Dollywood 2009

A few months ago Andrew, my brother, called and said that he had some free tickets to Dollywood that he would like to share with us. They live very close to the park, so it was a perfect opportunity to spend some time with them!

We had such a wonderful time! We ended up leaving on a Sunday night after church, so we got there, put the girls in bed, and rested up so that we could spend Monday at Dollywood.

Emmy was SO excited and I think overwhelmed when we first got there. When she got the hang of everything and understood that this day was pretty much for her since the babies didn't really know what was going on, she was PUMPED!

That child was FEARLESS and ended up riding a ride that took her up very high and slowly made her go up and down, one of those round rafts that carry about 6 people and take you down a rough river and get you SOAKING wet, and the ferris wheel. Some other things she road were the carousel, flying elephants, train (she actually thinks she road that twice because the trolley from the parking lot to the main entrance was a train to her :-}), and the antique cars.

Addy and Brayden also did very well. They just sat in their strollers and enjoyed everything that was going on. After lunch, they both fell asleep and slept through many things without making a sound!

All in all, we had an AWESOME time and are already planning to go back soon. Thanks Andrew, Valerie and Brayden for your generosity and love that you showed us while we were there!

Addy and Brayden taking it all in.

Daddy holding up Emmy and Andrew on a boat trying to squirt me while I'm on dry land.

Addy loves to give hugs. She says "aww" while she's doing it. SOO sweet!

The Daddy's and babies on the carousel.

Emmy and Valerie. Emmy LOVED getting to spend time with Val that day. Every time I would try to hold her hand while walking at the park, Emmy would say "No! I want to hold Valerwie's hand!"

Mommy and Emmy about to ride Dumbo. I couldn't believe how high and fast that thing went!


Addy snoozin'

Brayden snoozin'


Emmy playing a little game. She won a frog!

I just love this picture! Andrew is such a good Daddy!

Emmy and Tim on the antique cars. She said that this was her favorite thing at Dollywood! lol

I just had to share this recent picture of the girls. Addy can't quite walk without help yet, but she's almost there. I look at this picture and I can't help but thank God for my little girls. They are so precious to me! Raising them isn't easy by any means, but seeing them smile and play brings me so much joy and makes it so worth the difficult times! I love being their Mommy:-)!

4th of July and Life These Days

First of all, let me just say...God is SO good!

I think the last time I updated, we were waiting on the vote for the church that we were hoping God would call us to. Well, they voted us in almost unanimously and we have now been there for a little over a month. The people in this church have been such a blessing to us. They have welcomed us with opened arms and encourage and love on us like we've been there for years and years. Things have been very busy, but we like to say it's a good kind of busy! :-)

Anyway, besides the new church, we have had a few other things go on. On June 20th Emmy was in a wedding in Mississippi. Her job was to run down the aisle with a Mississippi State cowbell yelling "The bride is coming! The bride is coming!" If you know Emmy at all, you know how perfect of a job this was for her! The wedding was at 8 PM, 9 PM our time. She did exactly what she was supposed to with the exception of her tripping right when she got to the front of the sanctuary and then deciding that she was done standing on the platform after about 2 minutes and wandering around the church until she found Tim. It was a lot of activity for just a few days, but we had a great time and we were very honored that Whitney, the bride, wanted our little girl to be a part of her big day.

Emmy taking directions at the rehearsal

And...there she goes! We don't have any of the front of her in the wedding. She was too fast! (Someone else got some, though :-})

The beautiful bride! She looked like a brunette Barbie doll!

Right when we got home from MS, Tim literally un-packed and re-packed his suitcase to go with our new pastor to Louisville, KY for the Southern Baptist Convention. He was gone from Sunday-Thursday leaving me at home all week by myself. On top of that, I was puppy-sitting my in law's new puppy. I was so worried about not being able to handle the girls, the dog and whatnot, but I made it and am actually very proud of myself! I hear that now I'm a youth ministers' wife I need to get used to my hubby being away a lot during the summer. I guess it was good that I got some practice before next summer comes around!

