A Smiley Wedding

This weekend we had the honor of attending our friend Smiley Steve's wedding. Most of you know Smiley. If you don't, then you'll see in the next few pictures where he got his nickname "Smiley".

Smiley was the guy who convinced both Todd & I to go to Belize that first year. (I think we'll have to name our first born after him). He met his bride Jenn several years ago at our church. They were friends for years before Steve asked her out. I'll never forget when he brought his "girlfriend" to our 4th of July Brew-A-Que last year. I could tell he was smitten. That was the day that they got their official nickname together- "A bag of sugar". Our friend TJ came up with this and its so true and so funny. Both of them are SO sweet- they're literally like a bag of sugar!

From Smiley's Wedding

They got married in Kittrell, NC (a.k.a. in the middle of no where). Very small town with a church and a corner store. The church was old & cute and it was a small and an intimate ceremony. The theme was "Dreams really do come true" because Steve proposed at Walt Disney World in front of Cinderella's castle. Jenn looked like a princess as she walked down aisle to "When you wish upon a Star". Her prince was teary eyed as she made her way towards him.

From Smiley's Wedding

I've never seen Smiley happier.

From Smiley's Wedding

From Smiley's Wedding

From Smiley's Wedding

And I've never seen him cry more. All happy tears!!!

From Smiley's Wedding

Our entire crew from Hope was there. We had a great time hanging out.

From Smiley's Wedding

Todd & I got a good picture together.

From Smiley's Wedding

The bride & groom drove away in this awesome classic Cadillac. It is owned by a friend of Jennifer's father and they let them drive away it in. It made for an AWESOME photo op. (I can't wait to see their professional pictures by Todd's good friend Rusty Worden).

From Smiley's Wedding

After getting pelleted by bird seed,

From Smiley's Wedding

They literally drove away into the sunset. See- dreams really do come true!

From Smiley's Wedding

We love this couple and wish them nothing but the best. Congrats guys!

From Smiley's Wedding

Love,
Candice & Todd

p.s. I took a TON of pictures so if you'd like to see them, click here.

Smiley's Wedding

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Another day @ the USDA

This week has been somewhat slow at work. It's literally the calm before the storm. June is one of our busiest months out of the year and with being 2 stats short, I'll be crazy busy for the entire month. When its slow, we like to get out of the office. Today we made a quick trip to Concord, NC and back (sorry Kels- didn't have time to stop)to visit Pilgrim Pride's chicken hatchery.

Whats a chicken hatchery? I'm glad you asked. Here's a little insight into the chicken world. A hatchery is a commercial facility where eggs are brought to hatch. So eggs come from NC farms and they are brought here.

From Office Field Trips

This facility can handle about 975,000 eggs at a time. These eggs are marked with the farm number and also which chicken house they came from so they know exactly where they came from.

From Office Field Trips

Eggs are then brought into a "setter". The eggs hang out in the setter for 19 days at about 96 degrees so the bird can develop. This is what the setter looks like. I like the name of the setter- "Chick Master".

From Office Field Trips

On day 19, they move into a "hatcher". They hang out in the hatcher for 2 days until they hatch out of their egg shells and then you get these.....

Aren't they cute?

From Office Field Trips

Once they are hatched, they then go through a conveyor belt and anything that isn't alive or hurt is taken out.

From Office Field Trips

Don't get attached. They are then brought to another farm where they are grown out to about 8 pounds in 8 weeks. And then they land on your plate.

Aren't you glad you got an agriculture lesson today???

I'm the official broiler stat in our office so it helps me to know how chickens are produced before I count them. North Carolina's #1 cash receipt is broilers. So this is big stuff.

So while I drove my co-workers 2.5 hours to Concord and then I drove 2.5 hours back to Raleigh, guess what they were doing.

From Office Field Trips

Yep, sleeping!

From Office Field Trips

Government workers!

Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day!
Candice

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Dasha Update

Last year I introduced you to an 16 year old Ukraine girl named Dasha that a couple from Michigan was trying to adopt. You can see that past blog here

Todd & I were compelled to help this family financially with raising money for her adoption and I have been following the family's blog (which you must see here) ever since.

There has been much progress made since I last wrote about Dasha and I wanted to share that with you.

The Little family (Danielle & AL) are currently in Ukraine visiting Dasha and finalizing adoption papers. They will be there for a few weeks until they bring Dasha home.

But here's the main thing I want to share with you. If you read the Little's blog then you'll see that at the end of last year there was NO to little hope that the adoption would actually go through. The Ukraine government had put a temporary block on all international adoptions at the end of the year. This was devastating for the Little family. What was more devastating was Dasha's age. They were trying to have her legally adopted by the age of 17 b/c at that point, Dasha would not belong to the state anymore and therefore would not be adoptable. When I talked to my friend Laura Johnson about this, she literally told me that it would take a MIRACLE for Dasha to be adopted at all. The chance for her adoption was literally so slim that it wouldn't happen WITHOUT GOD stepping in. My friend LJ loves the Lord and has seen Him work miracle after miracle but honestly, I doubted. After dinner that night, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Dasha wouldn't be able to be adopted. Why on earth would God put this on Danielle & Al Little's hearts and then NOT come through. My doubt didn't last long once I realized and truly believed that this WAS God's will and because it was His will, then He'd just have to work this out.

Sure enough, God preformed a miracle and the Little's are over there now making this legal. If that doesn't make you believe in the power of prayer, then I don't know what will!

My friend Kelsey wrote a comment on my last post about hope and what she said is so true. There is hope with JESUS. No matter what you are praying for- a husband, children, a change of heart, financial blessing or just plain sanity- there is HOPE if you know the Lord. David wrote in Psalms 25:5 "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my HOPE is in you all day long". That gives me hope and I'm preaching more to myself than anybody else!

Will you praise Jesus with me about Dasha's adoption???!!! Only with HOPE in Him will Dasha see and experience a family who LOVES her. How amazing is that??

Will you also do me a favor and pray for Todd & I? Ever since I went to Belize last year and saw where my little girls (Shemecka & Chelsie) live (a run down shack), God has put it on my heart to adopt. Todd & I are both open to the idea of adoption but don't know when the right time is and when we should start looking into it. Its just an idea and a future hope right now. Will you pray with me that if this is God's will, that He will begin opening doors and really putting it on our hearts to adopt when the time is right. As newlyweds, I can't imagine adopting right now because I just soak up all the time I have with my husband. But I want God's perfect timing and I also want to be obedient to His will. If you read the Little's last blog, entitled "Time to get to the truth", you'd probably want to adopt too. Danielle speaks real truth about how we can all make a difference.  It makes me want to go out right now and do something but I know that I must wait, pray,  and  trust in the Lord for His perfect timing.

Sorry for no pictures with this blog. I just wanted to catch you up on the latest with Dasha and chat a bit. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Love,
Candice

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Kaleena's Wedding Shower

This weekend was all about celebrating upcoming weddings. Todd had an all day & all night bachelor party for Smiley Steve which involved paintball, go carts and poker. And I had a wedding shower to attend for my friend Kaleena.

Kaleena & I have been friends for as long as I've lived in NC. She & I are very close and more like sisters (we even fight like sisters sometimes). It wasn't even 2 years ago when a distraught Kaleena was crying her eyes out about wanting a husband. I'll never forget that moment. Kaleena, Todd & I sat Indian style on the floor of my bedroom and prayed for a husband for Kaleena. I think Todd & I did all the praying and Kaleena just wept. We prayed that God would prepare Kaleena's husband, that he would be spiritually and emotionally ready when they finally met, that he would be a man of God and the most perfect fit for her and that God would send him SOON. Not 3 months later, Robbie Fleming arrived on the scene! And this weekend I celebrated with my friend as we praised God for another answered prayer!

