Eli Charles Taff

Friday night, Brian and I went down to Columbus to see Rebecca and Wesley and meet Eli! Eli Charles Taff was born Wednesday afternoon and weighed in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. He is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen. It took a lot of effort to give him back when we left :) Look how proud the new daddy is!

I am so excited for Rebecca and Wesley. God is so faithful and His plan is so good. They are going to be incredible parents. I can't wait to see this precious baby boy grow up!

Congratulations Wesley and Rebecca!

Date Night for a 2nd Grade Teacher

School starts on Tuesday.

Teachers had to return to school this past Monday. It was great- it was a good time to organize. I moved into my classroom so quickly last summer that I had no idea where anything was for the entire school year, so I spent LOTS of time this summer putting everything in boxes with labels and sorting papers into binders. This week, I went into the new teacher on our team's classroom, got ideas, then went back to my classroom and added file folders. I am pretty much in love with my classroom right now. Let's hope it stays this organized when students are actually IN it.

Though everything was organized, I realized I still had

several things to do before Meet the Teacher tomorrow, so I interrupted our previously scheduled date night to INVITE Brian to my classroom to help. Boy, do I love my husband!

After we left the school, we had dinner at Taziki's (Yum! ADORE their Friday Pasta Special!), then headed home to watch a movie. I let Brian choose the movie, so I was shocked to find This Is It in the DVD player when we got home.

Michael Jackson was an INCREDIBLE performer. The movie was super interesting. I have decided that if he was still alive, I would want to see his concert.

Has anyone else seen the movie? What did you think?

If you haven't, check it out! It's pretty great!

Cricut Dreams

Last Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Brian and I went see our great friends Brad and Katie in Demopolis. Aside from a wonderful time of fellowship and catching up, I was introduced to the Cricut. We spent the weekend finding creative ways to use it. I fell in love and began dreaming of great and fabulous things I could do with it- gifts, classroom, our house, a future nursery. Nothing seemed too big or small for the Cricut.

For our anniversary, my sweet Brian gave me a Cricut. I am beside myself! I have been in heaven creating things for my classroom and am anxious to try cutting fabric and vinyl. I have worked for hours making a word wall and letters for my bulletin boards.

We recently had a new teacher join the 2nd grade team at our school. Aside from the fact that she is Godly and wonderful, she is also VERY creative and fun. As she was setting up her classroom, she hung a painted canvas on the wall to add a homey feel. I decided I needed to do that in my classroom as well and was determined to use my Cricut. After browsing the aisles of Hobby Lobby, I came home with black paint and bright polka dotted paper (I had the canvases at home.)

My final project?

They look awesome in the room, but could also be useful in a playroom one day. I have cut out the words "be creative" and "make good choices" too, but am completely out of black paint. I hope to do those later this week. I have a lot more work to do before I am good at the Cricut, but I am loving the chance to practice! Hopefully you will see more Cricut projects here in the future!

Busy Month

Since we have been back from Israel, we have done A LOT! The following are major events that have happened since we got home-

*We went to a Baron's game with Rob and Ginny. Not only did the Baron's win, we saw really pretty fireworks!

*Brian and I went to the Renaissance Ross Bridge for the 4th of July. We hung out at the pool for hours, ate pizza in a giant king sized bed, then watched Toy Story 1 AND 2.

*We saw Toy Story 3. I cried the last 15 minutes. That movie confirmed every fear I had as a child. It also explains why I haven't had the heart to give up my favorite stuffed animals. If you haven't seen the movie, you MUST! But be prepared- it's kind of sad!

*Brian and I had our 3 year wedding anniversary! We ate a SCRUMPTIOUS dinner at The Melting Pot, then came home and watched our wedding video. I love Brian WAY more today then I did 3 years ago. I can't imagine life without him and can't wait to experience it with him.

*Brian turned 25 years old! I think he is even cuter now then he was when he was 24!

*We went to Brookhaven, Mississippi to see Brian's grandmother. She gave us a lesson on southern cooking and took us to the Brookhaven Exchange Club Fair.

* After a long time spent comparing and contemplating, I joined Sam's. I can't decide if it was good or bad for our checking account, but we are now members!

*Brian and I went to Pensacola for the weekend. It was H*O*T, with a heat index of 115*, but the water was crystal clear AND we saw dolphins.

*Finally, today is my birthday! I am 25 years old- a quarter of a century. Brian keeps telling me that if I do this three more times, I will be 100. He's a genius, but I love him!

Have a great night!

Israel: Tuesday, June 29th

Tuesday was our final day in Israel. We left the Baptist Village in Petah Tiqua and drove to Jerusalem for shopping and touring!

During the morning, part of the group did the Rampart's Walk while the rest of the group went through the open air stores to bargain for sandals and scarves! I got a great pair of camel leather flip flops and several beautiful scarves. I can't wait for cold weather so I can use them!

After lunch, our group went to Hezekiah's Tunnel. Hezekiah's Tunnel is an underground aquaduct that Hezekiah's army dug so they could access Jerusalem's water supply outside the walls. The truly incredible part of tunnel is the fact that it is nearly a half a mile long, carved out of solid rock. Engineers started chiseling on each side of the tunnel and miraculously met in the middle. That was in 701 BC.

We went down to the tunnel, then hiked the half mile trek through water to the other side. It was so hot through our entire trip, so the cool water was an awesome relief. Sometimes the tunnel was very narrow and other times the rock was very low, but all in all it was such a fun adventure.

After the tunnel, we went to the Museum of Israel. This musuem had a great scale model of the city of Jerusalem which gave us a great picture of all we had seen. The museum also held the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls were found between 1947 and 1956 near the Dead Sea and are 2000 year old records of the Old Testament books. They had a portion of the book of Isaiah on display.

Once we left the museum, we packed the vans up and went to the airport. After returning the vans, we went through the incredibly lengthy process called Israeli security. They are very serious about who comes in and out of their country- we showed our passports at least 5 times.

We finally loaded the plane and headed home.

The trip was incredible. God blessed us so much and truly changed how we read His Word. God really changed our perspective on a lot of things. We are looking forward to going back there again one day with our family.

Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip! Have a blessed and wonderful week!