Happy Resurrection Day!

I am so thankful for this Resurrection Day.  I am thankful I don't have to live day-to-day in what Saturday represents on this weekend....where my Jesus is dead & there is no hope.   On Sunday, Jesus inhaled.  I serve & love a risen Savior. I am so thankful He lives today.  I am thankful today I was able to share this day with family I love & cherish.  I am thankful for a church that teaches truth & for a community of brothers & sisters in Christ.  I am thankful for the calling He has placed on our family.

I am thankful for these sweet girls

I am thankful for my husband  

Bridges family photo

We had Easter lunch at Tyler & Nicole's home. It was their first family holiday to host & they did a great job.  Nicole did fantastic with her cooking & decorating touches! 

Our hostess, Nicole!

Anna & I.  I have such beautiful nieces!

I love my pretty sister too!

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.   1 Corinthians 15:14

Saying So Long

This week our family says so long to a family friend who is moving.  Sweet Julie has been a bright part of our lives the past 3 1/2 years.  I was a mentor to Julie through the SOS Academy (a program for college graduates who do internships with inner city ministries).  Julie worked at Advance Memphis, which is a great ministry to the city www.advancememphis.org.  After her year internship, Julie continued working for Advance for the rest of her time in Memphis, & our friendship extended past the SOS mentorship program.  She has been a sweet friend, encourager, & a babysitter for our girls!

We will miss you Julie, but wish you all the best in your future!

Julie joined us for a night of Just Dance!

Celebrating Love

We had an opportunity this past weekend to host a couples shower for some sweet friends.  Several years ago, we were blessed to meet many young couples through a local ministry in Memphis.  There is one couple that is left to tie the knot, & they are getting married this summer.   Out of these 5 couples, our girls have been in 3 of the weddings!  We were all able to gather & celebrate this upcoming wedding.

The theme of the shower was outdoor/tools/household ~ gifts for the groom!  We had little hammers & saws for guests to write home or marriage tips on for them.

Mexican buffet

Mac & Mary ~ the engaged couple!

Me, Mary, & Gardner ~ hostesses & guest of honor

Post Luck of the Irish

Everything seems to be running a little behind in our household this week!  I've been struggling physically feeling well this week as we are trying to get back into routine.  I had great intentions to do something cute for St. Patrick's Day.  We accomplished it a day late, and another day or so late posting!  Here is our St. Patrick's Day treat the girls helped me with:

Hope your week has been a good one!  

It seems like a while since I've been here with you all, but as you may know, we've been on the road. Last week,  Avery & I went to Lawrenceville, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta) to Mission to the World for a week of Interview & Orientation.  We have been in the application process for several months with Mission to the World to pursue a calling to move to Bogota, Colombia to serve as missionaries there.  It was a great week to be with people from all over the country, going all over the world, all with the same vision.  Here are a few snapshots from our week:

So our week started with our rental car....a Nissan Altima, which made me so excited since this is a car I've always wanted. 

Our name tag for the first 3 days...

then we got these!

Officially approved as MTW missionaries!

Our sweet recruiter we've worked with for several months

Our I&O team after a long week of training

Latin America team

Avery & I

Some of our Bogota team members we were able to have dinner with one night

We had a great week & are so thankful to our families for helping us by keeping the girls.  There is so much we learned & I'm sure questions you have about this transition.  We will soon have a new blog/website dedicated to our ministry in Bogota to help with these & hopefully can speak with you face-to-face too.   Thanks for your prayers for us & our families. 

As a fun bonus at the end of our week, I was able to meet the Green family & have dinner with them!  It was so refreshing to see my dear friends, although our time was too short. And, we also got to see Avery's brother & his family.  It was great to see our cute nieces & nephews again & look forward to seeing them all again very soon.  The best thing about finally being at home are these two....

The Wedding Day!

Wow, y'all, the wedding of Nicole & Tyler was so beautiful in so many ways.  The location, the weather, the people, the food, the vows, the bride & groom, & the gospel that was shared.  My heart is overjoyed to watch my first born niece get married.  If I take you back 24 years ago, I remember buying a gift for my sister after she got married that was a baby gift.  Once Lynn told me she was pregnant, I bought my second gift for the baby....a bib which stated "Auntie Loves Me".  And I adored that sweet girl.  I remember the moment I found out Lynn was in labor.  I remember sitting in the waiting room all night long & the announcement of her birth.  She was a tiny little thing (& still is today :)) born 6 weeks early.  I was so excited to be her aunt.  I was in college, & remember driving to Oxford, where they lived at the time, many weekends to stay with them & hold my Nicole.  I loved it when I could give her parents a break & babysit.   My college friends, who I keep in touch with today, will tell you they all even remember when Nicole was born.  My roommates even made a sign for my dorm room door saying "Congratulations Aunt Marilyn!" when I came back from meeting her the first time. What a complete joy & honor it has been to watch her from birth to saying her wedding vows.  I've never had that experience with anyone else yet, watching them from birth to adulthood.  Look at her now.........

Mr. & Mrs. Tyler Cole

(Yes, her name is Nicole Cole now!)

Welcoming the guests

My beautiful girls...the time will go by fast.  Lord, help me enjoy these moments.

The location of the wedding ceremony & reception

My Dad, sister, brother, me, & my Mom

Sibling love :)

I love my nephew so much too!  This is Brett...Nicole's younger brother.

The sign in globe...in lieu of a book.  Totally love this idea!

We signed it over Colombia, South America

Going away streamers & bells...again, so cute.

The place of ceremony.  Tyler & Nicole wrote their own vows, the most beautiful ones I've ever heard.  They brought tears to my eyes.  The entire ceremony was a testimony to Jesus being center of our marriages & our lives, proclaiming His love, goodness, & grace to us.  

Here's another fun idea....they had a s'mores bar!

Mother & Father of the bride

They were ready to enjoy some food too

These two little ones danced all night...Brook & her cousin

Avery & I with the Bride & Groom

My niece, Naomi, Isabella, & my niece, Anna, who is Nicole & Brett's younger sister

Brook, Anna, & Eden

Getting ready to go!

Nicole, I am so happy for you & for your beautiful day!  More than that, I am so thankful for the woman you are & for the Godly man you married.  We love Tyler & are thrilled for your marriage days ahead!  Happy honeymoon!!

Weekend update

In my opinion, Memphis has two perfect snows scenarios.  One, it snows and we get several inches accumulation, enough to play in it, sled, build snowmen, etc.  Of course, when it snows, you would have to be at home with people you enjoy, plenty of "milk & bread" (or really soup & hot chocolate), & the roads are safe to drive on the next day.  The second scenario is snow falling, but no accumulation. The later is what we had Saturday.  It was just beautiful & fun to watch the snow fall all day.

Snow falling on our spring flowers

Isabella among the snowflakes

We also had a fun school night opportunity this weekend.  We spent time with a sweet friend we met this year to learn about the country we are currently studying in school, China.  Our friend is Chinese & spent time with us answering questions & explaining many traditions in her country.  She even worked with us on our Mandarin language, all with a smile!

Teaching us how to use chopsticks!

I finally had to go back to the good ol' fashioned fork!