Dear Lydia,
Hello my sweet 11-month old (and 9 days) little girl! It is so hard to believe that you are already almost a year old! Where has the time gone?! I feel like the last year has been such a blur in ways which is really sad! :o( It's definitely true that with kids time goes by so much faster! Although, at the same time, I can hardly remember not having you with us... I can hardly believe it was this time last year that I was getting near the end of your pregnancy... I was getting antsy and excited to see you and was wondering if you were going to be coming in August or September! So crazy!
You have been such a sweet girl, as normal, lately! You are pulling yourself up to a standing position ALL the time now and LOVING being able to do that! You also enjoy opening cabinets all over the place, looking through the refrigerator whenever we have it open, peeking into trash cans, pulling out toys out of Daniel's toy boxes and making a big mess, and so many other things! You just love exploring and learning what new things you can learn about! (Right now you are pulling everything off the side table next to meet... oh boy! Good times!) :o)
We just switched you to your 12 month clothes which is fun for you and me seeing you in all your new clothes! So thankful still for your Aunt Amanda letting you have all of your cousin, Vienna's, old clothes! You are finally growing and growing... Not sure how much you weigh but I'm guessing at least 18 1/2 or 19 lbs. by now! Such a big girl!
One of your favorite things to do that you have been doing more and more every day has been clapping and clapping! You are so cute when you get super excited or when Daniel or someone else (including you) does something awesome of fun and you clap and clap with a big smile on your face! You also love music and have recently started bobbing your head a little when you see your big brother dancing to music! :o) I am so excited for you to be able to start dancing along with your brother! I wonder if you'll like music as much as him?
You LOVE saying "uh-oh," "wow,"and you also have started repeating a lot of sounds and words when we say them first... I'm sure you'll be "talking" so much more soon!
I have been working on figuring out your 1st birthday party! Not sure what theme we will do yet, but I'm thinking maybe a pink butterfly type theme... I've seen lots of cute ideas and I think they would be so cute! We'll be doing the party at a park because our house goes up on the market on Friday and we don't want to have a showing in the middle of the party, but I think you'll love that because you love swinging at parks and crawling in the grass is one of your favorite activities!
You got four upper teeth this last month! I'm so sorry you had to get them all in at once, but you did awesome and only had a few fussier than normal days. Not sure when the others will be coming in... you have a total of six now!
A week ago Daddy and I went on a 3 1/2 day trip and you and Daniel got to spend some time with your Grandpa and Grandma and your Pappy and Maw-Maw! You did awesome with them (although I'm sure you missed me a lot more than you let on... ;o) and you are now so much closer to your Grandma and Maw-Maw! It is so nice seeing you want to go with them when we go visit now instead of just staying with me all the time... You make them so happy when you give them kisses and hugs and big smiles!
We need to start doing more painting and coloring activities with you because you love doing art stuff! (Definitely like big brother in that!) We did a hand painting activity with your cousin Vienna the other day, and you had so much fun having me paint your hand all purple for your elephant! :o) It was such a cute little elephant!
We love you oh so much little one! Thanks for all you do to brighten our lives! Praying that this next month is awesome for you and that you become even closer friends with your big brother! I love watching y'all grow up together!
Love,
Mommy
Our Family - Nov. 2014
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Random Odds and Ends from July
So I haven't written on here for awhile so I figured I would update a little on what's been going on in the Slade household! Get ready for random because that's the way I roll!
Scott's last day of work is TOMORROW! How is it that he is almost done with the business world and that we will finally be full-time ministry workers - soon to be on a college campus?! Crazy! It is so cool seeing God work through everything and we are super excited to enter into full-time support raising next week! So far everything has been going great! Meeting with everyone who is so excited for us and thrilled to partner with us in reaching out to college students is amazing and so encouraging!
Scott and I have also been reading through the book "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert E. Coleman with the other new staff and we have been getting so much out of it! The book really focuses on how Jesus evangelized while on this earth. The last chapter we read was about how Jesus chose carefully and focused in on training the 12 disciples instead of just "impressing the crowds". He knew that he "needed people who could lead the multitudes" after he was gone. He never lost sight of his goals and vision. We must be like Jesus... "It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don't live to see it... It is the question of which generation we are living for..." Good reminder of what we will be doing in college ministry and it's nice to be able to see that Jesus was not all about the numbers, but about training a certain few to be leaders who turned around to share what they learned with others! I'm excited to read the rest of the book!
