down to do the job. There is no way that you can't be closer bonded with a person after going through something like this with them, I would say it's pretty personal... and so, HONORED I am! Thank you Cherie... I love you so much! :) And Congratulations to Kyle and Cherie on their beautiful new baby Judah Bernard Shropshire weighing in at 9lbs 3 1/2 ounces, 23 inches long. And don't forget to tell Judah that his aunt Lily was the first one to change his diaper ;)

Judah Bernard Shropshire 9 llbs 31/2 ounces 23 inches long

35 weeks

2012-01-31T08:59:00.000-05:00

So, I'm sort of late with this post, it is my 35 week picture from last week, but I thought I should document it anyways.
TJ and I have been preparing for this little adventure #2, we have been gathering items for the birth and delivery, and thing we need after the baby is born. Sunday, we put the bassinet up in our room, which is fun to see it there, our new baby will actually be sleeping there! :) I feel slightly ill-prepared in the area of clothing for my baby because if it's a boy, I literally only have a couple things... but I'm sure it will all work our out in the end.

33 Weeks and a new addition

2012-01-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

33 Weeks pregnant

I'm feeling more and more pregnant, this baby is getting bigger, and my tummy just feels like it's starting to weigh me down, but I am feeling pretty good. I'm not having any swelling, not that I am noticing anyway, so that's good.

Something exciting: My brother and sister in law Barry and Helen had their sweet little baby boy Joshua David Griffith yesterday... she had a quick labor and delivery, Healthy mother and baby. I'm so grateful to God for such a wonderful little blessings! :) Congratulations Barry and Helen!

Baby Joshua

Joshua, and his big sister Bella

32 Weeks and burning of the Christmas Trees

2012-01-11T21:49:00.000-05:00

Fresh and clean

She LOVES her daddy!

32 Weeks

So... as of today I'm 33 weeks pregnant, but here in these pictures I'm 32 weeks, my baby is growing and moving. I have been having a little more back pain than I used to, and am just feeling more pregnant these days, holding Ava any long period of time can be challenging. Ava seems to understand pretty well that there is a baby in my tummy, any time she sees my bare belly she makes a smacking sound with her lips to let me know she wants to kiss the baby, she then says "beEbe" in her high pitched voice several times until she makes it to my belly to kiss the baby... it's sweet in my opinion, she always seems to think of the baby, and kisses it whenever she feels it's necessary to do so, I hope she continues to be a sweet big sister AFTER the baby comes out. :)

Playing with Fire

For Youth Group on Sunday TJ had collected some Christmas trees to burn for our activity... it has become a yearly tradition. This year he made it into more of a game as to who could get their tree burnt to a crisp first. They had to first retrieve their fire from these locations here on your right, and then go over to their tree to light it on fire. It was entertaining as usual, and the flames always go higher than we would expect, but I guess that's part of what makes it so exciting.

Friends and Enchiladas

2012-01-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

Little Helper :)

Saturday we had some good friends over for dinner, Steve, Betsy and Andrew Page, they attend church with us, and live near by... we cherish our friendship with them. Anyway, there's not much to share about the evening except for the fact that I tried out this new White Chicken Enchilada recipe that I had never tried before, and they turned out amazing. I must not have had my head on straight, because I forgot to chop up the cilantro, AND I forgot to get the Picante Sauce out for the top... oh well, it was still very tasty.

Some of Ava's favorite people :)

Christmas Day

2012-01-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning opening stockings

Love my girl!

Christmas morning Breakfast

I know it's been a while since Christmas, but I thought I should post these pictures anyway since I had them. This year was the first year that we haven't spent Christmas with my side of the family. I really enjoyed having Christmas in our own house with our little family. We went to TJ's parents house around noon, and opened presents with them, had a nice dinner in the afternoon, and then desert later at Mummum and Granddad's house (TJ's grandparents). I'm very thankful for my little family, and that no matter where we go in the world, we will have each other. :)

This weeks events

2011-12-24T23:12:00.000-05:00

Youth Group Christmas Party

Last Sunday night we had a Christmas party at our house for our youth group, we had some delicious dinner, played "Honey if you Love me won't you please please smile?"...very entertaining :) We did a silly white elephant gift exchange, ate some good deserts, and enjoyed a bon-fire in the back yard. I'm so thankful for these lovely folks, they brighten my life, and I always look forward to the time we get to spend with them. As crazy as they are I love them dearly :)

Everyone showing off their white elephant gifts

This Christmas Eve before going to church

30 weeks

This is the second year I am spending Christmas away from my family, the first year being when I was in South Africa. It's kind of weird, but yet feels so natural to be spending this Christmas with my little family in our own home. Today we have been wrapping presents, and getting things ready for Christmas day, we also got some lunch and went to the park to eat and play with Ava on the play ground, it was a fairly relaxed day I would say. Tonight we went to the Christmas eve service at our church, then came home had a nice dinner, and are getting the kitchen and house cleaned up for tomorrow... I mean, who wants a messy house on Christmas day?! Anyway, I'm feeling rather ready for Christmas day as far as preparations go, as far as the Christmas season goes, I am sad that it has almost come to an end, it's definitely one of my favorite times of the year.

The lines on my shirt do trippy things :)

On another note but still concerning Christmas, my Jehovah's Witness friend came over the other day and we talked for a while, one of the things we talked about was why I don't refer to God as "Jehovah" every time I talk about him. She felt it was irreverent of me, and as we were talking, I realized a few things. For one, God has many names so just to stick to one of His names doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. She mentioned that we are to make his name known, to her that name being Jehovah, and I explained that I don't think God is offended by me not calling him Jehovah every time I talk about him, He wants to see and know that I'm living for him, that my complete trust is His, that I have surrendered myself to him and his work in my life. Also, because I believe Jesus is God, I want to make His name known... I want to let people know who Jesus Christ is, the He is God and that He humbled himself by becoming a human like us living in a sinful world, and then taking Sin upon his perfect self and dying so that we don't have to... and after ALL that, raising himself from the dead, so that we can LIVE forever in Him. So... is Jehovah my God? Yes... just as Jesus Christ, his son is my God.
I feel like this girl and I are going around and around on this subject of Jesus being God, she wanted to talk about other things last time, but I explained to her that this is the cornerstone of my faith, and there is no use talking about other things, when she is believing a lie, when we disagree on such important things... pray for her, only God is able to do a work in her heart.

Chris & Kelly's wedding

2011-12-18T10:55:00.001-05:00

Kelly, the man of honor, and her girls

cousin Mariah

Me and my baby

Our little family

Lori and Mark walking Kelly down the Isle

TJ was our instrumentalist

pretty bridesmaids

Love this girl!

Ava was the flower girl... she loved the rose pedals

Ella and Ava entertaining themselves during the ceremony

witnessing the marriage of their children

Congratulations Chris and Kelly

Beautiful! (Kelly wore her mom's dress)

My sister in law Cherie... I love her to death!

dancing... woop woop!

Ava enjoyed dancing as well... crazy girl!

Somebody loves her daddy

So... as you can see, yesterday was a pretty big day for the Shropshire family, TJ's younger sister Kelly became to wife of Christopher Byron. If we back up a little bit I can tell you that Thursday night TJ's Aunt Nancy, Uncle Tim, and cousin Joanna came from Texas to stay with us for the wedding, it has been so much fun having them here... they leave today :(. Friday Aunt Nancy and I spent all day doing the flowers, she did all the bouquet's and I did all the boutonnieres and corsages... lots of work, but definitely fun!
Saturday, I prepared Ceasar Salad for the reception, helped get the flowers ready to go, got myself ready while TJ kindly gave Ava a bath and dressed her, and we were off to the beach to have a wedding. Ava and her cousin Levi were the flower girl and ring bearer, they were so cute! Kelly looked beautiful in her mother's dress, and the whether couldn't have been better on that beach!
The reception was at a different location of course, we had yummy food, and lots of fun dancing, Ava never fails to dance whenever she hears some good music :). I hope and pray that God can be honored and glorified in this union of marriage, only by his grace do we have the ability to honor him, and it is only through Christ that we can truly love one another... so Congratulations Chris and Kelly Byron, may you love each other with the love that God has already bestowed upon you!

29 weeks

This baby is getting bigger... it's starting to wear me out a lot more these days, but it has also been a very busy week, so I'm sure the combination has made things seem harder than they are. My favorite part about getting bigger is watching and feeling this active little baby move all around... very fun for me! :)

Wedding and Grocery shopping

2011-12-14T11:11:00.000-05:00

So... since TJ sold his bike a few months back, we have been operating with just one car, and his parent's truck a few times a week. So Ava and I took TJ to work this morning, and decided to go for a little shopping jont... it always seems to be more pleasant in the morning. Apparently Aldi doesn't open until 9:00 am ... How lame is that?! So we went to Walmart. Ava has become more difficult to shop with, she just wants to get out of the cart or sit in dangerous positions, but today I found that if I kept her entertained enough she liked laying down... as long as she's happy I'm good with it! :)

On another note TJ's sister Kelly's wedding is this Saturday, and family is going to be staying with us, we have been busy cleaning rooms that don't get used very often, particularly one that turns into our junk room ie. Christmas presents, clothes we are giving away, old stuff Ava isn't using anymore, you get the point, it collects... but this kind of thing always gives us a chance to sort through our junk. We are excited to be apart of Kelly's big day, TJ is playing guitar, and Ava is a flower girl, so... hopefully we can get some pictures, and share with you soon. :)

Our December so far

2011-12-13T15:45:00.001-05:00

So not last weekend, but the weekend before TJ and I took our youth group on a weekend camping trip, it turned out to be really fun, and I'm so glad we found the time to do it. It was pretty uneventful as far as injuries and things go, there were a couple foot cuts and things from our canoe/kayak ride down the river, but not too bad. I had fun making food for everyone, and the girls helped out a lot. We tried to get another lady chaperone to come, but no luck there so it was just me. Dave Cicerelli was our other man chaperone, and we were so grateful to have him there to help and hang out with. :) Peter Shropshire is just beyond high school age, so he volunteered to help as well... thanks Peter! Ava's naps were kind of messed up, and she cried quite a bit the second night... and for about the next week and a half she has been Mrs. Rebellious... TJ and I are sure that something else was going on, some sort of transition for her, because she would not stop testing the limits, she has calmed down a lot in the past few days, but WOWZERZ we have had our work cut our for us.

