Two Become One

The reason we went to Huntington last weekend was because my MIL was getting married on Saturday! We were/are, of course, very excited for her and M! It was a simple wedding, with 13 family members there to witness the event. We had a really nice time at the wedding and followed that up with a delicious dinner at a local Italian restaurant (who's name is escaping me right now!). It was so nice, relaxed and just fun to be with family and to see our two families come together. Below are photos of the big day. Oh, I was the photographer for the day. I tried my best, we'll see how the bride likes them! :)

The new West family

Sister hug!

We had a time of prayer for the bride and groom after the ceremony.

Mom and son

You may now kiss your bride!

The cutest baby there! :)

Cora with her new Aunt "Dee" (Deirdre)

The whole gang--Johnsons on the left, Wests on the right

attempting to be artsy

And, just because she's so darn cute!

Cora with Grandma and Pops

Cora's Party #1

Well, as we all know, Cora turned 1 on Saturday (the 27th). We are having a themed party this coming Saturday in Akron, but we thought that since we were going to be in Huntington over Cora's b-day we ought to have a party then! I mean, you're only 1 once, right? :) So, we had a small gathering at Gino's. They sell yummy things like "Pubwiches" and gelato! :) Cora had a great time eating pizza, a cupcake and even got a free little dish of gelato from the waitress! :) We had the restaurant almost to ourselves and just enjoyed celebrating our little girl with family! Here are a few photos of the time.

She's here!

I have much to blog about (since we just had a jam-packed weekend) but didn't want to wait on this one any longer! I have a new niece!!!! Hadassah Anne Abrusci was born Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 11:09 a.m.! She weighed 7 lbs., 15 oz. and was 19 inches long. I have not met her yet (which I'm very sad about) so have no photo to share, but will get to meet her this weekend and will take lots of photos then! :) We are most excited for the addition of "Haddie" and can't wait to meet her!!!! Welcome little one!

She is ONE!

Dear Cora Ann,
You are one year old today. I can't hardly believe it's been a year already that you've been here with us. This year has flown by. It's not been an easy year for Mommy and Daddy, but YOU have made it so much better, brighter and more special. I truly don't know if we would've made it through this year without you. You are so full of life, love, cuddles and laughter that we can't help but smile when we see you. As you finish your first year of life you are doing a lot of things, least of all is walking, babbling, eating just about anything, chasing Molly the dog, smiling, pushing your limits and letting us know when you're not happy. You LOVE bananas and HATE green beans! I can not WAIT to see what this next year holds for us! I love you Cora and am so thankful God saw fit to add you to our family!

Below is a picture "montage" of Cora's 1st year! Enjoy!

Me, large and in charge. A couple days before Cora was born.

Holding her for the first time.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORA ANN!!!

Upcoming Events

This weekend is going to be full of activity. Tomorrow (TH) we'll be heading down the lonely highway to WV. It'll be a long day, but worth it as we'll be seeing all of David's family. We plan to have dinner with his Dad and step mom TH night, and then the rest of the weekend will be concentrated on David's mom. Why? She's getting married!!!! YEAH!!! Friday we're having a small family b-day party for Cora and Saturday is Cora's 1st b-day and my MIL's wedding! It'll be a fun weekend, lots of activity, lots of family, and I'm sure lots of laughter! I'll do more posts as we finish up these activities with photos included.

I hope you have a great end of your week and weekend!

Praying...

David and I have literally been on our knees the last couple of weeks praying about our current situation. We're praying it's coming to an end, praying God has a church for us amongst the ones David met with 2 weeks ago, praying about 1 church in particular. Will you pray with us? Would you please present this request to the Lord with us?

David has a 2ND interview Sunday evening at 6:00 via Skype with the church he (and I) are most drawn to. David has felt, from the moment he met with them, a special connection and has felt very drawn to them. We're praying this is a "God thing." Will you please pray concerning this interview? Pray it'll go well, and that this church will also be very drawn to David?

Thank you for praying! We appreciate it and covet your prayers. I'll keep you posted!

A Series of Numbers

13 = how many churches David met with 2 weeks ago

4= how many have said "no"

4 = how many want to continue talking to him

5 = how many we haven't even heard from yet!

12 = the most steps Cora has taken at one time so far

8 = the number of hours before my weekend can begin

9 = how many days until David gets to talk to the church he's most interested in

435 = the number of days we've been living where we are

?? = how many more days until we get to move on

countless = the number of blessings the Lord has given us

Encouragement

How often do we go to other people looking for encouragement? Or read an inspirational book, watch a good sermon? I'm not saying these things are bad, but how often do we go directly to the Source of good encouragement--the Bible? I know that often it's one of the last places I go, or at least not the first. I'm ashamed to say it, but it's true. I'm always trying to do better about this. I have read the following Scriptures this week in a devotional I have. I have found them to be very encouraging, hitting the mark on what I needed to hear. They are familiar, but no less powerful. I wanted to share them with you and just let His words do the talking.

Romans 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

Romans 8:28 "And I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

2 Corinthians 12:10 "This is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Jeremiah 31: 23, 25 "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says...I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint."

Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

What a Week!

Our Miss Cora Ann has had QUITE the week this week! Here's what she's been up to!

1. Since she is 11 months now we have decided to forgo giving her 1 food at a time for 4 days before introducing something new. The reason being because we've introduced the main allergy ones (egg, wheat, grains in general) and she's done fine with them. Also, with her being so sick this winter I haven't introduced as much as I should have. So, we're just feeding her pretty much whatever and she's LOVING it!!! This week she had her fast taste of pizza, bread with jelly, cinnamon toast, bread with hummus and cantaloupe! She loves it all. It's almost like she's saying, "Hey guys! You've been holding out on me!" :)

2. With the new introduction of food we decided it was also time to get rid of 2 of her bottles during the day. We didn't want her to quit cold turkey, so we thought we would just wean her off one this week and the other next week. Well, she had other ideas and has gone from 4 bottles a day to just her morning-when-she-gets-up bottle and going-to-bed bottle in a week! Who knew it would be so easy??? I am, of course not complaining as I was getting tired of washing the bottles... :)

3. SHE'S WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That should be all I have to say about that, but I'll go on a little bit more...She took her first step on TH and I missed it. :( I was very sad about this, but so excited that she had reached this milestone! Now, every day we practice with her and she is improving, getting more and more brave to walk more steps at a time. I think the most she's done so far on her own is 5-6. She is great at standing though and has even "danced" while standing and has been able to bend over and pick stuff up w/out holding on to anything. This is so much fun!

4. It's also becoming quite clear that she no longer needs/wants 2 naps a day, so this transition isn't so fun or easy but just another indication she's moving from baby-hood to pre-toddler! WOW!!! She's really not much of a baby anymore, huh?

5. She LOVES to read. We see her often going to her books, sitting down and "reading" them herself. It's so cute! She also likes to be read to and we're all enjoying that!

Well, in 20 days our little Cora will be a big girl at the age of 1! Can you believe it? I sure can't! She is so much fun and such a sweet little girl. It's so much fun watching her personality grow and develop. She is such a treat and we're so thankful the Lord gave her to us!

Afraid to Hope?

Have you ever been afraid to hope? Afraid that if you "get your hopes up high" the fall will be that much harder when they fall? I have. I have for a year now, maybe more. We hoped that our time at Bankers would not end the way it did. Then we hoped God would release us from that situation. And now, for over a year, we've hoped to be released from where we are now. There's been a whole lot of hopin' going on in our house. And yet, we continue to hope. Why? Because in Christ we have hope. I'm learning that often what we hope for here on earth isn't always realized the way we expected, or doesn't always come true, however the hope we can have in Christ never fails us. I have been learning to keep my hope in Christ. That's it. "Just" in him. He is, after all, the only constant in life. The only "thing" that doesn't fail. The only person who doesn't disappoint. Does this mean we always agree with the direction he sends us, or always like the situation he allows us to be in? Of course not! But, don't we usually come out of that situation realizing he was right all along?

My husband and I truly feel our time of waiting is coming to a close. We truly believe the church God has for us was at the F2F last weekend and that they will be calling. We truly believe that God is about to move us from our current situation and into a church where we can find love, support, community, and be a part of worship with other believers. We do believe. But, I'm finding it hard to hope it all happens. I'm finding it hard to hope that it can actually be true. Kinda contradictory, huh? I mean if I believe it's going to happen I should have no issues putting my hope in HIM, the One who never fails.

I think that hope, faith and trust all go hand in hand. Without faith we can't trust and without trust we can't have hope. I pray that, today, you are able to put your faith, trust and HOPE in him.

Getting Ready to Exhale

David had a wonderful and profitable weekend in Indianapolis, IN at an event put on by the American Baptist Churches, called Face to Face (F2F). This one was sponsored by the ABC in KY/IN. He arrived expecting to be scheduled to interview with 6-7 churches, as is typical, and got there to discovered he had been scheduled with 8!! As Friday and Saturday progressed he had more and more churches ask to meet with him and when all was said and done he interviewed with 13 of the 16 churches present. WOW!!! Can we say AMEN?!?!?!?!? My husband came home excited and confident that the Lord is going to do a mighty thing here and provide David with a job. We must trust that. So, with that in mind, I'm getting ready to exhale.

You know the feeling--when you do something and take in breath and only when you exhale do you realise you've been holding it in? When David got home on Saturday evening I broke down. I had so much pent up emotion, built on for a year now and then extra built upon as I waited for him to be in these interviews I just couldn't hold it in any longer. Of course I would love to say that I very calmly and nicely just let the tears flow, but that would be a lie. Something totally unrelated flipped the switch and it wasn't until after much yelling and such that we finally got down to what was really bothering me. (yes, I've been this way my whole life and am trying so hard to change) Through lots of tears and a huge hug from my dear husband I felt like I was able to let out some of the breath I've been holding in.

I know God will provide. I have known this the whole time. I'm just ready to really let it all out and take in a deeper breath of FRESH air. Fresh air, somewhere else. We're ready, we think God is ready to reveal his plan to us and we're ready to accept it!