Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Praising our wonderful Father and thanking to Him for the miraculous gift of His precious Son Jesus Christ. 
What a joy it is to celebrate His coming, A Mighty God coming in such a tiny way...so frail and helpless, born so that He could die, to redeem us, set us free.

My Redeemer, Jesus Christ. 
He lives, and He is Lord, and today we celebrate His birth. And what a beautiful story it is.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
  Isaiah  9, 6
The night before Christmas...oh, my goodness, there's nothing like it...
Except Christmas day! 

Chilly Morning.
Pajamas.
Chocolate overload. 
Wrapping paper, shredded.
Eggnog.
Christmas music playing.
And love.
So much.

Motherest made us a big waffle meal, and then we had Lupper of Daddy's steaks with Marth and Tayte!! So fun having the newly weds hop over for a visit...they are SO darling! 
Oh, then we went to go see Unbroken in theaters, and we loved it! Popcorn, coke-ies...and then Daddy reading the story about how our Savior came to us. 
Sitting around in the family room, quilts and blankets and hot coffee and cookies (that flopped but that were still good) and eggnog, and then Daddy and Mama sharing things with us and talking to us. I am so blessed.

A day to celebrate, and just be. 
Together. 
It's been glorious.
And our Christmas dinner. 
Because I treasure pictures of people eating. It causes joy and laughter and warm feelings to my heart. And because I love them.

 So thankful for each of these people, who make life extra merry!

And halleluiahs to King Jesus, who came here so many years ago as a tiny baby, and Who sits now Victor over sin and death-our mighty Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.We have so much to celebrate!!

Love you all dearly,

A.G.M.

Friday, November 7, 2014

"Got Married"

Mr. and Mrs. Tayte Russell Alexander

Lovely friends,

They're married!!!
Forever and for always, M&T, Mr. and Mrs., Sweethearts, Best Friends.
Our hearts are full of such love, such joy, over watching these two be married. Our Father is so good to us. We love Him.
When you stop and stand in the afterglow of the past month, the Autumn's afternoon sunbeams hit your face and the music comes back and that feeling of that day makes you draw your breath
and smile with your eyes closed,
and dance around the house to the music that made them sway during their first dance...
The look in their eyes.
Listening to their vows.
Knowing God was watching, knowing His Spirit was there in a mighty way to bring glory to His awesome name.
Watching the little picture of the big picture.
The day Martha and Tayte got married.
It was beautiful, truly.
 "Hug hug. Keeese keeese. Little hug, keeese....
 Awwww... *laughing*
Their first dance...
The wedding party, 50 strong!!!!! We had a blast.
"Yayyyyy!!!!!"

We can hardly wait to share all the pictures and stories! More to come later.  Just wanted to share our joy with you!

Love to you!

Adeline

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Only 40 days to go...

...before these two love birds tie the knot!!

October 25 is on her way, with skies as blue as their eyes and when the day arrives, we'll be waiting, having spent some of the most precious times of our lives, excitedly preparing for the beautiful ceremony that God has orchestrated, as He tarries and moves in our lives and writes good, glorious stories. The day will be here, and suddenly, it's today! And they'll be joined together and their love will keep growing and growing, as it is now, a little more everyday, and they'll sign their names Mr. and Mrs., and they'll be completed, they'll be better together.

Three cheers for our darling couple and their upcoming nuptials! In the meantime, just wanted to share some shots of our blue eyed beauties!! I've never laughed so hard during a shoot as I did with my sister and her man...So fun. :)










This time is so special. Just wanted to say what a blessing Marth and Tayte are to both their families. We love 'em. We are simply, ecstatically happy for our baby girl and her man. God is so faithful, always. He gives good gifts to His children.

And aren't they darling!!?

Huggies, all.

Love, AGM

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Grandparents and Babies and Skies

Oh my goodness. Loving this precious picture! 
So gratful for our wonderful and awesome grandparents, Grand Daddy and Nana!! 20 of their great grandchildren gathered around them (all of Mom and Dad's grandkids) and we laughed and told our Father, thank you...
And in 20 years, each face will be even cuter then it is now, because we'll look back and say, "Look at you! You were such a baby..." and I'll still be a completely smitten Auntie. 
Oh, and sometimes the sky is so breathtaking you have to stop and capture it.
God is awesome!
And, then, little grandbaby smiles.

Kendall, you joy my heart!!!

Have a beautiful day, lovely person.

XOXO,

A.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Troy and Amanda, Married

Dearest Lovelies,

A wedding. It is one of the most glorious events in the world. It's a Little Picture of The Big Picture, and it gives you another tiny, breath taking glimpse of the unsearchable love of Christ towards us.
A wedding is watching the actual faithfulness of God happen right in front of you, watching Him prepare a table in the wilderness. It's seeing your friend, happy in the love of her man, being given a good gift from Her Father, Who knows her and Who loves to give those good gifts to His children.