Ava doing ok


Ava (with lack of sleep) angry at mommy for trying to touch her

All the kids who went

Everyone

Our house this Christmas

Making eclairs for our family get-together

The spread (and Mommom)

It is a long time tradition for the Shropshire family to attend the Titusville Christmas parade which is kind of a pathetic event, but it's so much more than that... it's the fact that every year we all sit in front of the Subway on US 1, the kids with their bags in hand to collect the cheap candy they throw out, and of course there is always someone yelling at Graham to get BEHIND the line!!! This is the second year that we have had a get together at our house after wards, and as I pointed out to TJ it will be our last year of doing this for a while, because we will be away at school in Missouri. It is always fun for me to have company in my home and the honor to cook and bake for them... I would say it's fulfilling :). Other than the fact that Lori got her thumb smashed in the van door, it was a great time!

Had lots of Shropshire family at our house after the Titusville parade

28 weeks pregnant

I am 28, almost 29 weeks pregnant, and still feeling really good! This is probably my favorite time... the baby is getting bigger, and I can just watch it move. As time goes on I am starting to wonder more what this baby is like, and this time we don't even know if it's a boy or girl, so there are a few mysteries here. I am so looking forward to meeting this little one!

Last night for the first time I made stuffed shells... mmmm, they were so good! But you know, it's really just another form of Lasagna, at least it seems that way, I used ricotta cheese as well as cottage cheese (that's in case you use this recipe). My husband and baby seemed to enjoy them, we now have tons of leftovers so I hope we enjoy them for many days... ;)

Ava seems like she is growing so much lately, and I'm referring more to her mind here, she is throwing out all sorts of words, not afraid to try and say different things, and along with that she is just blabbering so much right now, it's mostly nonsense, but the cutest nonsense I've ever heard! It has been a bit of a struggle with the Christmas tree, as there are pretty shiny balls on it. Every morning when she gets up and sees the tree she says "ball!" She has been touching it less and less seeing as she gets in trouble every time, but I would rather her learn and us have a tree, because I love Christmas trees!

Life in November

2011-11-29T21:37:00.002-05:00

25 weeks

26 weeks

In California... Ava LOVES kitties!

Arielle, Del and new baby Silas Ezekial

The 1st Thanksgiving meal I have ever made in it's entirety

Ava busted her lip on Thanksgiving


We had to ice that sucker some how

So here I am in Cocoa Florida... and it's almost December and so much warmer than California. The rest of my time in California was wonderful, I got to be there for the birth of my brother Del and sister in law Arielle's second baby Silas, which was was such a blessing and a wonderful experience! I spent a few days with Barry, Helen, and Bella before flying home, which was really nice.
When I got home, TJ had cleaned the whole house, and applied beautiful flowers to many surfaces, he got me a newer more organized fridge, a bike that I can ride around with Ava, and he cleaned and reorganized my pantry... what a guy huh!? He's so good to me. :)
Thanksgiving was not too long after I got home, we spent it with TJ's family at THE Shropshire house, everyone brought something, and we all spent some good time together, how thankful for family I am! It was a good day except for Ava pushing the bike over on the back porch and busting her lip open... :(
This year I decided to do my own Turkey, because I missed having the leftovers in my own fridge to eat when I want (kind of selfish of me I know) So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I ended up making a whole meal, a Turkey which turned out really good, my mom's stuffing, green bean casserole, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots that were roasted with the turkey, homemade crescent butter rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert. We had the privilege of having Kyle, Cherie and Levi Shropshire over for the meal, and it just turned out wonderful, I couldn't have been more pleased. I told TJ it was like a day at an amusement park for me, cooking is probably one of my favorite things to do, if not on the top of my list, so making a first time thanksgiving meal where everything turns out fantastic is so fun and rewarding! Anyway, I just had to share that with you.

Ava has been changing so much, she has become so much more perceptive, and responsive. She walks around like she owns the place, and has definitely been testing the boundaries we set for her, so that has been a little challenging. We continue to seek God, and try to be as consistent with her as we can when it comes to discipline. She has been growing more hair, which has in turn made it more curly. She has learned a few signs in Sign language very well, things like, more, please, all done, and Thank you, these are just ones that she uses constantly on a regular basis. Her vocabulary has grown, and she is not so afraid to test out new words, even if she is nowhere near pronouncing them correctly.
Things she has been saying:
Daddy, mommy, ball, cat, doggy, ducky, Nonnie, Papa, Mormor, Woof woof, baby, night night, bath, bite, milk, juice, shoes, book, socks, Hi, byebye, more, poopoo, belly, nose, eye, ear, no, outside.

She has been asking to go to bed every night, and at nap times by sucking on her blanket, saying "nigh-night"... TJ and I keep saying it's not supposed to be this easy to put your baby to bed. Ava is a constant joy, it is so fun to watch her grow and learn.

I had an appointment with my midwife when I got back, and I am measuring about a week behind what I think I am, so I'm not sure what that means, but maybe I'll give birth closer to my due date this time. We also had an ultra sound, it was SO fun to see our baby, it was moving all around, it even opened it's mouth, and stuck it's tongue out while on the ultra sound... funny kid. The gender is still remaining a surprise, we are not finding out until it's born, which should be interesting, that was pretty much TJ's decision I would have gone with finding out, but I can't always have my way can I?! March 1st is my due date, and I think it's going to come pretty quickly.

This weekend we are taking our youth group on a camping trip, so that should be fun and interesting... pregnant with a toddler :) I'll let you know how that goes.

Things to share...

2011-11-06T01:03:00.001-04:00

Hi... it has been a while since I last blogged, I feel like that is the way I have been starting every one of these, but it's like a friend that I want to talk to desperately... I want to share my heart, but there is so much to share that I'm not sure where to begin.
I am here in California, and have been here for 3 and 1/2 weeks now... wow! My oldest brother Bobby got married on the 15th of October to the beautiful Sarah Norris (now Griffith), she is so perfect for him! They have been such good friends for several years, eventually they fell in love, and have now committed to spend their lives together, how wonderful is that?! I know it's great, I could not be more overjoyed for them :)

For this next part I'm going to share I cannot yet share with you all the details for it has not yet been completely resolved. When I first arrived here, there were a number of things, mainly one that threw me into a state of emotional distress... feeling angry at other people for making my life hard, for causing me pain and hurt, making me bitter, and in return fighting with my own flesh, causing me to turn to myself instead of God. If you'll notice I wanted to blame my feelings on someone else's actions... that's not right! I need to take responsibility for my own self. God has been humbling me, showing me areas in myself that need to be changed, that no matter what my surroundings are I can be strong in Him, because I don't need to find my identity in anyone else but Him... wow that is so comforting to say out loud! You know... It's so natural for us to want to blame someone else for our hurt feelings, I'm not saying we shouldn't share our feeling with others, because owning your own feelings and sharing that brings healing, and that is something I still need to do, I have just been praying and waiting for God to change my heart in a way that I could not do. He has given me a new and different perspective. I am so thankful for God's love for me, he desires restoration in relationships, which makes sense that he made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be restored to him. Thanks for listening, and if you have a minute I would love for you to say a quick prayer for me. :)

As for my time here, it has been nice to spend time with family, and friends, TJ went back to Florida last week and I am staying here until my sister in law Arielle's baby is born. I am honored to be able to be there for the birth, she was due the 2nd of November, so we are still waiting... patiently, I will keep you posted. I do miss my Florida family, and of course our youth group, they bring more to my life than they realize. Anyway, I'm sure I have shared enough now, I am so thankful for God grace in my life. Enjoy the pictures!

Ava and cousin Bella

visiting Barry and Helen

Breakfast on the wedding day

Ava fell asleep while dancing with my mom at the end of the night

cousins: Bella, Ezra, and Ava

Ezra and Ava

sisters, cousins and our Mormor

our little family :)

Pregnant sister in laws

playing with relatives day after wedding

exploring Santa Barbara (anniversary trip)

Weeeeeeee... I love my husband!

abandoned property where a house had burned down

21 weeks pregnant in this picture

eating breakfast at our "bed and breakfast"

we kept the tradition and ate sushi on the beach

consumed too much wasabi on that piece of sushi

all fluids instantly came flowing out of my face

TJ did the same thing... =)

19 Weeks

2011-10-09T12:24:00.000-04:00

TJ insisted we do some night poses... so here I am at 19 weeks. I had my check up on Thursday, and everything seems to be going very well, I am feeling this baby move more and more which of course is very fun.
We are going to California this Wednesday, and I'm super excited. There are some things to do though before we go. We are putting some insect bombs in our pantry, and a couple other places, so We have to remove everything from the pantry... I'm not looking forward to that, BUT... maybe there will be less cockroaches eeeeewww! And of course there's all the packing to do. But soon and very soon I will be on that plane, and into California, and into my mouth that In N' Out Burger will go, can't wait!

