decorating for Christmas!

Tonight we decorated the house for Christmas!  We had such a good time, even if we did all reek of dust afterwards.  Enjoy the pics!

Ellie decided to take a break and practice her handstands.

Chloe set up her toy horses to pull the sleigh.

I got this ornament years ago when I was obsessed with Little Women.  This is Beth March.  I used to have Meg, but she broke. :(

weekdate #18

I have enjoyed this past week so immensely.  There have been times of great worship through fellowship and coming together with the church, and times of laughter and fun.

One of the times of laughter was on Wednesday.  Every Wednesday morning I go to observe a class for my intro to teaching class.  This particular Wednesday, my dad was having a young man in our acquaintance assist him at his job.  The man had left his truck at our house and unintentionally blocked my car in the driveway.  But that wasn't going to stop me.  I just slammed on the gas and went backwards over this little hill, shattering some white pole sticking out of the ground in the process.  I hope it wasn't too important.  Anyway, I got out to make sure the car was alright, and didn't pay attention to what was behind me when I got back in.  I mowed our trashcan down before I'd even realized that I hit it.  So that was fun.

This weekend and into the next week, Mark, Luke, and Sara-Grace are visiting.  My family and I had such a good time with them this morning as we visited Heritage Christian Fellowship, where my dad was guest preaching, and Mark was speaking on how his parents and siblings are serving as missionaries in Cameroon.  This evening we had the Bible memorization meeting at the church and we were able to hear some of Mark, Luke, and Sara's songs.  It was such a wonderful time of fellowship.

All throughout this week, I have been filled with such immense joy in the Lord.  I have been struggling for several months now, ever since I got back from Glorieta, with having joy in the Lord.  My biggest regret of my time in Glorieta was my lack of persistence in attending church, and not actively trying to engage in godly fellowship with those around me.  I don't necessarily regret my decision in going to Glorieta.  I had a fantastic summer of meeting new people and experiencing new challenges and blessings.  But the damage to my faith was so great, I would never return to work there.  I feel that I fell so far back in my faith over the summer, and I'm only just now beginning to gain some ground forward again.

God has been so patient and good to me.  He is so kind.  Honestly, His mercy and grace have just been consuming me over the past weeks, and I am overwhelmed.

At the memorization meeting tonight, Mark shared a passage from Isaiah that I was really encouraged by.  For the discouraged, doubting believer:

Isaiah 43:1-7

But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.  Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.  I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'  And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'  Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made."

funny stuff

I know I'm not the only one who loves all those funny pics and memes that everyone posts on facebook, so I thought I'd devote a blog post to some of my favorites that I've collected over the last few months.  I hope you enjoy them, and get a few laugh out of them. :D

LOVE this one :)

20 random posts : : top 10 favorite photo memories and why

This is number 8 in my 20 random posts series: top 10 favorite photo memories!  I've been really looking forward to this post.  It was really hard to narrow the pictures down; I only chose pics from about the last 5 years.  They are in chronological order.  Hope you enjoy!

*credit for this pic goes to Corey

This pic is from July 2010.  My youth group and I were on our way back from a mission trip to Denver, and one of the vans broke down.  We stopped at a gas station about an hour away from home to get the problem fixed, and while our leaders took care of it we all sat on the sidewalk and sang a bunch of worship songs.  It was a blast!  I appreciated the way we were able to turn a difficult situation into one of worship.

This pic is from August 2010.  My family and I went on vacation to Red River, NM, and I rode on a ski lift for the first time.  I was with Chloe and my dad, while Rachel and Ellie rode separately.  It was kind of stressful because I was so worried about Chloe falling off, but this is honestly one of my favorite memories ever; I loved riding on the ski lift.  It was so beautiful, and I can't wait to do it again!

This is my huge graduating class of...five, including myself.  This pic was taken in May 2011.  All the seniors from my church got together and we had a sort of photo shoot in ABQ so we could have some group pictures for our graduation video.  We had a blast!  It was so much fun to spend that time together before we all went our separate ways!

This pic was taken in June 2011.  This is a couple from my church that is very dear to me.  They made the decision to renew their vows, and it was hands down one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever attended.  This couple's faith and love for God was such a huge part of their wedding, and it was just beautiful to see!

In July 2011, I went to Regeneration with my youth group.  It was my last trip with them before my graduation, and was definitely one of the best.  We all bonded so much during that week, and I learned so much through the preaching of John MacArthur, Rick Holland, Andrew Guitierrez, and Austin Duncan.  Here's some of my posts about that week.

In August 2011, my family and I went to visit the Explora Museum in ABQ.  We found these awesome mirrors that distort your reflection, and we had a blast with them!  It was awesome. :)

My cousin got married in September 2011, and all my family on my dad's side came to ABQ for his wedding.  It was so great to see all of them.  This is a pic of my aunt's wedding ring; it's one of my favorite pics that I've ever taken.

In January 2012 Chloe turned six, and my family and I went to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday.  I can't remember that I'd ever been before, and the games were so much fun!  This particular one was a war game; I had lots of fun defending my post, even if I did feel a bit silly.  We just had a great family day.

In May 2012, my mom and sisters and I went to visit my grandparents at their cattle ranch before Rachel and I went to Glorieta for the summer.  Ellie and I had quite an adventure; it was so much fun!

Two weeks ago my family and I went apple picking with my grandparents when we went to visit them for the weekend.  It was such a peaceful, relaxing day.  It wasn't even that we were having really meaningful conversations or anything (though I did talk a lot with Ellie that day about some great stuff), but it was more that we were just being together; nowhere else to go, nothing else to do, at least for that time.  It was great. :)

balloon fiesta '12

Last Wednesday, my family and I went to the ABQ balloon fiesta!  We weren't able to go last year, so I was so excited to go this year!  Hope you enjoy the pics. :)

* credit for all the pictures goes to Rachel

 That's my college's balloon in the bottom right!