Where does summer go?

Goodness! Life has moved fast these last few months.  Sayed is in the middle of driver's ed and has started school.  He is running cross country and is all over the place.  Dan and I are shuttling him from place to place desperately looking for someone to carpool with to relieve some of the responsibility.  Nothing yet... 

That is going to need to change though when Baby #3 comes in the next 10 days- hopefully a little sooner because my superman doctor is going out of town on the 19th and I need to have already had her!  Ideally, she will be here sometime next week- NOT this weekend because Dan and my parents will be out of town and I really don't want Sayed taking me to the hospital.... ;)
 
Dan and Sayed are still dorking it up in their men's soccer league pretty much made up by many members of my family and a guy from Nigeria (picked up for his obvious athletic skills ;)

Annie is almost walking.  She walks some and when she realizes she is walking, she sits down.  So, any day now!  And June had her first day back to Mother's Day Out.  No crying or sadness or anything.  She likes it this year- yay!!
 
 
Clif's adorable fiance from Columbia, Mariana, just became a US citizen (on her own, not through marriage) and we are so happy for her!  They get married the beginning of June- can't wait!

 
So, probably next time I write, Rose will be here.  Can't wait to be a family of five!!! (or six if you count Sayed) (or seven if you count Harry) (or 14 if you count all the animals)  But who's counting?! :)

Sayed APPROVED!!

Sayed's visa got approved one month ago, apparently, and the US Embassy forgot to inform him until yesterday, but none the less, he is approved and will be arriving here in the US, Sunday June 24th!!!!

We are so excited and have a room all prepared for him (Annie and the new baby will share a room).  He will start his senior year of high school in August and be here to stay with June and Annie when I go into labor in September- yay!  Free babysitting :)

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who wrote letters for him and prayed for his return.  His family is so happy for him and his mom even told him to tell us that she might have enough in her savings account to pay for his flight.  (We did not make her do that!)

A new chapter starts again in the SuDan life- adding two to the family in a three month span- Sayed and this new little lady munchkin.  It never ends....  But we love it ;)

So, here is what he left:

And here is what he will return to :)  Alot has changed!

Biase family pictures

We got to spend some time with some awesome photographers over Thanksgiving and took tons of family photos with Dan's family.  It was super fun and the kids did great! (I bribed them with candy ;)  Here are some of the best pics- thought you might want to see :)

Carpenter's

I wanted to share this recent newsletter from our church we attend.  It is definitely different than most churches and has taken quite a while to get used to and understand that we aren't there to "fix" these people, but to walk through life with them as equals, but we really enjoy it and have made some great friends through it.  Please read our friend Ted's story on the first page below and if you want to read more about our church, its philosophies and goals, please click here.

Winter 2011 News (Web)

30?......30 :)

A few weeks ago, I turned 30.  This would usually be a HUGE day/week celebrated mostly by me with lots of pushing for husband, family, friends, etc to get as geared up about it as me so that I can make any and all celebrations a very big deal.  Well, this year was different.  I don't know if it was because I was running Rush for my sorority or because I am super pregnant or maybe just because I was so busy busy busy, I just didn't have time to think about it.

But, that's ok.  Because on the night of my birthday, my fun family surprised me at the sorority house with a cookie cake (my FAV!!), personalized accessories mom made me wear, presents, and a nice, quick visit before I had to go back to work. (Dan was there too of course, just m.i.a. in picture-taking).  I know the college girls were thinking it was a little extreme because they had all already sang to me (ok, maybe I told a few people it was my birthday...), but hey, that is how I roll, right?!

It was a great night and just went to show that I was the only one who forgot my birthday.  I guess these past 30 years of training have paid off pretty well! ;)

June wearing her sunglasses upside down (her preferred look)

Uncle Love

June has been loving some uncle time lately. Two of her uncles (well, my cousins) are currently in town and have been hanging out with us over at the parental's casa. Every day, she yells- Chappy! and Bobby! all day long, looking for them, and making them play with her anytime they are around.