18 Weeks and counting

2011-10-04T20:56:00.003-04:00

18 weeks

Hi... I know it's been a little while. In these pictures, I'm 18 weeks, but tomorrow (wednesday) I will be 19 weeks, I am not doing so good at updating... oh well!
This past weekend TJ, Ava and I took a little boat out for a ride to Cocoa village which was quite the ride from our dock in an aluminum boat... but hey, that's what adventure is all about. We got some coffee, and food, then TJ decided to take the boat back as quick as he could because the wind was picking up, and it was going to be a difficult ride for all of us, so Ava and I stayed in Cocoa village for a couple hours by ourselves, we enjoyed the park, playing on the swings, she didn't have her bathing suit, but I did have sun screen, so I let her take all her clothes off, lathered her in sunscreen, and let her play in the fountain (a place where children are meant to play :) once she was done with that she ran around in the grass for a while, then kept gravitating towards this specific family enjoying themselves under a tree in the grass... she finally just walked up to them and plopped herself down right in the middle of their blanket started eating their pretzels, all of their kids kept giving her more, pretty soon she had about 10 in her mouth... no fear, she wanted to just hang out with these random people.. our new friends. :) It ended up being really nice, because it took TJ a really long time to get back to us, so I got to know these people pretty well, they were believers, and attend a Calvary Chapel not too far from us. The main lady that I was talking to was glad I asked them where they were at spiritually because she normally likes to ask other people about their spiritual walk. Anyway, God has a way of taking care of us, and I was definitely encouraged by these friendly strangers. :)

Next Wednesday TJ and I are heading to California... for an exciting event, my oldest brother Bobby is getting married to the love of his life Sarah Norris... soon to be Griffith, it is going to be a wonderful celebration of two people who love the Lord, and I really can't wait! :)

As far as this baby inside me goes... everything seems to be going well, I'm feeling pretty good these days, there's the occasional episodes of puking, but that's only natural. I have started to really feel this baby move a lot, and that has been so fun, and is always a good reminder that there is a little one growing inside me. TJ and I don't know for sure if we want to find out the sex or not, let me rephrase that, I want to find out, and TJ doesn't... so we haven't decided. I am almost positive it's a boy for some reason, so I kind of just want to validate that feeling, but we'll see. :)
Ava has been walking around sooooo good, it crazy how much she has grown, she is jibberjabbering a lot right now, and has come up with some pretty cool new sounds, so it's always fun to listen to her. She has a small vocabulary, including: Hi, Bu-bye, mama, daddy, Thank you (Tay-ndtu) yes, (ei with a nod) no (doe, with a head shake), ball ( baa) book (boo), cat, baby... and I think that's all for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if her vocabulary starts growing at a more rapid pace.

Recent Events

2011-09-20T14:22:00.000-04:00

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Sorry that I have been failing on my weekly updates, here we have both 15 and 16 weeks of pregnancy... very soon here I will be posting my 17th week picture. There was a few things for me to share with you, so enjoy as you scroll down to see. :)

15 weeks

16 weeks

Our visit to the zoo

Exciting things to see

A couple weekends ago we took a trip to the zoo since I had never been here in Brevard county, and Ava had not been at all, We heard a rumor that it was $2.00 for the month of September for Brevard county residents, so we decided to go, when we got there we learned that was only good on Tuesdays... so, bummed out I was ready to leave, and TJ said NO! We're staying! So we spent our $27.00 and went to the zoo, and enjoyed ourselves. The truth is that we would never go as a family on a Tuesday anyway because TJ works, so I guess it worked out ok... it ends up just being money right?

Daddy let Ava run loose with the hose

This past weekend I got the opportunity to go to a Women of Joy conference with many ladies in my church. I originally wasn't going to go because Ava was still breast feeding, but as of last week she's all done with that.... :) yay for me. Also I didn't really have the money. Last minute someone couldn't come because they were sick, and I was offered her spot for free, which was such a blessing. So TJ had Ava all weekend, they did things... daddy style. They were outside, and he handed her the hose to do what she desired, and she did! :)

This baby couldn't be happier

She LOVES water!

My favorite

All done

It's hard to see, but this is Kay Aurther

Casting Crowns

I was so glad that I got to go to this conference... especially with the crazy special women in my church. I think there were 16 that went and I was honored to get to know them a little better, even if it was in ways I didn't necessarily want to... such as loud snoring and such :). God has different ways of making us more flexible doesn't he?
There was some really good speakers, and I was definitely encouraged in some areas. There was a woman who spoke, who was hilarious, I really enjoyed laughing. Kay Arther had some good challenges, and just the way that she serves God was a challenge. I left having an even stronger desire to get into God's word every day While I was there God convicted me to speak a specific word to someone, that is always kind of hard, but a good reminder that I am only a tool of the Lord's. My life belongs to him, and I desire for him to use me in the way that he wants to. I was definitely blessed on this trip, and am so thankful for God's provisions.

Butter Chicken and Naan... YUM!!! :)

2011-09-10T09:45:00.001-04:00

I've been having the desire for some good Indian food for a while, but I wanted something different than I have made before, so I decided to attack the butter chicken project. I combined a couple recipes, to sort of create what I wanted. So I'll give you Butter Chicken #1 and Butter Chicken #2 so you can have an idea of both. I will give you the recipe that I created below, so you will know what to do if you choose to make it just like mine. Just so you know I really like it spicy, so if you want it mild don't put as much cayenne and hot smoked paprika as me. If you are vegan, I suppose you could do this with tofu and vegetables or something, and it would totally be delicious as well, I would still marinate everything though.

Combine the following:

1 tea salt
1/2 tea black pepper
1/2 tea cinnamon
1/2 tea cloves
1 1/2 tea cumin
1 1/2 tea coriander
1 tea cayenne pepper
1 Tbls garam masala
1/2 tea cardamom
1 1/2 Tbls hot smoked paprika
1 Tbls grated ginger (or ginger in a tube)
5 cloves minced garlic or 5 tea ^
1/4-1/2 onion diced or grated
1 whole lime or lemon juiced
2 heaping Tbls plain yogurt

~Combine ingredients in little bowl... smell the delicious aroma :)

Cut up 4 chicken breasts into bite size pieces, and combine with above ingredients in large ziplock bag. Marinate over night or all day, the longer the better.

Now it is evening, and we are ready to cook our dish

fry together until soft:
1/4 cup butter
1 medium sized onion

~add Chicken and all it's delicious spices. Cook for about 10 minutes.
~add 1 14 oz can tomato sauce, and a 14 oz can petite cut tomatoes. Cook for 20 min on medium low heat
(Now is a good time to put some white rice on)
~add 1 cup cream, 2 Tbls almond butter, and 1 Tbls honey. Simmer for about 10 more min
... I think that's it for the butter chicken :)

Now... if you can find some time to cook the Naan while you are doing the butter chicken, it is delicious and seemingly necessary to have the naan along with your meal.
For the Naan, I just used regular butter, but after adding all the ingredients, it seemed too wet, so I had to add quite a bit of flour, so you might have to do that as well other wise, I followed the recipe pretty closely.
To keep them warm, I put my oven to 200 degrees, and put a plate and towel in there to hold my delicious pan bread... Enjoy!

News

2011-09-03T12:53:00.002-04:00

So... For those of you who don't know TJ and I have some exciting news. #1: If you don't remember, TJ and I feel called to be missionaries to unreached people groups. We have been planning on being missionaries with New Tribes Mission since before we were married, and have had our eyes on that path this whole time. We have been here... in Florida at our church, building relationships, ministering in different ways, saving money and just being here enjoying people and our family, and at the same time waiting for God's leading to go to the New Tribes Missionary Training Center (MTC). We have felt leading from God to go to the MTC in Missouri Fall of 2012... next year! While attending this intense training we are not allowed to work. We have saved a large some of money, but still need more in order to sustain us for 2 years. If you would please pray that God would keep us focused on His kingdom, and that God would burden the right people to commit to praying for us, and financially supporting us. In order to save enough money for what we need, IF we save 500 dollars every month for the next 35 months, then we will have what we need. Our church family has decided to support TJ and I when we go to school, which will be a huge blessing when that time comes. If you would like to help our church in that effort you can give to them online, all you do is put "mission" in the description line next to the amount. (Just click on the donate button). Please do not feel obligated in anyway to support us unless God has burdened you.

I couple blogs ago, I was telling you how we were going to have families in our home from our church to get to know them better, and let them know what is going on in our life as far as what we are doing, where we are going, and what our different needs are if God leads us to share those details. We really have just begun, and have only had 5 families over, but it's a start, and God has been faithful in directing us in our words and actions in what to share with people. It has just been great getting to know some of our church family better. It has been somewhat of a challenge being pregnant and not always feeling up to making meals, but I really felt like God was calling me to do this, and he is blessing us just by the relationships that we are able to build with people, and hopefully will continue to develop.

Our meal with Linda and Mitch

We grilled salmon on a plank, best salmon I've ever had (sorry mom)

You can sort of see our friends behind Ava, Diane and Gary

13 weeks pregnant

Huge "helps" for my nausea

Being pregnant hasn't been the worst thing since I started taking Unisom and B6 every night before going to bed, it is safe for pregnancy, and somehow the ingredients work together to help with nausea and vomiting, since taking it, I have felt a world of difference, and has prevented many days of horror =). Ava has been waking up about 6 am every day which does not help with my tiredness, but TJ makes Ava and I an egg every morning, and takes care of Ava until he goes to work, He is so sweet! I usually take a nap during the morning when Ava takes her nap, and sometimes in the afternoon too, but I have not needed that nap as much lately as I did in the beginning. I am still able to make meals which is good, but I'm not going to lie, we eat take out quite often... so in turn we have been buying less groceries.

I am now 14 weeks pregnant

Anyway enough about me, Ava has officially started walking, and it has been so different and fun for us to watch her walk around. Her cousin Levi doesn't have to crawl in honor of her anymore, they walk around together, fighting over toys, or enjoying each other's company. I recently started weening her for the whole day, so she only nurses in the morning and at night which is nice for me, we plan to ween her all the way by the time we go to California for my brother's wedding in the middle of October, so that TJ and I can go on our 2 night Anniversary getaway without Ava... :)

Things with our church have been going well. We are still working with our youth group, and are in transition and trying to figure out what exactly to do next. A couple of our youth are moving this week, and it is always hard to see people leave that we have gotten close to (We will miss you Esther and Gabe!!!) TJ has still been preaching, and tonight is his last night of preaching for a while, because the Saturday night services are ending. I am still doing words (easy worship) for worship every other week, and nursery once a month. Our church is going to be moving out of the building we have been in for the past 8 months, so I'm sure that will be a bit challenging for our church, but not necessarily bad, God has all kinds of ways of growing his people. We are so thankful for our church family, and honored to be apart of God's kingdom. Thanks for reading, I know it was a lot today. :)

Also Today is my mom's Birthday... Happy Birthday MOM I love you!

Trip to Pennsylvania ... and more

2011-08-16T22:21:00.000-04:00

TJ and I went on a date with out Ava for the first time a few weeks ago, we got a baby sitter, and went out to a nice dinner, and a movie... it was GREAT! Granted we did kind of miss Ava, but it was so nice to just spend that time with each other, and go to a MOVIE... which I have not done in Forever! Also... Ava did great without us which was a big bonus.

