Youth on a Mission

My beautiful Alexa, your mom & dad are so proud of you! This was your second time to go with the youth to Veritable Camp. This year they decided to combine a mission trip with camp. I just knew you would be so excited to have this experience with your friends. Veritable was in Waterflow, New Mexico and you were doing missions with the Navajo Indians. We met at the church at 7:00am and after loading everything on the bus the youth, chaperone's, parents, and the bus driver gathered around to pray for your trip. We prayed that our God would watch over y'all on your way there and that He would guide ya'll while sharing your faith to the ones that may not know Him! Your mom drove to the front of the church to wait for the bus to pull out and while I waited I said a prayer for my sweet daughter and her friends that he would watch over ya'll and give you the courage to step out of your comfort zone when needed. When I saw your bus leave the church I think I would have jumped out of my car and into the bus to be with you if I could have! The second you left I was so lonely for you! I couldn't wait for you to get back so you could share all the sweet stories about your trip and how awesome it was to share God's Good News!

You left Saturday at 7:00am and stayed in a host home in Abernathy, Tx. You arrived in Waterflow late Sunday night! You called me that Sunday morning to let me know how awesome your host home was! They had coffee and muffins for you with a cappuccino machine!

This was your mission building. This is where the Navajo children lived. You stayed in the dorm rooms to the right of the brick building. Under the brick building is where the "purple room" was. You explained to me this is where ya'll had worship every night.



Girls Dorm

You have spoken about several children but I think two of them captured your heart and I'm so glad you got pictures of them!! The little boy ya'll nicknamed Mowgli but his name was Brayden and the little girl was Emmy! I think this was so amazing sense your cousins names are Brayden and baby Emmy who will be born in September!



Lex & Brayden



Lex & Emmy

During your time in Waterflow ya'll painted 3 churches and cleaned out a christian TV station. When you got home you showed me your leg and explained that you got a small scratch from falling off a ladder...I'm so sorry Lex, but, you got that from your momma!! Even though ya'll stayed very busy with helping everyone there ya'll did make time to do a little shopping and sight seeing! Your sisters love their bracelets, Dad loves his plaque from the four corners and your momma loves her Navajo earrings! Thank you my baby for thinking of all of us!







One of the things that you talk about most is the night that ya'll had worship in the park. The amazing music and sharing! Thank you my sweet baby for the phone call I received at midnight that special night! I will skip that conversation in our blog and keep those precious words that we shared in my heart forever!!

Another thing you speak of is your trip to the four corners. You were so excited to tell me that you stood in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah at the same time! How awesome is that?? I hope one day we can all go there and stand in the spot that you were telling me about!

I'm so thankful for our awesome church that is filled with such wonderful people and blessed with such an awesome youth! You absolutely love your youth pastor Michael and his wife Natalie! We are so blessed as parents to have such a strong youth pastor guiding our precious daughter in her spiritual walk with her Savior! Thank you so much Michael and Natalie for everything you do and all the beautiful marks you have laid on our daughter's heart! It's a big deal to lead teenagers especially with the world right now and I think you both are a complete blessing from God!




Alexa & her youth pastor Michael

Lex your momma can't express just how proud of you I am! Every year I see you grow closer to your Savior and walking down the path he laid for you! I hope you look at these beautiful pictures you took and reflect on all the memories it gave you! Please know my baby that you don't have to be at camp, on a mission trip, or hundreds of miles away from home to share your faith with others~

If God is for us what could stand against







A Cowgirl Is Born

DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE

Oh Addi Grace, you love every animal your beautiful brown eyes see! The love that you have for horses your mommy can't express from typing words on our blog but I will explain your most precious love the best I can!

You were about 18 months old and saying yeeehaww. Sometimes you would say it and point and other times you would just say yeehaw at random times. Mommy, Daddy, and Lex tried to figure out what you were calling yeehaw! Yes, we do live in Texas but we are never around horses and I can't ever think of a time I had said..."YeeeHaw!" Finally, after a couple of months of saying yeehaw we figured out that you were calling a horse a yeehaw!!! So..Mommy decided to have your second birthday party a yeehaw party! My angel, Addi, before you could say the word horse you were calling  it a yeehaw!