But, they are more than happy to comply and give her all the attention she needs when I am trying to get some work done. We will be sad to see them go in a few weeks....

June's birthday surprise

This past Sunday, we decided to have a little birthday get-together at my parents' house when Dan's parents and sister came in town for a visit. June had lots of fun with her Noni and Pap Pap and Aunt Beanie.

And we finished it off with a nice birthday lunch. June was not too sure about blowing out candles or eating cake.

And she didn't even care about her gift. But everyone else did! It was a big surprise!

That's right- June is going to be a big sister on September 30th (or somewhere around there). I am 10 weeks along and we heard the heartbeat, so we are anxious to meet our next little munchkin and hope he/she is as easy as the first!

And in case you forgot Dan's reaction to the first baby, it was exactly the same this time around.... :)

A day in the life of Sudan

Yes that is Dan standing on brother Clif aided by brother Travis (no, not monks- biological brothers) trying to reach a paint spot while I hysterically laugh and take pictures...... Brotherly love... :)

We moved??

We moved. And it is not so great. Here is my sweet friend, Laura's blog entry on our move. It will suffice for now, because I am too sad about leaving everyone to write anything.

We got here to Lubbock last night to a fantastic family and house, but Dan and I were sitting on the couch and I thought: Hmmm, today is wednesday. What do we have Wednesday night? Oh wait, nothing. We know no one and all our friends are back home.

So..... here we are. We are just learning to live out His plan and prepare for His next steps in our life.

Here is our last picture in front of 210 Allensworth

Family and Friends

This past week, we have had an influx of family and friends visiting and being visited...

We had a guy from our church (Dennis) move in with us for the last month we are here:

Aunt Mon (Dan's uncle's wife from Maryland) visited and hung out with June and I for the day:

And then we went to Houston for Jenny's (my friend from church) wedding and stayed with Dan's sister, Dena, her husband, Brian, and June's only cousin- Vincent!:

We are so blessed to have such fun people in our life. I thought they deserved an entry all to themselves.

June's first trip out of town

This past week, we went to Dallas, then to meet my parents at the lake, then on to Lubbock. What a trip! June did fantastic- lots of sleeping, so we tried to travel during her nap and night sleeps.

We were in Dallas for Mother's Day and June got to meet her Great Grandma Lena (her namesake) for the first time.

Lots of playing with Noni and PapPap and Aunt Mia and soon to be Uncle Dom, She worked all weekend on holding her head up for long periods of time and rolling over from front to back.

Then, we went for a few hours to my grandmother's in Dallas and lots and lots of family came over to meet little June for the first time.

Here is my grandfather's brother and his wife- Uncle Frank and Aunt Sandy. So cute!

Here is the cute little lady looking at her Uncle Greg-

We then went on to Lubbock (where we took no pictures), but we put an offer in on a house because Dan got a job and we are moving there within the next few months. Crazy! There is going to be lots going on this summer so keep us in your prayers for this next new phase!

Visitors!

Well, we have had a lot of traffic through here since little June was born. We have been trying to get people down here forever and apparently, all we needed was to have a baby for people to come visit us!

And I guess you might be thinking that our life is consumed with June at the moment; well it is.... But we do other things occasionally, like kickball, Dan playing softball and soccer, and me in ballet (I have my first recital May 16th!! - anyone is welcome to attend!) But.... we only take pictures of June, so here they are with all her visitors :)

Here is adorable little June with her daddy:

Here are the first visitors (my parents)- last weekend for Easter!

And then Mimi and Papa (my dad's parents):

And then Noni and PapPap (Dan's parents)! (PapPap not pictured)

And then here is part of our little family (minus the animal species) for church Easter:

Lots going on here down in San Anton'... And we are enjoying it all (except getting up at night) Happy late Easter and mid-April!