Our Christmas started a week early with the Strahan stocking tradition. We had so much fun sneaking around each other the night before and surprising each other with gifts the next morning. Shiloh truly enjoyed "sharing" in the opening of gifts!

Our travels began on December 22nd with a red eye from LAX to Atlanta arriving at 5:30am. Needless to say we did not get much sleep on the flight due to Shiloh's desperate attempts at "talking" to us throughout the whole night.

We had so much fun hanging out with Graham, Ashley, baby Scobey, Mom and Dad. We got to see all the cousins and meet all the new "nieces" and "nephews". They were so cute! We had so much fun getting to know each one!We did a lot of traveling while home, helping my Nana and Papa move from Florida to Alabama, then to Tennessee to visit Josh's parents for a few days, then back to Alabama to share in a wedding of a good friend, Brittney Kennamer (who we Scobey's consider family), then back to Atlanta for a day before heading home to LA.

It was a whirlwind of a trip but so nice to be home with family for a while. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

Josh and I are excited to see what God has in store for us in 2009. Happy New Year Everyone!!

Merry Christmas!

Again, it has been awhile since I have posted. Tis the busy season! Josh and I put up our tree before we left for Thanksgiving so it was fun to return to Christmas in California!

It has been cold enough here lately to turn on our fire which has been so great! There is even snow on the caps of the mountains right outside our window! We do have winter in Southern Cali!

Josh completed his first quarter of PhD work. It was a difficult and exciting one. Difficult in simply adjusting to PhD life (and life in LA for that matter!). An exciting one because he so enjoyed all that he learned, and was confirmed that for this time in our lives, we are where we are supposed to be!

We have enjoyed lots of Christmas parties over the past few weeks, with school, work and church. In the spirit of the season I decided to make some yummy treats for everyone in my office! I had so much fun turning up the Christmas tunes and tapping into my (small amount of) baking skills! Thanks to Josh for helping me measure and cut them all!

Tuesday night we had a Biggest Loser night with some friends and watched the season finale while chowing down on some Biggest Loser desert! We were sooo excited to see Michelle win!! Way to go, Michelle!!

Saturday Josh and I will conduct our Christmas tradition of stockings and big breakfast out before we head to Atlanta on Tuesday night (red eye) to spend the holidays with family! We will get to meet all our "nieces" and "nephews" and spend some much needed quality time with Graham and Ashley (we live much too far away!).

I leave you with a few shots of Shiloh's Christmas photo shoot!

Merry Christmas to you all from the Strahans! Hope your Christmas is full of peace and joy as we celebrate together the birth of our Savior!

Thankfulness...

Josh and I had a really good Thanksgiving in Tennessee! We were able to see lots of family and spend some much needed quality time with Josh's parents! However, it was all just a little bit too short and we are really excited about going back in a few weeks for Christmas when we will have more time to spend with all the people we love!

In the spirit of being thankful I wanted to take this opportunity to write down some of the many things I am thankful for in my life right now:

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, who's selfless, patient, loving spirit makes me a better person everyday. I am so thankful for the close to four years we have had together. I wish I was able to express to you how much I truly love you! You have blessed my life more than you will ever know.

I am thankful for my precious little puppy who makes me smile when I'm sad and makes me laugh when I'm mad.

I am thankful for the amazing family I have! My parents, who have always loved me unconditionally. Thank you for supporting me and praying for me all these years! My brother, I am so thankful for your willingness to be my friend through thick and thin. I love you! My grandparents, thank you for continuing to teach me what
true love really looks like. For my aunts and uncles and cousins, I
feel so blessed to have you in my life. And of course for my new
extended family, Jerry and Rebecca, thank you for loving me like your own daughter and making me feel welcome from day one, no questions asked! And Ashley, my extended sister, thank you for giving me a second chance. I love getting to share life with you.

I am thankful for all the friends who have come in and out of my life over the years, who have taught me how to love, communicate, change and grow. And for the one who has stuck with me through and through, Kathryn, I love you so much and can't imagine what my life would have been like had you not been a part of it! I miss you!

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to grow up not only knowing God, but developing a deep and intimate relationship with Him. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices He has made for me to live the way I do today. I am also thankful for His willingness to never give up on me and for trusting me with awesome responsibility of sharing His love with others.

