Marsha's baby shower

Last night I had the chance to go and shower Mrs. Marsha Turley for the soon arrival of her baby girl Parker Sophia. We all had such a great time and Marsha is just too dang cute!

Little Parker's bootie is going to look so cute in those :)

The goodies I made for her






And to save making another post to show them off here are some more things I made for Missy to give her friend's new little girl Reagan-- on its way to ya Mish! I just love the colored burp clothes I found at Target.. it adds so much!

Happy Fall Yall!

Yesterday we went to Hill Ridge Farms for a hay ride and to pick out some pumpkins. It was a beautiful day with great fall weather and so it was so nice to be outside to enjoy it. What a great day to celebrate Fall!

We went with Haley and Micah as well as silly Uncle Phil

We all agreed that it will definitely be more fun when we can bring back kids (which by the way we will have a 6 month old this time next year WOW!!!) but we had a blast acting as kids anyways. Here is my face after coming off the slide.. man it was fast :)

Wonderful visit with my mom and sister

We had a great weekend with Mom and Rachel. They got here on Thursday night and we had Chili for dinner and then just relaxed. Friday JR and I had to work but once we got off we went to the Olive Garden and then went to look around at Babies R Us and the Pottery Barn! It was so much fun to get ideas and of course made us even more eager to find out what little baby isham is so that we can start buying! We also went to Motherhood Maternity to get some things. Again I am not really at the place where I need to wear the maternity clothes yet, however I did need a bella band so that I can still wear my pants even though now I cant button them!!!! We got some basics- new stretchy jeans, shirts, and a dress.

Check out this blast into the future.......

Isnt that hilarious? Yes pretty sure this is my new dress with a pillow stuck inside so we could see what I will be looking like in 6 months. I am not going to lie it kindof scares me haha! Of course I have always known that this was the process of having a baby and being pregnant, but looking down at my HUGE belly just brought all of that to a whole new reality :)

I made JR do it too so we could see what he would look like and also told him to plan on wearing it around a LOT once I really do get that big. I mean thats what a good husband is supposed to do right ha???And here is Cici so happy with her sparkling Paris shirt. So glad you liked it mom! And thank you for making the never-ending journey to see us! We love you guys :)

Happy Birthday Amy!!

The beautiful Mrs. Amy Muesch is celebrating a birthday today! Love you girl :)

Paris

Sorry for the delay! Here are the long awaited pictures from our wonderful trip to Paris. We really did have an awesome time and loved site seeing together. Our favorite part was taking pictures of ourselves and you will see from all of the pictures ha! It was a beautiful country so there was so much to take in. All of our days were made up of sight-seeing, sight-seeing and more sightseeing, with a few meals in between of course. We had some interesting experiences with the food there including JR ordering pasta one night that smelled like a stink bomb was included inside hahah! Oh the laughs and the memories :)

Our hotel was amazing.. nothing short of a palace. And the park that was surrounding it was even more beautiful. We spent an entire day just riding bikes around the park and taking in the scenery. The only part that was not so great about our hotel was that it was a 30 minute walk to the train station every day. And speaking of that... we WALKED and WALKED and WALKED everywhere we went!!! By the end of the day both of our legs and feet were hurting so bad that all we wanted to do was lay in the bed :)

Another interesting thing about Paris was the food. We were told to try Crepes, Fallafals, etc. and we did.. BUT not really all that I expected. I think that everything was just so bland and we are used to American food, so it was just very different. That and the fact that you never really knew what you were ordering ha! Lots of mystery meat... and speaking of this one was the most gross.

Yes this is a RAW hamburger patty with a RAW egg on top!!! Are you kidding me??? Every time I saw it I was very sick to my stomach... and every time I ordered a burger I made sure to tell them cooked hahah! We did have a really nice French meal at a fancy restaurant which was so small only about 20 people could fit inside. It was a very enjoyable experience though and the food did not let us down, however we could not manage paying over $100 for every meal like that. They apparently like to serve a lot of items with a raw egg on top b/c we found it true for pizza too.. YUCK!!!
I will have to brag on the French people, even though we were told to expect them to be rude. We really only had one encounter with a guy who was mad b/c we sat down in "his chair" when we were outside in a public area, but other than that everyone was very nice. We were so lucky to always find someone who spoke English at any place we went so we did not have any real language barriers. We definitely have to continue to brag on the airline lady from Lufthansa too.. man I dont know what we would have done without her!