Addy with Annie-the puppy were baby-sat. Emmy was an AWESOME helper, too! Every time it was time to take her potty Emmy would pick her up and we'd all go outside. When Annie was done, she would pick her up and bring her in. Emmy is becoming such a big girl! So is Addy :-{!

We celebrated July 4th a little differently this year. Every year our new church does an outreach at a park right near the church. Tim was there from 8AM-4PM handing out flyers about our VBS while some other members painted faces, handed out balloons and offered free waters to the people enjoying the festivities. That night we all went over to my aunts house to enjoy a cookout and then Tim, the girls and I all went back to the park we had spent the day at and watch some beautiful fireworks. Emmy LOVED it and so did Addy, surprisingly. One of our friends that met us for the fireworks brought Emmy some glow sticks. During the display, she started throwing them up in the air and cheering. I got onto her because I didn't want her to be a distraction. She then said, "Mommy, I'm making fireworks!" It was too cute, to I didn't make her stop! We ended up not getting home until about 11, but it was worth it! We all had an awesome time!

Our little family before we left for the fireworks. Look closely, and you can see a big butterfly painted on Emmy's face. She was so sad when we had to wash it off!

Emmy's new BFF's from church. They are a little older than her, but it's actually making he act a little older when she's with them. This is a bittersweet thing!

Vacation Bible School is going on this week. I am working with 4 and 5 year olds and we have had at least 10 each night, so far. Tim has planned out an awesome week for the youth. They are calling it Youth Camp and the theme is "Planted". They have averaged over thirty kids(6th-12th grades) every night. 3 have accepted Christ as their personal Savior and several others have re-dedicated their lives to the Lord and joined the church. We are so amazed and humbled to see the way God is moving and how He is using us. I'm getting chill bumps just typing this!

To say the least, these past few weeks have been overwhelming from one extreme to another. However, in ALL honesty, God's goodness has exceeded my expectations of anything I could have ever thought up and I don't think that saying "thank you" to Him would do any justice for all He is doing for us.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

What time is it? SUMMERTIME!!!

I definitely couldn't come up with any better blog title. These are lyrics from a song from High School Musical. What can I say?!?! I love those movies!

I feel like we've been so busy, but I my mind is blank now that I have a chance to sit and write what's been going on! Here are some updates!

*Addy started sleeping in the crib in Emmy's room a couple of weeks ago. She gave me my FIRST sleepless night with her May 15, the second May 16, and by the next morning I was over it! It was like she would wake up just to play and if I put her in her pack-in-play by our bed she would scream! It was so frustrating! The first night she hated when I put her to bed for the night in it but, thankfully, when she woke up in the night she only fussed for a little while and fell back to sleep and slept until about 7:30AM. Some nights she will sleep through the night, but it's not consistent yet. I'm just glad she's out of our room! I was so worried that once the girls shared a room Addy would disturb Emmy's sleep, but Emmy normally just sleeps right through Addy's fussing. The first night she did come in our bed and say "My baby sister's crying." In a very matter of fact way, but other than that it has been great! I remember just sitting and worrying about milestones when Emmy was a baby like "what's gonna happen when I stop nursing her to sleep?", "what's gonna happen when I take her paci away?", etc., but we've gotten through every step-then you have new worries which is a whole 'nother blog! I guess the lesson I'm learning is that there are times where it's not easy by any means, but you get through them and a lot of times look back and wonder why it was such a big deal!

Addy's first night in her crib sharing a room with Emmy!