Scott and I leave on Thursday morning bright and early to go to Steamboat Springs WITHOUT the kids for four days! We are BEYOND excited! I know it'll be crazy being away from the kids that long, but I'm so excited to spend some one-on-one time with Scott and to be able to rest, have fun, play games, fish, hike, pray, talk, swim, and focus on the upcoming changes and decisions that are around the corner! We are taking our pop-up camper and staying in a beautiful campground just outside of town! We don't have tons of plans so far, but I'm excited to just take it easy, go to the hot springs, walk around town, spend a day out at a lake fishing and swinging in the hammock, and just spending time away! Scott's parents and mine are splitting the time with the kids so I know they'll be taken care of and should have a fun time with their grandparents! Lydia had a bit of a runny nose today so I'm praying that she'll feel better soon and won't get sick... That would be so sad leaving a sick little girl. :o(
Speaking of the kids, they are both doing awesome! I've missed writing updates on Daniel since I don't do the monthly updates anymore! :o( So I'll try to write a little update now even though it's almost bedtime... He is 27 months old already - not sure where the days go! He has been talking up a storm lately and even though at times I still don't completely understand him, I probably do at least 70% of the time which is SO nice! He is usually a very caring, sweet little boy, although he has his 2-year-old times of roughness, screaming, and disobeying... :o) Awww, the joys of having a toddler! Most of the time he loves playing with his baby sister (who is almost 1!!) and he does so great sharing with her, bringing her toys, and waiting patiently as she follows him everywhere, but he does have those times where he likes to hit her for no reason so we've have lots of talks about that... He has the greatest smiles and his camera smile of "CHEESE" is awesome! I love how he squints his eyes shut when he smiles for a camera... too cute! He cares so much for people and loves holding hands, giving kisses, and giving hugs (for the most part). :o) Lately we have been praying with him a lot for the people around us who need it and it is so cool seeing how he folds his hands, squeezes his eyes closed, and then "prays" with us! He said his first prayer the other night before dinner... "God thank you food..." He is such an awesome boy and we are SO blessed by him every day! (I would go on and on but it'll have to wait til next time because it's super late and it's time for bed!)
Night!
Scott's last day of work is TOMORROW! How is it that he is almost done with the business world and that we will finally be full-time ministry workers - soon to be on a college campus?! Crazy! It is so cool seeing God work through everything and we are super excited to enter into full-time support raising next week! So far everything has been going great! Meeting with everyone who is so excited for us and thrilled to partner with us in reaching out to college students is amazing and so encouraging!
Scott and I have also been reading through the book "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert E. Coleman with the other new staff and we have been getting so much out of it! The book really focuses on how Jesus evangelized while on this earth. The last chapter we read was about how Jesus chose carefully and focused in on training the 12 disciples instead of just "impressing the crowds". He knew that he "needed people who could lead the multitudes" after he was gone. He never lost sight of his goals and vision. We must be like Jesus... "It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don't live to see it... It is the question of which generation we are living for..." Good reminder of what we will be doing in college ministry and it's nice to be able to see that Jesus was not all about the numbers, but about training a certain few to be leaders who turned around to share what they learned with others! I'm excited to read the rest of the book!
Scott and I leave on Thursday morning bright and early to go to Steamboat Springs WITHOUT the kids for four days! We are BEYOND excited! I know it'll be crazy being away from the kids that long, but I'm so excited to spend some one-on-one time with Scott and to be able to rest, have fun, play games, fish, hike, pray, talk, swim, and focus on the upcoming changes and decisions that are around the corner! We are taking our pop-up camper and staying in a beautiful campground just outside of town! We don't have tons of plans so far, but I'm excited to just take it easy, go to the hot springs, walk around town, spend a day out at a lake fishing and swinging in the hammock, and just spending time away! Scott's parents and mine are splitting the time with the kids so I know they'll be taken care of and should have a fun time with their grandparents! Lydia had a bit of a runny nose today so I'm praying that she'll feel better soon and won't get sick... That would be so sad leaving a sick little girl. :o(
Speaking of the kids, they are both doing awesome! I've missed writing updates on Daniel since I don't do the monthly updates anymore! :o( So I'll try to write a little update now even though it's almost bedtime... He is 27 months old already - not sure where the days go! He has been talking up a storm lately and even though at times I still don't completely understand him, I probably do at least 70% of the time which is SO nice! He is usually a very caring, sweet little boy, although he has his 2-year-old times of roughness, screaming, and disobeying... :o) Awww, the joys of having a toddler! Most of the time he loves playing with his baby sister (who is almost 1!!) and he does so great sharing with her, bringing her toys, and waiting patiently as she follows him everywhere, but he does have those times where he likes to hit her for no reason so we've have lots of talks about that... He has the greatest smiles and his camera smile of "CHEESE" is awesome! I love how he squints his eyes shut when he smiles for a camera... too cute! He cares so much for people and loves holding hands, giving kisses, and giving hugs (for the most part). :o) Lately we have been praying with him a lot for the people around us who need it and it is so cool seeing how he folds his hands, squeezes his eyes closed, and then "prays" with us! He said his first prayer the other night before dinner... "God thank you food..." He is such an awesome boy and we are SO blessed by him every day! (I would go on and on but it'll have to wait til next time because it's super late and it's time for bed!)
Night!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Happy 10 Months Dear Lydia!