Mummum and Grandad at the wedding (TJ's grandparents)

Jamie about to get married

Cousins Ava and Levi hanging out

At a park with friend in North Carolina


Kristi and David housed us for a couple days

So much has happened since the last time I blogged. Well for starters... I'm 12 weeks pregnant, and due March 1st, so that's pretty exciting news, Ava is going to have a brother or sister... we will see. It has been a little bit harder for me to get the motivation up to blog, just because I don't have a lot of energy, and Ava sucks most of what I have out of me, but I will try to be better.

Last week, we traveled to Pennsylvania to attend our friend Jamie Seiverling's now Farran wedding. I am happy to say they are now married, and off, I am truly happy for them, Jamie is a great girl, and I know Mark will make a quality husband. We got to spend a lot of time with our friend's Josh and Casey, who just had a precious new baby little girl, who I got to spend my time snuggling her, its crazy how small those babies start out.
On the way back from PA, we stayed with our friend's David and Kristi Mize in North Carolina, who let us stay and hang out with them for a couple nights. We had some good conversations, a fun time at a park where we made our own dinner, Kristi cut my hair for me (Thanks Krist :) God has all kind of ways to encourage us, and I'm thankful for all God's children. David and Kristi were very hospitable and fun, ooooh the people we wish we could live closer to... the list is too long.

Life at the TJ and Lily Shropshire House

2011-07-20T17:09:00.000-04:00

Peach Salsa

I recently made my own recipe of peach salsa, I had to be a little creative because TJ doesn't like peppers or cilantro. So fresh and delicious, I will definitely be making this again
Ingredients:
a couple tomatoes fresh from the garden
a couple nice big delicious peaches
Fresh Basil from your garden
green onions (good because their not as strong as regular onions, but still gives it that flavor)
red wine vinegar (I suppose you could use another kind)
palm sugar (alternative natural sugar)

hang'n out in the basket

Ava has a mommy's shoe fetish

Ava's been doing this thing where she puts my shoes... well any shoes actually on her arms and crawls around the house, thinking it's the best thing, and why isn't everyone else doing it? It's quite entertaining. She also feels the need to clear out some of the toys in her basket, and get right in it, she seems to get the best view from there or something... not sure.
Ava has been having the desire to walk everywhere... not by herself, but holding on to our hands, but she LOVES it, and wines if we stop. She has been eating pretty much everything we eat lately, and seems to be really enjoying that. She still eats mommy's milk, but I've been supplementing with organic formula and cows milk. She'll drink out of sippy cups, but they are not her favorite, I have discovered that she really loves straws, so I bought her a sippy cup with a straw, and she seems to drink much more readily.

This week is VBS for us so we are busy every night hang out with church people and little kids, it seems as though it's a 2 to 1 ratio between helpers and kids, but hey, that's ok... were dedicated right? :)

TJ and I are going to start having people from our church in our house for a meal at least once a week. Because we are going to be missionaries sent from this church, we would really like to get to know people in our church better than we already do, so that when they talk about TJ and Lily on the mission field or preparing in Missouri at the training center, they will know us, and what we're doing, and be more able to encourage and pray for us. So if you attend our church and are reading this... expect to come over to our house for a meal or 2 (or more) in the next few months... :)

The Parent's visit

2011-07-12T16:13:00.000-04:00

waiting for the last shuttle to launch

Saturday morning bike ride

Ava's obsession with the milk her and TJ just bought

Settlers of Catan

Beach!

Ava loving the sand and water as always

Something new: Ava holding on and walking

Climbing on Grandpa

Tired baby fell asleep on Grandpa... so sweet

My parents arrived last weekend, stayed for a couple nights, and were off to relax on their 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. They got back Friday morning, before the last Shuttle launch, so we all went down by the river watched it go up. We could only see the beginning of it because the clouds were in the way, but it was the first time my parents got to see something like that. Saturday morning we all went for a bike ride on Indian River Road, got some pastries and rode some more... very pleasant, I would say it was my highlight of the week. Ava rode with me on the way to breakfast, and slept on TJ's back during the ride back... I'm so glad she could be flexible :). Saturday night TJ preached which is something he has been doing every other month for the whole month... His preaching has been getting better, since he has been getting some more experience. We played Settlers of Catan and I won 3 nights in a row... :) I have some competitors that will be coming back at me with a vengeance. Sunday we went to church, and had a wonderful afternoon at THE Shropshire house with the whole family. TJ had to work Monday, but the rest of us went to the beach... Ava wore herself out, and fell asleep on my dad on the way out. My parents had the 34th Anniversary while they were here, I have a lot of respect for them, and can see how God has worked in their lives over the years.

Some new things have been going on with Ava even just while my parents were here. She has been jabbering up a storm, I mean any sound she can make she makes it, it is so fun to listen to her learn more. She also copies us, which is kind of a scary thought, but she has been giving non stop kisses (wet ones of course), and responding when we talk to her or ask her a question. She understands when she's doing something wrong, She knows to come when I call her, to give me something when I ask for it, and that she will get in trouble if she doesn't obey. TJ and I are realizing how important it is for us to be consistent at this time in her life, she relies on it.

Ava has a little tea set that some good friends gave her for her birthday and she has learned how to use the tea kettle, it makes pouring sounds when you pour it, and different sounds when you open and close the lid. She knows to pour the tea in the cup and then drink it. It's so fun to watch her!

If you could pray for us as we are the leaders of our church youth group, there are being some changes made, and it is important to remember why we are doing this, and that our focus needs to be on glorifying God and seeking Him... nothing else.

Bagels and other recipies

2011-06-30T16:59:00.001-04:00

Making Bagels:

I need to write some of my own steps here for you because there are so many, and I don't want you to be confused, but also, I'm not going to lie, it feels like there are a hundred steps to making bagels, I combined a couple recipes to make the perfect bagels, those being the smitten kitchen bagels and a random person's recipe.

#1. Some really important ingredients here are Vital Wheat Gluten and malt syrup (this is what I used)
~For every cup of flour you combine 1 Tablespoon Vital Wheat gluten to give it that chewy texture.

#2. I followed all the steps in smitten kitchen's recipe (but did blueberries instead) up until the boiling and baking of the bagels. Instead of doing all cups white high gluten bread flour, I exchanged 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour, and half cup flax seed, and it turned out wonderful. I added a Tablespoon of malt syrup to the boiling water, and I followed random girl's idea about using a stone to bake on and using a pizza peel to slide the bagels on and off... oh I also put water in a cast iron pan in the oven as well to create the burst of steam in the oven. I made everything bagels, and blueberry bagels. For the first 5 minutes you bake them at 500 for 5 min, and turn the oven down to 450 turn the pan 180 degrees, and bake 5 more minutes. Also... I boiled the bagels 1 min on each side, and that seemed to be perfect. Good luck!

blueberry

everything (sesame seeds, onion, garlic, poppy seeds)

A couple other things I have made lately that were exceptionally tasty:

Deep dish quiche that I put into 2 pans using a whole wheat crust of course, using butter instead of shortening, tastier, and healthier.

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns, and of course I used half whole wheat, and some flax seed... yum! We had these for desert after the tasty quiche

Chocolate chip Bread pudding is the bomb! I'm pretty sure bread pudding can't get any better than this

finish it off with some whipped cream, lightly or no sweetening

1st Birthday Party

2011-06-24T10:44:00.000-04:00

Gluten free cake I made for Ava

Birthday Girl

pool safe ;)

Birthday hat

slooowwwly digging in

tired baby

Daddy's present for Ava

... and she likes her new fishy

saying hello to friend Christian

her first gift was a box of tissues

oh the fun you can have with tissues

Hang'n with Grandma

Ava's birthday party went really well it was at 12 in the afternoon at a friends house who was gracious enough to let us use their facilities. :) We swam and ate bbq chicken, and swam some more. Ava was pretty tired when she was put in front of her cake, so she wasn't all that into it, but most the fun for me was actually making the cake for her, I really enjoyed doing that. A friend brought some sail boats, so as the afternoon went on, we went sailing, and didn't really start cleaning up until it started to storm. It was a good day, and I'm so glad we have friends and family to celebrate our little girl with us.
People are starting to refer to my baby girl as a toddler, and it's hard for me to grasp that, to me she's still just a BIG baby... :) I think she'll be more of a toddler when she's walking, but that's just my opinion.

June 14th

2011-06-15T12:22:00.002-04:00

Very Pregnant!

In Labor.

Baby Ava just born

State of unbelief at the beauty and newness of our baby girl

One Month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

Swimming with cousin Levi and Aunt Cherie

A year old, and not feeling the best

It's crazy to think about all that has happened in a year. TJ and I are so thankful for our little girl, she is a blessing, and oh how she has changed our lives... in a good way of course. :) She was a little sick on her birthday, fever and runny nose, poor girl, we did go swimming, since that is her favorite thing to do. Saturday is her birthday party which will also be at the pool. I'll post pictures from that as well of course.

A year ago

Today :)

Ava

2011-05-19T23:29:00.000-04:00

So... I'm planning Ava's Birthday celebration, since she's turning one in less than a month. You might not know, but I have not been feeding Ava gluten or sugar... so I'm trying to decide on a cake, I'm still going to stick with the no gluten for a while, but this cake I'm looking at has sugar, and CREAM! Anyway, I feel like I'm going to be polluting my baby... what do you think?
Lighter than Air Chocolate cake

Another fact you may not know... We swaddle Ava every night when she goes to bed, and have done so since she was born... she sleeps better. BUT, she is getting older and needs to learn how to sleep with out being swaddled. It ended the other night when in the middle of the night we let her cry for a few hours straight in hopes that she would discontinue this cycle of waking up every single night at 3:00 am... on the dot! She fell asleep folded over on herself, from then on out, she has desired to sleep on her side or stomach. So when we put her to bed, she goes for her belly, pulls her knees under her, and falls asleep sucking on her blanket... my precious baby, growing up.

Also, Ava was sick the past few days, she threw up twice, and had a nice little fever... : ( It was sad! She is doing much better now.

kitchen Fun!