*Since Emmy is our first child, we've always thought she was the cutest, smartest, best baby in the world! (Come on, admit it! Everyone thinks that about their first kid! When they are about 2 or 3 you kind of snap out of it and realize they AREN'T perfect and there is probably a kid you know that is almost as cute, might know a few more letters than your's, and will actually sit still, be quiet, and eat their food at a restaurant, unlike your child!) As I was saying, Emmy is the smartest 3 1/2 year old in the world. Lately, she has just amazed us at what she knows and remembers! She asked for something the other day and then said "Come on, Mommy! All we have to do is turn wight on ****** Pike and the store is off of dat woad!" She doesn't quite know left from right, but she says "How do we get dere?" all the time and I've gotten to the point where I just tell her very detailed directions and it makes her be quiet! I wish I could remember every little story! I love how she is a little sponge and will pretty much take in everything we teach her. I just pray that she will also be smart enough to apply the Truth we have tried to instill in her when the time comes!

*Emmy and Addy's last day of Mother's Day Out was Thursday before last. I love working there and the checks have been such a blessing, but boy am I glad it's over! Working with children under the age of two for several hours a week on top of caring for your own 2 under the age of 3 1/2 gets very tiring! The last day of MDO they had a whole little carnival planned for them in the parking lot. They started out by serving Happy Meals, then whisked each class outside where there were inflatables and games. It was such a beautiful day and we had such a wonderful time! Emmy is starting the summer Mother's Day Out program next week. She will go every Tuesday from 9am-1pm and I will not be going with her! In August she will be going to preschool for 3 hours a day 3 days a week. The other day she said "I can't wait to dwive myself to pre-school next year. I'll be a big girl den." She was dead serious, too. Anyway, it will be nice to have a few hours to get some things done. I laugh because now that I have two kids, it's a piece of cake when I've only got one with me!

Addy's first french fry. I think she liked it. What do you think???

Addy's class in the lunchroom on her last day of school. We were missing 2 kids. I love these babies! I'm sure gonna miss them this summer even if they do wear me out!

Emmy's class at lunch time on her last day. Emmy is at the head of the back table cheesin' it up, of course!

She was having such a good time! One of the things I will miss about working at her school will be getting to peak in on her any time I want.

Emmy waiting her turn to play a game at the carnival.

Addy on a window seat with the boys in one of the inflatables called Crayon Land.

My little jumping bean. She's pretty much like this all the time.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE................



*So you know how on my last blog I said I had some exciting news?? Well, it's still not official yet, but we believe that the Lord has opened a door to a church for us to serve in FULL TIME!!!!!!! We are SOOOOOOO excited, thankful, and anxious all at the same time. The reason that it is not official yet is because the church still needs to vote us in. Tim and I both have a peace about this church and feel like this is the place where God is going to use us, so we are optimistic about the vote. That's all the details that I can give so far, but please keep us in your prayers in the next couple of weeks. The church will vote June 7th.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

'Til Death Do They Part

The past few weeks have been super busy for us! My best friend Jessica got married yesterday! I am SO happy and excited for her and her new husband, Norman. She planned everything herself and I am so proud of her for that! Everything turned out beautiful and God heard our prayers!

For the past week everyone who was a part of this outdoor wedding has been watching the weather reports for the weekend. The predictions were always scattered thunderstorms all day. Yesterday morning the predictions were actually an 80% chance of rain at 4:00 pm, the time the wedding was to begin. The sun shined until about 5:30 pm, which was about 30 minutes into the reception that was held at a nearby country club. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Jessica was a GORGEOUS bride. She composed herself in a classy way (which is obviously sometimes hard on your wedding day when you're the bride and you want everything perfect and everyone's not acting perfect! ha!) Norman was the sweetest groom I have ever seen. Get this-as they danced their first dance he looked her in the eyes the whole time singing their song, "True Companion", to her. It was the sweetest thing! It was one of those mushy moments where I think every woman in the room was crying. Also, when they said their vows to each other it gave me chills.