Dear Little Girl,
Happy 10 Months Old! You turned 10 months on July 4th - Independence Day! We had such a great day doing stuff around the house (mainly cleaning, but you even enjoyed "helping" with that) and then we had our small group over for a potluck dinner and hang out time in the backyard! It was SO much fun and you had an awesome time hanging out with Daddy, Mommy, and your friends... You LOVE crawling around in the grass and occasionally sneaking a piece of grass in your mouth when you think no one is watching. :o)
You are finally getting so much bigger! At your 9 month appointment like three or four weeks ago you were around 16 1/2 pounds... You had dropped from like the 75th percentile in weight to the 10th percentile since your 6 month appointment, so we were told to bump up your bottles and your food which you have LOVED! Poor little girl... I just don't think we were giving you enough! In the next three weeks you ended up gaining almost an entire pound which was awesome and I don't think we'll have to worry about your weight for awhile now because you eat up a storm most of the time! You are fully switched to drinking goat's milk now (Mommy just doesn't have enough milk for you... I'm just glad we made it this far at least!) and you are usually okay with that although you are one of the hardest babies to bottle feed because you want to be on the go in like two minutes so we just have to feed a little at a time to you! You have been eating most of what we eat other than dairy and sugary stuff, and you love eating! Like three weeks ago you finally started picking up more things and putting them in your mouth which helps with eating, but has meant we have to watch you like hawks because you try to eat every little thing around the house!
You are crawling SO much and love going from room to room seeing what you can pick up off the floor and try to eat, and seeing what toys Daniel left out for you. :o) Your favorite is still to hang out in big brother's room for a long time just "reading" books or playing with your toys. You don't seem to like books as much as Daniel (which will hopefully change because Mommy is hoping you will LOVE reading!), but you really love playing with all his cars, tools, trucks, and Legos!
You have pulled yourself up to your feet probably at least ten times in the past three weeks but you still don't seem very steady on your feet. Not sure if you are just scared to put weight on them or if you are just a tad bit lazy and just think crawling works fine enough, but hopefully you'll figure it out soon so you can start testing out the "walking around" waters! :o) You haven't really tried to "walk" when we hold onto your hands, either... Maybe you'll surprise me and walk before I know it, but I'm thinking it might be a little while which is totally okay with us!
You have only been taking one nap a day lately which has been so nice for you and Mommy! You usually nap between 2 and 3 hours while Daniel naps, so Mommy enjoys having that gap of time to get things done! Although there are days when you want your morning nap still, this way it makes it nice to get stuff done together in the mornings whether we are out running errands, playing at the park, swimming, or playing with toys!
And, Miss Lydia, you are finally getting more teeth in!! The Dr. said a few weeks ago that you have 4 or 5 coming in on the top alone! Crazy! I'm so glad you get teeth in pretty "easily" without much "fuss." :o) I'm going to miss seeing your sweet face with just your two bottom teeth, but I know you'll look super cute with more teeth, too!
Oh, yes, your new favorite word! You LOVE saying "Uh-oh" like all the time now! I don't think you fully understand when you should say it, but you do say it when things fall down or mess up and whenever you want to! It's just too cute and Daniel loves to say it along with you over and over!
You and Daniel have been enjoying his new pool that he got from his birthday! You really love hanging out in the pool with Daddy, Daniel, and Mommy, and your Uncle Bryan also came over the other day to "swim" a little with you! Your little pineapple swimsuit is just too adorable and you love splashing and splashing for awhile until you end up cuddling up to one of us and almost falling asleep while still in the pool! ;o) So sweet!
Mommy loves you SO much, sweet girl! I'm very excited to see the new things you learn and how you grow in the next month! Thanks for being such an amazing little girl! :o)
Love,
Mommy
Happy 10 Months Old! You turned 10 months on July 4th - Independence Day! We had such a great day doing stuff around the house (mainly cleaning, but you even enjoyed "helping" with that) and then we had our small group over for a potluck dinner and hang out time in the backyard! It was SO much fun and you had an awesome time hanging out with Daddy, Mommy, and your friends... You LOVE crawling around in the grass and occasionally sneaking a piece of grass in your mouth when you think no one is watching. :o)
You are finally getting so much bigger! At your 9 month appointment like three or four weeks ago you were around 16 1/2 pounds... You had dropped from like the 75th percentile in weight to the 10th percentile since your 6 month appointment, so we were told to bump up your bottles and your food which you have LOVED! Poor little girl... I just don't think we were giving you enough! In the next three weeks you ended up gaining almost an entire pound which was awesome and I don't think we'll have to worry about your weight for awhile now because you eat up a storm most of the time! You are fully switched to drinking goat's milk now (Mommy just doesn't have enough milk for you... I'm just glad we made it this far at least!) and you are usually okay with that although you are one of the hardest babies to bottle feed because you want to be on the go in like two minutes so we just have to feed a little at a time to you! You have been eating most of what we eat other than dairy and sugary stuff, and you love eating! Like three weeks ago you finally started picking up more things and putting them in your mouth which helps with eating, but has meant we have to watch you like hawks because you try to eat every little thing around the house!
You are crawling SO much and love going from room to room seeing what you can pick up off the floor and try to eat, and seeing what toys Daniel left out for you. :o) Your favorite is still to hang out in big brother's room for a long time just "reading" books or playing with your toys. You don't seem to like books as much as Daniel (which will hopefully change because Mommy is hoping you will LOVE reading!), but you really love playing with all his cars, tools, trucks, and Legos!
You have pulled yourself up to your feet probably at least ten times in the past three weeks but you still don't seem very steady on your feet. Not sure if you are just scared to put weight on them or if you are just a tad bit lazy and just think crawling works fine enough, but hopefully you'll figure it out soon so you can start testing out the "walking around" waters! :o) You haven't really tried to "walk" when we hold onto your hands, either... Maybe you'll surprise me and walk before I know it, but I'm thinking it might be a little while which is totally okay with us!
