Tuff and Mary: Just Checking In :)

And....I knew it would be tough (or should I say Tuff) to keep up with blogging every month so here I am 3 months later! Oops. I only missed a quarter of the year!

Now Judah is 3 months old. He smiles, giggles, rolls over both ways, sucks his thumb/hand, grabs feet, and farts like a man.

He's actually started out the first seven weeks of life as my most crying baby but I handled it great because 1) he is my third baby therefore i know he will survive, 2) he is so ding dong cute. I changed nothing and after seven weeks he snapped out of it praise the Lord.

Last weekend, August 6th, we dedicated Judah Jet to the Lord in front of our Faith Chapel family and extended family.

The life verse we picked for him is from the reign of king Josiah, who was a king from the age of eight years old. 2 Kings 22:2 "He lived the way God wanted. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to either left or right." (Message version)

Meal together with family after the church service.

Sarah, a college friend of ours, was passing through Billings and got to celebrate with us!

August 5th and 6th we hosted a garage sale with benefits going to One Heart Warriors. Goodie and Liza were on cloud nine working some sales, playing hostess as each shopper came and selling yummy goodies. It was worth the work as we reached our fundraiser goal.

Twas the night before the garage sale...giving anyone anxiety?

Also in the first week of August, Tuff sat before a panel of Foursquare ministers and passed testing to become a licensed Foursquare pastor. A few more details to submit but you can just call him Pastor Tuff.

A few weeks ago, July 26th, we celebrated 2 years of Liza Love. What a treat. According to tests Liza still can't hear out of her left ear but she can speak just fine so far. Her heart is full of joy and thanksgiving. On the challenging side, she is a stinker, disobedient and we can't tell if she actually doesn't get things or is just "playing" us.

Happy birthday Liza video:

July 16th-25th Tuff traveled for the first time to Guatemala with the Faith Chapel Missions crew as a crew leader. He loved the people there as they traveled from village to village helping with whatever activity/project was requested.

Faith Chapel has a ten year commitment to Guatemala and they are in year three, visiting with missions teams about three times a year.

Driving through the city and headed on a seven hour journey for the villages.

The road from the city to one of the villages.

A water well Faith Chapel put in a few years ago, providing water to one of the villages.

In another place they helped with construction of a new school.

The current school.

While in one of the villages they put on a vacation bible school for the kids.

Tuff playing a "dirty man" in a skit they put on for the kids.

A wall blanket presented to Faith Chapel on behalf of one of the villages thanking them for the partnership.

One of the misson team members is an audiologist so they offered a clinic to test hearing and fit for hearing aids. Many people heard clearly for the first time and some heard for the first time.

I was thriving through the 10 days with Tuff in Guatamala with just me and my three kiddos until Goodie "broke" her knee falling out of her bunk bed while attempting to turn the clamp lamp on that was located under the bed. After not walking for two days I took her in to the doctor and sure enough they saw a fracture on her tibea. Apparently kids need follow up x-rays to confirm a fracture so they put her in a temporary cast that was flexible. The doctor said if she decides to walk on the cast then forget the follow up but if she doesn't then come in.

Day two of the temporary cast she was walking on it. Crisis averted.

Also while Tuff was away, the Handalls were in town and spent some quality time with our family, July 18th-21st.

Yas and Judah.

Mo and the girls.

We celebrated Independence Day this year like the previous three years, at Castle Rock Park in Billings, Montana for Celebrate Freedom.

June 28th Tuff and I celebrated eight years married. Each year we take a picture together to celebrate and add a printed version in a frame by our wedding photo. The picture represents the past year. This year we selected to take the photo inside the One Heart Warriors training center since it was its first year in operation.

June 27th One Heart Warriors started a summer session at the training center. With no intention of starting a womens program, as the last three sessions have been men only, we had only women willing to go through a session this summer. Currently we are two weeks from finishing our first womens session and its been very impactful.

The ladies serving at church.

Healthy cooking class.

Saturday morning hikes around Billings.

Working outs.

Because the participants this session are ladies, that got me involved. I get the pleasure of personal training the ladies each morning at Granite Fitness.