Emmy was the flower girl. I've been nervous about it since about a year ago when Jess asked me. She did a great job. She walked down the aisle kind of shy and didn't throw down any flowers. lol She stood by me for a minute, but then realized that one of her little friends, Brooklynn, was in the audience and walked off to see her. She then ran back up to me and said "Here Mommy. Hold my basket." In the middle of the wedding. It was super cute! By the middle of the reception she was over it, so Tim took her and Addy home to put them to bed. All in all, Emmy was a great little flower girl! I pray that she will be just as good in the next wedding she's in on June 20th!

I was the Matron of Honor and what a priveledge it was! I was truly honored that she asked me. I was so emotional all day because we have been friends since the 6th grade. Since I was in the bridal party, we obviously had to take a lot of picture with the groomsmen. At one point the photographer asked all the bridesmaids to put their hand on the groomsmans shoulder and kind of lean on them. When Emmy saw me doing that to the best man she said "Why's my Mommy touchin' that boy???" I thought that was worth sharing :-)!

About a week ago she reminded me that I had to give a speech and toast. This is pretty much what it said:

When I met Jessica in the 6th grade, I could have never dreamed what our friendship would hold. From eating jelly belly jelly beans on a rooftop and watching Lifetime movies with my Mom, to her becoming like an aunt to my girls and hearing about this guy named Norman who was more than just someone special. Through the years, Jessica has been a wonderful friend to me. She has taught me what a true friend really is. She has been there to talk when I needed someone to listen and has always supported me even when the outcome seemed impossible. Norman is blessed to have found her. My prayer is that you will have a marriage filled with happiness and that God would be the center of it. Song of Solomon 8:7a reads "Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away."

To Jessica and Norman:

May you both love in a way that nothing can defeat it. We all love you so much and pray that the Lord will bless your marriage.

I am so happy for them and I meant every word that I said. I wish that I could have said more, but sometimes it's just hard to put into words how you feel.

Patty, Jess, Me and Emmy on the morning of her wedding. Patty is Jessica's close friend from Knoxville. We all had a slumber party!

Me and Jessica

Jessica and Norman. What a beautiful couple!

Emmy and Brooklynn dancing at the reception

I hope that you all had a great weekend! Tim is off from school for the summer, so he doesn't have work or anything tomorrow! I don't even remember the last time he had an off day. Also, stay tuned-I have some exciting things I'll be sharing in the next few weeks! I just need to wait on all the details. And NO I'm NOT pregnant and NO we're NOT moving. Just wanted to get that out in the open....

A Nice Little Weekend

Even though Tim had a big project due today and had to work on it all weekend, we still managed to have some fun things go on around here!

Friday night we went over to Tim's brother Jeremy's house where his wife Faith cooked us dinner and we got to play with our nephew, Zachary. It was such a fun little visit! They sure are brave to invite our little clan over! Emmy loves being over there and suggested that she would like to have a sleepover with them sometime. I told her to go talk to her Aunt Faith about it. Ha! Ahem...

Tim works on Saturday's, so me and the girls just did our own thing all day. We had a giftcard to Outback, so we met Tim there after he got off of work. It was yummy! He had to go back to Jeremy's that night to finish his project (he had to do it there because Jeremy has a special program on his computer that we don't have), so me and the girls went over to my in-laws house to play with Zachary and visit with my brother-in-laws girlfriend who was in town. We had a great time! I got some of the cutest pictures!

I think this is my favorite picture EVER of them! Addy looks SOO big!

Apparently, Emmy LOVES caterpillars! She wanted to keep it (we didn't) and was very gentle.

Crawling up her shirt!

We let Emmy take her cake out on the back porch. By the time I got out there, look who followed his big cousin to sneak a treat! (Sorry Faith, I had to let her give him another bite so that I could snap a picture! :-} I DID get him to eat most of his dinner before this, though!)

Happy boy!!!

On Sunday we decided to sleep in since Tim didn't get home until around 3AM that morning. It was so nice to have a few hours to do nothing. That night Emmy's little choir sang in church and it was so stinkin' cute! She is a natural.

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend as well! It was so beautiful and warm-just like summer! Thank you, Lord, for the little blessings!