You have only been taking one nap a day lately which has been so nice for you and Mommy! You usually nap between 2 and 3 hours while Daniel naps, so Mommy enjoys having that gap of time to get things done! Although there are days when you want your morning nap still, this way it makes it nice to get stuff done together in the mornings whether we are out running errands, playing at the park, swimming, or playing with toys!
And, Miss Lydia, you are finally getting more teeth in!! The Dr. said a few weeks ago that you have 4 or 5 coming in on the top alone! Crazy! I'm so glad you get teeth in pretty "easily" without much "fuss." :o) I'm going to miss seeing your sweet face with just your two bottom teeth, but I know you'll look super cute with more teeth, too!
Oh, yes, your new favorite word! You LOVE saying "Uh-oh" like all the time now! I don't think you fully understand when you should say it, but you do say it when things fall down or mess up and whenever you want to! It's just too cute and Daniel loves to say it along with you over and over!
You and Daniel have been enjoying his new pool that he got from his birthday! You really love hanging out in the pool with Daddy, Daniel, and Mommy, and your Uncle Bryan also came over the other day to "swim" a little with you! Your little pineapple swimsuit is just too adorable and you love splashing and splashing for awhile until you end up cuddling up to one of us and almost falling asleep while still in the pool! ;o) So sweet!
Mommy loves you SO much, sweet girl! I'm very excited to see the new things you learn and how you grow in the next month! Thanks for being such an amazing little girl! :o)
Love,
Mommy
Monday, July 2, 2012
Weekend in Delta with the Fam
Sometimes I find myself wanting to blog and then I sit here and I have no idea what to say! And when that happens my end result is a totally random, all over the place blog post, so enjoy!
We have had a wonderful, busy weekend with my family and it's one of those evenings that I really would love to be sitting at a coffee shop by myself reading, studying God's Word, journaling, and drinking an amazing vanilla chai! Now doesn't that sound delightful?! The awesome thing is that if we had a coffee shop nearby that stayed open past 9:00, my amazing hubby would totally let me spend the evening out having some alone time, but sad to say, Fruita doesn't have a nice, little coffee shop that stays open past 5:00 right now! Seriously! And this is another reason why I'm getting even more excited about living in Denver! I'm super excited to find an amazing atmosphere in an awesome coffee shop tucked away somewhere cool in Denver that might just stay open past 8 or 9:00!
Anyway, about our weekend... We had a great time in Delta at my parents' house Saturday morning til this morning! Our first plans were to go camping at Silverjack, but with all the fires around us and after thinking through everything, we decided to stick closer to home instead and I'm so glad we did! We were able to hang out with my parents, Lelia and Wayne, and Amanda and the kids had a wonderful time with their aunts, uncle, and Pappy and Mawmaw! Saturday we just hung out and cooked, napped, and tried to stay cool! It was so nice and relaxing - I love being at my parents home and just hanging out! Sunday (yesterday) Amanda had to stay back at the house because she was taking Vienna to a birthday party in the afternoon, but the rest of us all drove up to the Grand Mesa to fish at one of it's many beautiful lakes! Lelia, Mom, Lydia, and I sat in the shade eating lunch, taking pictures, and watching as the guys - Dad, Scott, Wayne, and Daniel - fished for quite a few hours along the rocky side of the lake! Both Scott and Wayne caught some fish, but Dad wasn't as lucky with his fly fishing, but he still had lots of fun! It was so nice eating our picnic lunch, relaxing in our camp chairs in the peaceful mountain atmosphere, and enjoying each other's company. I love my family! :o) When we left we drove down to one of the little towns between Cedaredge and Delta and stopped at a little ice cream shop where Dad got us all ice cream! It was YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS! :o) I had some of Daniel's chocolate chip cookie dough and I had my own scoop of Coffee something or nother...
Last night Scott and I made / prepared dinner for everyone (burgers, grilled pineapple rings, watermelon, chips, Mediterranian Pasta Salad, and Double Chocolate Oatmeal cookies that were eaten before dinner arrived). :o) It was all delicious! (The Pasta Salad and the cookies were recipes from Pinterest, just to let you guys know... Check out my page under the "Good Recipes We've Tried So Far" to see those recipes because they were AMAZING!) After dinner and after the kiddos were put to bed, Scott, Wayne, and Dad went fishing at the little lake in Delta while us girls watched a movie back at the house. It was another laid-back evening and I enjoyed having some girl time! :o)
So I have pictures of this weekend which makes me now want to get them loaded onto my computer and edited a bit so I can attach some to here in a little while (hopefully) and put them onto my facebook, so I think I'll make this short and write more at another time! Good night everyone!
We have had a wonderful, busy weekend with my family and it's one of those evenings that I really would love to be sitting at a coffee shop by myself reading, studying God's Word, journaling, and drinking an amazing vanilla chai! Now doesn't that sound delightful?! The awesome thing is that if we had a coffee shop nearby that stayed open past 9:00, my amazing hubby would totally let me spend the evening out having some alone time, but sad to say, Fruita doesn't have a nice, little coffee shop that stays open past 5:00 right now! Seriously! And this is another reason why I'm getting even more excited about living in Denver! I'm super excited to find an amazing atmosphere in an awesome coffee shop tucked away somewhere cool in Denver that might just stay open past 8 or 9:00!