From Kaleena's Shower

Kaleena's shower was at the home of Sharon Gordon. Sharon is the grandmother to Alston. Alston is a 5th grader who Kaleena has been tutoring for awhile. Like true Kaleena style, she goes over & above with him and his family loves her and has adopted her. Alston absolutely loves Kaleena.

From Kaleena's Shower

Sharon did an AMAZING job of setting up the shower. She spent days & weeks getting ready for this party. Everything was so lovely and so detailed. She had fresh flowers, real tea cups & tea (as a take home party favor) and lots of yummy food. She set up tables with linens and even brought out her good crystal. We were partying in style!

From Kaleena's Shower

This is Sharon & her whole family with Kaleena & Robbie. They all helped out. Sharon made the boys "waiters". She had them dress up in their suits and ties and they waited on us while we ate.

From Kaleena's Shower

I can't tell. Do you think Robbie was having fun?

From Kaleena's Shower

After lunch and some Bride bingo, it was time to open gifts. I've been to a lot of showers but I have NEVER seen anybody so excited about bath stuff. She literally was excited about everything they got. Even this-

From Kaleena's Shower

I think her all time favorite gift was this thing- a Magic Bullet. (Sounds worse than what it actually is)

From Kaleena's Shower

We had a great time! Thanks so much Sharon for hosting! I know it meant a lot to both Kaleena & Robbie.

From Kaleena's Shower

Congrats Kaleena! So happy to share Saturday with you. Looking forward to September 3, 2011!

From Kaleena's Shower

To see all the pictures, just click here.

Kaleena's Shower

Much Love,
Candice

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Calista Craig

This past weekend we were in Atlanta to meet the newest Craig. Here she is!!!

From Calista

Some folks were confused about who Calista belongs to. Calista belongs to Todd's middle brother (Sean) & his wife (Kristen). She is now the little sister of Houston. Here is Houston hanging out with Uncle Todd.

From Calista

Friday night we went to dinner with Sean, Kristen, Houston & Calista. We ate at this pretty cool restaurant that overlooked a park in Atlanta. The sunset was beautiful against the ATL skyline even though it did get pretty chilly outside that night.

From Calista

Houston paused long enough for me to catch a few shots of him & his mommy. At 2 1/2 years old, he's all boy. Loves to run around and loves to talk!

From Calista

We got to visit Calista more on Saturday. She is absolutely tiny (only 6 lbs). I had bought her the cutest bathing suit for the summer but Kristen may have to take the 3-6 month suit back because she is so little.

From Calista

Uncle Todd got to love on her too.

From Calista

Loved her little fingers.

From Calista

On Saturday night, Calista got to go out with the adults to a nice southwestern restaurant. She was oh so cute in her hat.

From Calista

This is my favorite picture from the weekend. She was holding her Uncle Marcus' hand. If that doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will.

From Calista

Can't wait to see how big this little peanut will get over the next few months. Hopefully we'll make more trips to Atlanta and Miss Calista will be a regular on the Craig blog.

Hope everyone has a good week,
Candice

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Happy Mother's Day

This weekend we will be celebrating MOTHERS! We've all heard the saying "it say that it takes a village to raise a child". Well, this was my village.

From Blog Pics

My mom & all her 6 sisters had a girls outing a few weeks ago. If you can't tell what their shirts say- let me explain. It says

50% Abear (My MawMaw's side of the family)
50% Schexnider (My PawPaw's side of the family)
100 % Cajun

If you don't know my family then this is probably confusing so I apologize. All you need to know is we're a large CAJUN family. Because our family was so big and because my mom worked, my aunts took turns taking care of my sister and I. My Aunt Marian (4th from left) and my Aunt Cil (2nd from right) watched us for years. I grew up with their children and my cousins were more like brothers and sisters. Everybody had a part.

The village started with this one person. Lula Mae Schexnider. My mother's mother. She has been the glue to our family. Her prayers have reached the heavens and she's literally a saint walking among us.

