Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.

Happy birthday to Grandma today! And happy birthday to Sierra! We are thinking of you both. Grandma and I were in Savannah a few weeks ago and took this picture beside the river.

This is the only up-close picture of you, Sierra, that I have on this computer. It was a fun moment, though!Sierra, click here for your birthday card!: http://www.dayspring.com/ecards/card.asp?ID=03236bc6-frs

On Saturday Aaron and I were honored to attend the wedding of our friends from Sunday School class. We drove about an hour to get there and the ceremony was about 5 minutes! It was perfect. She changed out of her wedding dress before I could get a picture, but here they are...married and happy! It looks as if Jeff also has a fancy hairpiece, but really he doesn't. It must be a light or something.
On Saturday night the others from Sunday School took us out to dinner at BlackBeard's. It was fun to get together before we leave. Afterwards, we went to Cannon and Danielle's to watch The Chronicles of Narnia. It is a good movie for conversation- recommended.

Finally, here are the pictures from our trip to San Diego!

My birthday was Friday, May 12 and the whole family went to a nice steakhouse to celebrate with me. It was a treat to have everyone there! This was a new outfit that Aaron gave me for my birthday. Thanks to everyone who sent a card!

On Saturday we spent the day at the zoo. Lots of animals!Joey and Sierra are excited about the bus tour through the zoo, but what about dad? "Oh man, get me out of here! I just want to go to more Battery meetings!"The giraffes were my favorite. He's coming right for us!

On Saturday night there was a Pirates of the Caribbean party for Interstate. They asked everyone to dress up like pirates, and although some of us were hesistant to comply, we all ended up having some sort of pirate attire. Even dad had a gold earring and bandana! Jack Sparrow was also there to join us in the festivities. They had buffets of food, a band, a guy from Cuba making cigars, and pirate parrots. Nice, guys. Our table was right beside the water and we got there just in time for the beautiful sunset. Can you believe this is my hubby? Arrghhh he says.On Sunday morning there was an Inspirational Brunch, and we took that time to celebrate mom on Mother's Day. Al Denton sang, and Louis Palao spoke. The Gospel was preached...glory to God!We went to Disneyland on Sunday for Mother's Day. We took these pictures at the entrance...funny how there is an A and an L beside each other (it spelled California). Fun picture!

Today was the last day of ESOL class at the high school since they are doing exams next week. We played Catch Phrase yesterday and today, and they loved it. It is amazing the things they remember from the year. I gave them a gift and we took a picture. I thought I'd share these faces with you! Next week I will take a picture of the other kids so you can see who I've worked with this year.

Nicky (left)- Indonesia, Parth- India

We had a wonderful time in San Diego and soon I'll put our pictures up...there were many activities! This one is from the Sunday morning brunch- we had just done Mother's Day and Joey and Sierra gave her these hot sunglasses. But for now I have to post this hilarious story that occurred last week before we were leaving.
We had been planning this trip for a long time and the dates (May11-16) have been imbedded in our minds for a while. However, my branch manager husband called me on Wed. May 10 in the morning and said he would see me in a few minutes at the airport... ? I was still teaching in Albany at that time! He soon caught on to his mistake and freaked out a little bit- "I've already left work for the day! I can't go back...they'll think I've lost my mind. I checked out of my hotel! I packed up everything I have!" It was hysterical. I couldn't believe that after all that talk about the trip, he was on his way to the airport a day too early. Poor guy. He was really ready to go on vacation!
We have to excuse him, though, for two reasons. First, this new job is consuming his mind/memory. Second, his helper (the wife) is not with him to give guidance. God knew what he was doing to provide a helpmate for these men!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Carolyn! Hope you've had a great birthday. We were thinking of you yesterday (her birthday is actually May 16th), but we got messed up in our travel and time change and didn't get a chance to call. We will talk soon. In the meantime, here is your birthday card from us! (Click on this blue link)
We love you :)
http://www.dayspring.com/ecards/card.asp?ID=031dba59-frs

We will be taking a break from posting for the next week due to being away from the computer. Try not to be too sad :) San Diego is waiting for us!

My parents sent a birthday gift and insisted that I open it before my birthday...and now I can see why! We are leaving for San Diego on Thursday and now Aaron and I can use this portable DVD player to fight boredom on the 4-hour flight. They also gave 4 movies- one of which is Seven Years in Tibet- one of the best I've ever seen! It was a fun gift to open. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

It has been a busy day but a sad day, too. One of my Kindergarten students is leaving to go back to India. Rashmi is the girl on the very right. She should be returning to the U.S. in August, but I won't be here! I found out this morning, so I had to quickly come up with a way to make her feel celebrated. We all went around the table and told her why we enjoyed having her in class, and then took this picture together. It was precious. I am going to miss her! She has been a sweet, calming presence in our class. She is also very animated and likes to tell stories. Her English has improved beyond measure this year. It won't be the same without her for the next two weeks!

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week! We got the week started off well with a catered lunch from a Mexican restaurant. They even had the chips and cheese dip! A local bank sponsored it. The middle school also had snacks and desserts from the PTO. Tomorrow the Primary school is catering a fancy lunch. You see, this is the benefit of working at 4 different schools...I'm getting a lot of appreciation coming from all sides all day long!
:)

Even though she doesn't look happy in this picture, Ariana was loving that cupcake.

I had been wanting to congratulate Aaron in a fun way for a few weeks, but something always came up. I finally got my chance on Friday. This is what I prepared just before he got home:

This is her sister-in-law Kim, who is also in our class.

What a thoughtful husband I have! These roses were waiting for me this morning at the middle school. Everyone in the office said their "awwww"s when I told them that there was no special occasion. Thank you for making me feel special, Aaron.
What a great Wednesday! Hope yours is this exciting.

Last night I went to Sherwood Baptist Church to hear Tony Evans preach the truth. He commented on Psalm 128 and it was a very powerful message about fearing God, walking in His ways, and the effects that it will have.
128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,who walks in his ways!2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! 6 May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!
Also, check out his website: www.tonyevans.org He is a great man of God and I was thankful to hear him! His son Anthony was also there, and he opened up with the music. He can sing! He has two albums out now and it would be a good idea to grab them- amazing voice.

It was a sad day on Autumn Leaf Drive last Tuesday. We put our house on the market to sell. When Aaron came home this weekend, we created an attractive flyer for advertisement. On Saturday we worked outside on a few things, then got together with some neighbors to work on the neighborhood entrance. It looked awful! We've had a few people call and come by the house...we'll see! We'd love to sell it before the end of school so we don't have to use a realtor. Please pray. If this good-looking guy would stand out there 24/7, we'd have an offer in no time!

Yesterday was my older brother's birthday. He is now 25! Fortunately, this is the only picture on this school computer that I could find of him and his fiancee Sierra. Here they are posing as the older versions of themselves. This picture is to remind you, Joey, of how thankful you should be to be such a young whipper-snapper this time around. Hope you had a great one! We are thinking of you.