2011-05-17T14:56:00.000-04:00

Sushi making's (and my cute baby of course)

First time making Sushi in my own house!

TJ and I were hanging out at the beach last Friday, and on the way home we decided we wanted to make Sushi, so we got some sushi grade tuna, and everything else we needed to make some delicious Sushi. We were a little sloppy, and could use some tutoring in this area, but it was fun, and yummy.

gross!

Hopefully our mad sushi making skills will improve with time

Ava eating her sushi (a rice rusk)

sitting down to some sloppy made delicious sushi after a day at the beach

dark chocolate short cakes

Sunday afternoon I had the urge to make some dark chocolate strawberry short cake with amaretto cream... because I'm a chocolate lover and would much rather have chocolate, than lame ol' normal short cake (I may later get smacked for that comment), and a gourmet cream, because I'm just that way. When making the recipe for the short cakes I followed it exactly except for the sugar, I used coconut palm sugar, in place of white sugar, in an attempt to be slightly more healthy... Oh! And I did half whole wheat.
As far as the cream goes, you don't have to mix all the ingredients separately, trust me on this one (I do this with eclairs as well) First stir together milk and pudding, then throw in the rest of the ingredients, and whip it till it's... well... WHIPPED! (It does takes a few minutes to whip all the way) And there you have it, also I think you may need more than 4 cups of strawberries, but that's just my opinion, because I like lots of strawberries.

Also, Ava was 11 months on Saturday, and I forgot to take a picture, but we only have one more month until her birthday, so I'm kind of excited about that.

All baked... yum!


cream ingredients~pudding, amaretto, cream, milk, cream cheese

Finished product (And yes we did eat this for dinner w/ delicious coffee :)

It may not be pretty, but it was definitely tasty!

Friday

2011-05-13T22:08:00.000-04:00

my baby shaking her head "NO" at me

crazy girl

It is getting really warm here in Florida, I actually don't mind though, the humidity gives me good skin, but frizzy uncooperative hair.. you give some, you take some.

In our small group we had an assignment (you could say it's on-going), but it just started, and we have to ask either unbelievers we interact with every day, or random people what they think of hell, if they believe it's a real place or not. I went to the local grocery store, and talked with this man right outside Winn Dixie, I thought he was homeless, he was suggesting he wasn't, but I wasn't going to say different, it didn't really matter, and I didn't want to offend him... anyway, not the point. We talked for a while about spiritual things. He doesn't believe Jesus is God because this world isn't perfect, so how could Jesus have lived here, and been perfect. He thinks he's going to heaven because he hasn't done very many bad things, so we went through some of the ten commandments, but he believed he had only broken each one about one time, and that it was okay to sin a little bit. I talked about God's perfection, and how we are all damned to hell if we sin one time, doesn't matter how BIG or small the sin is, but that God was gracious enough to die for us, so we didn't have to spend eternity in Hell... I shared the gospel with him a couple different ways, he didn't seem to want to truly listen.... BUT... I see him all the time, I want to visit him more, and talk more. He told me a lot of his life story, so I know some of where he is coming from, like my friend said the other day, he's like a walking dead man, it's sad, but the cool thing is I have the good news, and he speaks my language, so I have the ability to talk with him about who God is... praise the Lord!

Life

2011-05-11T10:17:00.000-04:00

having breakfast in our side yard

my little flower beds I just planted

a closer look

it's coming together

Ava is pulling herself up all the time now

swinging with cousin Ella

Levi and Ava splish splash'n

getting big for her changing table

Girl's night In

have'n fun

Girl What?!

Ava on Mother's Day

Ava's dress from my mom

So many things have been going on. A couple weekends ago we did a teen guys night, and a girl's night, the guys camped and the girl's stayed the night at my house, we ate a delicious dinner, played games, performed skits, ate homemade ice cream, shared a story and testimony of some things God has taught me... and ever since then things keep happening, and I think Oh! I'll update my blog... I really need to update my blog... I really really need to update my blog and then things get so far past it's like I give up... so here I am trying not to give up on this blogging thing. I have an idea of what I want it to be like... I want to update my life, I want to share with you what God is doing in my life, and how he changes me, or how I'm lacking in my prayer life, and haven't been making the time to sit down to talk to God, listen to him, or read His holy word... TJ and I have recently gone through (still getting through) the hardest part of our marriage so far, and I'm learning more about God's forgiveness, and that he calls us to forgive the same way he forgave us.

I want to tell you things like I went for a jog yesterday for the first time in a long time, and it felt great but today I'm sore... I was going to share a story with you that I shared with the teen girls, but now it's been too long, and I'm not sure if I want to share that personal of a story with you : /. I wanted to tell you that I surprised TJ the other day, and planted a flower garden by our arbor... and he was excited with the surprise, and that Mother's day was my first Mother's day as a mother, and that Ava has been pulling herself up every chance she gets. (Sorry I know that was a little sporadic)

I read Ree Drummond's blog (where I get most all my great recipes) all the time, and she says a blog needs care and nurturing... she's right, I feel like I'm so bad at this... but hey, I think we're making progress here.

Also I want to say "Happy Birthday!" to my nephew Levi Alan Shropshire... he is turning the big 1 today.

Resurrection Day/ Recent activities

2011-04-26T21:14:00.001-04:00

The Fam eating Easter Lunch

Kids Table

Grandpa & Grandma w/ all the grand kids

Great Grandad, Mummum, Mark and Lori, & the great grand kids

Ava... working on brushing her 6 teeth

Graham and Myja hang'n out today

Easter Sunday Ava was sick so we were not privileged enough to go to church... :( We let her rest, and went to the Shropshire household for lunch, and celebrated Christ's resurrection together. I am glad to report that Ava is all better now. :)
In case you were wondering Ava does have 6 teeth, and so I bought her a tooth brush so that she could start getting used to brushing her teeth.
Graham and Myja came over to hang out with Ava and I today, we washed the car, then the man came over to replace our cracked front windshield on my car, we went on a walk, went to get McD's ice cream, they didn't have any, so we walked back home, and got ice cream later after it rained... it was better ice cream anyway! Ava has been standing up by herself a lot today which has been fun, because she has been crawling great, and kind of lagging on the whole standing up thing, but I guess she decided that today was the day. I think that's it for now!

P.S. pray for me, I am having a girl's night out at my house Friday for our youth girls, and I'm praying about what to talk about with them in the midst of all our fun. :)

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

2011-04-24T11:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was an enchilada day. I haven't made TJ a home cooked meal for a while, because I have been gone... so I decided to make a new chicken enchilada recipe with corn tortillas which I have never actually done, I thinks it's because I actually prefer flour tortillas... but much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the corn tortillas. The inside consisted of sour cream, green onions, cumin, cayenne, cheddar cheese, and I took he liberty of adding chicken. For veggies, I did zucchini, summer squash, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and sea salt (which is much healthier than regular salt)... a wonderful addition to chicken enchiladas.
Sour Cream Enchiladas

Trip to California

2011-04-23T12:13:00.000-04:00

The day we arrived, getting used to cousin Ezra

Having fun with Uncle Del!

Pretty Lady!

She looked so beautiful!

My friend Bo... it was so good to see her!

Someone made her an apron to eat lasagna in

My new friend Lindsey Bogart

I took this for TJ so he could see what I looked like since he wasn't there

Dinner with the Grandparents

Great Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Bob Griffith (to Ava)

Hang'n out with Mormor

We had a lovely breakfast with Auntie Suzy!

Brookie, with her graphic design show... love that girl!

Hunting for eggs with Uncle Barry

Being silly at DiCicco's Pizza for dinner

My mom (Noni) loved having Ava around

Ava, in her own seat on the plane, such a big girl-playing with our neighbors phone

Last week was a wonderful week. Ava and I ventured out together on an airplane to California. I was really nervous about flying by myself with Ava, and she was a bit of a chore, but it really wasn't that bad, especially on the way back she did great, if she was as good as that last flight, I would never be worried about flying with her again!

As you know from my last blog, I felt a conviction about sharing my faith with someone, thank you to those of you who prayed. Things didn't go quite like I planned, I made efforts to share with this person, but got shut down in a way... basically another time is going to be a better time. But I did learn that this person had already accepted Christ as their savior! I felt so relieved, so excited that they have a relationship with our Father above. But I couldn't help, but feel I had failed in a way, even though I know I did all I could have for this situation. I do know that God put this person on my heart and I have been praying for them for a long time, and maybe that was part of what God was using me for, I'm not sure, I don't know all of God's plans. Maybe He was teaching me how to just trust Him for what he was doing, because quite frankly I worried about this a lot, and had to eventually just give it to God and trust him for what he was doing.

We had a lot of fun. Ava spent a lot of time with my mom, and my dad also had a lot of fun playing with Ava, it was a blessing to have gotten to spend the time with them. I was there from Wednesday to Wednesday. Thursday I got the privilege of spending some time with Julie (the bride). Friday and Saturday I spent doing wedding stuff, which was fun, and a little tiring. Julie looked so beautiful, it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have been to, it being outside in the hills of the Sierra Nevada's by a small lake, and the reception being in a barn. Congratulations Julie and Noah, on your new life together!

I worried about leaving Ava for such a long time on the wedding day because she won't take a bottle, but my mom took such good care of her, she was fine of course, they did come to the wedding as well. I got to know Lindsey Bogart, one of the girls in the wedding party, she has a 2 year old little girl, who is too cute, she's a quality girl, and I'm glad to know her better. I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen since highschool. It's interesting seeing people from that phase of my life, considering the fact that when I was in highschool I worried a little more about what the cool people thought of me. And there was a part of me that jumped right back to that insecure place, and then there is another part of me that is a wife of an amazing husband, mother of a beautiful little girl, and a growing servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful for where God has brought me.

We enjoyed spending time with Mormor, breakfast with my Auntie Suzie, part of an evening with Brooke (Matthews) and Jesse Farnsworth. My brother Barry came to Fresno for a night and hung out with us... it was fun to see him, but we missed his sick daughter, and wife. We enjoyed spending time with Del, Arielle, and little cousin Ezra. We hung out with my brother bobby for a couple days until he headed out to Texas to fight the fire.

