Family Photos

Thanks to Neal Dillard we were able to take some family photos that will make it up on our walls :)

 The original four!

 I was doing tricks with goldfish in order to make them laugh...totally worth it!

Cute cousins.

More Family Time...

After the week away, we spent some time around here having fun together...

 We had a day of touring the monuments in D.C.

 Maddie just loved being on Papa's shoulders!

One day we went to Ford's Theatre and the Old Post Office, which are both great places to visit. 

 Savannah and Emma enjoyed playing together quietly, while Maddie and Charis played loudly :)

 One evening we had s'mores in the backyard.

 Savannah just wanted the graham crackers.

 Mimi and Maddie.

 Another evening we went on a Potomac River Boat tour!

 We had great seats at the back of the boat.

 My sister and mom- so pretty!

 Great views of the Lincoln.

 Another evening we went to Old Town and ran into our friends the Pinkleys!

My girls hopped in the car when the James and my parents were packing up. I think they wanted to hitch a ride!! 

We are so glad for this time together- thanks for coming out and all the fun memories!

Jamestown and Yorktown

I didn't get too many photos of Yorktown and Jamestown, but here's what I have...

 One morning we decided to go to a playground and skip all the historic stuff :)

  At Yorktown the girls had fun dressing up.

So did the dads :)

  In one museum the girls pretended to have "church". It was really cute to see their version of a Sunday school service!

Emma just loved playing mommy. She pushed Savannah everywhere. 

Uncle Jesse even knows how to make packing up to leave fun!

Sweet Family Time

This past week and a half my mom and dad, sister and her husband, and their two kids came to visit us! We stayed in Williamsburg for a week, and then came to our house the rest of the time. It was a fun time together, but way too short...really. I just wanted to keep them all here forever.

 The girls were giddy when they first saw Mimi and Papa. Maddie said earlier that day, "When I see Mimi and Papa I'm going to do 4 twirls and give them the biggest hug!"

 Maddie also kept saying, "I love you to the moon and back!" Savannah was just full of kisses.

 We met up with the James in Williamsburg. Here are the cute cousins feeding the horses. 

 All piled in for a ride.

 Williamsburg was just beautiful. 

 It was so peaceful to walk the streets every evening.

 The little ones had so much fun running everywhere!

 The dads on Father's Day.

 Girl time.

 We watched a sheep get sheared...pretty amazing.

 Aunt Melissa snuck in some kisses.

Here's our Father's Day dinner in the hotel...we went all out and made hot dogs, watermelon, baked beans, and root beer. It was really special to all be together. 

More photos to come!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

I'm so thankful for my best friend! We've been married only 6 years today, but in some ways it seems like we've known each other all our lives. He's the man of my dreams, and I'm so thankful to live life with him each day!

We spent the day touring DC with my family who's visiting...more photos to come!

Refresh Ladies Day at IBC

We recently had a ladies event here at IBC, which was called "Refresh". It was an encouraging morning with time to visit, have breakfast, hear a devotional and testimony.

 Here's Bethany Drum (the women's ministry director at IBC) welcoming all the ladies. I'm having so much fun getting to know these precious women!

We had a delicious breakfast- blueberry french toast, egg souffles, and fruit.

Yes, I did have the opportunity to share with the ladies a bit that morning. Bethany was kind enough to ask if I would give my testimony and a devotional on refreshment from the Word. It was neat to see how the Lord gave me peace in talking with the ladies, because I'm not used to speaking in front of so many people!! After sharing my testimony, I gave a devotional on "The One Thing Necessary". We looked at David's "one thing" in Psalm 27:4, Paul's "one thing" in Philippians 3:12-14, and Mary's "one thing" in Luke 10:38-42.
Here's a little of what each person's "one thing" is..
David- To dwell in the house of the Lord and behold His beauty. 
Paul- The goal of Christlikeness.
Mary- She sat at Jesus' feet devoted and listened while her sister was distracted.
As we live our busy lives may we see the overarching goal is to worship Christ. May you be refreshed as you strive toward the “one thing necessary”.

New Friends in the Yard...

We moved here to NOVA in February. We often saw foxes, cardinals, deer, raccoons, chipmunks, and other cute animals in our back yard. Lately, we've been seeing some not so cute nature...

 Here's a bee hive right on our back porch. It's really quite amazing to see how they construct their home! I think we'll be taking it down somehow.

We've also found several snakes. This one going under our back porch is over 5 feet long! We know this because he recently shed his skin and it measured 5 feet. He's a black snake and isn't poisonous, so I hear. 

Welcome to the woods!!

Cooking Class with Penny

Friday morning Penny Wood was kind enough to do a little cooking class for a few ladies. Space was limited, so we sure would have loved more to come here what she had to say. Penny began the morning with Romans 12:12-13. Hospitality and the spiritual life are connected, and in both we need good tools. Penny mentioned some of her favorite tools found in 1 John 1:9. She encouraged us to strive to spend our "first fruits" in our devotion to God, otherwise our hospitality would be in vain.
This sure spoke to me!

We learned great tips about cutting oranges, sharpening knives, making candied nuts, etc.

Here's the yummy dishes we learned to make...

 Marinaded Chicken
Lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, black pepper, and olive oil.
We cooked this in a nonstick skillet. The key was to let the pan get very hot before putting the chicken in. Only flip the chicken once!

 Mediterranean Orzo
Olive oil, garlic, onion, orzo, water, artichoke hearts, capers, olives, and grated Parmesan cheese.

 Green Salad with Fresh Orange Segments
Romaine, celery, caramelized onions, oranges, craisins, candied chopped nuts.

Honey Mustard Dressing
Garlic, lemon juice and zest. Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Macerated Berries over Vanilla Ice Cream
I didn't get a photo of dessert, but it was delicious!

Thank you Penny for equipping us to practice hospitality with the right heart and healthy tips.