From Blog Pics

Why do I share this?? (I promise I'm getting to the point).

I share this because I want to thank all my "mothers" out there.

Thank you to my MawMaw who had 11 children. She gave me my mother and gave me a crazy/wonderful extended family!

Thank you to my mom. I have the most wonderful mother on planet Earth! Not only is this chick one of the happiest people I know but she's also my biggest cheerleader. I could write an entire blog on how wonderful she is but if you know her, then you know what I mean and I don't have to explain. She's my momma. She's Mother Therese. Definitely one of a kind. And all MINE!

From COLOR

Thank you to the endless people who cared for me in NY while I was 1,800 miles away from home.

Thank you to all the "mothers" I have here in NC.

Thank you to my latest mother addition- Todd's mom (a.k.a. Mama Beth)

From Blog Pics

Its taken a LOT of people to raise me. So I have to say to you all, THANK YOU. I LOVE YOU!

Also, I have a lot of friends who will be celebrating Mother's Day for the 1st time this year! And speaking of new mothers, Todd & I will be in Atlanta this weekend meeting the newest Craig. Calista Leigh Craig was born April 20,2011. Can't wait to meet this sweet face!

From Blog Pics

Happy Mother's day to all!
Love,
Candice

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The Power of Photography

Yesterday I was in a mood. One of those moods where I just wanted to stay home and cry. I never cry anymore. There's NOTHING in my life to cry about. I can count on one hand the number of times I've cried since marrying Todd Craig. So its rare that I'm one of those "crying" moods.

Todd is in California for work this week and I had planned on going home, running for an hour and then doing some work around the house. Instead I came home and found one of the famous Todd signs that he loves to make.

From Picasa

This almost made me cry. Have I told you that I have the sweetest husband on earth? He hadn't been gone for 12 hours and I was already missing him when I walked in that door. Don't worry- he can spell. He calls me "bootifow" because he likes my booty. Sorry, TMI. He's gonna kill me for sharing but I don't care. I love bragging about how sweet he is!

Instead of grabbing my running shoes, I decided to grab a glass of wine. Thought I'd do a "bath" night with Jesus like I use to do. But for some reason I skipped the bath and got on my computer. I did some surfing and found a story about a baby that just died from anencephaly. The Bush family is from Beaumont, TX (where I'm from) and the story of baby Thomas just broke my heart.

From Picasa

I CRIED.

I looked at the Thomas Family blog and read about how they found out that their baby had this fatal disease in January. If you're like me and have no clue what Anencephaly is- it is the absence of a large part of the brain and skull. This disorder will 100% end in death. After looking up the disorder on Web MD, I then read about the family's decision to not abort but keep the baby even though they knew he would die shortly after birth. I read about the support of their family, friends and community. And then I read about their continued faith in God during these trying times.

THEN I CRIED MORE.

Then I came across a photographer who had the privilege of capturing the few hours that baby Thomas was alive. There is an 11 minute slideshow of those precious moments on Haute Photography Blog
You have to see these pictures.

THEN I LOST IT.

Then I saw this picture of a drawing that baby Thomas' 3 year old sister created for him. If I interpret it correctly, I think it says "Please have a safe way to heaven"

From Picasa

THEN I COMPLETELY LOST IT.

I don't know why I came across this story. Maybe it was just so I could pray for this family as they bury their newborn son today. Maybe it was so I could praise Jesus for all the healthy babies that are in my life. Or maybe it was a lesson on the power of photography. Through this photographer's blog and pictures, this family will now have documentation of Thomas' short life. Through photography, this story touched my soul and many around Southeast Texas and possibly around our country. Through photography, I got to see into one family's life and will now be lifting them up in prayer.

That is powerful.

That is amazing.

That makes me realize that this new hobby of mine can save the most precious and sacred moments life offers us. As a believer, I KNOW that there is power in prayer! And today I'm learning, there is power in photography!

Candice

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