we're back!

well, it's back to reality for most of us-including me and andy. we had a wonderful time visiting family. our trip home was a lot easier then our trip there. we did have an hour delay but we're back! although, we'll miss our family-it's always good to be back. today andy gave the message at church-and did a great job if i do say so myself! not much is new so here are some pictures from our trip. we pray that you all have a blessed New Year!!

xoxoxo

lindsey

mom and dad's house, newfields, new hampshire

our stroll in the snow!!

nubble light @ sunset!

andy, thinking about life on the edge

Christmas 2007

we're having a white christmas!! we finally made it to portland, after staying the night at JFK-it was an experience. we finally arrived at 12:30 a.m. and the airport was completely packed! our connecting flight was canceled and we stayed on the floor with thousands of other people. around 3:30 i went to the service desk to check our flight and we were lucky enough to be on the 9:00 a.m flight to portland!! andy's brother, chris, picked us up and then we crashed at his place for a couple of hours. then we headed to new hampshire where the rest of the family lives. we had dinner and called it a night! this morning we had a wonderful time celebrating christmas. here are a few pictures of our trip so far. enjoy!!

the coast guard boat in portland, maine

portland headlight

delaney and her mom meaghan (notice the boston red sox hat)

lindsey and delaney

our christmas tree!

holiday delay

Christmas time is truly a wonderful time of year. living in florida it is difficult to dream of a white christmas, but andy and i have both had our share of them. this year we get to have one again!! we are heading to maine and new hampshire. andy's family lives there and we are going to spend the next week with them!! right now we are in orlando experiencing flight delays. our original flight was to depart at 3:45 p.m. and is now pushed back to 8:20 p.m.-we then get a layover flight putting us at our final destination around 2:00 a.m. holiday travel is so much fun!!

we did have some fun at the airport-we even saw the shamu plane!! the people around the airport don't seem to grumpy(yet) but i'm sure the delays will get the best of them!

...

have you ever tried to lable something, but you didn't want to be to obvious. well that's the story of this post. today was my birthday and andy did a great job making it a fun day!! however, before i start sharing our fun i do have to say andy took care of me while i was sick, and although it lasted a day i hope to not get sick for the rest of the year. (the flowers were a nice touch, though!)

alright, so back to today. andy took me to get a hair cut; at the only place i like getting it done, and i would have to say that i'm well pleased with it. then we did some christmas shopping, which i believe is never actually done. we then went to dinner at boston lobster feast and the food was great! and our evening continued and ended at gaylord palms-ICE! we had a great time! it was chilly, with 5,000lbs of ice all around you. the slide was fun, too! we also went ICEskating and watched a christmas show. here are some pictures of ICE!

andy and i continue to hope and pray that your holiday season has been one full of friends, family, and laughter! and we thank you for sharing in ours.

Lindsey's sick

Hey Everyone,

This is actually Andy typing and my first time leaving something for everyone to read. Lindsey's been giving me a hard time about never signing on and typing something. So while I was here I updated the favorite music section....do you actually think I would leave out Anberlin?

Lindsey is actually sick today. So I've been taking care of her. She slept most of today, while I went to the office. I did go out in the morning and get her some Gatorade, flowers and a card. She's feeling much better then she did this morning. I think it's mostly the flowers that helped her get better. You know of all the things about getting married this is probably the one thing that I'll have toughest time dealing with. You know taking care of Lindsey when she throws up. I can handle the stuffy nose and the cold thing but I think I struggle with the whole "throw up" thing. I myself haven't thrown up probably since middle school. And then I hear when you have kids they throw up all the time.

Well she'll get a good night sleep tonight and she'll be much better tomorrow and then we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Ben and Becky are having a yard sale and we are going to help with that on Saturday and then at 4pm we have a "Birthday Party for Jesus." It's a children's event and should be fun because it's at Chik-fil-a and they'll have the cow on hand. On Sunday we have church and then a meeting afterwards and then a family night thing where we are going to go to something called "A Walk Through Bethlehem."

On a personal note I've had some great news this week so not even Lindsey being sick can bring me down now.