All in all it was a wonderful trip, and am now happy to have a home and husband to come home to.

Life

2011-04-05T08:59:00.002-04:00

So.... things that have been going on with me. My baby is getting bigger, she crawls but doesn't walk, so therefore I pick her up a lot... and she's HEAVY! My back has been giving me problems, it sort of feels like a rib is out in the upper left hand side of my back. It starts spasming, and creating huge knots, which then makes it a bit difficult to operate in every day life. Yesterday I went to my appointment with our Rolfing friend who worked on me for 2 1/2 hours... it's pretty intense stuff. She really needs all the emotional aspects of what's going on in my life to know exactly what's going on in my body, so by the time I leave I feel like I've had a counseling session as well. We went to some friend's house, used their sauna, ate a healthy dinner, and visited for a while. I was feeling pretty wiped out and sore when we got home. I woke up at 4:30 this morning with a bad head ache, took Excedrin which didn't really work, and after complaining a little bit my amazing husband rubbed my head for a little while. With my headache hanging on I couldn't really go to sleep, so I began to pray for people. I think God is teaching my how to pray more, I have felt more of a burden lately... and for specific people, so... all their names are written down, and I don't pray for them often enough, so I felt like God was providing me with a time to do that... in the middle of the night??? Really? I couldn't do anything but roll with it. He continued to bring people to my mind, it was actually quite refreshing talking to God for that hour and a half. There is a certain someone that I feel a burden to share the gospel with, I have been kind of ignoring it, the more I try to suppress it the stronger the feeling is to talk with him about his spiritual condition. I am realizing that I just need to trust God with this one, If he is specifically asking me to share my faith with this person, he must be working on them... or something I don't know, but I know I need to obey the Lord... HE has power over all things... Wow! If I think about it like that, this should be pretty easy huh? Why is it so hard for us to share our faith? What are we afraid of? This is a life or death issue... For EVERYONE! I don't want to just spout out the gospel to everyone I come in contact with, nonchalantly like it's some light and fun story, the gospel has weight, it is a strong message and demands reverence, it is something to be taken very seriously, I don't know if that makes sense. It's an important message, I believe we need to be transparent and share that with our neighbors (I am guilty of not doing this). It's our responsibility to share the gospel, it's also our responsibility to be good stewards of the gospel. So anyway, if you think of it pray for this person, and for me, for courage and boldness not to be afraid to share my faith, the thing is it's not even about me, it about what Christ has done for me, and in me, He is the reason to live.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

"Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures"

John 3:16-21

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into he light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God"

New Outfits.

2011-03-28T14:35:00.000-04:00

This post is for my Auntie Suzie! She gave some money a while back for Ava, and I just went out and spent it. These are the little shirt/dresses I got for Ava. I got them at "Once Upon a Child" which is a children's store where you can sell stuff, and then buy more stuff, it's used (or new), but usually pretty nice stuff fairly priced. I also got some bows that you can clip on to a head band (I have a white one there).
Anyway, they are super cute, and am so thankful for the gift, thankyou Aunt Susan! I love you!

Sunny Beach!

2011-03-25T23:41:00.001-04:00

We took a little trip to the beach today. It was so fun to watch Ava play in the water and enjoy herself so much. She is so easy to love right now, to just watch her grow and learn, and the joy she receives from life is so refreshing... she doesn't know any different.

Also on another note, my nephew Ezra Griffith turned the big 1 today, we got to wish him a Happy Birthday over skype, I know it's not the same as real life, but technology is good, and I can appreciate what we have.
Facebook video of Ava at the beach

Days of my Life

2011-03-23T11:25:00.000-04:00

Ava joining us in the kitchen

Hello Ava! =)

Here we are... crawling all over the house

Never leave the house w/o a bow: gender mistake prevention!

Finally! Enjoying avocado (w/ banana, yogurt, apple juice)

my new nephew Django (pronounced Jango) he's the cutest!

Sooooo... some new things have come about in our house hold. Ava is full on crawling, she goes wherever she wants. She feels sad when she's not in our close company... and so, she follows us wherever we go. In the top pictures we were finishing dinner, washing dishes and such, so Ava felt the need come join, it was such a new idea that Ava could actually follow us, but nice to know she's a little more mobile. The most recent excitement for me is Ava crawling towards me, and in her whimpering voice saying "Mama, Mama!" it is becoming clearer every day... love that girl, even if she's whining =). Now if you can just imagine the other things that are changing as well, she can find ANYTHING to put in her mouth! My floors are tendeing to be consistently cleaner these days, vacuumed, swept, mopped, etc.
TJ, Ava, and I have all been kind of sick lately... Ava started it ;) but really she did. TJ ended up with a sinus infection, me with an ear infection, and we've all been coughing... ugh, I'm waiting for it to end!

Last weekend my sister in law Leah Cherry (TJ's older sister) gave birth to her little baby boy, Django Robert Cherry, and I don't mean to be biased (well maybe I do), but he's the cutest newborn boy I've ever seen. I had the pleasure of helping and witnessing her birth... it was an honor. Leah was there for my whole labor and birth as well, so I would say that Leah and I have definitely crossed the threshold of each other's personal boundaries. =) Leah and Django are home now, and doing well.

Baby Friends and a Delectable Dinner!

2011-03-17T18:57:00.002-04:00

I have to say they did pretty good.

And their making a run for it!

I thought she looked cute on the bench. :)

Yesterday my sister in law, Cherie and I took our babies, and headed down to a "mommy's" get together for lunch, all together there were 6 babies, and Ava survived the 5 other boys picking at her bow... :)
I spent the rest of the day with Cherie, and enjoyed just talking with her, she has become a wonderful friend to me, I cherish my time with her.
... Also, Cherie recently made me this amazing pasta, so I thought I would make it for TJ, because I liked it so much! I documented it thinking you might like to try it seeing as it was soooo tasty. Have at it! Bacon, Gorgonzola, Avocado and Basil Pasta

Dinner began with cooking little pieces of bacon (1 whole pkg)


	chop one and half big onions or 2 small


after bacon is done drain all but 2 TBL bacon fat and fry onions until golden

cut a whole AVO, and add lemon, chop 1/2 cup basil


		I added the whole thing of Gorgonzola, some sea salt, and 2 TBL red whine Vinegar

Boil 1 lb. of pasta, and combine everything, while adding some sea salt, and pepper.

9 months

2011-03-14T13:47:00.000-04:00

Ava is 9 months today.
funny story:
I was in my room putting some clothes away, and Ava seemed a little too quiet, when I got to the living room, I saw that Ava was on the floor eating a napkin... I instantly took it away from her, which made her VERY unhappy, and she proceeded to throw up all of the napkin she just ate... she burped a couple times, and sure enough there was more napkin in her mouth. Lesson learned?
~Don't leave your baby alone with napkins
~If your baby is too quiet they are either sleeping, or doing something they shouldn't be.

Happy 9 months Ava!

Roof Top Adventures

2011-03-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

Some of you might call us crazy, but what would this world be of some of us weren't crazy?! This morning and afternoon, TJ, Ava and I spent a few hours on the roof reading, eating, playing (Ava) and watching the air show. Ava had her play pin, she even took a nap up there for a while we soaked up the sun.

Chocolate dipped Macaroons and Sushi Night

2011-03-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday TJ and I attended a Jewish festival mainly to see his sister's (Harmony) Hebrew dance, but as we were walking around we found some interesting Jewish foods, one being chocolate dipped macaroons. I soon realized... I can make my OWN!!! So yesterday I whipped up some macaroons, and dipped them in chocolate. I boiled water in a pan, and had this glass bowl over it cooking about 2 cups of chocolate chips, about 4 Tbls butter, and some vanilla. You melt it till it's smooth, dip your macaroons, place them on some parchment paper, and chill them for at least 30 minutes... yum yum!

Last night TJ and I joined forces with Kyle and Cherie Shropshire, to make some delicous sushi. We actually have a sushi kit, that we got to use for the first time. They had got some fresh tuna, and we cooked some tempura shrimp. We had ingredients to combine; cucumber, avocado, green onions, cream cheese, we even made tempura rolls, it was great. Good food, good company, and I learned alot! I think I could now make sushi on my own, not that I'm any kind of expert, but now that I have been mentured a little bit, I feel like I could actually begin to work on the special art of making sushi.

Crawling

2011-03-10T13:54:00.000-05:00

Ava crawling for the first time

very focused :)


Ava's best friend Andrew

and... she's going in for the kill

Ava has just started learning how to crawl, and in these pictures we have recorded Ava crawling for the first time. It has been really fun for TJ and I to watch her learn and grow every day, she's pretty amazing :). My friend Betsy took these at their house, Andrew is their son, and Ava gets so excited every time she see's him, sometimes he's not quite sure how to deal with her aggressive tendancies ;)
Ava has 4 teeth now, and just popped out a 5th out last night, her top left front tooth. She was not feeling well, I'm not sure if she was sick, or if it was from teething, she had a runny nose, and fever... I didn't sleep much last night... such is life, that's what naps are for right?

Today is TJ's first day back to work since spraining his thumb a week and a half ago, it'll be nice to put some money back in the bank!
Ava will be 9 months in a few days, I'll have to take a few more pics when that time arrives. :)

Cracker Candy!

2011-03-08T10:49:00.000-05:00

Cracker Candy so easy... so delicious!

Some Thoughts

2011-03-07T14:39:00.009-05:00

Sooo... since Jehovah's Witnesses have been coming to our house, I have been studying their 'cult' whenever I get a chance. Not only have I been studying about the watch tower society, I have been studying about who my own God is. Yes I went to bible school, but did I learn everything there is to know? NO!!! Besides, you can only retain so much information. Also I feel really passionate about what I'm studying right now, and am seeing it in such a new light since studying the falsehoods of the JW's. As I'm studying I'm working on proofing them wrong, as I study. TJ and I have talked about the fact that just finding verses to PROVE our case isn't going to cut it, if Jesus Christ the Son of God, in fullness of deity wants to reveal to them himself, and wants to do that through us, that's great. Right now I'm just excited to see the ways that God has revealed himself to me, just because of the Jehovah Witnesses that have been coming into our home. I hope and truly pray that God will reveal His TRUE self to them, and that somehow they can overcome this false gospel that they have given their lives to.

