Happy 3rd Birthday to our Little Princess!

We had the incredible opportunity of celebrating Audrey's 3rd Birthday at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World this year and it truly was a magical day! (MANY more pics and details to come soon!) The above picture was taken on the morning of her birthday before we headed to her big surprise breakfast at Cinderella's Castle where all the Disney princess were waiting. Audrey was thrilled to get the day going and for the first time really "got" that this was a special day for her. Hopefully it was a day she will remember in the future - I know I will! The day before we left for Disney, we had a very small birthday party for Audrey. Since the kiddos didn't know where we were going on our "special trip", it was really hard to explain to Audrey that she wouldn't need a party at home b/c we would be partying all week. So, we decided to go for the super small party with immediate family and she asked of course for a "Pink Princess Party". It was a lot of fun and a LOT of pink in one house! Here are way too many pics from the day. :) (I just have such a hard time narrowing them down! Sorry. :)

The invite

The decorations

Audrey's journey from birth to now in pics - sniff, sniff. How did she get so big so fast??

The pink princess crown cupcake cake. The best! No cake cutting involved!

Audrey and Daddy in his pink polo (hard to tell.:)

Austin looking so handsome in his pink polo as well. :)

Great Grandmother Werley, Grandpa, Daddy and Ainsley all sporting yep you guessed it - pink.

Some family came not wearing pink, but as you can see we were ready for the quick wardrobe fix. Thanks Uncle Cory and Aunt Kristin for being such great sports! Cory was SUPER comfortable in his pink scarf - I think it brings out the color of his eyes. ;)

Grandma Werley and squirmy Werley attempting a pic.

Good Grandpa time

Two of my favorite girlies!

The Birthday girl

Audrey does NOT like being the COA, but she did good this year. No tears involved. :)

Make a wish - LOVE those cheeks!

Always a mess when cupcakes are involved...

Sweet cousin Sophia with her super cute outfit!

Nana and Aunt Alisha - wow! Look at the resemblance! Love it!

Grandma and Zuzu :)

Papa with the birthday girl. I have NEVER seen my dad wear pink! Anything for his granddaughter!

Audrey with her favorite present - Cinderella of course! Can't wait to show the pics of her with the REAL Cinderella! Simply amazing!

Audrey,

Happy Birthday sweetheart! We can't believe how big you are getting! We love you so much and praise God for giving you to us 3 years ago. You truly are a gift! We love you and can't wait to see what the next year will unfold of your life and personality!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

AFRICA!!!!!!!!

Yep, my little sis is headed to Johannesburg, South Africa for the next two years of her life with a mission program called Journeyman. I won't lie and tell you that I didn't bawl my eyes out the day she found out where she was going. AFRICA??!! My first thoughts were so selfish like - "I am never going to see her again! - It's too far! - I will never be able to go and visit b/c the price of the round trip tickets is unbelievably expensive! - Why so far away?" Then as time went on I was reminded over and over again how WORTHY the Lord is and if Africa is where He wants Suz to serve Him, then Africa it is. I think I was so emotional because my little sis has felt this call/tug on her life since she was such a young kiddo and now she is finally going to go and do what He has called her to do and everything in her life has led up to and prepared her for this. I am so overwhelmed at the Lord's grace and timing. She is going to be amazing at ministering to the missionaries and people of Johannesburg. I have no doubt. What a gift she is going to be to those people! I can't wait to watch what God is going to do in and through her! I just wish she was going to be CLOSER! Here are some of Suzanne's thoughts she put on facebook through this journey:

March 9th - BIG Day friends!!! I got a phone call today inviting me to go to Lusaka Zambia!!!! I am overwhelmed by His goodness!! Once again, I can't emphasize my heart-filled gratitude for all of y'alls prayers!!!As far to when I will be leaving Pine Cove- I think that it will be beginning-middle of May and then I think that I will go live with my sister and her family (as y'all know leaving her and her precious kiddos will be the hardest to leave) and then orientation will be July 26-Sept 23 and I'm not sure when I would leave for Zambia- most likely beginning to middle of October, but not sure- it's TBA.Thank you, thank you, thank you for being a community to support, encourage, PRAY, and so many things more during this journey that's only beginning. Would love to share more individually, so call if you'd like, but that's all I know right now!Proclaiming that He gives and He gives and He gives, Suzanne

March 20th - I wanted to give everyone an update that there is a change of location of where I will be serving- I will now be in Johannesburg, South Africa- but doing the same job, the hospitality/guest house manager. My direct report wanted me to be close to medical care b/c I have asthma and even though it is very controlled/managed, he would rather be safe than sorry. I honestly was bummed when I first heard the news, b/c I was really excited about Zambia, but once I talked to Al, my direct report, I started getting real excited. Johannesburg is the hub of where all the support roles for Africa’s 800 missionaries at the IMB are located at (i.e. IT, administrative, etc.) and also where people will come for area conferences, so I will still be able to do what I come alive, if even more so, with my gifts in hospitality and helps. Everyone, the staff and their families, will live together on this compound, so I excited to have community of all ages. The Lord has been continuing to teach me surrender vs. entitlement and when this all started unfolding, I couldn’t help but think of Proverbs 16:9 and praise the Lord for His sovereignty, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Thank you once again for being a part of this journey with me- I am truly grateful.

