Bluebonnets

So, I guess we are officially Texans. The bluebonnets bloom at this time of year for a few short weeks and many people get their kids out there for some beautiful wildflower pictures. Well I'm cheap and took the pictures myself- Halle has the biggest fake smile, and Lily wouldn't smile for the life of me. So we went, we did, we saw, and here's what we got!














I do love my sweet girls!!

Going Deeper

In this picture are 41 women from my church. Our church is pretty tiny considering churches we've been a part of in the past- and 41 women on a retreat is pretty amazing! I'm a part of the leadership team for our women's ministry and helped plan this year's retreat. Our church is super diverse- the youngest woman that came was 18 and the oldest was 78, I believe. I've never been a part of a church like Horizons. Horizons is made up of so many different people, that truly work together, and fellowship with one another despite age, race, past, and stage of life. I could not be more proud to be a part of the team that leads them. Our theme was Going Deeper. Our speaker did a great job teaching us about the next steps that we need to take in our relationship with God. It was a time where I was just able to take in the teaching and mull over it. I still need to go back through my notes and really think about what things I need to change in my life.
Retreats are so needed, and are a great time to get away! Us young mom's really appreciate this time! But most of all, this retreat was fun! Other than being their "Pastor's Wife," I'm also known as the one that makes them play crazy games! Oh my- I've never laughed so hard. My favorite game this year was when they were all blindfolded into 2 long lines, and they had to pass a raw biscuit from the front of the line to the back. Talk about hilarious! We had so much fun- they are such good sports!
Our time in Texas has had it's ups and downs. I could not have come back from this weekend more proud of our women. I'm so grateful to be a part of a church where I've been stretched to be friends with those I normally wouldn't have approached. I'm grateful to see racial barriers being broken. I'm grateful for women older than me who have loved on me and taken me under their wing. I'm grateful for goofy friends that I can laugh with. I'm grateful for the spirit of worship that is crafted when 41 women seek God in one accord. I'm thankful for God meeting us where we're at, and always waiting for us to come to him. I'm thankful for a husband who encourages times like this in my life. I'm excited for the future- for the plans God has for our little church, and for the plans he has for me and the woman he's shaping me to become.

Dallas Blooms

I absolutely LOVE living by a big city. It has so much to offer and we don't have to go far to do some really cool things. This week is spring break and even though we are not in school, I think we still deserve to do some fun stuff! Yesterday I took the girls to the Dallas Arboretum with some friends and their kiddos. It was so beautiful to see all the flowers in bloom. They had fairy tale houses all over the place that we searched for to find. Halle was so excited to see Bell's castle and the Little Mermaids house and so on. It was a little chilly in the morning but warmed up as the day went on. Halle got her face painted for the first time and thought it was so cool. Lily was a trooper on the long day. As you can see, she fell on the sidewalk and has a battle wound to show for it! Here's some pics of our day...

Party time!

Valentine's Day has come and gone, and we celebrated in style one week after the big day. I wasn't feeling well on V-day so we postponed our little party until this week. I tried to get a few pictures of the girls in their attire, unfortunately couldn't get them both looking and smiling!






We had a fun lunch of heart-shaped PB & J, fruit salad, and a few other things for the grown ups. Of course there were games- you can see them on their heart hunt and playing pass the heart balloon. And of course, we frosted our own sugar cookies!







And here are a few other pictures from around the house lately- as you can see the girls love their daddy!

Iced in!

I have been so bad about updating our blog lately. I don't know if it's been that we've been busy or that nothing really exciting has been happening. As most of you have heard, Dallas has been under ice for the past 4 days- and today we are under snow! I'd take snow any day over ice! We have not left the house in 4 days and literally can't! They have no way of removing the ice here- there are hardly such thing as plows. Thankfully we've had enough food and entertainment to get us through. We did run out of milk today so one of us will have to brave the elements!

Here's a few pictures of our big girl lately- she has started her first dance class and loves it! She has also been working on writing her letters, and you can see she's teaching her teddy how to write as well!






And here's little girl, always into something!






Check out this homemade birthday gift I made for Halle's friend, Violet. Just hot glue , scissors, and some felt!