I sure am blessed!

It seems that it is getting harder and harder to have time to post something these days! During the summer I won't be working at Mother's Day Out, so hopefully I will have some more free time!

Where do I even begin?!?!?

First of all, since I posted about our disappointing news a few weeks ago, Tim and I have both felt a lot of peace about the situation. We know that God has a plan for us and that we are in a waiting period. We have had a few more opportunities arise since then, so we are still hoping and praying that God will open some doors! Thank you all who read my blog for your prayers! We knew all along that God had His hand on this even though the outcome wasn't what we wanted. It was just a hard thing to understand.

Our Easter week/weekend was great and very eventful! We had an Easter egg hunt at Mother's Day Out and went to Maryville the Saturday before Easter and had a huge hunt with some of Tim's family their.

The egg hunt at MDO. She didn't realize that the key was to get as many as you could as fast as you can. Every egg she found she would pick up, open it, then throw the egg down if she didn't like the candy in it! lol

Even Addy found an egg!

The Maryville trip was just for the day, so when we got back Emmy and I made some cute little cookies-sugar cookie sandwiches overflowing with white icing rolled in sprinkles. (I felt like we needed to do something special at home since it was almost Easter). They turned out so cute and were delicious! After that, Tim wanted to go door to door around our neighborhood and invite some neighbors to church for Easter Sunday. We have been talking a lot about Jesus dieing on the cross and his resurrection so that Emmy would know that Easter isn't about the Easter bunny and egg hunts. Anyway, I talked Tim into wearing Addy in the Snugly and letting Emmy walk with him while they did that so that I could quick-clean the house. The first door they knocked on a lady answered the door. Emmy said "Happy Easter! Will you come to church with me tomorrow?" The lady replied "Thank you! This has been the biggest blessing all day! I'm new to the area and I just might do that!" They went to several other houses where some similar things happened, but I thought it was so cool to hear about how Emmy is just a little evangelist! We are going to try and make this a habit hoping that as Emmy and Addy get older, they won't have as hard of a time sharing their faith. Why is it so hard to do that?

Making cookies with Mommy

Emmy helping Zachary hunt eggs in Maryville. She noticed during the hunt that he didn't have many, so she started emptying out her basket to share. I was very impressed!

Easter Sunday we of course went to church. I decided to take Emmy in the service with me since it was going to be shorter than usual (They do 4 45 minute services on Easter because of the high attendance). I was so impressed with her! She sat through everything and asked a lot of questions. I don't typically take her into church because she has so much energy, so I am THRILLED that I know now that she can do it! After church we went to my Dad and Vickie's for lunch and did another hunt there! They had some adorable baskets for the girls and really enjoyed seeing them all dolled up. We went home and rested a while that afternoon, then headed to my Grandma's for dinner and fellowship with the some more family.

The girls on Easter Sunday morning

Emmy and her Easter basket

Addy and her basket

The fam on Easter!

My beautiful sister and me on Easter

This past weekend some friends and I had a shower for my best friend Jessica who is getting married in May. Everything was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time! I will definitely be posting about that wedding considering Emmy and I are both in the wedding party! Addy went with me while we set up and just played in her pack-n-play and Emmy went to my Dad and Vickie's house. They took her to the local aquarium, out to eat and to a park that she doesn't get to go to very often! She had a blast, of course and I hear she was a really good girl! Since that day was also my mother-in-law's birthday, we met them for dinner after Tim got off work at a Japanese Steakhouse and then went back to their house to relax. Louise (MIL) and I took Emmy, Addy, and Zachary (my nephew) on a walk in the wagon for the first time all together! It was so cute and so sweet to see how they are getting bigger and are starting to be able to do fun things together! In a way I can't wait until they are all big enough to really play. We have a lot of things to look forward to!

Jess in her toilet paper wedding gown that we made at the shower!