June 27th was also the first day of my half marathon training. That's right, other than running the mile run in P.E, this is my first adventure in running. I'm joining my friends in the Extra Mile group and running the Montana Half Marathon. However after one month of training I got my first pair of running shoes and they gave me tendonitis in my ankle. I currently sit out of running commission but hope to return to training soon.

June 23rd Vivian, a missionary from the Rock Church in Annaheim, joined One Heart Warriors for a summer assignment. She is also helping out our family a few hours a week. It has been an amazing partnership and she will be staying in Montana, extending her assignment with One Heart Warriors!

Sometime in June we bought our first minivan.

Over Memorial Day Weekend my sister Cydney and mom drove across Minnesota and North Dakota to see us in Montana. Cydney stayed for the weekend and flew back to Fargo. She will be taking a return flight to Billings in September to join our family and accompany me and the kids back to Minnesota for a visit.

Oma's first time meeting Judah Jet.

Sis and I took a daily hike thanks to Oma staying home with the kiddos.

A crazy turn of events when my mom's dog, Lilly, went under the deck and didn't come out for a very long time. We thought she was a gonner.

These pictures are hillarious of my mom trying to see if she is under there. Lilly did finally emerge and Tuff pulled her out.

Just the girls and almost four week old JJ took a day trip over the Beartooth Pass to Cooke City. It was May 30th and the snow was a factor.

My mom stayed in Billings the rest of the week and watched my girls as Tuff and I travelled to Hawaii for the Foursquare Convention. Tuff was a Quick Talk speaker at the convention and spoke in front of nearly 4000 fellow Foursquare leaders live and thousands more simulcasted.

First airport experience for the little dude.

Judah was flawless with each flight and not so flawless on land!

Aloha. Welcome to Honolulu.

Judah turned one month old in Hawaii.

Look who's up! Hawaii is a four hour time change from Montana. We had some early mornings.

Early mornings meant beautiful morning walks.

At the convention.

We stayed downtown for the four days of the convention as it was morning till night but then stayed an extra two nights at a locals home for vacation. They had amazing views of Diamond Head and downtown Honolulu.

I hiked Diamond Head, an inactive volcano, our first free moment.

It was up...

...and up...

...and I made it.

Afterwards we met up with Nalu, a former One Heart Warrior, who is native to Hawaii. He took us to a local favorite eatery, Rainbow.

Tuff being himself.

Nalu gave us a tour guide experience around the island.

Ushering JJ onto a beach in east Oahu.

A native and a native Hawaiian building a sand castle.

When Nalu got a hold of my camera. I deleted the other 50 shots.

Went to the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame at the Polynesian Center.

Below is Tuff gingerly walking out on a cliff to jump at the end of our night on the north side of Oahu.

The rest of May included One Heart Warriors graduating thier first warrior, Mervel, to make it through all three sessions of the training center.

We also said goodbye to the Wright family. After serving our ministry for almost 1.5 years they moved home to Michigan. Our mutual Pittsburgh friend Anne, who now lives in Denver, made the trip up to say goodbye as well.

These kiddos were 4, 2, 7 months and 5 months old when the Wrights moved in with us. A lot changes in a year in a half. Saying see you later at 5, 4, 2 and 1 years old.

Video of their shinanigans:

Tuff, Anne and Nate.

A cute little hiker we found along the trail.

You can only imagine all the filler moments throughout the past three months so I'll leave you with some enjoyable photos.

May 8th, Mothers Day

Cousins. This is Goodie, Audrey and Liza. Audrey and her family own our house and stayed with us all month of June in transition with the Army. We loved having them, especially the girls. They had someone fun to play with each day. Wish we could see them more often!

Saying see you later to a dear friend of Goodie's, Kate, who moved to Nisswa, Minnesota. The good news is we will see them each time we visit our Minnesota family.

Judah Jet at one month old and showing off the dimples.

The girls' friends Siri and Camri. So fun getting to know this family over the last few months.

Liza's first haircut. Our friend Brooke cut off about three inches of baby locks.

The Robinson family, friends we met when we lived in Nashville in 2008, stopped in Billings for two days while on their summer mission with The Red Road.