SonRise: Doors & The Haiti PEACE Team!

My church. I'm falling in love every single week with the messages being shared. Trish joined us this morning, which was terrific! Girl, I'm so glad you were able to make it out! She reminded me of the time I told her that I wasn't entirely sold on the series my church was going through; at the time, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to stay, as I'd felt some of the content was starting to stray a bit, doctrinally-speaking.

It's been a 180 since then; I realized this morning when she brought that up, and looking back at that, it also hit me that I've been with this church for over two years now. Yay!

Today was the second installment of the newest series: Doors. Pastor Jeff, Pastor Chad and the rest of the team has done an excellent job of incorporating real, life-applicable teachings into a message built around God's word. I mean, we can all relate to what a door is, and how it's an access point either into or out of somewhere, something, someone... they're digging into this deeper each week, and illustrating the avenues in life that are either accessed or denied by our choice to open and close those doors.

are we listening?

AND, many many prayers of excitement went out today to the SonRise PEACE team that's headed to Haiti at the end of this week! Marissa's (from my Panama team) sister Tana is going, along with 9 others: Chad, Evan, Joy, Matt, Noah, Rachel, Jamie, Wendell and Jacques will all make their way to Haiti in less than a week to be the voice and presence of God's love among the people in need there. I am asking that you, my fellow blogbots, please lift them up in prayer the same way you did for my Panama team and me!

go team haiti! 

What a beautiful thing!! We are praying you guys to and from safely, and that God will do what He does best through your hands while you're there. I can't wait to hear your stories when you return! :)

For us, it was a nice day spent relaxing here at home: Getting a couple things done, and enjoying the weather outside for a bit.

Here's to a solid week!

xo | cmd

Photogs Galore!

It's a good day for some photography!

I did a major cleanse of the memory cards for the D90 yesterday, charged up all the batteries, wiped down lenses and screens, and tested the flashes yesterday in preparation for a long day of shooting and editing.

Stop #1: Gobles!

This is a family I met at Towerview; they're a part of our small group and I'm glad to call them friends beyond that, too. Plus, their kids are adorable, and it was a blast shooting them in the comfort of their own home & backyard.


goble family | shiloh

Stop #2: Christine!

From Shiloh down to Waterloo to see Christine, Ava & Thomas. I used to work with Christine, and I was just itching at a chance to shoot her and her daughter. We added in Thomas to the mix and walked away with some awesome shots.

christine. ava. thomas | love the smiles! | waterloo

Edits edits edits coming SOON!
P.S. - Check it Out :)

*Whew! More to come... soon :)

xo | cmd

Itty Bitty Koinonia

mo & evan

It's been a long week. Joe's still out of town and the majority of our small group had other unavoidable obligations. That left us with a small but enthusiastic gang of the Prescotts, the Gobles, Becky, myself, and the little kids. 

We had a great time, as always; it's no secret that large or small, this group is incredible and I love having this time with them on Koinonia nights. Evan had a great time too, and he and Mo and their matching shirts had a bunch of fun all night. 

We missed all of our regulars who couldn't attend tonight, but hopefully we'll see you very soon! Thanks again, Tom, for providing the lesson for us tonight. It's been a wild week and this was the perfect way to unwind: friends, fellowship, food, and funny kids :) 

See you tomorrow, folks :)

xo | cmd

Mother's Day 2012

The number one thing on my mind this morning:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

the mamas of my family
niece cynthia | sister heidi | mama | me :)

I know that in my immediate family alone, there are four mothers. We each have our own style, our own tastes, and of course, our own daughters. These three women are three of the most incredible ladies I've ever known. They are among the ranks of mothers who constantly surpass the expectations of being mothers, and for that I admire them.

.. But they don't stand alone. For every mother, every where, I'm celebrating your victories today: both big and small! :) The world moves because of you. Thank you to my mom, my mother-in-law and all the other moms who are the example we need to follow. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

=====================

We started church off this morning with an incredibly fun performance of the Mom Song, sung by Robin & Rachel. Great job, ladies!

rachel & robin : the mom song! :)

Once church was out, we made a quick pitstop at the store and grabbed some last minute grub before heading over to base to the Babots. We joined Alex & Lara, along with the Gobles & all the little ones, and also Lara's friend Brooke, for a grillout. We filled the afternoon with eating and playing outside. Jason showed up towards the end, right before Lara got the slip-n-slide out for the kiddos. 

Here's how that went.....

tom. jason. alex. joe.

landon & jason | getting air!

kids tying each other up ;)

she's getting so darn big! :|

alex setting up the slip-n-slide

three little ones in a row
jacob. sydni. landon

i. love. this.
syd & jacob

water!

"mama, i'm cold. brrrrrrr!"

"daddy: march!

slugger :)

paparazzi ;)
brooke. lara. cori

what a beautiful day :)

time to go: that is one tuckered-out little lady ♥

 Happy Mother's Day, everyone :)

xo | cmd

It's a Small Group PAR-TAY!

This is the second round of our extended small group meeting at our place, and we sure had a lot to celebrate.


baby evan!

 For starters, the Gobles had their baby last week, so all the women were thrilled that they toted him along for our oogling pleasure. Welcome, welcome, welcome!! Baby Evan is here, and clearly both Mommy and Daddy are good to go, and we wouldn't dare forget about proud big brother Jacob - he's lovin' it, too. I even got to hold him for a bit during the evening; it confirmed any wandering doubt I had left that I do in fact want another little baby like that, just not yet. My oh my... :)

AAAAAND, because tomorrow is Joe's whopping 26th birthday, I had asked Lara earlier in the week if she could funnel her [extraordinary] cake-making skill into something Spiderman-related for Joe. Yes, that's right: Spiderman. She came up with a stellar little thing, and we managed to keep it hidden from Joe for nearly half the evening until it was time to light candles, sing, and do the whole deal. What was great about this was that there were three toddlers present, yet Joe was the one with the comic book cake. Love it. :)

joe. sydni. jacob. landon.
&& spiderman. :)

In other news, we launched into the book of James tonight, which we'll continue to do each meeting, chapter by chapter. Since James happens to be one of my favorite books in the Bible, I'm already excited about delving into it with our small group. We made it through the first chapter tonight, and even had time for discussions.

art in progress

Oh, and Jimmy took our etchy cups to a whole new level tonight; instead of opting for the traditional method of using a fingernail, Jimmy took to it with a craft knife, exacting it into quite the presentable little cup. Haha. It looks like we've got a whole group full of artists :)

God is oh so GOOD! 

Gooooood NIGHT!

xo | cmd