photo journey

christmas party.jpg

Nan, one of the precious "older women" in our church, and me at the annual Christmas party at her house. A great tradition where we let our sinful nature loose during the white elephant gift exchange.

christmas tree hunting.jpg

Some saints going Christmas tree shopping together. We went to a farm where you cut down your own tree.

coco's.jpg

Michael's family and ours sometimes take a walk to Coco's, the best snow cones in town...and the swings are free!

girls book club.jpg

For a season, some Sisters in our church hosted Girls Book Club - a way to spend time with the younger girls and love them.

hubby house.jpg

We needed a bigger house, but we did not want to leave the neighborhood where some of the saints had located themselves (we just saw too many advantages to living life together, close together).

The Lord provided a great house just one street over.

kids baking with sister.jpg

Brandy and Patrick live across the street from us. They are like an aunt and uncle to our kids. Here, Brandy is baking with them.

kids on couch.jpg

One of the things I love about churchlife are the incredible friendships our kids have with one another. They take it totally for granted, and I love that, too.

kids worn out at zoo.jpg

Random trip to the zoo together. The kids were not in the mood for the picture (especially mine!).

ladies dinner for sister.jpg

Kim was in a hard season of life, so the sisters planned a nice dinner just to love her. They made it a big deal, and I think it meant a lot to Kim.

rangers game.jpg

For multiple reasons, the family of the three teenagers in the middle was having a hard time. So, for a period of time, different saints in the church took in each of the three teenagers. Randi, who is in light blue on the left, lived with us for a month. We fell in love with her. We decided to take them all to a Rangers game, and Johnny and Natalie came along to help and to join in the fun.

rishi's 28th birthday.jpg

For my 28th birthday, Amanda surprised me by inviting some Brothers over. We went bowling. It was one of my best birthdays.

sisters on beulah.jpg

My brother is crazy (freak might be a better word). He bought an empty field behind his house and turned it into a Field of Dreams (bases and all). Here, some Sisters are gathering to share the Lord.

thanksgiving dinner.jpg

Another annual tradition for our church is a Thanksgiving meal. One year, I invited a favorite coworker of mine and her daughter. It meant a lot to us that they joined us, and I think it meant a lot to them to be part of our community. People need community.

two saints' birthday.jpg

Kim and Chris both have birthdays in July, so why not? Amanda makes a killer dessert, but she won't eat it because she thinks mixing fruit and dessert is ungodly. What a sacrifice.

watt house for sale.jpg

Selling our first house. Mixed feelings.

watt house.jpg

Our first house. We chose this house because it was close to other Saints. It actually wasn't an easy decision. Did we really want to live that close to others? What about our own lives? How would we maintain our privacy? We're such typical Americans.

wedding.jpg

This is our brother, Johnny. For a while he put up with being known as "the single guy." It wasn't easy. But alas, he did not run away, is a precious Brother, and is now married to Natalie, who is cooler than he is.

kickball

This is a group shot after a fun, crazy game of kickball together. My team was getting destroyed, but we called it a tie after it was getting too dark. (okay, I was the only one who called it a tie.)

family smiling.jpg

After two years of struggling to conceive, Jackson and Erin were pregnant. We got together to celebrate God.

group.jpg

The whole gang at Jackson and Erin's celebration of God.