Oh the metro..... I think I have a love hate relationship with this system ha! It was great in that we never had to take a taxi or anything, however I always felt in such a panic every time we got on. Paris is definitely a FAST pace city, so everyone is going 900 mph ALL the time. We had to Rush here and Rush there, get off this stop to Rush over to that stop, etc. There was never a time when we didnt have to make less than 3 changes so it was off one, down the tunnel to find the next one, are we sure we are going towards the right way? alright jump on!!! Anyways we were very thankful for the cheap mode of transportation, but both agreed that if we had to ride on the metro every single day we might go insane!!! Check out this video I took in order to show the madness.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I loved our babymoon and just getting to have my husband all to myself for an entire week! It was a great chance for us to spend much needed quality time together away from work and school before the baby comes. We took at ton of pictures but below are some of my favorites. If you want to see them all you can go here.

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Happy Birthday Mimi and Aunt Stacy!

Today is 2 very important women in our lives BIRTHDAY!!! A very special happy birthday to Mimi and Aunt Stacy! These two women are a big part of both of our lives and we love them dearly. We hope both of you have a wonderful day :)

Please pray for the Akins

Today my sweet friends Paul and Kari, and their son Micah, are headed to Africa to serve as missionaries for 2 years. It seemed like this day would never come when she told me they were going over a year ago.. but now it is here and of course I will miss them so much. I do give honor to God as they are seeking to follow Him and although yes they will miss their friends and families so much, they know that they are doing His will by going. It is so hard to let our own agendas go so often and their testimony is so amazing to hear, because they simply are letting God lead them as they know that many people need to hear the name of Jesus. Pray for safe travels for them and that once they get there they would get settled into this very new life that they will have there.

Paul is the son of our President Dr. Akin and he, with his wife Charlotte, and son Nathan are also in this picture with them. I am so thankful to work at a seminary who's President does not have his own agenda in mind, but instead God's, and therefore although it is hard to see his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson travel thousands of miles away, he knows that this is what will bring most glory to God.

Griffin 2nd in the state!

So proud of my brother once again! 2nd in the whole state of TN and got the chance to talk to the Vandy golf coach b/c of it. Go Griffin go :)

Here is the write up that was done for the newspaper:

Griffin finishes 2^nd in State High School Golf Tournament

Roane County resident and Oak Ridge High School Junior Mason Griffin finished in 2^nd place individually in the Division 1 – AAA State High School Golf Tournament at Old Fort Golf Course in Murfreesboro, TN. The first round of the tournament was played in high winds and heavy rains as the middle Tennessee area experienced rain for the first time in 32 days. The tournament field consisted of 8 high school region championship teams composed of 5 players each and the top 4 individual players from each of the 8 regions. Griffin qualified for the State Tournament by finishing 2^nd place in the Region 2 Tournament on September 29 in Knoxville.

The State High School tournament, 72 player field, teed off at 9:00 am central time on Tuesday October 7^th, just as the wind and rain began to move into the area. Griffin began his round with a bogie on the first hole as the high winds whipped dust from an adjacent gravel parking lot across the first fairway resembling a rolling fog. Griffin managed a birdie on the second hole, a par five, as the heavy rains and winds sent players, coaches, parents, and friends scurrying to open umbrellas or to find shelter. His front nine score ended at 37, 1 over par, consisting of 3 bogies and 2 birdies.

Rain continued as Griffin teed off number 10 to start the back nine. A short birdie miss on number 10 was followed by consecutive birdies on holes 11 & 12. A fifteen foot birdie try for three birdies in a row on hole number 13, hit the lip of the cup and spun backwards. Pars at holes number 14 & 15 left Griffin standing at 1 under par for the day thru 15 holes. The rain seemed to pick up once again as his group teed off on number 16, a par 4 hole with what use to be a lateral water hazard on the right side of the fairway. Use to be meaning the dry summer months had turned the area into a moon crater or a pond with no water. His drive on hole number 16 came to rest on the downhill slope, just inside the hazard area, some 170 yards away. Griffin slashed the ball from the downhill lie onto the 16^th green some 45 feet from the pin. His next putt seemed to be a slow motion highlight clip from the golf channel as it rolled across the green, through the rain, down the final 15 feet to the cup as the ball appeared to be gaining speed on the green it hit the back of the cup and dropped in. Griffin finally showed his first sign of emotion after he gave his mini Tiger like fist pump as he celebrated his 5^th birdie of the day. Griffin proceed to par the par 3 number 17 and teed off on number 18 before play was suspended because of heavy rain and lightning in the area.