Thanks to Steve Page I have a list of verses that proves the doctrine of the trinity. I have been searching for more verses, doing word studies, and finding out what the NWT (New World Translation) says, which is the JW's version of the Bible. Also I have been reading the "Kingdom of the Cults"... very informative book!

Jesus Christ Jesus Christ was God

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word^, and the Word was with God and the Word^ was God He was with God in the beginning." Here the JW's say the Word was 'a' God... which is totally different. They don't believe that Christ or the Holy Spirit is God, Christ is Micheal the Arch angel, and The Holy Spirit is Jehovah God's impersonal powerful force.

Jesus Christ

John 1:14 "The Word^ became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory of the One and only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Colossians 2:9-10

"For in Christ all the fullness of he Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head of every power and authority."

Like I said... Jesus Christ IS the fullness of God, second person of the God-head.

This is the one I was getting SUPER excited about!

So God created the earth, but the bible also says that The Son of God created the earth. They say that Jehovah (LORD) created Jesus, and then Jesus created the earth (which is obviously false).

Isaiah 64:8

"Yes, O LORD you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand."

44:24 "This is what the LORD says your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself"

So here we have the LORD, Jehovah who made the earth By HIMSELF!

Jesus

John 1:3 "Through him^ all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life was the light of men."

Colossians 1:15-17

"He is the image of the invisible God the first born over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together."

2 Corinthians 4:4

"Christ who is the image of God"

Hebrews 1:3 "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of he Majesty in heaven."

JW's believe that God's created being; Jesus, had to die for us, because it would have been too big of a price for Jehovah God to pay... when I heard this I sat there and thought, WOW, they really don't get it, that's the point! "I AM" did become a human, he emptied himself, made the biggest sacrifice of all time, and made a way for us to be in perfect union with HIM. All we have to do is recognize that we have sinned, repent of our sin, and turn to Him, believe in this free gift of eternal life, what incredible grace this is.

Taking communion was different yesterday in church, it's like I have a little bit of a fresh perspective. When you contrast light with darkness the light seems so bright, like when you walk from a dark room to the bright outdoors, you can hardly open your eyes, that's kind of how I feel right now.

Being a Christian isn't about doing the right thing or hanging out with certain people, it's about trusting in the one and only God with everything that we are, and when this is played out in our lives, we are actually able to glorify the God of the Universe, our TRUE purpose.

8 months on Valentine's Day.

2011-02-17T12:07:00.002-05:00

I love her smile!

Our Valentine for TJ (the pic) and his Valentine for Ava (the chewed up construction paper)

So I realize I posted tons of pictures, but it was hard to choose... :)
Ava turned 8 months on Valentines day. For various reasons TJ and I kind of had a hard weekend (as far as getting along goes), but Valentines was a new day and a good one at that. I'm so thankful for Ava, and it is so fun to watch her grow. Her k9 (I'm not sure what their really called) teeth are growing in, one is already there, and the other one is almost poking out, but not quite. She is showing symptoms of trying to crawl, but definitely not there yet.
One of Ava's new sounds is "dada" it's a new sound, but I think she is learning that it's her daddy's name, so that's been really fun for TJ. :)

Red Thia Chicken Curry

2011-02-11T16:00:00.001-05:00

This is what was happening during the cooking process.

These pictures are all kind of backwards, well maybe it would be more right if you went from bottom to top... anyway. I really wanted to make this "Red Thai Duck Curry" that I found on the Pioneer woman's Site, but I didn't know where I was going to find duck, so I used chicken. Overall the dish wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, I am wondering if I put too much ketchup. It was good, I'm just not sure if it was worth all the ingredients I had to specially buy.
Because it was so much work, I did want to document it for you. :)

Ava

2011-02-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

So... I considered giving up on feeding Ava solids for a while, well I kind of did. Anyway, we were with my sister in law Cherie the other day, and she fed Ava some gourmet oatmeal, blueberries, and yogurt all combined, and Ava was delighted, she LOVED it! Then later that day, Cherie gave her some sweet potato with cinnamon, and apple juice in it, and she also loved that. Soooo, I'm pretty sure she just doesn't like the bland food I give her, I mean who would? I completely understand! I'm sorry Ava I will work at making your food more tasty and delicious.
Another bonus is that I started giving Ava a sippy cup with a soft mouth piece, and she actually drinks out of it which is amazing to me, because she would never drink out of a bottle... this could open up new horizens for me... :)

Mexican Layer Dip

2011-02-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

The other night for youh group and UFC fight night (and for the super bowl party I went to), I made a delicious Mexican dip, half with no cilantro for TJ. Yum!

mexican-layer-dip

Informed

2011-02-04T12:58:00.000-05:00

*So... I have been informed that this is the way you are supposed to make Lasagna. (Apparently I am just a little inexperienced.. :) Oh well, I litterally thought I had found something amazing, but apparently everybody's doing it.. haha.

Ava and Lasagna (don't worry their not combined) ;)

2011-02-03T11:50:00.000-05:00

Today Ava seems to be feeling better, as you see she is here playing on the floor... Yesterday, she required all my attention, this would have been impossible! And today she is actually drinking her "herbs for kids" ... yay for getting better.

LASAGNA:

As for our dinner last night, it was DELICIOUS!!! Some of you will look down on me for what I'm about to say, but I'm not telling you to impress you... well maybe I am, but not to impress those of you who will not be impressed... anyway

I made Lasagna with ground pork sausage (just a little bit for flavor) and ground turkey, which TJ DIDN'T even notice, for those of you who don't know it's much healthier than beef! And if you don't even notice, why waste your body on unnecessary things?! (unless it's delicious [eclairs] and you just don't care, but that's not the point I'm making here!)

I also used whole wheat noodles, and it was hardly noticeable. Also I followed the recipe on the back (sort of), and it was great. Instead of just putting ricotta cheese, you mix in eggs, parsley, mozzarella, Parmesan, and garlic salt in with the ricotta, which makes for a much tastier lasagna. I usually use a jar of spaghetti sauce, but then I always add fried onions, garlic, mushrooms, more Italian seasonings, and of coarse a little bit of brown sugar, and extra water so I don't have to cook the noodles before hand (learned that from my mom, thank you mom!).

Need I say more. Yes

Thank you for listening (or in this case reading) to my nonsense.

Jesus Christ is Truth!

2011-02-02T15:14:00.000-05:00

Short update on Ava: She has been so sick today, it's breaking my heart! She is all snotty (literally!) It's like a bomb every time she sneezes, she's fussy, and just wants her mommy all day, it may sound cute, but it's really sad. I hope she gets better soon. Things we've never used before that we're using today: Vix baby rub, and "herbs for kids"... I think we're making progress (I'll let you know!)

So I've been meaning to blog about last Saturday, but things just keep getting in the way. We go to a Saturday night service at our church, and our friend Steve Page and my husband TJ are going to be teaching, but right now it's Steve's turn. He's been teaching on 2 John for the past two weeks, and I have been learning some simple yet amazing things through his teaching.

His main points were TRUTH and LOVE. Truth and love are both interwoven in all John's books. One of the main things that got my attention was Truth's definition, it's not just a correct statement, or something that is "right", truth is a person, Jesus Christ. And as we went on in the text, it was amazing how you can just replace truth with Jesus Christ and it would be the same difference. Truth (Jesus) is the same yesterday, today and forever. The truth (Jesus) is in us and is eternal. You will know the truth (Jesus) and the truth (Jesus) will set you free. Truth (Jesus) is our basis for unity.

Love is the definition of God, if you want to know what love is, learn more about who God is!

Grace and peace and mercy will be ours in Love and Truth (Jesus Christ!). Truth (Jesus) and love is the basis on which everything good is built.

There was a lot more, but this truth (:]) is what blew my mind. God is Love! Jesus Christ is Truth!

Temperature!

2011-01-30T03:12:00.000-05:00

It's the middle of the night and my baby has her first temperature, I knew that at some point this moment would come, I just didn't realize how freaked out inside will I really feel, will she be ok if we all go back to sleep? Should I do something now, or wait till morning? Should I trust my thermometer? Well honestly it's kind of crappy, but what am I really going to do about it right now? TJ says pray and go back to sleep, that's all we can do right now, and watch her closely, until tomorrow... He acts so sane, that crazy man, this is my baby girl we are talking about!!!
Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, I am going to attempt to go back to bed, with my precious baby right here next to me... Pray for her!

... a few hours later
her fever is gone!

...morning
fever still gone and sleeping soundly.

Thank you God!

California events I left out.

2011-01-29T16:25:00.000-05:00

Brooke and Jesse

Julie Vanlandingham

There are a few pics that I left out from our time in California that I really wanted to include. The picture at the top is Brooke and Jesse Farnsworth, I don't know Jesse that well yet (getting to know him better), but Brooke and I have been friends since we were 3. They came over, and had breakfast for dinner with us, we played Settlers of Catan and had a blast hanging out and visiting.

The last weekend our whole family went to our cabin in Shaver, sadly Barry, Helen and Bella had to go home early because they were sick, but otherwise it was a good end to our trip. Ava saw snow for the first time, you could say she was indifferent. :)
My friend Julie Vanlandingham also came to visit us while we were at the cabin and I had a nice visit with her. She is getting married in April which is why I will be coming back to California for a short visit.

THE BIKE!

2011-01-29T15:56:00.000-05:00

Sooo... TJ is going to sell his bike. There are many reasons that he is selling it, I like to think it's because I don't want my husband to die from a motorcycle crash (it's not him I don't trust it's he people around him), or end up in a wheel chair. It has caused many arguments, and you could say I'm looking forward to it's departure. We fought about that motorcycle yesterday morning, and then the whole day was just hard, but TJ is so gracious to me, and treats me so much better than I deserve. He took the time to get the bike ready to sell last night (we've been meaning to sell it for a few months now). We washed it, and did some things to it last night, and it is up on craig's list today.
Before we said our last goodbyes to the Honda XR650L, TJ really wanted to take Ava for a ride, so he drove her down our street and back, I was a little reluctnant of coarse, being her mother and all, but TJ took that much needed ride with his daughter and she seemed to enjoy it. :)

God's Unfailing Love

2011-01-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

So I just want to share something personal with you, maybe God can use it.