Anyway, about our weekend... We had a great time in Delta at my parents' house Saturday morning til this morning! Our first plans were to go camping at Silverjack, but with all the fires around us and after thinking through everything, we decided to stick closer to home instead and I'm so glad we did! We were able to hang out with my parents, Lelia and Wayne, and Amanda and the kids had a wonderful time with their aunts, uncle, and Pappy and Mawmaw! Saturday we just hung out and cooked, napped, and tried to stay cool! It was so nice and relaxing - I love being at my parents home and just hanging out! Sunday (yesterday) Amanda had to stay back at the house because she was taking Vienna to a birthday party in the afternoon, but the rest of us all drove up to the Grand Mesa to fish at one of it's many beautiful lakes! Lelia, Mom, Lydia, and I sat in the shade eating lunch, taking pictures, and watching as the guys - Dad, Scott, Wayne, and Daniel - fished for quite a few hours along the rocky side of the lake! Both Scott and Wayne caught some fish, but Dad wasn't as lucky with his fly fishing, but he still had lots of fun! It was so nice eating our picnic lunch, relaxing in our camp chairs in the peaceful mountain atmosphere, and enjoying each other's company. I love my family! :o) When we left we drove down to one of the little towns between Cedaredge and Delta and stopped at a little ice cream shop where Dad got us all ice cream! It was YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS! :o) I had some of Daniel's chocolate chip cookie dough and I had my own scoop of Coffee something or nother...
Last night Scott and I made / prepared dinner for everyone (burgers, grilled pineapple rings, watermelon, chips, Mediterranian Pasta Salad, and Double Chocolate Oatmeal cookies that were eaten before dinner arrived). :o) It was all delicious! (The Pasta Salad and the cookies were recipes from Pinterest, just to let you guys know... Check out my page under the "Good Recipes We've Tried So Far" to see those recipes because they were AMAZING!) After dinner and after the kiddos were put to bed, Scott, Wayne, and Dad went fishing at the little lake in Delta while us girls watched a movie back at the house. It was another laid-back evening and I enjoyed having some girl time! :o)
So I have pictures of this weekend which makes me now want to get them loaded onto my computer and edited a bit so I can attach some to here in a little while (hopefully) and put them onto my facebook, so I think I'll make this short and write more at another time! Good night everyone!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Big Changes on the Horizon and SO excited for them!
I've been wanting to write on here for so long and actually be able to talk about the exciting new changes happening in our lives! Let's start from the beginning...
Ever since we got married three years ago and even while we were dating, Scott and I had talked about what we thought our future might look like... Both of us had a desire during high school and college to one day serve God in either youth ministry, college ministry, or over-seas, but we didn't know what that was going to look like or where God wanted us... When we ended up getting pregnant with Daniel only a few months after our marriage, Scott began looking for a job to be able to provide for us during the changes a growing family would bring. He was blessed with an amazing job with Marathon Oil Company, and grew to enjoy the people he worked with, his work, and all the things that living here in GJ brought!
But, over time I began thinking a lot more about going into ministry and prayed a lot about the possibility of entering into full-time ministry somewhere... Scott and I talked from time to time about our future and both of us were pretty sure we wouldn't be where we were forever, but Scott didn't mention much about going into ministry until we talked a few months before this past Christmas ('11) and he mentioned the possibility of joining staff with Master Plan Ministries... He asked me what I thought and I was so excited to hear that he had been thinking and praying about the same thing I had been!
We talked with Jesse and Rhonda Denison in February about joining Master Plan and sent in our application on March 6th! April 21st we had our interview with Russ and Linda (and Rhonda with me and Kyle with Scott). Two days later we found out that we had been accepted on staff with Master Plan Ministry! YAY! It seemed like quite the fast process but we definitely knew that God was the one guiding us through all the steps and we are SO excited to be heading towards full-time college ministry!
Three weeks ago we were just starting our New Staff Training week down in Durango, CO, and the week followed as an amazing time with our fellow MPM staff team and was a great week of learning, growing, and full excitement of our support raising ahead of us and then our move onto our campuses! We met up at the Ranch that Master Plan has owned now for three years and Scott and I enjoyed getting the tour of the wonderful facility up there! It is so awesome seeing the work God is doing at that place already and how much more will be done as the work continues to be done getting it ready for staff trainings, retreats, etc in the future! I wish I had time to tell all about what God has done through the Ranch and how everything came about but I don't so if you want to read more, please go to the following website and read all about it! http://threetrailsranch.blogspot.com/
Our entire staff group is AWESOME! Once Scott and I and the other eight new staff have our groups of partners together to help financially support us and pray for us we will be joining an AMAZING Denver team at the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, CO! We are SOOO excited to be joining Austin and Laura Krokos and their family, Jesse and Rhonda Denison and their family, Brad Jones, and Angi Pratt to reach that campus for Christ!
