Emily's 1st Easter

We were able to get a few pictures of Emily on Easter. However, she had missed her morning nap due to church and so she was a little tired by this point in the day. We had a good day celebrating and relaxing with our friends. Enjoy the pics.

Ahhhh....spring!

Louisiana!

It was Reading Week last week at the Seminary, so Viktor took off work at UPS and we decided to hop in the car with our good friends, Missy and Bevil, for a (long) road trip to Louisiana! We had such a blast and were blessed to spend time with all of Missy's family. We miss them already! Emily did great on the 14 hour car ride; I was actually very surprised. She fussed for maybe 5 minutes on the way down there...I couldn't believe it! We had a lot of fun watching Bonanza with Missy's dad, taking walks, relaxing, visiting with Missy's Mimi and Pawpaw, playing Settler's of Catan, spending time with Daisy, Louisa, Elizabeth, and Jeremy (Missy's brother and family), eating, eating, oh, and more eating. Well, I'll let the pictures explain some more of our trip. Thank you to all of our sweet friends in Louisiana for your wonderful hospitality. We hope to visit again someday!

4:30am--time to hit the road. Emily isn't quite sure what we are all doing up at this hour. Viktor had just gotten off from work and so we were all ready to go!

Bevil drove the entire way--in a rented HHR (or something like that--it was nice and cozy, that's all I remember, hehe).

Viktor and Emily stretching during our first pit stop.

How many more toys do you think she can pile in her lap...and don't forget the tub of cheerios!

We stopped at a rest area for a picnic. Emily was excited to crawl all around.

I love this photo of Missy and Bevil.

This was about the last stop before we arrived at Missy's parent's house. I took Emily out to change her diaper and she tried to crawl into the front seat...she was ready to be rescued from the car.

Missy's parents...a wonderful couple!

Bevil reading the Bible to Emily on Palm Sunday.

Emily playing with Daisy (right) and Louisa (left) (Missy's sweet, sweet nieces).

I love Missy's dad's homemade version of the Ergo!

Jeremy, Elizabeth, Louisa, and Daisy

Not sure what Emily and daddy were up to in this picture, but apparently they were making faces together...trouble, trouble!

Louisa and Emily out to eat at Shane's (crawfish)

We even taught Missy's parents how to play Settlers...I'm sure they can't wait to play again!

Somehow I don't have pictures of the beautiful brunch at Mimi and Pawpaw's house or our visit to the Tea Room for lunch, but we enjoyed both of those times as well!

Hard to believe...

... Emily is 8 months old!

I heart TX!

This one is for you, Natalie! As you can see from the pictures below, Emily is getting so active these days that sitting still for a picture is becoming a thing of the past! Believe it or not, I took 40 (yes 40) pictures of her in this outfit and the following are the best I could get. Oh well, she does love TX and loves her friends there as well! :)

We love you, Nat! Thanks for the super cool shirt and the beautiful Texas bows!

Emily's update...

We've been busy around this house lately...but more than just a general sense of busy, Emily has been BUSY! It is hard to believe that Emily is already 7 months old...we are just amazed at how blessed we are to have her in our life. She is such a happy, fun, and loving baby. She is full of life and joy that is just so contagious. It has been so fun to watch her grow and experience life...and lately she has been doing a lot of growing and experiencing! :) Her first two teeth popped through about 3 weeks ago (at the same time) and within a week she was crawling! Talk about reaching milestones...this kid doesn't waste time! She had been showing signs of crawling for quite some time, but it totally caught me off guard one Saturday morning when I looked over and realized she was actually crawling. Our lives have forever changed. I must admit, I was a little nervous at first as I began to think of the implications of this new skill, but I actually enjoy that I can go from room to room and for the most part she will just follow and play. She is not always playing with her toys, but she keeps herself occupied.

We have also added a few activities to our weekly agenda to help keep us from going stir crazy during these cold, rainy days...though, we are quite hopeful of spring coming soon! I've been babysitting another little baby (who is now 12 weeks old) for about 16hrs/week. Emily has enjoyed having a little buddy, but she is intrigued by all her noises more than anything. In fact, we go to church with Brooke and her family and whenever Brooke cries or makes a noise during the service, Emily will look for her and start laughing. They will be trouble someday! We've also been going to Mother Goose Story Time at the local library and Emily just loves it. I have been going to a mom's group on Friday mornings and Emily gets to play for a few hours with our good friend, Missy. They are great pals. Emily and I will start swim lessons in a couple weeks. I'm so excited to get her in the pool since she loves bath time so much!

Well, I know you come here to see pictures...so, I'll quit rambling...Enjoy!

Emily checking out Brooke.

Here is Emily with her buddy, Maddie. Maddie and her family live in Ohio, but were visiting Kentucky a few weeks ago. Emily and I drove up to Louisville to visit for the day and really enjoyed our time together. These girls are exactly 3 months apart.

Emily with her favs, Missy and Bevil (her manny). Bevil babysat Emily every morning when I went back to work (before I resigned and took the best job in the world--being a mom!). Missy watches Emily every Friday so I can go to Mom 2 Mom group. This picture pretty much shows how much fun she has with these two. They are a blessing!

Emily playing with her friend, Cora. I think they were having a in depth conversation about Mr. Lion's tail...haha. Cora's mom, Sarah, and I worked together at Asbury. Cora is just about 2 months older than Emily. We were glad they stopped by for a visit last week.

She wouldn't sit still long enough for many pics...she has better things
to do now that she can crawl!

Anything found in the kitchen is SO entertaining.

Learning new tricks from mom...actually, she was sitting with me one day while I was taking a drink and decided to pull it towards her and use it as a teether...haha. She is funny!

Don't worry, I didn't really give her a spatula with brownie mix...but, I'll admit, I was licking the brownie mix off of my spatula. Emily wanted to try, so I gave her a mini spatula and she had no idea she was even missing out on the brownie mix. Seven months and she is already copying me...I better be careful!

Exciting news....

As some of you may know, we started the application process with OMS International (One Mission Society) in October 2009. Though Viktor has been a national worker with OMS Hungary since 1999, we had yet to transition into the missionary status as a family. After completing hours of paperwork and attending interviews (they even interviewed Emily!) at the OMS HQ in Greenwood, IN, we are excited to report that we have been formally accepted as missionaries to Hungary!

What does this mean? Well, Viktor still has two years left in the Master of Divinity program at Asbury Seminary. However, we sensed the Lord challenging us to move ahead with the process in order to be that more "ready" to go to Hungary once his schooling is complete. This will also allow us to slowly begin raising support and partners in ministry while Viktor is working on his degree. Though this will prove to be challenging as he is still working part-time and attending school full-time, we trust God will not give us more than we can handle. We look forward to continue sharing what God is doing in Hungary. Viktor has been "gone" from the Hungary field for almost 7 years to continue in his education in order to better serve. Needless to say, we, and our fellow ministry partners, are anxious for him to return.

We are grateful for your prayers as we continue in this journey! Thank you to all of you who faithfully stand behind us financially and in prayer. You are a blessing!