Some 50 minutes later, the 72 player field headed back out to the course to finish play for day 1 of the scheduled 2 day state tournament. Griffin took several practice swings before he would attempt to finish the final hole of the day. His 5-iron approach shot to number 18 green faded just to the right of the hole, hit the slope of the elevated green and kicked some 20 yards from the hole. Griffin’s next shot once again resembled a clip from the golf channel as his chip shop went high into the air, landed some 4 feet from the hole, and then rolled into the cup for a birdie. The small gallery of parents, players, and coaches, standing behind the 18^th green, cheered as they watched Griffin’s final shot of the rain soaked day go into the cup. His 6^th birdie of the day included a back nine score of 4 under par 32, which left him standing at 3 under par with a final score of 69.

Heavy rains continued over night and into the next morning as the 72 player field gathered again for round 2 of the tournament. TSSAA officials called a 1 hour delay, a second 1 hour delay, and finally cancelled day 2 of the tournament because of the rain soaked course. Oak Ridge High School’s Mason Griffin finished the tournament in second place, just behind Cory Gaylord of Houston High School’s 4 under par 68.

Week 13

Week 13 officially marks the end of the first trimester and the start to the second.. HOORAY! It is strange to think that the baby is only the size of a medium shrimp, even though that seems smaller than what is was last week at a lime ha! Anyways I definitely can tell my belly is growing. I am started to get a bit uncomfortable at night, especially after eating. I can tell my belly is stretching out there for sure :) My mom and Rachel are coming to visit us tomorrow for the weekend and we are going to make the first trip to get some maternity clothes, as it is just about that time since I cant button most of my pants! Definitely investing in some bella bands first so that I can get a bit more wear out of my clothes.

We went to the doctor for a checkup today and he said everything looked great! The baby's heartbeat was 164 beats per minute and it was so great to hear as always (see video below). We will go back again at 17 weeks and then get to find out what it is at 18 weeks. I am so excited because it works out to be the week before Thanksgiving that we find out so we will be able to tell all of our family at home in person! So much to be thankful for :)
Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Only the Ishams

Have this bad of luck! Haha I swear me and airports just do not get along.

Well we finally made it home last night after a nightmare of an ordeal on Sunday. We were scheduled to fly out Sunday at 800am but did not make the flight. Here is what happened...

Woke up at 4am in order to get to the metro to get the first train to the airport since we were on the opposite side of the city. I am always paranoid that I am going to miss my flight so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. We got there with about 10 minutes to spare before boarding so it was a good thing we got up that early. Anyways the train let us off at one terminal and we headed through walking down the airport. JR had lugged our two big bags all that way plus 2 smaller bags.. and therefore was ready to put them down. So..... when we got there he got a cart that we could put all of them on to push around and make it easier. Well we had also gotten out the folder that we had kept all our important information in (passports, flight times, etc) to see what flight number we were and this turned out to be the biggest mistake. We ended up leaving that folder on the cart when we got on the airport shuttle to get to our check in point. He realized it as soon as we got there and went back to get it no longer than 10 minutes later but someone had taken it. I know it was a mistake that I could have made so I am not blaming him by any means... it was just a very misfortunate thing that happened to two people who were so ready to be back in America!!! Well no passports meant that we couldnt board the flight of course so instead we spent the next 5 hours searching all over the airport and talking to everyone we could think of there to figure out what to do. We got the bad news that we would have to wait and go to the US Embassy to get new passports issued before they would allow us on a plane. And just as our luck was going.. .it was Sunday and they were closed on Sundays, as well as Monday for Columbus day. That meant that we couldnt get new ones made until Tuesday and they wouldnt be ready for us to get until Wednesday...... meaning we wouldnt be home until THURSDAY!!! Holy cow... just imagine how furious we are at this point.. but again what can you do??? We were so lucky to be sent an angel at the Lufthansa airline that worked with us to do everything she could. She called the police all over the airport to report them missing, called the Embassy, let us use her phone and internet, booked us a hotel to stay at for a very cheap rate AND dropped our rebooking fees that would have been $500!!!!! Oh praise the Lord for Isabelle :)

Fast forward to noon on Sunday and we received the best news we had heard all day... our passports had been turned in! JR ran to go and get them to make sure everything was there and sure enough someone had just taken them off the cart.. we guess thinking there was money inside... and then dropped it off at the service desk once they saw there was nothing they wanted in it. This meant no waiting on new passports and we could fly back on Monday!!!!

We arrived in Raleigh at 7:00pm last night and I can say that it was the happiest moment of our whole trip!!! Dont get me wrong, we did have a wonderful time while in Paris before all of this happened... but of course right now are a little tainted with all of the terrible travel horrors on the way home.

I will post all of our great pictures and experiences soon I promise! Right now I am playing major catch up to get back into things at work and my lunch break is officially over :(