Beautiful Baby Contest & Daddy Parades

I would like to start by apologizing to anyone here who might be jealous. However, I do feel inclined, because we got such a great shot of Aubrey, to send it in to a beautiful baby contest. I'm almost certain she will win.


Are you ready?







John & I decided this is a picture we will give to her someday husband right before the wedding. And we'll probably tell him what a lucky guy he is that he gets to wake up to this in the mornings.

Okay...on to sweeter things. :) Aubrey is terrified of the lawn mower. She almost has seizures when John starts it up because she is so scared. On Saturday it was the same story so Aubrey & I stood outside for a while waving to Daddy as he rode by. I had to go in to keep working on dinner and she followed me right in. I thought that was it. About 30 seconds later she went back out, this time with her blanket. She laid the blanket down and sat on it. Every time John would ride by she would wave and say, "Hi!" She came in once more to get a book but then went right back out. I took some pictures of the event.

Yep, once again, she melted my heart.

Updates

Just more updates for those who are curious:

-John's winging date right now is July 25th. Hooray! He's at a point in training where we are as sure as we can be that this date won't be pushed back.
-Today he will (weather permitting) complete his first formation flight in the helo. Formations are where he and another student fly side by side.
-After John is winged, we will do one of two things:
1. Stay here for another 6-8 weeks while John does some Coast Guard specific flight training in Mobile, Alabama.
2. Make our cross-country trek to our new home in Astoria! (And John would have to fly back in the coming months to complete the training in Alabama).
-Aubrey and I are working hard to get the house ready to move. One really good reason to move every few years (there are many, believe it or not) is it forces you to clean out junk. We've organized bookshelves, closets, & cupboards, ridding the house of things we haven't used or don't need anymore. Oh, how I love to organize and purge so that we can live more simply.
-Aubrey and I have also been going swimming, going to parks, going for bike rides, and going for walks to feed goats at a nearby farm. Aubrey is my buddy and I love it.

-And, when Daddy comes home, Aubrey has fun playing with him for a little bit before going to bed. It's really sweet to see how much she wants to please her daddy. She wants to please us both but there is a look she gets when she is trying to win his affection; and it makes my heart melt. We continue to pray for her to have a tender heart...not just to John & me but towards her heavenly Father.

-Daddy likes playing with Aubrey, too.

So, we are doing well. We're hanging on through this last stretch. We are remembering all of the ways God has been so faithful to us these last couple of years and looking with anticipation to what He holds for us in the future.

For those of you who keep us in your prayers, THANK YOU. And, here are a few specific requests we have:

--For God to keep the weather clear. We are in thunderstorm/hurricane season right now but Johnny needs to get these last few flights out.

--For John's remaining 12 days of flying. (That's all he has left). They are intense. Pray for John's ability to think clearly and communicate effectively in his briefs and in his flights.

--Pray for my sanity. :) Just kidding, but do keep Aubrey & I in your prayers as we run this race with Johnny. I guess we are all in flight school to a degree. Being a help-meet is not always easy, especially for this selfish person. :) But I want to finish well in this flight school experience, just as John is.

--For our patience as we wait to see what God will provide in housing in Astoria.

There you have it. :)

The Good, The Bad, and The Really Ugly

I might come up with a list soon about what I will miss when we leave Pensacola. But for now I wanted to share a recent experience and with that point out a couple of things I definitely won't miss. **Caution...pictures of very ugly bugs coming. Brace yourself please. (pic of cute Aubrey ends the post, though. You probably want to scroll down).**

1st Experience: On Monday I went blueberry picking with some friends. It was going very well. Aubrey was happily picking her own blueberries and eating them quickly (that made for another fun experience later on) and I was well on my way to getting a bucket-full of berries. As I was concentrating on picking quickly and thoroughly, I didn't notice right away what I stuck my face just about 1/2" from. A HUGE banana spider. (2nd picture below) Gross. I've never been that girl who was afraid of spiders but I will tell you that after living down here, I think they have to be one of the ugliest creatures on this planet.

2nd Experience: Same day, about 5 minutes later. I had pep-talked myself into getting over my fear of reaching into another spider's web, especially one that was about 4 inches long, and I told myself to just be more careful. Right about then I reached my hand in to get a cluster of berries and grabbed not blueberries but a wasp's nest. Yep. That's right. At the moment I grabbed it I quickly walked to the other side of the bushes and down the row a ways. They didn't come after me, thankfully. But after that I pretty much kept to the perimeter of the bushes. :)

3rd Experience: Second time this has happened, first without "snake-slayer" John with me. I am, always have been, always will be, very very afraid of snakes. Well, NW Florida is a breeding ground for very ugly, poisonous snakes. This morning I went bike riding with Aubrey. And as we were on our leisurely stroll a nice, big cottonmouth snake greeted us on the pathway. I was going to post a picture but I thought I was going to have a panic attack while looking at the pictures online. If you want to see a pic of these darling creatures, google it.

So, what will I miss least of all about leaving Pensacola? The creepy crawlies that dwell in this great state. They seem to grow in gargantuan proportions in this hot/humid climate. And they are gross.

Wolf Spiders: live in colonies in our backyard I'm pretty sure. I see about 5 every time I'm outside with Aubrey. Yes, they are big, and yes they are hairy.

Banana Spider: No, this is not my hand. But this is what I came very close to sticking my face into. I think I need to wash my face just thinking about it.

This girl doesn't want anything to do with her stroller. But she loves sitting in her baby doll stroller. This is her "Oops, I'm caught," face.

The next post will be of happier times. :) I promise.

Visitor

This little guy was on our front porch tonight. When I shut the door and reopened it, this guy was there. Hmmm...