There has been an area of sin in my life that God has been dealing with in me. It's not that big of a thing, well not to me anyway, or may not seem like it to you for that matter, but sin is sin, and it pains God just the same. A little while ago, I was pretty sick throwing up all day, and I started watching this program, and there was a lot of drama and conniving in it, not glorifying to the Lord at all. The part that became wrong about it is when TJ said he didn't approve of it, and I got sucked in, and felt like I HAD to know what happened next, obsessively, so over time I continued to watch the program, feeling like it wasn't right every time, but justifying it in my mind, thinking it really wasn't that bad. The thing is that: is was taking a toll on my relationship with God, I was having a hard time praying for people (which is one of my ministries in the church), having a hard time doing my devotions in the morning, it was effecting my relationship with TJ, and frankly everyone around me. You may be thinking how could that be? But this one little sin was overtaking me, when in the midst of it, I didn't realize how deep this was going, I completely gave in! I watched the whole thing, because I felt like I had to! And it was wrong.
Last Thursday night in our Bible study we were discussing the topic of faith, and looking up different references in attempt to define what faith is. I can't even remember what all the references were, but there was several verses that spoke to me.

Romans 14:23 "and everything that does not come from faith is sin", 'walk by faith and not by sight' 'faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God' Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God". On Sunday Pastor Barron talked about our lives belonging to God, and our life IS ministry, anything good that comes from us is going to be from God, so we better surrender everything to HIM so that he can actually use us.

Today I was reading Psalm 32

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was snapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD' and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but much be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing all you who are upright in heart!"

I cried while reading this today, it was exactly what my heart wanted to express, it was like God knew what I felt and has graciously forgiven me. I asked TJ to forgive me the other day, but today God has overwhelmed me and brought me to my knees, where I need to be.

God is faithful even when I am not, He is so forgiving... WHY!? I don't know, I literally don't understand. God, thank you for your unfailing love!

7 months

2011-01-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

Look at my teeth!

Our baby girl was 7 months on the 14th of January. She is growing so much right now, her 9 months pants hardly fit her anymore, and her HAIR is growing (there's still not a lot, but it's growing)!. She can sit up very well now, and going for toys that are far away (our slow process to crawling?). She is working on her fine motor skills, like picking up different things, and playing with different toys. She is showing off her 2 teeth in a couple of these photos. She has been talking more, making different sounds, and is being very expressive.

Southern California

2011-01-19T17:35:00.000-05:00

At Breakfast with the group

Christy, Valerie, Ryan and Ava at breakfast

showing off our magnetic ball jewelry

TJ (being silly) and Ryan

I'm pretty sure this depicts our relationship

TJ playing with his daughter

Valerie, I'm going to miss you!

Love'n Santa Barbara beach!

Ava touching the Pacific ocean for the first time

Who's sink hasn't Ava taken a bath in?

We had to say goodbye eventually. : (

TJ, Ava and I got the chance to go down to Camerillo California to meet up with my best friend Valerie, her friend Ryan, and my friend Christy, who's house we stayed at (Thank you Christy and family!). We drove down, while Valerie and Ryan drove across from Arizona, and we met in the middle. We only stayed two nights, but what a blessing that time was! We all took a trip to Santa Barbara, where TJ and I honeymooned. Christy was our tour guide as we toured around Ventura area, just hanging out together, it was really good just to spend time with them.
Valerie du Mee will be heading to Indonesia here in the next month to be a career missionary, and I won't get to see her for a long time, so we took this opportunity now to see each other for the last time (and she got to meet Ava!). We got to meet her friend Ryan who is a really amazing guy who loves the Lord, and has a goal in mind to do what God wants him to do.
Christy and her family were such a blessing to us, not only did they let us stay in their home, but they blessed us with amazing gifts on the way out, I don't think any of us will ever forget their wonderful hospitality.
Valerie is one of those people I will always cherish in my life, she challenges me in my walk with God, is there for me when things are hard, never stops communicating with me, she is a kindred spirit, and I don't think anything will ever get in the way of our friendship. Thank you Valerie for always being such a loyal friend!

Christmas time at the Griffith's

2010-12-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

Christmas Tree Lane, one street over from where my parents live

The first time Ava got to meet her cousin Bella

Ava's stocking

Pop's and his grand babies

Ava's first meal

babies opening their Christmas gifts

Griffith Family Christmas (Dec 27th)

This Christmas season has been so interesting, so different than it has ever been before. It's so crazy having two families. I missed my Shropshire family this year, and spending quality Christmas time with them, the closer you get to more people the harder life gets. You are always going to forgo time with a loved one to spend time with another one.
This year My two brother's and I all have our own children, Bella, Ezra and Ava all born this year, they joined together to celebrate their first Christmas.
Sunday night we had a Extended family Griffith gathering, and all the Griffith cousins were there. TJ and I are here for a little longer and plan to hang out with some old friends, and spend time with our family. We are so glad to be here and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Griffith Cousins (and families)

My sister in law Helen

Grandma and Grandpa Griffith with their Great Grand kids

California Life

2010-12-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

We have been keeping ourselves pretty busy. TJ has been busy trimming bushes and trees in the yard, he loves gardening, and my parents have plenty of that for him... :) He has also been helping my dad build his little cottage. We have been hanging out with some friends as well, we went to Jeb and Jenna James' apartment the other night for some delicious pizza, we talked about old times and new experiences and laughed our heads off.
We had the pleasure of having Jared and Jessica Young over for dinner, we got to meet their new baby boy Jackson... so cute! It's good to see friends we haven't seen in a while.
This morning Ava was playing with her new doll (my old doll) we found that she looks a lot like her little doll. I am also enjoying all the time I get to spend with my Mormor.
that's all for now. :)

California

2010-12-20T19:11:00.000-05:00

TJ Ava, and I arrived in Fresno California Thursday the 16th. We have been spending time with family, Ava got to meet her cousin Ezra, and her Great Grandmother Mormor. We got to go to a young adult church party up at the Heirendt's house in the mountains, we went to Auberry Community church on Sunday, saw old friends, and listened to the wonderful Christmas story.
On Sunday night my friend Ericka Reed got married, and I was honored to be there, she looked beautiful! Congratulations Ericka and Trent!
It's great to be home, and I am looking forward to the rest of our stay.

Ava is 6 months

2010-12-14T16:01:00.000-05:00

Ava is 6 months today... half a year! Way to go girl, she is growing like crazy, and oh how I enjoy her. She is so amazing to watch, the things she learns every day. She is starting to sit up now just in the past week, Just last night she found the sound "B" so she has been experimenting with different sounds, it is SOoooo cute!
She is just growing out of 3-6 month clothes and is moving on to 6-9 month clothing. Her feet are so long that even 6-9 month shoes are too small for her. She likes toys a lot more now, because she can actually hold on to things. She is grabbing things constantly now, so if your holding her on your lap while eating, you better watch out or she'll have your plate.. :)
She has only grown a little more hair, but you can hardly tell because it's so fine and blond.
She is still sleeping through the night, but has been putting herself to bed earlier, closer to 8, and has been waking up closer to 5 or 6 instead of 6 or 7, but she usually goes back to sleep for a while after that.

We are leaving for California in a couple of days to have Christmas with my family... I'm so excited because Ava gets to meet her little cousins who were born this year as well.

Happy 6 months Ava Lorraine!!!

Also we've been pretty involved with our youth, if you want to check out our youth blog its:
ccscyouth.blogspot.com

Christmas time with the Shropshire's

2010-12-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

I feel truly blessed with the family that I have married into, they have become my family, and what blessings come with that!

On Saturday TJ and I spent the day cleaning our house, and making 4 batches of my delicious eclairs in preparation for the whole family coming to our house.
On Saturday night we all went to the famous Titusville Christmas Parade, where we watched the fire trucks, and school bands, corny floats, and of course the Hill billy truck with the Huge women's underwear hanging from the clothes line.

Afterwards we all arrived at our house. We ate all kinds of dessert, and enjoyed each other's company. The cousins were all outside Nerf sward fighting, and whatever else they came up with. Someone always comes away hurt. This time it was TJ who got the wooden end of the stick (the handle) right to his hand, our brother in law Shannon, beat TJ down! We thought he broke it, but thankfully didn't.

The next day, Sunday The Shropshire family came over once again (just TJ's immediate family this time), to have dinner and and open presents because we are leaving for California in a couple of days. We had pizza for dinner, played charades, and ate more eclairs of course (4 batches is a lot). And finally opened presents, it was a really fun night, and I'm so glad to be a part of the Shropshire family, God has truly blessed me.

Actually, anything good that I have is a blessing and gift from God, and don't you ever forget that! :)
I hope your Christmas season is a good one!

Life

2010-12-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

It was so cold this morning, Ava and I both threw our robes on so that we would be warm enough... :)
We had a wonderful thanksgiving last week, I'm really bummed that I forgot to take pictrues, but we had a wondeful meal at Leah and Shannon Cherry's house, we stayed all day, playing nurf sword fights, eating lots of desert and coffee, and then more desert... :)

We are going to California for Christmas, and I'm so excited to meet my nephew, and for Ava to meet her little cousins.

My contribution to the meal was candied sweet potatoes, strawberry cream cheese pretzel jello, and two chocolate pecan pies... so wonderful. I only got a picture of the pie... sorry : /

Youth Group

2010-11-24T22:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but we are now having our Youth Group meetings at a Christian Missionary Alliance church, where our church has had services before. It works out really well, and we have actually had more kids come than before.

Jake and Maggie

2010-11-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day to rememeber. Aunt Maggie (TJ's dad's sister) got married to a wonderful man, Jake! It was so exciting to see how God brought them together, now I know some people just say things like that, but really God has done amzing things in their lives. Ava and I had the pleasure of doing the guest booke, Ava welcomed the guests with smiles and cuteness... :)
What a wonderful event, congratulations Jake and Maggie, to a new beginning in your lives, may God be glorified!