Randoms and Roping

October has been a pretty busy month, but I think it’ll look pretty pale in comparison to what we have going on in the next couple months. I’m just bracing myself for busy, busy, busy – running here and there!

Stella will be 17 months old tomorrow and that is just unbelievable. I can’t believe how sweet and smart she is…and pretty sassy! It’s sometimes a struggle balancing discipline with love versus getting outright mad at her blatant disobedience. But, I do love that she’s strong-willed because I know that will serve her better in the future than be a timid, crowd-follower like me!

Blake’s back in full-swing roping several times a week – and I'm very ready for him to go compete because I get so excited watching him during a roping competition and I’m ready for Stella to see her daddy compete! She loves being outdoors at the roping arena and I can’t wait until she’s able to ride!

{Practicing her climbing skills}

{Snack time after church}

{Trying to "clip" her toe nails - I had it so she couldn't actually clip them - but it was still cute}

{Date night at Simply Fondue}

{I love fondue - mainly the cheese and dessert course!}

{Stella giving G-Daddy snacks}

{Stella and I went to my friend Ally's baby shower - let's just say we ended up leaving early due to behavioral issues}

{Sweet face}

{Stella playing with her cousins, Carson and Allie}

{I love this pic}

{Aunt Ray Ray with Stella}

{The wind made it SO chilly out there}

{Did I mention she also likes to eat dirt/sand at the arena?}

{Blake and Ryan}

{Turn and Burn!}

{If I had a dollar for every time I'd seen them rope - I'd be a rich chick}

{Grits was a lil too into everything - so he had to get tied up}

{Ropin' machine}

{lunch date with my sis}

{I am SO glad I early voted - I was done in less than 5 min!}

{Grits is getting insanely big...and more energetic, if that's even possible!}

Heart for the House

I’m so excited and still in a state of awe over what God is doing in our church. We’ve been in the season of a capital campaign, called Heart for the House, to build our new building off of 190 and Miles road in Sachse, TX. We kicked off our 3 year commitments yesterday at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, TX in a service we called Celebration Sunday. We did this so that all our services could be combined {we have three Sunday English services, 1 Spanish service, and then a Spanish service at our Garland campus}. It was absolutely amazing to worship with all the services combined – close to around 1500 people.

We brought our “first fruits” offering yesterday to kick off the three-year commitment pledges. Yesterday, Celebration Sunday, was the day that we found out how much was pledged for the next three years. The other exciting part was that there was a group of businessmen {that are in no way connected to the church} that had gifted our church with $500,000 as a matching gift. So, once the church had raised its own $500K, then the funds from the other $500K would be released, therefore doubling the amount. So, every dollar we were giving was actually worth $2, until that gift was matched. We’ve all been praying for months for a miracle to happen yesterday where we would be able to meet that match in one day. There’s been no precedence for that kind of offering at our church – nor was that the intention of the businessmen who gifted that money. The money would be there no matter if it took one day to match it or a year plus to match it.

The hope for the three-year pledges was around $4.2 million to build the building and pay off the land in order to be debt-free. They announced yesterday that the pledges which came in was $5.9 MILLION!!!

Then, the announcement was made for the first-fruits offering that was given yesterday….over $600,000!!!

Let me just tell you – I’ve been attending this church since I was 4 years old and I have never been so ecstatic over an offering! Again, there has never been an offering that has ever come close to that amount in the 91-year history of our church. It was exceedingly and abundantly more than I could have hoped for! Praying circles around this miracle has been such a faith-inspiring journey that I pray will continue for years to come as long as we keep the focus on reaching the lost.

God is SO good!!

School Pictures - 15 Months

Stella attends daycare (or what I refer to as "school") now while I continue working until the end of December. I'm hoping to still have her go at least one or two days a week for socialization reasons (and for just some good ol' ME time).

School pics are always iffy on whether they'll turn out good or not - but I am in love with these pics! They are just too cute

Pumpkin Patch 2012

I love Fall. I love wearing warmer clothes {I’m SO pale, so in the summer I choose to spray tan for certain events when I don’t want to wear jeans for fear of blinding people with my translucent legs} and I love all the decorations and smells of Fall. I especially love pumpkins. Don’t really know why, but anything that smells, tastes, or has to do with pumpkins – count me in!

So, in keeping with tradition, we went again this year to Owens Big Orange Pumpkin Farm this past Saturday. Stella is just ALL over the place, which is to be expected at this age, but I don’t have any good pictures of her actually looking at the camera. She had a great time looking at the animals and all the pumpkins.

I love my little pumpkin girl!

{I still love to watch her walk on her own - she's so deliberate, it cracks me up}

{these goats wanted food BADLY}

{another photo op I couldn't pass up!}

{She was out of food by this point}

{She was on the third tier by the time I put my camera down}

{sweetest little pumpkin face}

{G-Mommy and Stella}

{Big Orange Pumpkin Farm - 2011}

It's Fall!

Well, it's kind of Fall. The weather around here keeps tricking us. It’ll be nice and cool for a couple days and then BAM! Back to 90 degree weather! But, that didn’t stop us from seizing a photo op when Stella crawled up to the scarecrows in my parents back yard. She had some pretty cute faces going on!

{We looked over and this little girl was climbing up to take a better look at the scarecrows}

{the scarecrows clearly made her very happy}

{sweet little happy face}

{seriously? so cute! scarecrows need love, too}

{this is her thing - she just plays and plays in the gravel rocks in my parent's backyard}

{I've got to invest in some rocks}