God is good!!!

more pictures!

here are some more pictures from our night at EPCOT...enjoy!

Christmas @ Downtown Disney

Christmas @ Epcot

Christmas in the United Kingdom-actually EPCOT

expired!

it's official...dreams do come true and disney does a great job trying to fulfill them!! andy and i just spent the past year enjoying a trip to epcot whenever time allowed. last night was our last night to do so-our annual passes expired. here are some pictures from last night; we hope that they get you in the holiday spirit!! (we even kissed under Father Christmas's mistletoe!!)

it's hard to imagine that 17 days before Christmas it would be nearly 80 degrees outside and we would be able to enjoy a night out-not worried about coats or jackets! here's micky and minnie wishing you a very merry christmas-it is true, however, the evergreens are prettier with snow!

...missing something?

have you ever missed something that was vitally important to you? maybe misplaced, broke, or lost that one valuable item-that without you just can't function. i believe that's what andy was feeling this week-his computer was out of order for the past week, and for someone who checks e-mail-hourly-and updates a few different websites weekly he's done a great job. it's been difficult, but we hope to have it back and working soon!!

i can honestly say that i don't think that i've been without something this vitally important for any amount of time. one time i remember i thought that i lost my wallet-the only think i was concerned about was my drivers license-that very day i was planning on doing a lot of driving-i searched high and low and even canceled all of my plans. i eventually "found" it and it wasn't even lost!

if you have ever gone without-not that driving or having a computer is what life is all about-please stop and think of those who are less forunate than yourself. this holiday season lets commit to helping those who are in need more then ourselves and watch as we change the world one action at a time!

who would imagine sitting outside on dec. 2nd

welcome to the first-ever Outdoor Worship Service at Crossroads Christian Church, New Smyrna Beach, Florida! this morning was wonderful. we usually hold church services at an elementary school but today we had it at our property!! the weather was beautiful and everything went smoothly! we had a great turn out and Ben did a great job-delivering a message on the sights and sounds of Christmas. after church we had a pot-luck lunch--all of the food was delicious!! i especially love sweet potato casserole! since we are a traveling church-meaning we don't have our own worship center/sanctuary, yet, there is a lot of packing and unpacking to be done on sundays. andy helps unload everything and he also does a lot with the media set up. i try to help wherever and set up in the children's area. it makes for a long day but in the end-every sunday-it pays off. God truly blesses us from the example of today or any other Sunday when there has been no rain during the time of setting up and tearing down. God has placed each and everyone of us here and now for a specific reason and i pray that as Crossroads grows-and you're looking for a family-we can be that place where you can meet God face to face. His plan is far greater than my own and i surrender.

thanksgiving week in review...

for thanksgivig andy and i visited my family, in sarasota. we went to the park with ryan and riley-it was a very interesting park. we even climbed a mountain there!!

we helped decorate for christmas too! putting christmas lights on palm trees is relatively exciting-andy says that he feels bad for the person who has to take them down!!

then we went to a castle-mind you it's in the middle of nowhere, but the the owner and his family they think that they are in the middle of everything-it was completely built by hand and mostly comprised of junk-not really a 5-star establishment;

we finished our trip with a stop to IKEA and the mall; i'm so glad IKEA is here! it was huge and packed full of people. Andy and I both got something and even did a little Christmas shopping! We did have thanksgiving dinner but I didn't take any pictures-we had a good week and hope that you did too!

children

...although i don't have any of my own, i love spending time with children just watching and listening to them day in and day out is incredible. they truly are sponges-soaking in everything around them. yesterday i spent some time with my best friends children and it's amazing to see how much they've grown. today i'm spending the afternoon with six kids and they are all so very different but when it comes down to it God created them to be exactly who they are and He has blessed me to cross paths with them. i enjoy spending time with these little people and if you ever have to chance to volunteer with a group of youngsters to take advantage of it. they may be a handful every once in a while but when they smile it's worth more then anything.

matthew 18 talks about little children who receive the kingdom of heaven and tells us to become like them. i love when God talks about children. i hold Jesus Christ and his children close to my heart. please remember that as you come in contact with children to smile-through you may they see the love of Christ!

