We are home from the mountains! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

I have pictures of me playing on this same bridge when I was a little girl.

I have no idea what the “angry eyes” are about in this picture… My uncle was making elephant noises in an attempt to get Little Bug to smile. Perhaps she was just trying to figure out what in the world he was doing.

Great is the faithfulness of God!

We went to a BBQ restaurant where there were fiddlers playing and singing while you ate. Do you think Little Bug got out on the dance floor?

Why of course she did and so did her Uncle!

Annual picture at the Prayer Garden

Little Bug had so much fun with her Mimaw

I love how Little Bug is looking up at her Grandma in this picture!

Dave and I went on a date one afternoon!

Bathtime! 

This field is where I took my first steps when I was 13 months old. I was hoping Little Bug would take her first steps there but she’s been walking now for almost 2 months already!

And my little dog, Pup, who just turned five years old.

We had a FABULOUS week as usual!

We’re here!!

Mountains 2009

Bags are packed and by the door. I’m waiting for Mama and Dave to get off work around 11:30 so we can get on the road to Raleigh! We being my parents, my brother Wesley, Dave, me, Puppy and Puppy’s sister, Ellie … all in one car!

Thanksgiving is when my dad’s side of the family gets together at Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Raleigh, NC. Of course, Grandma isn’t there but that will always be "Grandma and Grandpa’s house". Always. Even when Grandpa is no longer there …

I love when all the family gets together. And I love being at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Probably because every single room of that house holds a special memory of Grandma.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things but I am especially thankful for God’s faithfulness. I can look back on my life and see time after time after time of how God was faithful to me through little and big things alike. I can see the faithfulness of God covering my life like a blanket, bringing protection and warmth, even during the coldest, harshest times of life.

He is forever faithful. And that is something to be thankful for!

The Cowsert Cottage

Sitting on the porch at Pritchell Hall at the Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center

Our neighbor gave us tickets for a tour of Asheville. We went on a tour through famous writer, Thomas Wolfe’s house. “The Kentucky House” was a boarding house run by his mother, Julia, back in the early 1900′s. It has 17 bedrooms and only 3 bathrooms!

Here we are at the Nibble Nook! Yes, even I had some ice cream and it was so good! I allowed myself to cheat on the diet for some Nibble Nook ice cream.

We went to the Charlotte, NC area to visit Aunt Helen Cowsert and Aunt Helen Short. Aunt Helen Cowsert took over the Cowsert Cottage when her father died just two week after he had bought it.

Aunt Naomi, Aunt Helen Cowsert, Mama

See the deer? After picking Wesley up at the airport in Charlotte we spotted two deer near the side of the road. We stopped to take pictures and they just stood there and posed for the camera. It was an amazing sight to see.

Eating lunch at the Dr. Pepper restaurant located on Cherry St. in Black Mountain, NC.

Meet Ridge! One of the first days we were there I saw him at The Town Hardware store in Black Mountain. Later my dad bought him for me as a surprise after Dave had gone to buy it for me and told me, “Sorry Elaine, but the frog has been bought and they don’t have any others in the store.” Dave was in on the surprise and knew my dad had bought him!

Aunt Naomi and Uncle Jay started dating at Ridgecrest too! They had their first kiss here on the tennis courts of the Ridgecrest Conference Center!

At the Lake! The water is so low the dock was at an angle.

Ellie, Daddy, Mama, Wesley, Aunt Naomi, Elaine, Pretinha, Dave

Winner of “The Race”! Near the tennis court there is a huge field where the dogs just love to run wild. We had a race to see who could run the fastest. Pretinha won because Ellie got distracted in the race and started trying to bite and wrestle her sister in the middle of the race – typical Ellie! In the individual races Ellie was the fastest runner!

The Prayer Garden

The bench where it all began!

Dave and I arrived at Ridgecrest close to 1am. We are so excited to be here as this is such a special place to both of us.

I can remember coming to Ridgecrest for family vacation for as long as I can remember. As a child I remember when my parent’s bought the cabin from my mother’s aunt and we spent 2 weeks up here renovating the place. Wesley and I were young kids and wanted to be involved in the painting process but it ended up being a total mess with two small kids involved! I’m sure my parent’s remember that well!

I can remember building forts in the woods out back with cousins and spending countless hours out there playing.

I remember Wesley and I came up with just Daddy and the three of us along with some hired help put a new roof on the cottage, shingle by shingle. This time, Wesley and I were more of a help than a hindrance!

I remember numerous nights of playing cards around the table. I remember many nights of sitting on the huge front porch and listening to the crickets chirping at night.

There are happy memories and sad ones. One happy memory is when Josh and Angele announced they were expecting their second baby. A sad memory is the day Daddy and Wesley had to go to Asheville with our 15-year-old dog. Poor April’s health was rapidly declining and it was time to end her misery. When they returned we buried April in the woods behind the cottage – a place she loved to be.

