Russell and I have been married for 1 year this month! We are so thankful for eachother. We are so thankful for our differences (took a whole year to say that). We are so thankful for our similarities (they save us sometimes). We are so thankful for our new puppy (pictures to follow). The Lord has grown us both during this first year of marriage, and we could not be more excited that we are one flesh for the rest of our lives.
We have traveled, celebrated new babies (not our own), ran marathons, gone on mission trips, loved a lot, forgave a lot, and simply have just been together a lot. Here is a recap of our year in pictures Beginning with the honeymoon!
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| Our room was beautiful and so cozy! |
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| The bathroom was opened up to the bedroom. |
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| Walk in shower with large tub. |
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| We loved all the little markets! |
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| This one was our favorite! It had a french feel! |
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| This lady made us feed each other chocolate covered strawberries. At least the strawberries were free! |
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| In front of our hotel! |
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| Quick get away to Tybee Island! Darlin place! |
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Ha!
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| Yummy hot chocolate smoothie from Paris Market! |
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| We loved all the beautiful old charming homes. |
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| This is where the bench was that Forest Gump sat on while fiming the movie. |
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| The days we had there were gorgeous! Look at that sky! |
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| Creepy picture of the Pirate House (now restaurant). It is the oldest building in Savannah. Pirates would get men drunk here and capture them. Then they would take them through secret passage ways out to work as pirates on boats. |
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| Monument at Forsyth Park |
We had a new little addition to our family in November of last year: William Benson Scott. He weighed 9.1 lbs at birth and is now a big 22 pounder. We think he is the best thing in the world (besides MA and Stratt). He is so sweet and now 8 months old! We are so thankful that we get to walk through life with these children.
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| Russell at 3 am holding William for the first time! |
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| Holding William for the first time! |
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| They are READY to finally meet William! |
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| Gentle...Gentle... |
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| Favorite faces in the world! |
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| Toni is amazing! She labored for 10 hours or so and then had to have a C-section. |
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| Sweet Mary came to meet William! This girl is such a sweet friend! |
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| Russell couldn't keep his hands off of him! |
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| William holding Big Sister's finger (notice the pink nail polish)! |
We knew the holidays were going to be kinda tricky now that we were married, so before we have children we decided we would rotate Christmas and Thanksgiving with our families. This actually has worked out very nicely! This year we spent Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Russell's family. We had a very sweet time staying at Russell's grandmothers house and waking up on Christmas morning with his immediate family there. I really enjoyed experiencing what Christmas was like for Russell growing up. We celebrated Christ's birth with my family the day after Christmas. We are very thankful to have so much support around us! Here is a recap of Christmas last year!
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| Making Christmas Cookies! |
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| The girls with their new scarves from Memaw in Memphis. |
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| Early Christmas morning! |
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| Andrew! |
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| Christmas morning! |
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| Sweet Cal! |
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| Whole Clement Clan! |
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| Can't wait for many more Christmas's to come! |
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| At my parent's the day after Christmas with our stocking that I have been using since I was little! |
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| Crazy kiddos! |
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| Her TuTu we got her for Christmas! |
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| Sweet Nana! |
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| Love these two! |
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| Not really sure why Mitch is wearing Marti Gras beads? |
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| William at 1 month! |
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| Not Christmas without tons of lip gloss! |
We had our first snow in our new house in January! We have had so many sweet times in our home! We loved seeing it covered in snow! We had some wonderful snow days off work playing with our two favorite kids!
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| Our little home! |
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| Handsome boy! |
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| Yes I am wearing a one-piece snow suit! |
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| Pretty girl! |
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| First snow married! |
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| MA and her Daddy |
In February, Russell and I had the opportunity to head to Haiti with a HaitiServe team. It was very last minute, but everything worked out perfectly so we jumped on a plane to PAP. We went to spend time with the organizations that HaitiServe supports to inquire about their needs. We stayed at Children of the Promise in Cap Haitien for 5 nights, and then headed to PAP to visit Young Life, The Apparent Project, and Children of the Hope. Little did we know, the Lord had other reasons for sending us to Haiti. The Lord really stirred my heart while we were there. I seriously could pack up now and move to Haiti to serve them medically, but I have a few strings attached here and Russell does not feel the call at this time. I totally respect that and must find ways to serve Haiti from home while going there as much as possible. The Lord has really connected us to Haiti through our jobs. Russell is starting a water filtration business in Haiti through his ProMBA program (P.S.- He got in! He just started the program and loves it!) and his full time job with ProVision. Dr. Greg and Abby Blackmon serve in Haiti between the two of them every 90 days. With our careers so well connected to Haiti, we are praying and discussing what life will look like in regards to Haiti and us in a few years. I am very confident that the Lord is preparing us to be connected to Haiti long-term. Here are some pictures of our time in Haiti....
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About to board a plane from PAP to Cap Hatien.
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| The tiny plane we took. Scary ride! |
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| Russell and Marie...She passed away shortly after we left. Russell was crazy about her. |
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| Meet Wedley. We really connected while I was there. Pray for him daily. |
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| Russell and Wedley |
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| Matt |
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| and Britney Mincer |
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| This little one also passed away shortly after we left. |
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| Big boy! |
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| The most beautiful little girl! |
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| Cake! |
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| Toms! |
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| The life-long friends we met: Matt and Britney Mincer. |
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| Tent City |
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| Sweet babies in the tent city. P.S that is a hot pot on a fire beside them... |
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| Sweet Children at Children of the Hope. |
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| Teenage boy reading scripture to me in English. Amazing! |
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| Devastation....Everywhere you look you see crumbled buildings. |
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| Russell and I with our fearless translator Wobie before we left. |
Russell ran a 1/2 and Full Marathon in March and April respectively. He loved it! It was hard and it was worth it, and he wants to take on the challenge again next year! During his full marathon Russell's parents and I scurried around Downtown Nashville to cheer him on a long the way. My mom, Toni and the kids also were at the finish line. Needless to say, he felt the love and support! Yay Russell!
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| Mile 17! Still looking good! |
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| Brittany, Andrew, Russell and I |
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| They stayed together the whole time! Way to pull eachother through! |
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| Stratton was so sweet to come cheer on his Uncle Russell! |
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| So proud of him. Maybe I will run it with him next year! Such a fun weekend in Nashville! |
Lastly, we enjoyed vacations with each of our families this summer! We went to Panama City with the Clements and extended family and we went to Turks and Caicos with the Scott family and Stratton family. We fill so blessed to be included in these vacations. They both were a blast and a wonderful break from the business of life. It is so important for Russell and I to get away together and reconnect!
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| We got to go see Mary Catherine and Cassie and their family right down the street from us at PCB. |
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| Everyone at dinner! |
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| Could not go through life without this girl! |
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| My morning view in Turks! |
