Herb and Lulie Thomas are in our community group. They signed up two years ago to be a “mentor couple” while we went through a Tim Keller Bible study with two other couples (Jennifer & Grant Farrell, and Jackie & Adam Tarnow) and have since moved into an “advisory role” in the group. Basically, they love us too much to leave us and the feeling is mutual–but they also have their own community group that they attend weekly!
This couple is amazing. They have a wonderful story of redemption–as individuals and as a couple. Lulie is known around town for the awesome post-abortion recovery ministry she started at our church called Someone Cares–after going through one herself many years ago. She was a very wounded woman when Herb wooed her 30+ years ago, and she didn’t decide to work through the damage until 10+ years into their marriage. But God restored what the locusts had eaten. He healed Lulie’s broken heart and set it on fire for Him. And Herb stuck with her–through thick and thin–and found the Lord along the way! Precious. And so they comfort others who have been where they have been–both in the post-abortion recovery ministry and doing pre-marital (and post-marital!) counseling for couples just like us. We aren’t exactly sure when they sleep because they also stay quite busy with The Thomas Law Firm.
Anyway, Lulie met a girl who knows someone who knows someone somewhere, and somehow she’s been asked to go to Taipei, Taiwan for two weeks and speak about post-abortion healing to all the women that the Lord rounds up there. Herb is not going to be left behind. No sir! He’s going, too. And it’s only fitting because they belong together. They are like peas and carrots. Anyway, we are so fired up for them and this HUGE opportunity that the Lord has put before them. I have been praying one of my favorite verses for them–Isaiah 61:1-4:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on Herb & Lulie, because the LORD has anointed them to preach good news to the poor. He has sent them to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
They are scheduled to leave on February 23rd and there are many details that need to fall in place between now and then–from curriculum for the program to travel logistics to work coverage while they are away. Please join us in praying for safe passage for this couple and their friend, Angel, and for the Lord to gather crowds of hurting women to hear His message of redemption and begin healing their wounded souls.
We also asked Pip to get a little pep rally going for them (see photo above). She showed up for the photo shoot looking cute. As usual. And we are anxiously awaiting the full report when they return. Herb is a professional iPhone photographer so we are expecting at least a few snapshots when they get back.
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! -Psalm 127:4 & 5
Doriann Kimaya Fontenot was born January 27, 2010 at 2:12 pm. She weighed a whopping 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Mama and baby are doing great, and hanging out at Presby Dallas for another day or two. Doriann is already the apple of her Daddy’s eye!
Proud Papa, full of smiles:
Adoring Mama:
Joy and amazement!!
Congratulations on your precious little gift from the Lord, Rashaad and Valerie! We love you guys!
We tried on a headband yesterday that was a gift from our friend Andrea when Pip was a baby. I always said “no big bows or flowers”. I’m a tomboy like that. But this looks more like work-out wear (as my cousin Courtney so kindly pointed out) and looked cute. So we had to take some pics. The boxes in the background are yet another wonderful piece of our floor installation project that I will be very excited to have wrapped up in two weeks.
I don’t think Pip likes stuff on her head. Here’s how she feels about it:
I love Play Group. Piper loves Play Group. Play Group loves Play Group. Every Thursday morning is a lovefest of moms and babies, hanging out together and having fun in various locations. Back in November (yes, NOVEMBER) we went to Northpark Mall and then to “Baby Bounce”, which is a fun, half hour, sing-along program hosted by the book store there. Here are some pics from that event:
Squeaks and Mommy (some of us appear to be having more fun than others).
Erika and Raylee.
Casey and Marshall Mellow (and Marshall’s shoe).
Lisa and Jack.
Natalie and Peyton.
Jennifer and Mia.
Mia, Marshall and Pip.
We also met our good friends Berit and Sloan for lunch at Northpark one day in November and had lots of fun. Berit showed us how to go up and down on the escalator with the stroller. Breakin’ the rules, breakin’ the rules! Sloan taught me that I was far too concerned about the bite size that Pip is capable of eating without choking. Sloan can fit a whole chicken nugget in that tiny little mouth of hers. Pip’s bite sizes have increased by about 50% since that day. Thank you, Sloan! Berit is the kind of friend that you can hang out with and learn something new every time–either about yourself or the world or both. We love spending time with them and wish we had more of it! Here’s an action shot of little Sloany at the table (she’s getting SO BIG):
For Thanksgiving, we had all the family members (who were in town and not working) from both sides at our house. I think there were 14 adults, 2 kids and 2 babies, including Pip. It was stressful getting all the food on the table and everyone seated, but after that it was pretty relaxing and fun. Here is the cast of characters in attendance:
Pip’s cousin, Cece Wiener.
Cece’s sister, Stella.
Stella’s brother, Luke (who is three days older than The Pip). His face is a little messy, but yours would be, too, if you were almost 10 months old and eating a big dinner!
Dave Wiener, Father of Three.
Lizzie Wiener, Wonder Mom.
David’s other sister, Dede.
Dede’s new-ish beau, Orion.
David’s brother, Charlie.
Charlie’s sweet sweetie, Brandy.
David’s mom, Sheila Peters (a.k.a. Sheesh or She-She).
David’s dad, Paul Peters (a.k.a. Cutie Pie).
My aunt Linda, cousin Jeremy (turning 18 today) and cousin Courtney.
Strangely enough, I don’t have a single photo of my handsome husband from that day. He was looking good, though! Anyway, here’s a pic of the spread in the dining room. We had two other eating areas that day. This is the only one we captured on film.