Ever since our New Staff Training we have been busy figuring our schedules and diving into support raising - telling others about the vision God has given us and adding partners to our group of supporters! It has been so exciting to see how many of our friends and families and people we don't even know are excited for us and are joining us financially and through prayer! Seeing God work and build our team is amazing and seeing my husband, Scott, step up and lead our family in this direction God is taking us has been so great! I love that man so much and I'm SO thankful that God gave me him for my husband! :o)
Speaking of Scott, he told his work a week or so ago that he would be leaving and entering into full-time college ministry! We are sad to be leaving such an amazing job with such amazing people, but it has been encouraging seeing them support us along the way! They have been such a great group of friends and I'm hoping we can stay in contact with several of them!
So I have MANY more things that I could write about but I know that I'll write again hopefully soon and I can share more of what we'll be doing on campus and all of that! If you have any questions please ask! :o) ALSO, our website for the master plan group is Masterplanministries.net, so you can go on there to see pics and read about the campuses and more about what we will be doing! I think I'll try to upload a few pics on here now and then post this considering it's taken me a few days to even write this much... (Yes, we've been CRAZY busy lately!)
Have an awesome week everyone!
We talked with Jesse and Rhonda Denison in February about joining Master Plan and sent in our application on March 6th! April 21st we had our interview with Russ and Linda (and Rhonda with me and Kyle with Scott). Two days later we found out that we had been accepted on staff with Master Plan Ministry! YAY! It seemed like quite the fast process but we definitely knew that God was the one guiding us through all the steps and we are SO excited to be heading towards full-time college ministry!
Three weeks ago we were just starting our New Staff Training week down in Durango, CO, and the week followed as an amazing time with our fellow MPM staff team and was a great week of learning, growing, and full excitement of our support raising ahead of us and then our move onto our campuses! We met up at the Ranch that Master Plan has owned now for three years and Scott and I enjoyed getting the tour of the wonderful facility up there! It is so awesome seeing the work God is doing at that place already and how much more will be done as the work continues to be done getting it ready for staff trainings, retreats, etc in the future! I wish I had time to tell all about what God has done through the Ranch and how everything came about but I don't so if you want to read more, please go to the following website and read all about it! http://threetrailsranch.blogspot.com/
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| Part of us during the staff training |
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| The "old" staff praying for us new staff at the training. |
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| The Denver team on Auraria Campus! |
Our entire staff group is AWESOME! Once Scott and I and the other eight new staff have our groups of partners together to help financially support us and pray for us we will be joining an AMAZING Denver team at the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, CO! We are SOOO excited to be joining Austin and Laura Krokos and their family, Jesse and Rhonda Denison and their family, Brad Jones, and Angi Pratt to reach that campus for Christ!
Ever since our New Staff Training we have been busy figuring our schedules and diving into support raising - telling others about the vision God has given us and adding partners to our group of supporters! It has been so exciting to see how many of our friends and families and people we don't even know are excited for us and are joining us financially and through prayer! Seeing God work and build our team is amazing and seeing my husband, Scott, step up and lead our family in this direction God is taking us has been so great! I love that man so much and I'm SO thankful that God gave me him for my husband! :o)
Speaking of Scott, he told his work a week or so ago that he would be leaving and entering into full-time college ministry! We are sad to be leaving such an amazing job with such amazing people, but it has been encouraging seeing them support us along the way! They have been such a great group of friends and I'm hoping we can stay in contact with several of them!
So I have MANY more things that I could write about but I know that I'll write again hopefully soon and I can share more of what we'll be doing on campus and all of that! If you have any questions please ask! :o) ALSO, our website for the master plan group is Masterplanministries.net, so you can go on there to see pics and read about the campuses and more about what we will be doing! I think I'll try to upload a few pics on here now and then post this considering it's taken me a few days to even write this much... (Yes, we've been CRAZY busy lately!)
Have an awesome week everyone!
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| Our Entire MPM Staff Group - Kids and Adults! |
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Lydia - 9 Months and 1 Week Old Already!
My dear little girl,
Hi sweety! You are just over 9 months old, and I am amazed day after day how much love you bring to our family! I don't know what we'd do without your sweet smiles, cute little expressions, funny giggles, waves "bye-bye", and the constant babble of "mama, dada, bye-bye, and baba" you continue to say! We love you oh so much!
Your biggest accomplishment this past month (about three weeks ago) was crawling! And you are SO excited about it! We had gone down to Pappy and Maw-Maw's house on a Friday night and you made a few little moves on your knees and then the next morning your daddy and I watched as you crawled half way across the living room floor over to us! So glad we were both there to watch you! Just today I watched as you crawled and crawled all over our house, going from toy to toy and playing and then you crawled over to our back door and pulled up to your knees as you watched outside as your daddy and big brother mowed the back yard! I think you wanted to go join them! :o) It won't be long little girl til you are out there running around with them! So crazy!
You still have not pulled up all the way to your feet, but you do go up to your knees quite a lot... You also haven't really walked at all even when we hold your hands, because standing is not your favorite. I'm thinking you might still be awhile until you walk but that's okay; I am perfectly happy with having a little crawler for awhile! :o)
You have been eating and eating up a storm, and this past week you had some of your first actual solid foods... Some of your favorites have been pancakes, oatmeal, rice, beans, and eggs! You seem to be able to eat and eat so much! I'm going to have to keep on my toes with figuring out food for you to eat! It seems like you want to catch up to your big brother pretty fast!
