...and she's off.

jason's sister, lindsey (emma's "aunt lulu") left for new zealand today. she will be gone for 7 weeks on a summer project with campus crusade for christ, international. she will be part of a team of 10 college-aged believers ministering to the students at the university of victoria in wellington, new zealand, and also helping with the new zealand campus crusade national winter conference.

of course, we will miss her very much! lindsey and i have grown so close over the years, and especially over the last year, since she's been back in texas. she and jason are SO close... he loves his little sister so much. and emma... well... she just adores her "lulu." she'll miss her tons, that's for sure. however, we are so excited for this journey she will be taking, and to see how God will work in and through her during her time away from the busy-ness of life here in "dallas."

please be praying for our sister, as she grows in the Lord and serves Him overseas. pray that she has the time of her life, and comes back renewed, refreshed, and excited about the work He has called her to do!

to follow lindsey and her teammates on this adventure, click here.

i've placed a link on my blog-list to lead you to the blog she and her team will be updating throughout their journey. i'm sure she would love to know you followed her trip and prayed for her while she is gone.

we love you lindsey! we know you will have a blast! soak up every moment... it'll be gone before you know it. :0)

daddy's day.

emma is very, very blessed to have such a wonderful daddy! (and i am very blessed to be married to him.)

we got to celebrate "daddy" on sunday, and i think it was a great day!

we woke up early to go with jason's parents to the first service at woodcreek, but they had to wait until the later service, so we made an impromptu visit to our sweet friends the berardinellis, and coaxed them to come to breakfast with us! it was a great way to start our day... yummy breakfast at cindi's cafe in richardson... really sweet friends... lots of fun. :)

then, we headed off to church to do our normal sunday-thing.

we spent the afternoon taking naps and doing homework (guess who?)... we were so exhausted from katie and cory's wedding (which was saturday!), that we had kind of a lazy day.

we topped the night off with some great italian food at covino's with "nonna & grampa" (jason's parents) and "lulu" (jason's sister lindsey). it was a wonderful way to celebrate jason's dad, kevin... who doesn't love food and fellowship? :)

here are some pics from our special day:

the card emma made her daddy at church


emma & 2 of her favorite guys: grampa & daddy
(my daddy "papa" is the only one missing!)


we love daddy!


emma actually took this picture of us!


"lulu," "grampa," emma kate & "daddy"
after dinner at covino's

...and finally...

this picture is not from father's day, but it's really sweet. our family is so happy... we really love each other. we are blessed to have jason as our husband and father. he adds laughter to our home. he makes us smile. he is silly. he loves hard. he makes our family complete. we love him so much.

happy father's day, jason!
you are so loved.

hope you all enjoyed father's day... either celebrating the father of your little ones, your own father, or someone special in your life that played the role of a father. moms always get so much attention, but we need to remember how important our daddy's are. :)

have a great day!

kiss kiss.

this is going to be a quick post because i have class in the morning!

emma has a new obsession. kiss. that's right. as in, the 80's hair band. lead singer gene simmons. this obsession began when adam lambert performed with kiss on american idol. she just loved their songs, and we were stunned when, 3 days later, she identified kiss by a picture on youtube! since then, she asks for kiss just about everyday. we watch the american idol performance over and over again, emma serenades us on her guitar, and she even talks to kiss on the phone! :)

she says, "mommy, kiss' eyes have black on them. they're so beautiful." (in reference to the black paint on their faces.

needless to say, kiss is not what we would expect our 2-year-old daughter to love, but its innocent enough. :) she only knows one song, and it's a great one!

here is a video that "nonna" shot during a poolside performance last week. :) i love how she's just mindlessly singing it!

enjoy! i hope it makes your day!

just in case you can't tell... she's mostly singing:
"i wanna rock & roll all night...
and party everyday!"

she's the best air-guitar player around, too!