Remember

As we have past two years now since our miscarriage, I just want to use this date to remind you to pray for the many grieving for their own loss. There are many and some of them have endured this pain multiple times.

I fell in love with you
while you were forming in my womb.
Now I carry you in my heart
Instead of my arms.
~Author unknown

Life with the Geist Girls

Here are some other random bits of life with the Geist Girls.

Adley started putting a hat on Leighton, who happened to think it was hilarious.

All finished with Kindergarten! Wow! First grade ahead!

My Father-in-law got tickets to the Cardinals game and we all went. It was obviously when it was a bit colder out. Unlike today where I was sweating to death at the park with the girls.

It was also raining a bit. Adley was enjoying wiping off all of the seats.

Leighton's first Card's Game!

This is fun!

This was a while back. We finished supper and Adley was still left there to finish her milk. She started whining saying she was cold. So, she curled up on her chair and then fell asleep! My girls have never fallen asleep like that. Pretty cute.

Of course, she never finished her milk.

End of another fun year in Awana.

Jaylyn finished her whole Sparks book and also received a DQ gift card for only missing one meeting.
A necessary snack while watching Jaylyn' s Awana Recognition

One more month to #1

Leighton is 11 months - wow! I think I have thought "wow" every month. But, I am truly in shock that it is almost a year. **sigh**

At 11 months, Leighton is:*close to standing all by herself
*still pulls up on furniture and cruises
*loves to be silly
*loves to eat
*loves her sisters
*loves her DADDY!!
*has 4 teeth
*still has her adorable scrunchy smile
*has a nice little temper :-)
*holds her hands out and waves her fingers at you when she wants you to pick her up
*Says, "Dad" and "Daddy"
*Says, "mama"
*says, "uh-oh"
*seems to be starting to call her sisters something - haven't quite figured it out yet, but she is calling them something
*says, "hi"
*loves animals

The girls helped me capture some shots of Leighton yesterday. Here they are. . .hope you like lots of pictures. :-)

Trying to stand

Got puffs??

New Orleans Day Three

Morning in the hotel room - PBS and breakfast and New Orleans beads.

Friday was another morning at the pool and meeting TJ for lunch. This time we didn't do any authentic New Orleans food, but we did hit a little local hole in the wall pizza place across the street recommended by the hotel security guy. :-) After more workshops for TJ and some school in the hotel room, TJ was able to finish early. Jared met up with us again and we were able to walk to the Aquarium.

The girls enjoyed walking through the aquarium tunnel. Leighton loved looking up and seeing the fish right above her head.

They had to hit EVERY aquarium window. Adley just kept saying, "I want to see more!"

One of the aquarium helpers thought we needed to get a picture down by the purple flowers since we were very purple ourselves. I had planned the girls to match, but I matched on accident.

This was one of Jaylyn's favorite parts - looking like she was in the aquarium.

Checking out MORE fish!

Posing on the Killer Whale. I told them to make it look a little more authentic and hold on real tight, but they just struck a girly pose. :-)

Two cute little sea creatures.

Can you believe it??? Jaylyn actually touched the snake - two times!! (We missed the photo on the first try.) She is getting more brave every day.

The aquarium was definitely a neat experience that the girls loved. We also passed by the Insectarium on the way. It also looked like fun. Jared showed us the window into the butterfly room so we peeked in there to catch a glimpse of some of the butterflies.

Then we headed to Jared’s favorite restaurant, Jacque-Imo’s. It was not far away, but definitely off the beaten path. Jared knows the chef there. His wife actually attends their church. If you come to New Orleans, definitely check this place out and call ahead to get a reservation. It was the most unique restaurant we saw and was a lot of fun. I wish I would have taken a picture of the place. If dining with two, you can even dine at a table in the back of the Jacque-Imo truck parked out front. :-) I believe Jared said this restaurant and/or chef has already been featured on the Food Network and possibly the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Jared ordered a favorite appetizer which is Shrimp and Alligator Sausage Cheesecake. It does sound scary, but was delicious. After we had eaten most of it, we heard the waiter talking about that dish and how it was going to air on World’s Best foods in September maybe. I didn't think to take a picture until we heard the waiter talking AFTER we had eaten almost all of it. It started out in the shape of a piece of cheesecake and it was yummy.

I had the stuffed catfish – DELICIOUS! They also bring out cornbread muffins which were soooo good and your salad is spinach leaves and a fried oyster on top. It was good too, although I’m still probably partial to cheese and croutons. :-) Another dish that looked interesting was called Godzilla. One of the neighbor tables ordered that.

Next was probably Jared’s favorite part of the evening. Hee hee! Never before had he received this request except from his family. Build-A-Bear! :-) The girls had received gift cards from their birthday, so I thought it might be neat to go while we were on our trip to make it a little more memorable for them. I do believe it was their favorite part. Ha! And another valuable fact shared by Jared: the mall we went to is apparently the busiest mall with the most people per square foot. :-) Then off to the Creole Creamery for some ice cream because our stomachs were apparently not full enough. Ugh!

So, ended our great New Orleans excursion. I got to wake up and pack instead of swimming. We surprised the bell hop again with our enormous amount of stuff to take down to our car. And off we headed home.

Thanks again, Jared for being such a great personal tour guide!!

New Orleans Day Two

Thursday began with more workshops for TJ while the girls and I hit the pool. The pool area was very nice. I was a little worrisome about going there with the girls since there really were just a few other children. I figured the adults there were trying to enjoy the quiet of the day on the beautiful deck in the city of New Orleans. I'm sure they were not excited about children splashing about. But, of course we have a right to enjoy the day too! The pool was split into two separate pools. The deeper end and the shallow end. And, they were still being filled up so the shallow end was just like a giant children's pool. It was great. Even Leighton could reach the bottom as she floated in her ring. She could bounce up and down and have a great time. The tall hotel towers were also blocking the sun from scorching us, so it was perfect. And we pretty much had it to ourselves. So, it was a bit windy, but perfect.

We had a great time and got back in to get cleaned up for lunch with TJ. We walked around the French Quarter a bit (with nice advice from Jared about where to avoid). Of course there was a convenient Arby's next to the hotel, but we were in New Orleans! We had to keep trying some of the great food. So I had some Jimbalaya (Alligator Sausage and seasoned rice mix) and TJ had the Crawfish Etoufee for lunch. We ate at Cafe Pontalba right in Jackson Square. It was kind of an open cafe atmosphere with a nice view of the St. Louis Cathedral. The girls enjoyed a few street performers on our walk. Those guys that stand like statues are pretty amazing. How do they do that??? :-)

Then, more work for TJ while the girls and I hit a store across the street and then did some school stuff back at the hotel. More French Quarter walking for dinner time. We ended up eating some Chicken Gumbo at the “Gumbo Shop” for supper and met up with Jared again for some more French Quarter/Riverwalk exploring.

The girls in front of the St. Louis Cathedral and statue of General Andrew Jackson in Jackson Square.

Then of course, we had to hit Café DuMonde for some fabulous Beignets.

Jaylyn enjoyed hers

Can you tell how Adley did with hers? She preferred to just lick the powdered sugar off of hers. It is even better when it ends up on your nose!

Another interesting story from Jared came about here. Jared grabbed one of the servers that has been working there for 43 years. Jared got to know him when he coordinated a rehab of this man’s home. Actually a group from the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries where we all met)at Carbondale was the team that worked on this home. This man and his wife had actually stayed in their home when Katrina hit. When they realized they were in trouble they were able to get up out of their home before the waters rose too quickly in the house for them to get out. In that area, the water had even risen above the homes, so they were washed down the street above the houses and each caught a chimney next to one another and were soon rescued by the boats that came around. Amazing that they survived! So, this gentleman was our server this evening.

Here is our gang. The server in the background is the one I mentioned.

My arms were a bit tired from having the older girls holding on to each. They both were enjoying jumping from square to square on the sidewalks yanking me in opposite directions, so I should say my arms were ready for a rest. We headed home for some rest and the girls were ready to wake up and swim again. Another New Orleans day ahead!