new ministry

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Aaron and I are being led into a different ministry at church. Aaron will start this Sunday as the teacher for the High School Sunday school class. This means that we will have more and more interaction with the youth at church. What an incredible group it is! The students have really impressed us with their maturity in Christ and their fervor for the Word of God. Last night we went to Resound, their Sunday night gathering, to listen to Brett speak on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Then the students came to our house for chicken wings and ice cream sundaes. We had about 30-35 people here!

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sunday school cookout

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

This afternoon we went over to Dennis and Shannon's for a cookout. Our Sunday School class was there, with other friends from church. We had so much food and fun!

Where can you find my Aaron? Playing ball with the boys, of course :)

Then this evening Joey, Michael, and Dad came over for burgers, we went to Bruster's for ice cream, and now the men have gone to see Indiana Jones together. It's been a busy Saturday!

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pool day

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Aaron came later because he was detailing a friend's car, but we spent a lot of the early afternoon at the pool today.

Doesn't it look relaxing?! It was the perfect day for staying near cool water...the temperatures were in the mid-upper 90's.

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retirement

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

As I contemplate my own early (very early) retirement...to start after this coming Wednesday!!...it was fun to see my principal celebrate hers at a dinner last night. You can tell she's feeling good about it:

She's leading the conga line! hehe

It was a sweet occasion- she really has been a great leader. After the dinner and speeches were done, they had a dance party :)

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school shower

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Yesterday afternoon the faculty and staff at Herman L. Horn celebrated Baby Fernandez with me! Jenny was the master-mind behind the party :). The cake was delicious and the encouragement from my co-workers was awesome. Baby got lots of great stuff, too! Several teachers gave blankets or bags that they themselves made and it was very special.

The paper sash says, "Mommy-to-be"

We love books! Mom says I had this one when I was a baby.

I was glad mom could come. Honestly, sometimes opening gifts in front of a lot of people can be awkward, so having her sit with me made it much better.

What a gorgeous cake!

As for a baby update, the doctor's appt. on Monday revealed no change. Heartrate is the same, baby has not moved (from being in head down position), and there is no dilation. So to quote the doctor, "in my heart of hearts I don't think the baby will come this week" hehe

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trying out the baby gear

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Last night we had Jeremie and Tabitha Shelor come eat with us at the house. Aaron grilled chicken wings and it was a fun time to get to know this sweet family better (we know them from church). They have two children and their youngest, Jude, needed a place to sit at our table. I was so pleased that we actually had a high chair to offer (thanks to you, Kari)! So Baby Fernandez's chair has been officially broken in. It worked great. And look at that bottle Jude is drinking from! Also Baby Fernandez's :) So we had the pleasure of fast-forwarding a little to see what our house will look like in a few months!
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the whole family...next time!

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baseball for the nations

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Today the Montuori (Italian), Escalante (Hispanic), and Stevens (African) families (kids I teach) came to Salem to go with us to an Avalanche baseball game. It was warm, but we all had a great time! Mom and Dad joined us, too. The kids mostly spent time eating (it was kids eat free day) and playing with the souvenirs that Aaron bought them. I don't think anyone understood the game of baseball enough to pay attention too closely :)

I think the woman in front of us got tired of that horn after a while!

Luis had his first encounter with dippin' dots.

Franco tried out Aaron's sunglasses. Aaron gave him that dollar in his hand because he correctly guessed which team was winning.

After the 7th inning stretch, they all came to the house for an ice cream sundae. We had chocolate and vanilla and all the toppings!

Mr. Montuori and Mr. Escalante waited for the ladies and kids to get their ice cream first.

Then the kids watched Nacho Libre while the adults sat in the living room and talked.

Poor Franco was out of commission...he broke his ankle on Thursday last week! So he wasn't his usual self, and Aaron and others carried him wherever we went.