And here’s a post-grub partial family pile-up on the sofa. Charlie and Lizzie are twins–and you can tell by the matching iPhone obsession. Lizzie is working on a high-score and Charlie is showing Lizzie’s kids a movie or something. Dede is affectionately rubbing Mr. Clean’s head. Makes me want to make a big family of my own, but we might be a little too old to start trying for all that. Haven’t ruled out adoption yet.
It was a beautiful day, so some of us went for a walk to work off the gravy and potatoes. We went to the playground at the elementary school down the street, where Pip will hopefully attend–unless we home school or she goes to the magnet school down the way. Who knows? We’re not even potty trained yet. We have a few things to work on before we start talking schools.
The day before Thanksgiving, I vowed we would never have it at our house again. But it ended up turning out so well and everyone seemed to have such a good time… that I think we should have it at our house again next year.
A couple of days later, we all got together at my in-laws’ house and got a good shot of Dede with her sweet boyfriend, Orion. He is a very welcomed addition to the family. We were hoping we wouldn’t scare him off at Thanksgiving, but he fit right in and, clearly, doesn’t scare easily. He lived in a teepee when he was really little. Very impressive. We sure hope to keep him around for a long time. He’s not only VERY good to Dede, but he can cook, too! Happy Birthday, Orion! He shares my cousin Jeremy’s birthday.
While we were over there, cousin Luke took a swing at our little Pipsqueak. Here’s a shot of Luke’s best innocent face… seems harmless doesn’t he?
But here is the photo evidence to prove that little boys are VERY different from little girls, in more ways than one.
The next week, for Play Group we met at Collin Creek Mall to hang out with Santa. Pip doesn’t like Santa yet. He wanted her to SIT in his lap. She’s a stander. She only stands these days. Santa knows lots of stuff, but he didn’t know that. Silly Santa.
Because insanity is a friend of mine, we threw a baby shower for one of David’s employees, Rashaad and Rashaad’s sweetie, Valerie… the very next weekend. I haven’t yet mentioned that we had a water leak last July and finally had new floors installed incorrectly back in October. By Thanksgiving, the wood was buckling in the living room in three places. But we had parties to throw, so we marched on anyway. We covered one big patch with some carpet squares and David put a big orange cone over it for Thanksgiving. Just to make sure no one tripped. Very classy. We’re all about class at Casa Peters.
Anyway, this is a pic of the proud parents-to-be (Valerie is scheduled to be induced next week–can’t wait to meet Baby Fontenot!)
The following Play Group was held at Lisa’s house and we all brought a holiday dish to pass and did a gift exchange for the moms. Our photographer in the bunch, Whitney, took a picture of all the kids together and did quite well in light of the mayhem. The sofa was a couple of inches too short to fit everyone, so Pip ended up a little smooshed on the far left. She also didn’t nap that morning, so she was NOT happy. Poor baby!
Randomness. This is one of my favorite pics of The Squeaks and me, taken some time around the holidays.
Speaking of the holidays, here’s a picture of our tree (and the few measly gifts under it). This photo doesn’t do it justice. I will have to ask my photographer friend, Whitney, how to best capture this object on film next year.
And here’s a picture of our new stockings. I love them!
It snowed this year on Christmas. David took this shot that morning. It was so fun to have snow! That’s Pip’s swing in the back yard. She LOVES it. And she loves the back yard. She stares longingly out the window when we’re inside.
We went to David’s parents’ house for Christmas dinner. David’s brother, Chris, is a five star chef. We LOVE it when he cooks. He made beef tenderloin. David’s mom made a twice baked potato casserole and David made green beans. One thing that stands out about Peters Family Cooking is the bacon. Lots of it. In everything. Notice the bacon flecks in everything?
Here’s the fam, stuffing face.
In more recent events… Piper kind of bear crawls these days. It’s not a full crawl, it’s just a way to move a couple of feet until she can pull herself up and start cruising around. She can circle around the coffee table at an amazing speed. We should start timing her. I think she hits a new speed every day. She can now walk being assisted with only one hand. Everyone seems to think that she’ll be walking by herself in no time. I am incredulous. Especially since we mostly skipped the crawling. Here are two rare shot of her in Crawl Position.
We have had quite a few photo shoots lately–here are two shots that are too cute NOT to share. The cute little pink outfit is from her Great Auntie Linda who has been giving us a hand with babysitting lately. Man, we appreciate her a whole bunch!
We found her standing up in her crib last week. We didn’t get a picture of it, but the next day David got this hilarious shot.
In addition to Mama and Dada (and she seems to know which one is which), Piper can now say “buh” for ball and “kuh” for book. Every time David changes her diaper, they review her name on the wall, spelling “P-I-P-E-R… Piper!” So David went in the other morning to get her and she was sitting up in her crib, facing the wall where the letters to her name are hung. He said, “Good mooooorning!” and she looked at the wall and said, “Pie-puh”. All I heard through the monitor was screaming: “Babe! She said her name!” She has KNOWN her name for quite a while, but the association with the name on the wall PLUS saying it aloud was so fun.
This one warms my heart:
Someone got some new walking shoes:
And a new coat for Christmas from Uncle David and Miss Keri:
Lastly, here’s a picture of one of Mom’s meager attempts at entertaining the often-bored and always-on-the move Piper Peters. Rearranging the bottom drawer. How fun is THAT? Ah, to be young again.
Love y’all and hope to...