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

Friends & Family on Friday

Breakfast out of town is usually a far cry from whatever dietary regimen I'm trying to follow, but I can't say I was upset about some turkey bacon and eggs to get the day started. To top it, we stopped by my old stomping grounds to say hi to a few familiar faces, and the new ones I'd not yet met.

Man, I miss these guys!

oh, how i miss these two! [& the rest of that team!]

We didn't plan it, but it turned out we'd see Marc twice today; we ran into him several hours later at Bindy's. We were set for the afternoon to celebrate Christmas with Rob's mom and stepdad, which provided the final item on Rob's Christmas wish list. We've now got a new acoustic for the house, and I have to say, it's beautiful.

he's in love! 

A couple hours later, we wrapped everything up at Rob's mom's and headed back to Dillon's to decide how to allocate the remaining hours of the night.

Bindy's it was. The crowd started pouring in as it does every time I've seen the place, and with it came Marc, who we just saw earlier this morning, and even Taryn, who was at a birthday party just before stopping through to see us. There were plenty of other familiar faces, which made for a fun [long, but fun] night!

hi jesse, hi taryn! :) 

taryn :) 

random snapchat? 

I'm not even sure who that SnapChat ended up going to, but if I had to guess, it was probably Ali & Damanji. Either way, it's been a night with these folks and I'm happy to have spent it the way we did. I'm also happy to be home for the night.... ;)

That being said, G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Dinner With Friends

Today flew past with flying colors. Literally. The sun was out, everything seemed... brighter, and I ventured outside to actually enjoy the fresh air at lunch. That's the first time this year. Spring is just around the corner!

it is a new day.. so smile!!

It even seemed a bit more cheery in the office. With the absence of windows in the back half of our space, we all took turns peeking around the front to soak in the sunlight of the day. The pace seemed busier and we are all excited about that.

Speaking of pace, I had to apologize to Rob tonight for getting impatient when he was late getting off work and making it to the house. He and I both put ourselves in overdrive at times when it comes to the at-work versions of ourselves, and when we get home, there are times that one - or both - of us will forget to downshift. So he changed clothes quicker than a racecar pit-crew, and we were back out the door to dinner with Becky, Catie & Andy and their neighbors Rachel & Travis.

Main Street Cafe it was. Chad of course took excellent care of us, despite our noisy, rowdy selves. Just kidding.. I don't think we were that bad. 

rachel. catie. becky. cori

^ We look super cheesy because this was taken just seconds after Andy went flying in front of us. Just.. sayin ;)

It looks like Jesse may be visiting this weekend, but we'll get all that figured out in the next day or so.

For now, good night!

xo | cmd

Robin's Birthday & A Driving Lesson

Happy birthday, Robin!!!

Today started out with some sleeping in..... because Saturdays should always be that way. Right? :) 

... By sleeping in, I mean 8:45am. Watch out, I know. :) 

Anyway, we loaded up and headed over to Eckert's to meet up with the Pages and Robin and her boys; Joe and Adam had decided they would take the kids out to the farm for the day while we took Robin for brunch and a movie to celebrate her birthday. Well, the guys taking on five kids for the day was a large part of the birthday present as well, so I wouldn't dare detract from that value ;) 

I've never had breakfast at Eckert's, but after today, I certainly will again. Deeeelish. From there it was off to Wehrenberg, where we met with Rachel and headed in for a late morning showing of The Words, starring Zoe Saldana [who I adore!] and Bradley Cooper [who Robin adores! haha.. ]. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from it, but whatever that was, it wasn't that. I definitely liked it; very unique. I'll probably have to re-watch this one at some point. Either way, it was a fun little outing and we even snagged a shot of us.... with Bradley Cooper. It was definitely by chance, lol. 

cori. rachel. cathie. robin.
...... & bradley. hahaha.... 

We found after the movie that the guys had finished the fair and apple picking at Eckert's, and had moved the party to Chuck-E-Cheese. We rendezvoused there for a short bit before heading back home for some family-wide nap time before making with it onto what is now an open driving range, literally. Remember a few days back when the Alexanders' birthday gift for Sydni arrived at our house and we weren't able to take it for a spin?

Well......

She's DRIVING!!! :-O

uh-oh..... driving already!

She had a BLAST. Holy cow. I loved every second of it. Love love love love her. A million x million thanks to Gerald & Leslie for their incredible generosity and for being so thoughtful!

Time now for some dinner with the fam....

See you tomorrow at the Tower!

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