You're still taking two to three naps a day (a shorter one in the morning and then usually a 2 hour ish nap when Daniel does early afternoon and a short one in the late afternoon)... Pretty soon I think we'll be able to move you to two naps, though, especially since you are usually such a happy little girl!
Lydia, I love how much you love your big brother! You are so excited when he plays beside you, or shares his toys, and you love when he gives you big kisses and hugs! It's oh so cute! I love you two so, so, so, so much! I'm so excited to see you two grow up and become close friends and I'm so excited to see where God is going to take you and us in life! Thank you, my sweet little girl, for being such a joy already in our life even though you might not know it. :o) You are so amazing and Mommy and Daddy loves you!
Love,
Mommy
Hi sweety! You are just over 9 months old, and I am amazed day after day how much love you bring to our family! I don't know what we'd do without your sweet smiles, cute little expressions, funny giggles, waves "bye-bye", and the constant babble of "mama, dada, bye-bye, and baba" you continue to say! We love you oh so much!
Your biggest accomplishment this past month (about three weeks ago) was crawling! And you are SO excited about it! We had gone down to Pappy and Maw-Maw's house on a Friday night and you made a few little moves on your knees and then the next morning your daddy and I watched as you crawled half way across the living room floor over to us! So glad we were both there to watch you! Just today I watched as you crawled and crawled all over our house, going from toy to toy and playing and then you crawled over to our back door and pulled up to your knees as you watched outside as your daddy and big brother mowed the back yard! I think you wanted to go join them! :o) It won't be long little girl til you are out there running around with them! So crazy!
You still have not pulled up all the way to your feet, but you do go up to your knees quite a lot... You also haven't really walked at all even when we hold your hands, because standing is not your favorite. I'm thinking you might still be awhile until you walk but that's okay; I am perfectly happy with having a little crawler for awhile! :o)
You have been eating and eating up a storm, and this past week you had some of your first actual solid foods... Some of your favorites have been pancakes, oatmeal, rice, beans, and eggs! You seem to be able to eat and eat so much! I'm going to have to keep on my toes with figuring out food for you to eat! It seems like you want to catch up to your big brother pretty fast!
You're still taking two to three naps a day (a shorter one in the morning and then usually a 2 hour ish nap when Daniel does early afternoon and a short one in the late afternoon)... Pretty soon I think we'll be able to move you to two naps, though, especially since you are usually such a happy little girl!
Lydia, I love how much you love your big brother! You are so excited when he plays beside you, or shares his toys, and you love when he gives you big kisses and hugs! It's oh so cute! I love you two so, so, so, so much! I'm so excited to see you two grow up and become close friends and I'm so excited to see where God is going to take you and us in life! Thank you, my sweet little girl, for being such a joy already in our life even though you might not know it. :o) You are so amazing and Mommy and Daddy loves you!
Love,
Mommy
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Great Week with Nanny!
Hi everyone! So I just got another load of laundry in the washer, both kids are napping, Nanny (my awesome grandmother who is staying with us all week) is reading her book, and I am enjoying hearing the wooden chimes (from Hawaii) outside blowing in the breeze above my beautiful potted flowers! I am ready to take a little break and update y'all on our great week!
My parents brought Nanny over on Sunday afternoon to spend the week with us (through tomorrow evening) and it has been a fun week! I love having someone else here to talk with and relax with and help entertain kiddos during the days! Sunday afternoon Nanny and spent all afternoon making 2 lasagnas, 2 pans of brownies, and getting other stuff ready for a couple of dinners I was preparing! I took one meal in to Jon and Lacey (our youth pastor at church and his wife) who just had their first little one (a precious little girl, Evie). I was able to hang out with them for a little while and hold their sweet little girl... I'm so happy for them and am so glad they are part of our small group so I'll be able to see them more that way! :o) I got home just in time for a bunch of our friends to come over for dinner (hence the other lasagna meal)... We had a fun time hanging out eating and then the guys played games outside and us girls just talked about decorating and crafts!