He is a good, good Father. Blessed be His wonderful name...
And so, we recently went to one such event. It was a great blessing.

We begin with......

The rings, firstly. They are stunning.

And then, a napkin! THE napkins, of course, which were charming. Peacock feathers abounded.

Oh, and I got to go down to sunny Florida early! I had the honor of being one of Amanda's bridesmaids, and so I drove down early in the week with Uncle Larry, Amanda and Angela (who were also bridesmaids) (Oh. Amanda and Angela, I mean. Uncle Larry wasn't, of course. I don't think the teal of the frocks would have complimented his rugged complexion.)
So down we drove (with an unorthodox amount of bag and baggage) and had a significantly fun time. It was such a blessing being with these two godly girls and our fantastic Uncle!

What an incredible week with the S. family. We felt so at home and loved and are grateful to God for precious friends like these. It was a week filled with parties, preparations, praises, pew moving, pounding waves, and the incredible joy of answered prayers!
Getting ready for the big day is one of the funnest things to do, ever.

This is the before picture, obviously.
"I love the chairs up like this. Let's leave them."
Oh, and there were these GINORMOUSLY huge pews that had to go, so after about 20 women haggling with these beasts forever, trying to shove and maneuver them down various hallways, "up trees and under furniture", we eventually decided to chunk it outside and walk around the block and take that bad boy right through the front door.
So that was special. We must have looked like a bunch of physios on a therapy walk.
When we finished our list, we celebrated at the beach!!! Ah. There is just something about waves and endless water.

We had a fantabulous time together, (Gracie and David were able to join us, which was blastful, oh and 'Manda's behind the camera) and then this glorious storm came up (see threatening clouds in leftish distance) so we all took shelter from the driving rain under various junk we had brought along. All was well until the lightening bolts (which were awesome and beautiful!!) became close friends and we made a dash for the car.
They later told us Jacksonville is the lightning capital of the world. 'Preciate the heads up!

After it passed...long walks, on the hard wet sand, overcast skies and whipping wind. Mostly everybody on their own, heads bent looking at a trillion shells in rows that went on forever, so many different shades and shapes, some broken, yet beautiful...

It is glorious when you take a walk with God on the beach.
Here're the girlies!! We got to stay at a neighbor's guest house and it was incredibly special being together. There were lots of talks, stories, journal entries, not much sleep, ;)  nail polish fumes, lots of laughter, and a lump in your throat as Emily and Gracie and the rest of us, on her last night in FL, told and listened to stories about Mandie. She is a virtuous woman, and we're so grateful for her...

So. This week was just, well, super special and fun. Love these girls!

Then..."he!!" arrives, and we see, for the first time, our friend together with her man!!!
They look really, really happy.

And he looks slightly proud of his wife to be. :D

Oh my word these are so precious I'm almost crying looking back over these...God is so good, so faithful.
'Manda and Birdie work on corsages.

"Here is the Mother of the Bride's corsage, all ready and in water.  I know, it's a little hefty.  You can't make these things too large. "
Me, making a sweet 'wittle one! Daisies are such dear flowers.

"Yes, they only get one daisy. No more. They'll get over it."

Oh, and my word, the wall of school pictures behind me were absolutely golden! It must be hilarious to have yourself, toothless in the 90's, permanently affixed on the wall in a public place. I love it. These frames of joy were like a decade by decade showcase of the panache and good taste of young adults. To see again the times of my childhood-the understated elegance of baggy cut off overalls with leg warmers.

I am so grateful velvet scrunchies and wind suits are no longer a part of our lives.

Seriously, though, I think the only reason that last decade of the century is so persecuted by my juniors is because they just wish they could wear the color wheel on their sweat suit. I know, it was awesome. Oh snap!
"Meanwhile, back at the ranch" Mandie, Troy and a few of the family hang out in the sanctuary.
Troy's late grandmother was an amazing quilter!! Wow. She quilted this beauty before she died, for his future wife. 
"Excuse me, Miss. What DO you need???"

(what happens when I fall asleep in the car and Emily has my camera...she makes me laugh!!!!!)
Friends
The rehearsal begins.
Two precious women with their two precious babies!!
What a blessing these two godly ladies are...such faithful mothers, loving wives, godly daughters of the Lord. So blessed to get to watch them and be with them...

Oh, and their two littles were adorable in the wedding, by the way.
I just have to say, Amanda's new family, the T.'s, are THE sweetest family ever. They were so loving and absolutely hilarious, and kept us laughing and crying the whole time. Their love for the Lord, their family and others was beautiful. The S.'s and T.'s are each so blessed in the other.