Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fireproof

Thanks to my mother-in-law Linde, Travis and I were able to go on a date today! We heard good things about this Christian movie and decided to go check it out. Fireproof was one of the best movies we have both seen in a long time. It was great, we laughed, we cried, and we left feeling encouraged. I highly encourage you to go see it! It's not cheesy and it has a great storyline. If you know anyone who is or has had marriage problems, this is the movie for them! Take my word for it and go check it out.

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Friday, October 17, 2008

Seven Quirky Things

Ok, so I was tagged by Laura to say 7 quirky things about myself and then tag 5 more people. Here it goes:

1. I am a clean freak, but only in the areas where people can see. My closets are rarely organized and my drawers are always a mess.
2. I can't stand kids who walk around with snotty noses or even dirty ears. I am constantly checking my kids ears and noses to make sure there aren't things that shouldn't be there. It just so happens that both the kids HATE when I touch their noses...
3. I really don't like shopping that much. This is weird considering that my mom and two sisters LOVE it. I especially can't stand shopping without something in mind to buy or no money.
4. I LOVED high school so much. I'm not sure why but it was a fun, happy time in my life. I would much rather go back to high school than college.
5. One of my favorite shows is "America's Next Top Model." I'm not sure why, but maybe it's my secret desire to be a runway model someday.
6. I can't stand any creepy-crawly things. I will do anything to avoid bugs, which is why I really don't like the outdoors much. That is my biggest nigthtmare, to be covered in bugs and no way out!!!!!!!!
7. I'm a very picky eater. Don't like most fruits or vegetables, no seafood, pork, dark meat chicken, or even coffee. I really don't like church potlucks because you can't see what's in that casserole your eating and you don't know who made the food (maybe their kitchen is dirty). I'm a mess...

Ok, now I tag:
1. Tiffany Nevil, come on girl, I know you hate these things but do it for me?
2. My sister Desi, I know you won't but it's worth a try!
3. Sarah Heymann because I know you will:)
4. Travis, because I'm really curious
5. Ashley Holcombe because it's fun:)

Monday, October 13, 2008

I can't believe it's already time for....

Brayden and all his friends
Peyton always a happy little camper in her backpack
A pumpkin house
If you know much about the Chronicles of Narnia, this is the beaver's house
Here is our family's pumpkin

THE PUMPKIN PATCH! I'm still stuck in August so going to the pumpkin patch sounded strange, but I guess it is already the middle of October. We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday with our HFG. It was a last minute planned event (and yes I was able to be spontaneous!), and it was a blast. We went to Spooner Farms out in Orting. I highly recommend it. They had a lot of things going on for the kids, the pumpkin prices are reasonable, and the corn maze was amazing! I just need to point out that we actually beat the Johnson's at the corn maze:) Hahaha. It was a little pricey, but the theme was the Chronicles of Narnia and I was actually really impressed with the set-up of the maze and all decorations they had. I was more impressed that the 2 pregnant ladies, Shari and Tiffany, did the whole corn maze without any complaining. It was 2.1 miles. The kids had so much fun and Brayden keeps asking when we get to go back. We finished off the night at Trackside Pizza. They gave us the whole banquet room to ourselves. We are so thankful for all of our cool friends who are spontaneous too! Love you guys!
Peyton holding her pumpkin

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Mobile Baby

Peyton crawling to mommy
Look mommy I did it!
Ok, how cute is that?
Beautiful brother Brayden
Messy baby!

Peyton started crawling a few days ago! It's so cute because I'll call her and she gets so excited that she can actually come. This is one of the milestones that I look at and know that my life will never be the same:) It sounds silly, but no more just putting the baby on the ground and her staying there. She will soon be into cabinets and trying to climb up the stairs. All the mommies know what I mean!! As she gets older, it's cute to see her and Brayden interact together. They definitely love playing together, I just have to work on Brayden being "the boss." Here's a few pictures. Enjoy!
P.S. On another note, Renovo started last week and we had over 200 people in attendance there. It was awesome! The energy was amazing and there were a lot of people who are thinking about coming back. We of course still have some kinks to work out, but overall it was a huge success. Thanks for the prayers and please continue to pray if you can. Thanks!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Renovites


October 5th is the launch date for Renovo, a church plant in Puyallup. Travis and I are on the launch team and are excited, nervous, and in awe of what God will do through Renovo. It started for us last winter. Travis had heard about Scottie Christensen's vision to plant a church in Puyallup and was very interested. For some reason he was excited about it and started praying about it immediately. He met Scottie for lunch and got even more excited and couldn't wait to share the ideas with me. I on the other hand was very skeptical for very many reasons. The main one being that we were attending Rainierview Christian Church and we were happy there. We were finally feeling connected with the friends we had made there and were really growing spiritually. Travis agreed, but asked me to pray about Renovo and if we had a place there. The idea continued to settle with Travis as he spent more time praying about it. I was starting to get very nervous. I didn't want to leave my comfort zone, but I prayed. He promised me that the only way he would help with Renovo is if I was on board with him and we both felt God calling us there. As time went on and we did more research about it, God made it very obvious that this is where He wants us right now. So, here we are helping and being stretched in ways we didn't know were possible. When we agreed to help, I said to Travis, "I'll help as long as I don't have to do anything with the children's ministry" (it's not that I don't like kids, but it's just not my favorite ministry to help out with). Guess what I'm doing... I'm in charge of the infant/toddler class and even wrote the curriculum for it:) God has a sense of humor. One of the goals of Renovo is to bring a church that is a mix of Church of Christ and the Christian Church together in one hopefully leaving the legalism out of it. There is nothing like that in Puyallup. Another goal is to do a lot of outreach and share Jesus that way to the community. There are already a few non-Christians coming to Renovo because of the outreach projects that have happened. God is ultimately in charge of Renovo because we have given it over to Him. He can and will do amazing things in Puyallup, hopefully some of them through us as a church.
This is bitter-sweet for us because we are sad to leave Rainierview. Travis pointed out that we don't know how long we are called to hep with Renovo. It could be one year or just a few months. We may be back at Rainierview or may not. We do know that we cherish the friends we have made there and plan to keep in touch. I have heard a few negative comments from people who are very skeptical about Renovo. People are always skeptical when they hear about a church plant, and maybe rightly so. I can say that Travis and I have dug deep and asked hundreds of questions. We've talked to the church plant organization who we are working with, we've even visited our sponsoring church. God is moving in ways that we don't understand, but we want to get on board!
So, if you pray, please pray for Renovo and the launch team this Sunday. Pray that God will be exalted and that our hearts will be prepared to do His work. And to all my Rainierview buddies, I love you guys and thanks for your support! To Tiffany and Jeremy, we are so excited to be doing this with you guys. It makes it that much more exciting!
www.RenovoPuyallup.com