Monday was a pretty lazy day just playing and watching as Lydia got more accustomed to Nanny and eventually allowed her to hold her and even feed her some baby food! It was Nanny's birthday so we were so thankful that she was here to spend it with us! I made a crock-pot meal of Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner which was DELICIOUS and Nanny made her birthday pie - Key Lime Pie (a Weight Watcher's recipe, which was awesome) so we enjoyed those for dinner and then we drove to the edge of Fruita where we went on a little walk enjoying the beautiful evening! Daniel had so much fun running down the sidewalk, pointing out bugs, leaves, sticks, trees, dogs, and all the other things he saw along the way! He is the cutest little runner I've ever seen! Lol. We walked back through some neighborhoods and enjoyed seeing all the pretty homes and yards! I love looking at houses! :o)
Tuesday (yesterday) we went to the mall and I let the kids play in the inside play area while Nanny got a pedicure. Lydia (BIG NEWS!!!) started crawling on Saturday so she was actually able to crawl around with another little girl who was there and thought the super big bugs were super fun and cute to stare up at! Daniel played with another little boy for awhile, trying to figure out how to leap up on top of the play things like that boy did... After Nanny was done we went to Target to get a few things and then she bought me and her some coffee drinks at Starbucks - which was amazing of course! It was nice to get out and walk around in the air conditioning! We spent awhile outside before Daniel's nap at home watching him play with his basketball and softballs and his T-ball stuff... He LOVES to throw all the balls (basketball, softball, and golf balls) into the hoop and he is doing so well at actually getting quite a lot in! He LOVES to be outside lately, and since it's been nice enough still sitting out in the shade under the covering, we have spent a lot of time out there this week! I've also been watering the grass a lot (trying to keep it nice and green and growing those seeds Scott had planted a few weeks back) and I am also watering my garden which is growing in quite nicely! ANYWAY, off topic... Tuesday evening after Scott got home we headed into town to eat at Noodles & Company which was delicious as always! Definitely one of my most favorite places right now to eat at! I tried one of their Mediterranean dishes... yumm, yumm! After dinner we went to Sherwood Park and let Daniel play with Scott for awhile while Nanny fed Lydia a bottle and I went over to the hospital to see another friend and her new baby! They are also from our small group (Kara and Beau) and just had their second little one... a beautiful baby girl, also! So much fun! Yesterday evening after putting the kids down we popped up our camper and made sure everything was in it for camping this weekend in Lake City! SUPER excited to go camping with all my family and Nanny and some friends! Before bed we played Rummi Cube with Nanny which was a lot of fun. We love that game!
Today we haven't really done much at all.... Laundry, dishes, playing with kids, and now updating this! I think I'm going to go ahead and close for now and maybe get some reading in while I have a chance! Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!
My parents brought Nanny over on Sunday afternoon to spend the week with us (through tomorrow evening) and it has been a fun week! I love having someone else here to talk with and relax with and help entertain kiddos during the days! Sunday afternoon Nanny and spent all afternoon making 2 lasagnas, 2 pans of brownies, and getting other stuff ready for a couple of dinners I was preparing! I took one meal in to Jon and Lacey (our youth pastor at church and his wife) who just had their first little one (a precious little girl, Evie). I was able to hang out with them for a little while and hold their sweet little girl... I'm so happy for them and am so glad they are part of our small group so I'll be able to see them more that way! :o) I got home just in time for a bunch of our friends to come over for dinner (hence the other lasagna meal)... We had a fun time hanging out eating and then the guys played games outside and us girls just talked about decorating and crafts!
Monday was a pretty lazy day just playing and watching as Lydia got more accustomed to Nanny and eventually allowed her to hold her and even feed her some baby food! It was Nanny's birthday so we were so thankful that she was here to spend it with us! I made a crock-pot meal of Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner which was DELICIOUS and Nanny made her birthday pie - Key Lime Pie (a Weight Watcher's recipe, which was awesome) so we enjoyed those for dinner and then we drove to the edge of Fruita where we went on a little walk enjoying the beautiful evening! Daniel had so much fun running down the sidewalk, pointing out bugs, leaves, sticks, trees, dogs, and all the other things he saw along the way! He is the cutest little runner I've ever seen! Lol. We walked back through some neighborhoods and enjoyed seeing all the pretty homes and yards! I love looking at houses! :o)
Tuesday (yesterday) we went to the mall and I let the kids play in the inside play area while Nanny got a pedicure. Lydia (BIG NEWS!!!) started crawling on Saturday so she was actually able to crawl around with another little girl who was there and thought the super big bugs were super fun and cute to stare up at! Daniel played with another little boy for awhile, trying to figure out how to leap up on top of the play things like that boy did... After Nanny was done we went to Target to get a few things and then she bought me and her some coffee drinks at Starbucks - which was amazing of course! It was nice to get out and walk around in the air conditioning! We spent awhile outside before Daniel's nap at home watching him play with his basketball and softballs and his T-ball stuff... He LOVES to throw all the balls (basketball, softball, and golf balls) into the hoop and he is doing so well at actually getting quite a lot in! He LOVES to be outside lately, and since it's been nice enough still sitting out in the shade under the covering, we have spent a lot of time out there this week! I've also been watering the grass a lot (trying to keep it nice and green and growing those seeds Scott had planted a few weeks back) and I am also watering my garden which is growing in quite nicely! ANYWAY, off topic... Tuesday evening after Scott got home we headed into town to eat at Noodles & Company which was delicious as always! Definitely one of my most favorite places right now to eat at! I tried one of their Mediterranean dishes... yumm, yumm! After dinner we went to Sherwood Park and let Daniel play with Scott for awhile while Nanny fed Lydia a bottle and I went over to the hospital to see another friend and her new baby! They are also from our small group (Kara and Beau) and just had their second little one... a beautiful baby girl, also! So much fun! Yesterday evening after putting the kids down we popped up our camper and made sure everything was in it for camping this weekend in Lake City! SUPER excited to go camping with all my family and Nanny and some friends! Before bed we played Rummi Cube with Nanny which was a lot of fun. We love that game!
Today we haven't really done much at all.... Laundry, dishes, playing with kids, and now updating this! I think I'm going to go ahead and close for now and maybe get some reading in while I have a chance! Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!
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