LOVE you SIS and so very proud of you!! Just glad I don't have to say goodbye yet! ;)

Guess where we are headed???!!!

That's right!!! We are driving right now (please pray for us! ;) to Orlando to visit the Magic World of Disney! We are so very excited AND the kiddos don't know where we are going yet! We have been talking about our "special secret trip" for a couple of weeks now, but we aren't telling them where it is until we are about an hour away. So fun! Lots of pics to come!!

Zoo Days

Spring Break was such a great week this year! We spent both weekends in Waco visiting my parents and a whole lot of time outside. LOVING the warmer weather and the longer day light! Here are some pics from our 2 trips to the Waco Zoo 2 weekends in a row. We just love this zoo! (Sorry for the large amount of pics in this post! :)

They just look so big to me here...

Thanks to Papa and Grandma for the zoo passes and for coming with us! ( I came the 1st weekend by myself with the kids while Andrew was at a conference.)

Sweet boy!

Audrey didn't quite get the purpose of the ladybugs. :)

LOVE these moments!

This was Ainsley's 1st time going to the zoo as a walker! She had so much to explore and look at!

Ains and Grandma

You can't really see it, but the giraffe on the right has his tongue way out! It was a cool sight to watch it reach for his food like that.

Zoo day 2 - Daddy with his baby girl

Our little monkey...

Uncle Cory and Aunt Kristin joined us this time. :) Always great to hang out with them!

The male lion was amazing this trip and he was SO CLOSE! Really cool for the kids to see and hear him roar.

The elephants are the kids favs

My sweet family! Happy 62nd Birthday to my Daddy!

Love you!

Loving these days and wishing life could stay like this forever!

What's a Party if it's not at Chuck E. Cheese?

If you are not a parent or grandparent of young children you might not understand this statement I am about to make: Chuck E. Cheese is essential to life as we know it! I never understood the draw of this place before I had kids. Too loud. Too many people. Too dirty. Not good pizza for the most part. Too much money. Do Andrew and I love it? Not so much. Do we love how excited our kiddos get when we tell them that we are going there? Absolutely! So, we take them there because making them happy brings us joy and though we don't go that often, it is a lot of fun watching all 3 of them have a blast every time. We got the chance to go to one of Austin's (and Audrey's) buddies, Hudson's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese last week. It was right after school which was perfect timing for no crowds and the kids could just run around like crazy and have a great time.

We love to play with Hudson! This pic cracks me up b/c Hudson is the tallest of the 3, and he is the one on the stool that you can't see which makes him look like a giant! (He is tall, but not that tall! :)

Chuck E. Cheese!

Ains had a blast! She feels so much freedom now that she can walk all over the place.



I love that they like to be together!

Dancing girls!

LOVE these girlies!!

A couple of weeks ago I met up with some of my favorite girls on.the.PLANET! Lauren, Kristen and Morgan are girls that I have known since they were 6th and 7th graders and NOW they are getting ready to graduate and move forward with college and missions. My heart just overflows with pride and love for these precious girls and I am so very thankful that the Lord placed them in my life. They think I am a mentor to them, but what I know is that the Lord has used them in more ways than one to speak to my heart over the years. I started as their Bible teacher, then their history teacher (good times! :) and then became their Bible study leader when they entered high school. What fun memories and WHAT amazing women they are turning into! (I had no doubts. :) Girls, I just can't believe that we are in this place right now talking about college plans! These are the days you have been preparing/ dreaming about since I first met you. I am so excited about what the Lord has as each of you take the next step in your lives and with Him. He is so worthy! Each of you mean so much to me and I love you dearly. I am so proud of you and also so thankful that you still want me as a part of your lives. I hope and pray that Audrey and Ainsley have hearts like each of yours - fully devoted to God and so beautiful and servant minded. Enjoy these last few months of high school! I love you!!

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:14 ESV

The Doctors are in...

Austin had 'Healthy Me Dress Up Day' at school last week and he had so much fun dressing the part of 'Dr. Austin'. (And of course playing with all the fun doctor tools. :) We definitely don't think that the doctor profession is anywhere in his future, but he did tell me that he would like to be a doctor when he grew up as long as he didn't have to "see shots or have other kids cry". Both a doctor and a dentist came to visit his school that day and he came home full of knowledge (and a new toothbrush. :) These are the days when Austin seems so big to me - he truly is turning into a big kiddo and he is SO smart!

These two spent most of the week playing doctors and me and Ainsley were their "patients". Fun memories! (They played so hard that most of the tools are broken! Yep - that's the way it is in our house of pre-schoolers - we almost feel sorry for any toy that enters. ;)