Me and the beautiful bride

Since I've talked a ton about Emmy, let me just tell you about our little Addy. She is crawling on all fours now, pulling up on things to stand, and lets go and holds on with one hand. One of these days she is going to take off! She says "Da Da" to Tim often and says "Ma Ma" when she is whining and really needs me (which is not often at all). Her favorite song it "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". She even puts her little hands together with her fingers touching to try and do the motions. Her thighs have about 3 big rolls which I am so excited about because Emmy was a skinny minny at Addy's age! I am so glad it is getting warm enough to show off those precious legs and tiny toes! She continues to be the sweetest little baby! Her face lights up when people talk to her and she laughs at the drop of a hat. My only complaints are that I wish that she would sleep all through the night and she still doesn't like much baby food except sweet potatoes and green beans, but I guess I have a lot to be thankful for considering those are the only things she does "wrong".

Being a big girl at the mall playground

This was an action shot! They were playing together so sweetly that I just had to snap a photo and they just happened to be matching! Seriously!!! I'm sure this sisterly love won't last long, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can! lol

Ok...I think I've now updated y'all on all the fun things that have gone on in our family the past few weeks! Tomorrow is my birthday, so I think Tim, the girls, and I are going out to eat tonight to Carraba's, one of my favorite restaurants! I sure am blessed, huh? I almost forgot.. could y'all be praying for Tim the next few weeks? The semester is coming to an end so that means he's got of a lot of studying for finals and projects due. Thank you!

Why?

Today, Tim and I got some disappointing news...


Last Thursday, we were so excited to be interviewed by a local church searching for a full-time youth minister. It's a good sized church with a great reputation, so of course, we were thrilled. We knew at the interview that they were looking at 2 other couples. I felt that the interview went great. Tim just has a way of sharing his heart and his love for the Lord is so obvious. I was VERY nervous, but after a few questions, the 5 person search committee and pastor made me feel very comfortable. After the interview, we felt confident. We also felt like the Lord was tugging at our hearts and was going to open some doors and allow us to serve at this church.


Today, Tim got a call from the pastor explaining that they had decided to go with someone else. Tim asked a few questions, got a few answers, and ended genuinely telling him that he was glad that God led them to the person that they were looking for.


I am so disappointed right now.


Tim was called to the ministry several years ago. Within the past 3 years, I also have a strong desire to minister with him. Why would God call us to serve Him and then allow doors to be slammed in our faces? This is the fourth church that we have had a good chance to serve at full-time, but there has always been a reason like "you haven't been to seminary yet" or "you don't have enough experience", etc. He sometimes never hears anything at all from the churches that he has sent his resume to.


Is it wrong for me to ask God why? Is it wrong to be frustrated right now? I strongly believe that God has a plan for us, but it is SO hard to understand Him when things like this keep on happening. Tim and I are so anxious to be serving full-time. Why is it taking so long?


Since I met Tim, he has been one of the most solid Christians I know. Sure, we've all made mistakes, but as far as his walk with the Lord and servants heart, he's always been at the top of my list of spiritual leaders/mentors. I pray that my girls will be like him when they grow up. I want them to seek the Lord like he does and be as humble as he is. I want them to love people and care about people as much as he does. I could go on and on, but basically, I think that churches should be praying that someone like Tim would cross their path.


Why hasn't he gotten the opportunity to serve yet? There are ministers out there serving full-time right now and some of them don't have any of those qualities. Ministry is just their job or their spotlight. That is so disheartening to me, especially in times like this. Why are people like that in such an important and vital position and people like Tim begging to serve and not being given the opportunity?



I just wish that I could understand why.


I've never been this transparent on my blog and this probably won't happen very often. I just wanted to share my heart and be "real" with y'all. Scripture and words of encouragement would be more than appreciated right now!



Also, I know that there are people out there going through stressful, uncertain, and very difficult times. I would never want to whine or complain because I know how blessed I am. I am just trying to understand why we are in this season and why this season is staying so cold. I'm ready for Spring...