I remember every summer all through highschool, college and my four years of teaching, I would always sneak away to one of my favorite places on the Nature Trail and pray for the upcoming school year and all that was to happen. It was also a time when I could thank God for the previous year and relish in His faithfulness through the good times and the bad. It was a time of renewal for me – physically, emotionally and spiritually.

And now Ridgecrest has become even more special as this is where Dave and I began dating, were engaged and then went on our honeymoon.

I am grateful to God for giving us Ridgecrest and the Cowsert Cottage to enjoy with family while on this earth. I am grateful to God that my great-grandfather bought the Cowsert Cottage just two weeks before he died. Little did he know what he had done for family members yet to even be born.

It’s just a special place for many reasons. A very special place. And I am so elated to be here!

Tonight marks the two year anniversary of the night Dave and I sat on this bench on the porch of the Cowsert Cottage at Ridgecrest playing Phase 10 and talking until 7:00am the next morning. It is the night our relationship began. Looking back, I had no clue of the blessings that were to come, and still continue to come, as I live my life alongside Dave.

Our first picture as a couple taken on the couch in the living room of the Cowsert Cottage.

Every year we go to Ridgecrest for family vacation. Pictured here is the whole gang (minus Ellie, my parents’ dog) at the lake near the cottage.

Another group shot taken at the Prayer Garden in the Ridgecrest Conference Center.

We made it to the top of Royal Gorge – even Jonah who was at the time only 5-months-old!

The aftermaths of staying up all night!

Dave and I leave next Thursday after he gets off work to go to Ridgecrest! We have not been to the cottage since our honeymoon last year. We are going up early to have some time there just the two of us before the family starts arriving on Sunday.

I cannot wait to make more memories at Ridgecrest this summer!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from Seattle:

On the 73rd floor of the Colombia Center building

View of Seattle from the Colombia Center building

Beautiful!

A handsome guy

On the Whale-Watching Tour

Whale-Watching picture – The only thing that would make this picture more spectacular would be a whale soaring through the air!

Victoria, Canada

This is what happens to your feet after a day of walking in Seattle!

Dave, Mama and I will catch a plane here in a few hours and be headed to Ft. Worth, Texas! My mom’s two sisters are there and we are going to visit before Uncle Guy, Aunt Elena and Vanessa return to Brazil at the end of this month from their 6 month furlough. It will be the first time Dave has been to Texas and to Aunt Naomi and Uncle Jay’s house! And I’ll finally get to meet A. Naomi’s third cat, Tiger. We are looking forward to more fun times with family. We will return home Tuesday.

Our Time in Seattle
We had a wonderful time together in Seattle and got to do and see so much! Sunday and Monday we spent the day in Downtown Seattle. We went to the Space Needle, Colombia Center Skyview (you can go to the 73rd floor of this building and see an incredible view of Seattle), the Aquarium and Tully’s Coffee Shop. We walked basically everywhere we went but did ride the buses some and used the Monorail once. We enjoyed one particular part of the city where Tully’s was located and went there many times to rest and let Dave enjoy a good cup of coffee! On Tuesday (our anniversary) we took a boat up to Victoria, Canada for the day! That was an adventure as the wind was high that day and the boat ride was rough at times. I was fine as long as I kept my eyes on the horizon. Interesting how that really does work.

Before we hit those ruff waters, we booked a 3-Hour Whale Watching Tour. I was really nervous about going back out into the seas since it was so windy. But we survived and did get to see some beautiful wildlife out at sea. Although this particular tour has 90% average of seeing whales, we ended up in the 10% that don’t get to see whales. But we still enjoyed the tour (minus the rough waters at times) and are so glad we had the privilege of seeing all we did see. We took some gorgeous pictures out there. I counted up the hours we spent at sea and it totaled 8 hours! No wonder when we were lying in bed that night trying to go to sleep we felt like we were still rocking at sea.

We are grateful for a wonderful first year anniversary trip, but we are even more grateful for our absolutely wonderful first year of marriage. We were told by many people on many occasions that the first year of marriage is always one of the toughest but our first year has been one of the best years of our lives! What a blessing for both Dave and me to have grown up in a home witnessing the godly example of marriage through the marriages of our very own parents. Now being married for a year, I realize what a tremendous blessing that was/is for both of us.

Clomid Update
Today was Day 5 of Clomid pills and I am happy to report I have not experienced any of the negative side effects from taking the medication. Thanks for praying! Tomorrow is the big day where I go for an ultrasound to see how my ovaries have reacted to the Clomid. Keep praying Dr. L sees those 2-3 maturing follicles in there!

If everything goes well tomorrow, insemination day is only 6 days away! Pray, Pray, Pray!

Dave and I are very excited about our trip to Seattle to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary! We leave tomorrow afternoon and will return Wednesday night.

Be praying for those 2-3 follicles that will begin to grow and develop while we are in Seattle. Also, pray I don’t have any side effects from the Clomid. I forgot to write that when I wrote that first prayer list.

Thanks for the prayers.