This is a small list and I could go on and on. It is nice to stop for a moment and remind myself, even though I may not have exactly what I want in this moment in life, I am so incredibly blessed and should always look for reason to give thanks.

Mom and Dad's Pasadena Visit

The past few weeks have flown by!! Mom and dad came to stay with us for week which was so fun! While Josh and I went to work and school during the day Mom and dad got to hang out with Shiloh...lets just say they became really good friends, lots of walks, treats and kisses!

We ate a lot of really good food, both at home and out on the town (thanks mom for the homemade lasagna!) and made some fun memories here in Pasadena! We went and saw Wicked at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood Thursday night which was soooo good! If you haven't seen it yet it's a must! Saturday we went to Universal Studios for the day. Even though it was mid November we were able to wear shorts and t-shirts! Gotta love LA!

(Aren't they cute?!)

Unfortunately, due to the fires that took place in our area the Pasadena Marathon had to be cancelled due to poor air quality. We are hopeful that the race will be rescheduled! We shall see!

We are taking off for Tennessee on Tuesday, our first red eye flight, going home to be with the Strahan's for Thanksgiving! Shiloh will be joining us on our trip and will meet his "uncle" Matti Jo, Josh's parents Australian shepherd puppy! I am sure there will be lots of fun stories to share from their encounters together. Stay tuned to see!

We are so looking forward to going home, sharing the holiday with family, and feeling some cold weather for a change!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Life is good

It's been awhile since my last post. Time is starting to get away from me. I can't believe it is already the holiday season.

Here is a snapshot of Halloween 2008 with the Strahans and the Isaacsons doing some pumpkin carvin'.

As I sit here tonight anticipating the arrival of my parents for their week long visit with us I am truly content. It is amazing to have been here only a few months and yet to feel so at home. God has surrounded us with so many wonderful people who we can call friends. I am able to sit here tonight and say for the first time in long while that I am not worried about what the future holds for Josh and I but instead am simply excited for all that our future has in store. I am happily content with where God has me at this moment and look forward to each new day. What a truly blessed life I live.

Josh and I excitedly welcome our new "niece", Ella Grace Chamblee, into the world and send congrats to her proud parents Ryan and Amy. We look forward to meeting you Ella Grace.

We also excitedly anticipate the arrival of our new niece/nephew in June of next year to Graham and Ashley, who we know will be such awesome and super fun parents. We can't wait to make memories with you and your little one that will last for years and years to come. We love you!

Pics and stories to come of the adventures had with Mom and Dad's visit to Pasadena!

I wish...

It has been awhile since I last posted. Things have started to get busy around here. Josh is digging in deep to his class and working hard, learning and growing daily. Our days are getting full as we meet new people and get involved with our church. It is a good kind of full!

We enjoyed a relaxing weekend together doing the things we love. Saturday night after our sushi dinner we wondered around Old Town and happened upon a unique experience. In a tucked away little quaint shopping area we saw about 10 small trees covered in white. As we got closer we discovered the white was little tags tied to the branches with hand written wishes on them. It was an art exhibit that allowed anyone who stopped by to sit down, write out their wish and tie it to the tree along with thousands of other wishes from people all over the world. It was really interesting to read the things people were wishing for. We each sat down and wrote our own wish and tied it to the tree.


As we walked home that evening I began to think about my wish. What a neat opportunity to put my wish into the wishes of the world. But how sad it would be if that was all I had, simply a wish. Instead of just wishes I have hope. I can wish for the things I want but I can also bring my desires to none other than the creator of the universe. As I give my wishes up to Him I have hope that the God who created everything has a special plan for me, that He hears my wishes and knows just what I need.


I am grateful for the ability to wish but so much more thankful for the foundation of hope my life is graciously built upon.

Happy Birthday Shiloh

So today we celebrate the birthday of our little man Shiloh. One year ago today he came into the world all puny and pale. Little did he (or we) know then that he would become such an important part of our Strahan family world. Today we can not help but stop and thank Murna, his first mom, for the love she poured into our little guys life as she watched him grow from his puny paleness into his fluffy, curious, rambunctious self! We are so grateful for the love and time you put into his life and for your willingness to allow us to adopt him as our own! God has used our little puppy to grow us and change us and to bring joy and laughter into our everyday life. Happy One Year Shiloh! We love you!!!