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memorial day at the shaffer's

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

On Monday we were invited (the whole church was) to Pastor Nick's home for a cookout. We loved spending time with our church family, although it did get pretty vicious at the end with the super-soakers and buckets of water being dumped on people. I managed to stay dry because I sat near the babies :)

The kids had a great time playing together. They also had a slip-n-slide for them. We are looking forward to Baby Fernandez having lots of good friends at church!

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36 weeks belly

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

We are 36 weeks and 4 days along! I had a doctor's appt. today and everything looks good...the encouraging news is that the baby is head down. There is no dilation, though, so the doctor said he doesn't think the baby will make a grand entrance into the world this week (which is a good thing, also). The heartrate was still 130 bpm! The only bummer is that I had gained a lot more weight than I imagined...I'm up to about 30 pounds now :) Hope that means that baby is growing...not just me!

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basement redo

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

On Saturday Aaron and I worked (he did the majority) to clean out the basement most of the day. I wish I had taken before pictures, because it was in total destruction, but here is what the final result looks like:

I used my womanly skills of organizing to categorize items on the shelves :)

No more dog waste on this side of the garage! We have been crating Bow during the day to teach him that he has to wait and go outside. What a relief. We understand if you think we're disgusting, but be glad that we've changed!

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olive garden shower

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Last night some fun girls that I've known since elementary school took me out to the Olive Garden and showered Baby Fernandez with some gifts! It was awesome to be encouraged by these friends...and the food was good, too!

from left to right in the front: me, Amanda, Katie in the back: Lisa, Lee, and Kari

Baby Fernandez was serenaded while we were there! A guy from the table beside us realized we were celebrating the baby and he made up a short song to sing for us. It was hilarious :) I think he was just just a sophomore in high school!

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wahoowa

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Yesterday we drove up to Charlottesville to celebrate with Stephen on his graduation from The University of Virginia! We got there in the early afternoon and the graduation was this morning. We are very excited for him and all the adventures that are coming for him!

When we arrived Saturday afternoon, we became college students. The whole family had a dorm suite to ourselves...we all adjusted well to college life, though, including sharing a bathroom :)

I know you don't see my handsome hubby in any of these shots. He wasn't able to join us...he was in Charlotte with some friends for the NASCAR race hehe I will post pictures of his weekend soon.

Stephen and Michael took us on a tour of the grounds. Here we are on the steps of the Rotunda. We had to rest here for a while...Baby Fernandez won't let me get too much exercise in these last few weeks!

On Saturday night we went to Carmello's Italian restaurant, where we gave Stephen some graduation gifts and encouragement. It was a late dinner...we didn't leave there until 11:45! We're big party monsters these days!

This morning we got up early to eat breakfast in the dining hall, and then while mom, dad, and Michael went to The Lawn for the ceremony, the rest of us sat together where we could watch it on a big screen (Stephen was only allowed 3 tickets to the actual graduation). It was a ceremony full of tradition...interesting to learn about.

After the ceremonies, we ate lunch at Stephen's house.

We are all so proud of you, Stephen! Love you :)

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birthday party

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

On Thursday night the Flores family took us out to celebrate my birthday. We went to Trio in downtown Roanoke for dinner. Thanks for the encouragement and good food, family! I got some new perfume, a diaper bag, and a gift card for post-maternity clothes :)

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mother's day

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

I'm a little late to post about Mother's Day, but that doesn't mean we didn't have a great one! We were thankful to spend time with both of our mothers for the holiday. On Saturday after the baby shower in Raleigh, we went to eat in Brier Creek at Moe's with Mike, Peggy, and Brooke. We gave our moms this fruit basket from Edible Arrangements. We tried some ourselves...the chocolate covered strawberries were awesome!
On Sunday after church we had a cookout at the Flores house. Stephen and Dad made all the preparations for us. :)
Joey and Sierra gave mom this frog to put beside her water fountain outside.Michael, the creative one, gave mom these matching sunglasses (did he say he got them from a gas station? hehe)
But it gets better. He also gave her a funny card. Check out the progression of when she opened and read it:

And then, to top it off, he gave her Hillary the Nutcracker. We had lots of laughs about it. You can see from the video: