We signed a contract!!!

WOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This must be how basketball players feel when they sign a contract!!!!

After careful consideration... the Birchrun house is home!

It makes the most sense in the long run to go ahead while the government is paying us to do something we would do anyway to take advantage. We are so excited!!!!

For those of you -other than my lover Brooke... long story ;)- who have not seen the house, I have taken a few pictures of it so that you can fall in love just as I did.

This is how we felt after signing.... haha

Us in our new, lovely kitchen. The refridgerator is coming...

The master bedroom....One of MY favorite things about the house...the walk in closet!!!!! :)

The master bathroom with double sinks...

Our kitchen...

Our beautiful realtor who I told I was so thankful for today!

Our new address in May, 363 Birchrun Drive, Durham, NC 27712

As Ty would say on Extreme Home Makeover.... "Welcome Home Harper Family, Welcome Home!!!!"

Haiti

A Prayer and A Wonderful Memory from Haiti.....

Read the lyrics for "Let the world see" by Carl Cartee and think about Haiti.

Let the world see a light on a hill.
Let the world see Your purpose fulfilled.
Let the world see Your glory.
Let the world see Your love in our hearts.


Lord, You so loved the world
You gave Your only Son,
So now I give my all.
Let Your will be done.
Let Your will be done.


Let the world see a light on a hill.
Let the world see Your purpose fulfilled.
Let the world see Your glory.
Let the world see Your love in our hearts.


We have been called to go
Tell of the risen One.
The harvest time is here.
Let Your kingdom come.
Let Your kingdom come.


Light of the world, shine on, shine on.
Light of the world, shine on, shine on.

Wii Gaming and Photography Experimentation

Christy had decided that we needed to make going to The Olive Garden around New Year's an annual thing... which is fine with me because I LOVE The Olive Garden! I offered to have everyone come back to our house to hang out afterwards. We just got the Wii Fit for Christmas from my mom and we have loved playing the games and laughing at ourselves, so what better to watch people make fools of themselves trying to maneuver on the little Wii board?! Here are some pictures to capture a tiny but of the hillariousness that was that night...

Brooke trying to go through the obstacle course....

Kevin in Warrior Yoga Pose showing his great balance to align his pelvis.... hahahahaha

Chad flapping his wings to help the bird get to it's destination....

Christy on the obstacle course...

Kevin attempting the obstacle course... Go DeQuan!

Our little "Player A" who we named DeQuan... it fit him, I think. GOO DEQUAN!!!!

Photography Experimenting

Marshall and I went to the new park that is in Wake Forest to experiment with our new camera and to see what the park looked like. It was a beautiful park, but unfortunately it was about 32 degrees with the wind blowing like crazy! We did get some good shots and learned a little more about our camera. We stayed out for as long as we could stand it and our hands were burning and numb from being so cold. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Crazy Christmas!

For us, Christmas is a very special time of year not only because it's the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but also because it was this time last year that all of the medical craziness started. It is so hard for me to believe that it was only a year ago on Christmas night (technically the next morning) that Marshall had his seizure. It really makes me especially thankful this year that we have persevered through everything that happened this past year. This has been a rough and trying year, but as I wrote in my journal to close out all of the events that happened... (when we were about to leave our last appointment Dec. 15) "I started to cry after he (Dr. Germanwala) left the room and while we were waiting to check out. They were happy tears of disbelief of all we've been through this past year and that through having each other and relying and trusting God's blessing and strength we've made it. We've not only made it, we're made it and come out more in love and deeper in love than when we started. I married an amazingly strong man that I cannot even put into words how much I love and cherish him. I am the luckiest woman in the world". Just to share a little piece of my journal :) Anyway, enough of that... here are some events of our Christmas Eve and Day....

My nephew and neice Logan and Hailey

Me, Mom and Jessica on Christmas Day....

Katie in her Snuggie that she got for Christmas... yes I said Snuggie.

Me opening one of my presents at Mark & Renae's... a sweater from American Eagle- so cute!

Me and my cousins Richard and Celeste... Richard can never keep his eyes open in pictures... its one of our family jokes. I just let this one go and considered it a "good picture"

Of course I have to have atleast one of me and Marshall...

Me and my sweet Logan.

Tyler and Erin's Wedding!

So... better late than never, right? I was once again told how horrible of a blogger I am on Sunday which motivated me to atleast update it so that it doesn't say "updated 5 months ago" which I know.... it's awful. When do ya'll have time to blog?! I heard Christy say once about something creative she had done that Tucker had asked when she had time to do this and she responded with "Well, Chad was watching football and I was bored!". That answers my question. I'm the one who is watching the game, too. I wish I was more creative!

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago we made the wonderful trip up to Boone for Tyler and Erin's wedding. They seriously could not have asked for a more beautiful day! The weather was perfect! And that makes me excited about going up next weekend!! Erin looked really beautiful and since it was a small wedding, I was very honored and thankful that they invited us to share their day with them. Congratulations Boone's!

Notice the paisley clutch Marshall is holding... pink shirt....hmmm

Haha... we weren't quite ready for this shot.... Look at Marshall's face!

After Surgery

We have had so many people tell us that they want to bring food over after the surgery. I thought it would be helpful for everyone if you wanted to cook or pick up food for Marshall to have an idea of what a few of his favorite foods are: 1. Creamed Corn 2. Chicken Casserole 3. Vegetable Soup 4. Brunswick Stew (Bullock's is the best...) 5. Baked Chicken 6. Creamed Potatoes 7. BBQ Chicken 8. Pizza Desserts 1. Angel Food Cake with Strawberries 2. Snicker's Ice Cream 3. Apple Turnovers 4. Any type of Cobbler He is not picky so anything you want to make will be perfect. This is just a helpful list for if you want to bring something. Thanks for your support and prayers throughout these past few months!

Camping (a little late)

Well, speaking as someone who does not like camping, we had a wonderful time! It was a great opportunity for Memorial Day weekend to be at the beach for cheap. Although almost all of us ended up with colds, sore throats, and other... unfortunate side effects, we all had a great time. It was fun to just be able to get away and not think about anything and sometimes laugh until we hurt. Here are some pictures.