xoxo

lindsey

it's the weekend!!

yes, we all look forward to the weekend but there never seems to be a slow moment. andy has coast guard drills (training) all weekend and i had about a million and two things to do. i was able to meet up with my mom in orlando to go to the scrapbook convention!! it was crazy!! i picked up some good buys-EPCOT paper and coast guard paper!! and a neat clear acrylic "tag" album. then i went to pick andy up and off to Natalie's welcome shower-she's a beautiful little girl and she has a great family! tomorrow brings more training and church-hopefully we'll have a little down time in the evening. with thanksgiving right around the corner we wish you a very happy thanksgiving!!

xoxox

lindsey

...pie anyone?

as you know Thanksgiving is just around the corner and with that we are celebrating the season of giving thanks with friends and family at church. tomorrow night we will be playing games, eating dinner, and engaging in fellowship with one another. hopefully our desserts turn out! andy is going to make pumpkin cheesecake pie and i will be trying my hand at apple pie. mind you-i've never made apple pie and some of the kids have offered to help-i'm willing to bet that they've never made apple pie either! if you're around and are looking for something to do we start at 6:00. as thanksgiving draws near andy and i both wish you a blessed holiday season!

*andy designed to logo above as advertisement for our churches fellowship dinner!

christmas sales already?

so it's sunday night. november 11, 2007. the weekend is over and it was a great one! friday we stayed with the kids and then saw Fred Clause...mind you i fell asleep, without fail. saturday was fun, we were going to go spend a gift card at the Mall of Mellinia but the traffic was outrageous!! IKEA is opening sometime this week, so i may try again. then andy and i went to EPCOT-it was the end of the food and wine festival and the amount of people was incredible. i think the most packed since new years eve!! test track is a fun ride and i honestly think that anybody who stands around me or andy can't stand it. we have that ride memorized!! soarin is wonderful also but that line is always the longest!! our passes expire next month, which is sad, but we have enjoyed every visit to EPCOT; and plan to go at least two more times!! if you live in florida we suggest that you look into the EPCOT after 4:00 p.m. pass-it's a good deal and well worth it!! sunday started as any other sunday and church was fine. we've been reading the book of James: it's such a great book! today we closed our study the same way the book does-with prayer! after church we spent the rest of the day at ben and becky's with their family. it's so fun to remember the past.

i hope that your weekend was as enjoyable as mine. please keep karly stewart in your prayers, thanks!

lan and i plan on doing some wedding planning this week-looking at dresses, coming up with a list of cakes and catering companies. should be fun!

happy veteran's day! thank you for my freedom!!

*lindsey

saying good bye

today, at Kids Are Us, the foster home where i work; we found ourselves saying good bye once again. it's always a difficult thing to do. today we said bye to a brother and sister who were only here for about a month, but within that time frame we were able to see many changes in those two kids. they are still a long way from where they would like to be; but they have made progress in the right direction. we still have three other children in foster care who all pray that their day to say good bye comes soon. please keep these precious children in your prayers as we continue to work side by side with them and as we continue to impact each others lives.

more pictures!!

here are some more pictures of me and andy.

about us

andy is 26, he is the youth minister at crossroads christian church. he has a group of mostly girls and when they get together they always seem to have a good time. he likes music...a lot! he also loves watching the red sox! he has hopes and dreams of becoming a great golfer-therefore i am supporting him...or at least he thinks so! as long as he has a good time!

i am 22, i'm trying to finish up school. my major is children's ministry and i've gone back and forth on teaching. i volunteer at church in the children's program and i also help out at a local foster home. we try our best to have a great time!

together andy and i love spending time with friends and family. we also like going to epcot and downtown disney.

pictures!

London 2007

me and andy at arabian nights!

beginnings

hey, there. here we are; starting something new. not something old turned into new, but brand new. a life, a journey, a friendship, and a commitment. i want this to be fun and exciting-a place to turn to for updates, joy, and reflection.

i guess more will follow.

welcome to the adventure!!

enjoy!