After that we started realizing your absolute love for horses, rodeos, and anything in between! We had to dvr PBR bull riding for you! (We would call you Little Yellow Jacket) At the age of 3 your favorite movie was 8 seconds about Lane Frost! We took you to your first rodeo and when you came home you moved the chairs from the dining room in the living room, grabbed your stick horse and pretended you were running around barrels!! I have to explain that no one in our family lives on a ranch or has any horses at all! You developed your passion and love for these beautiful animals all your own!

Anna gave your mommy a call and said that she was going to a horse show with Moon and wanted you to enter in lead-line and walk only events. We have never done anything like this before but I knew you would be the most excited you had ever been! Anna explained that the horse shows could sometimes get boring but I told her you would be just fine being in that environment around horses!!! Mommy will explain later in this post about your love for Anna and how she came in our lives.
My precious cowgirl, Anna brought you to her trailer to get dressed for your event and when you walked out...I couldn't believe my eyes!! I bent over looking at you trying to catch my breath and my eyes filled with "happy tears"! Oh Addi, I know God was looking down at you with the biggest smile! This was your very first horse show and your beautiful dreams coming true!!

Anna is Mrs. Valerie's (mommy's best friend) mom! She lives about an hour from us but she has 7 horses, 3 dogs, ducks, a rabbit and now a cat! Lets just say that's a piece of Heaven for you! We have been to Anna's several times to ride horses but this summer when Josh and Chloe go to visit you stay with them! You even went to stay for 4 nights and did NOT want to come home!! Anna has opened her sweet heart to you and you have jumped in! Thank goodness Josh & Chloe don't mind sharing Anna with you! You call Anna your Anna! Even though you are such a shy little girl you have grown so very close to Anna and miss her when you are not with her!! One night you even woke mommy up at 2:00 in the morning just to tell me that you miss her!! My sweet Addi, the love you have for your Anna I know she loves you just the same!! Thank you Anna for taking my sweet baby girl and loving her and giving her the most precious memories she will cherish all her life!



* Moon * Anna * Addi *

Addi, you were in two events...lead-line and walk only and on your very first horse show you got second place in both classes!!!! We were so proud of you!!! Anna told mommy that when the judge asked you how old your horse was you told him..."Moon!" which is the name of your horse!! Congratulations my cowgirl!

walk only



lead-line







Now your mommy needs to explain the love you have for Moon!

Yes, you love all horses! Yes, Anna has seven horses but Moon is your very favorite along with everyone else who meets him! When Moon was little he developed an infection in his eye so he lost one of his eyes. I don't know if this could be one of the reasons Moon has captured your heart but he definatly grabbed a hold of it! For Valentines's Day you made a Valentine box and turned a shoe box into a horse! Ofcourse the horse was named Moon and we could only put one eye on the box! You also want your Aunt Madeline to name her baby, that will be born soon, Moon!! Anna washed your hair one time when you were at her house in Moon's shampoo and you said your hair smelled like Moon for months!!

Dear Moon,

There is a beautiful young cowgirl that loves you with every bit of her heart! She talks about you, names her dolls after you, and counts the days before seeing you again!!

I would just like to thank you for being the beautiful horse you are and letting my cowgirl ride you so proudly!

Love,

A cowgirl's mommy



* MOON *





Dreams of little girls sometimes can change. Addi Grace, your mommy believes that the dream of horses is in your precious heart to stay! Mommy really doesn't know much about horses but I have a feeling I will be learning a lot as the years come! This was your first of many horse shows and your mommy couldn't have been more proud of her cowgirl! When you are on a horse anyone that stands in your presence can see the light in your eyes! Your mommy's prayer is that you always reach for your dreams!

Keep dreaming my most beautiful cowgirl~

Too much TV time affects kids' health

Too much TV time affects kids' health



*Click on the link to watch our interview*

Mommy was sitting at the computer enjoying her first cup of coffee when the phone rang. A lady from KFDM was on the other end explaining that Lauren, your cousin, who is doing an intern with them told Kalie that we have beautiful girls and could possibly help out with their story on channel 6 news! I agreed to the interview about watching too much television during summer could hurt children and their routine with sleep! Daddy and I were discussing this issue not long ago that we wanted to make sure that while our summer time should be relaxed and fun but try to stay on a good schedule!! So, Mommy was more than happy to help out with the story and I prayed that I could answer any questions that might be able to help other families going through the same situation.
It was a lot of fun to see ourselves on TV! Lex helped me get ready but she didn't participate in the interview regarding too much TV. I told them that if they needed help with a story regarding too much texting on cell phones during summer I could help with that also.....  ;)
Addi Grace, you were very shy and to this day mommy can't say lets watch Addi & Ella on TV or else Addi will correct me and say..."No! I'm not on TV...just Ella!!"
Ella Jo, like always, you were not shy at all!! You would smile and help us with what we needed to do. The camera man asked you to say a few words but I think that's where you drew the line...
I hope our story will help all the parents in our area that was able to see the interview. Thank you Lauren for suggesting my beautiful angels for your story~

PANDAMANIA

It's all God's children singing glory glory hallelujah He reigns

This was our third year to participate with vacation bible school. Mommy and Alexa are crew leaders while Addi & Ella are in preschool activities. This years theme was Pandamania! Lex, when we started VBS on Sunday night you weren't sure how you would like it but I knew that once you got there and got to know the kids you would want to go back all week....and Momma was right! (I won't tell anyone) This year we had a group of 7 4th grade girls and they just fell in love with you! On the first day we spoke about creation and I think you had their heart when you made your animal noises!! I love how you developed a relationship with each girl in the group, and I know the relationships will be there for years to come.
Addi Grace, like always, you had the time of your life! This was your third year with the preschool and you think it's so cool that your teacher is Mrs. Jessica but this year we had another Mrs. Jessica too!! It makes your mommy's heart swell every day when ya'll leave because Mrs. Jessica grabs your sweet hand and says..."Addi, Ella, Jesus loves you!" I love ending the awesome day with those sweet words! You were excited to have your little sister with you this year! I watched you as you took her under your wing to show her what to do in such a loving sister way! This year you missed a day of VBS because you went to your Anna's house to ride horses. I knew that even though you had VBS you would not pass up going to your Anna's! You were able to come back and enjoy the rest of VBS with your sister!!
Ella Jo, this was your first year to be out of the nursery and with preschool. On the first day we passed the nursery and your sweet ladies that had you the years before were so happy to see you moving on but so sad they would not be able to love on you all day! One of mommy's favorite parts of VBS is watching all my angels singing and praising our God! What an awesome thing for a mommy! My little girls, that my Savior blessed me with, standing, singing, and praising our Lord, Jesus Christ, is such an amazing feeling that I want in my heart always! Ella, at the young age you are, your mommy is so proud of how fast you learned the songs and all the hand motions that goes with them. Bible school has been over for a few days now and I will say thru out the day..."God sees you" and all of you will shout..."Thank you God!!" I love it! Ya'll were coloring the pages from your lessons and would take turns saying "God made you"..."Thank you God!"..."God gives good gifts"......"Thank you God!"
My sweet 7 girls that God gave me to watch over during VBS has left such a mark on my heart! Most of them I will see again at church but a couple I will miss terribly! My sweet "feather friends" were so much fun and reminded me how Lex was at that cute age and what I have to look forward to with Addi & Ella! I think of my "feather friends" often and keep them in prayer! They are such beautiful young ladies and I pray that they will grow knowing just how beautiful they are! My sweet "feather friends", Mrs. Jessica loves you so much and my God sighting for the week was having each one of you in my group....
God does give good gifts.....THANK YOU GOD~



Riley Roo, Kayla K, Renna Tommey, Raley, and Ally Alligator





Kids donated money to buy Spanish Bibles for
children. We put the Bibles in these
back packs with a book mark!







Lex & Michael



Ella * Ava * Henry





What an awesome time we had at Bible school this year! I look back at our pictures and memories and I'm so sad it's over! Addi, We were leaving VBS one day and you asked.."Mommy, can Jesus really see me?" I answered "Yes baby, He sure can!" You asked again.."Even in the car?" I again answered, "Yes" You then asked..."Does he wear goggles??" Oh my Addi Grace, I hope you always feel the presense of our God with you my sweet baby girl!  Lex, when we were all sitting at the table together during our hamburger supper to celebrate the last day of VBS, you said..."I don't want it to be over..." and I don't either! I pray that our children at VBS carry all that this awesome experience gave them in their hearts forever! The friendships made, songs learned and sweet Bible stories heard!!

Looking forward to next year~