Our little baby girl is no longer a baby! We are officially the parents of a toddler! Jarryd and I would both say that this has been on...

I had so much fun shooting my brother in law Bryan and his fiance Shanna's engagement photos the other day! Here are a few of ...

Jarryd and I just recently celebrated 4 years of marriage together on January 10th! Every year we have always made this tim...

 

I cannot believe this is Liv's last official month as a baby! This has been the fastest year ever... I wish so badly I could just p...

At the Colonial!

August 24, 2007

After running around this building like a mad woman I finally found my class and walked in fashionably late... as usual. Immediately I see the boy from outside, our eyes meet, butterflies dance in my stomach, the red cheeks return, and I knew I was in trouble. I didn't know anyone at the school yet so I chose a seat by some girls and introduced myself. Glancing over in the direction of "the boy" every chance I got. Every time I looked over in his direction I would have to look away quickly because it seemed as if he was already looking at me. When the class was over I tried my hardest to keep a calm composure as I walked out realizing that I didn't hear a word the professor had said the entire period. It was official... it was only the second day of school and I had a crush... a crush that was so distracting I couldn't remember a thing that happened... other than him of course ;)

Jarryd:
It was after lunch time and me and my good friend John Brewer were standing outside of our building that our Old Testament class was in. All of a sudden I saw the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen climbing the stairs into the building! I was hooked and couldn't stop staring, I knew I had to meet her soon!

We decided it was time to go to class, so we walked into our classroom and found seats towards the back of the room. Since it was only the second day of school there were plenty of new faces and an excitement about the new semester. ALL OF A SUDDEN, the door opens to my left and in walks the girl that I had seen earlier! I couldn't believe it, she was in my class. This was going to be a great semester :) She walked towards the front of the class and took a seat. In my mind I just knew that she felt I was staring at her, but I couldn't stop... and I never tried to! The professor introduced himself and then had each of us introduce ourselves and where we went to college. I listened intently as it got to her: "My name is Jessica Elton, I graduated from Texas A&M..." Jessica Elton... I need to meet her... 

September 11, 2007

Jessica:

When I first got his facebook message I was unsure of who it was. 

I saw this profile picture: 

The message was asking me if I was in his Old Testament class?

Could this be? No... surely it couldn't be! The boy that I couldn't stop staring at?

 As I opened the message and began to process everything I went to sit in my chair at my desk and because I couldn't take my eyes off of the computer screen... my clumsy self literally missed the seat all together and I fell on the floor... right at the moment that my brain registered who this mystery message was from. Little did I know that this was foreshadowing of how I would some day "fall" for him. ;)

We began to talk back and forth on facebook, and one message quickly turned into dozens. I would get so excited every time I got a new message from him. We talked about everything and anything and our conversations would keep us up late at night... sleep was quickly put on the back burner. 

Jarryd:

I remembered hearing her name in class and I did what any other self respecting guy would do in my position... facebook stalk! I typed in her name in the search and several possibilities came up but one in particular caught my eye: 

Even though I couldn't see her face... I knew it was her! Before I knew it I was messaging her... I just couldn't wait to get to know her! 

*********************

We finally officially met each other on September 12, 2007 in class. Jarryd asked me out for a cup of coffee and we made plans to go the next night.

September 13, 2007

We met at a cafe Starbucks (it's still our favorite one to go to). We talked for hours. They closed while we were there and we weren't ready to go home so we sat outside under the stars for the longest time. We shared our testimony of how we came to know the Lord and all the things that He had done in our life. We never wanted the night to end. 

We patiently remained friends over the next couple of months. We started hanging out a lot with all of our friends and we were constantly wanting to be around each other. We knew that there was something special between us but we were praying for God's timing on when we should enter into a relationship. 

Needless to say... the Lord gave us such a peace about each other and in October of 2007 we officially began the last relationship either of us would ever have! 

August 23, 2008 

Jessica:

This was one of the most amazing days of my life! Jarryd had been planning it for weeks... I am not easy to surprise so he had his work cut out for him! Of course he enlisted the help of my closest friends and together they came up with the perfect plan! 

My friends out of no where asked if we could have a fun girls night where we would get all dressed up. I naively thought it would be fun so I made plans with Rae, Katie, and Jaclyn. We went out to dinner, then to the Village Church for their Saturday service, and then got ice cream! When the girls finally dropped me off back at my apartment nothing could have prepared me for what I was walking into...

Jarryd:
The day had finally come! To say I was anxious throughout the day is a understatement. I couldn't wait to pop the question. My OCD nature took over and I found myself continually checking to make sure the ring I had purchased hadn't grown legs and walked off. Most of the day was spent at Jessica's apartment where I watched a movie (or at least stared blankly at the screen). As soon as her friends picked her up that evening I immediately went into stealth mode, transforming her apartment into the perfect romantic setting. I put rose petals, candles and pictures from our dating relationship all over the place. I knew she would love it.

After a few hours (which seemed like years) Jess arrived back and the look on her face when she walked in was priceless. With my guitar I sang her a song that I wrote for her over the course of our relationship. This was the first time she had heard it! Afterwards I got down on one knee and asked her to be my wife as the tears started to flow down her face. She said YES and made me the happiest man alive! We then danced to "our" song and prayed for the Lord to guide our future together.

Everything had gone perfectly so far and I still had one more surprise. Waiting outside was her close friends and her mom Cathy, whom I had asked to drive up from Galveston to experience this moment with us. I couldn't have been more happy, but more importantly I couldn't wait to start my life with this amazing woman!

My beautiful mommy came up to be a part of the surprise!

January 10, 2009

We wanted this day to be a day where through our love and our lives together, people would see a picture of Christ's love for them. Our wedding ceremony was a time of worship and praise... we wanted people to walk away from it hearing the Gospel and feeling like they encountered the presence of the living God. Some of the most special elements of our wedding to us were the time of worship through song, the time of communion and the washing of each other's feet as a picture of humbleness and servanthood that we wanted to demonstrate in our marriage. 

In the reception we played a video that we had made documenting each of our testimonies in how we came to know the Lord. If there was anyone who did not have a personal relationship with Jesus at our wedding, we wanted them to leave at least hearing the great news that He saves! 

It was one of the most magical days of our lives and one that we will never forget! 

and... we know that the best is yet to come! 

This is the story of how the Lord brought us together... 2007 Meet Jessica Lynn Elton... Recent Texas A&M gradu...