there and back again... another goodbye

 this past week i have been at pine cove leading a group of extraordinary college students through lifeguard training.  i can say that they are 100% ready to prevent injury and protect lives this summer.  here is a group pic of the faithful bunch.

going back was so fun... good to see some faces that i've been missing and watch all the eager staff arrive with so much excitement.  but, wow, did i have a mixed bag of emotions when i left.  i have had some time to unpack all my thoughts and i find myself wanting to share them.

when lance and i first left tyler, i cried.  i was grieving the loss of a home, friends, church, and familiarity that i had known for six years.  at the time, it was pine cove's retreat season which looks MUCH different than summer time.  when i left this week, i cried.  i am now grieving the loss of a ministry.  does that seem strange?  strange or not... it's true.  for the past six summers i have been pouring into college girls.  i have had the privilege of praying with them, loving them, laughing with them, crying with them, challenging them, and even traveling with them! :) that ministry continues, of course, but i do not get to be a part of it.  what a blessing to have discipleship opportunity dropped at your doorstep every summer.  i could not have asked for something better and my heart hurts to miss out on that.  

however,

(don't you love that word... jesus is the reason for the howevers in my life)

i am firmly planted in the center of christ's will for my life.  i have no doubt that my family is walking in the direction the Lord has called us in.  and because of that, i am doing three things during this time:

1.  being humbled that the LORD will NOT ALWAYS choose to use me... and that is ok.

2. anxiously waiting to see what ministry looks like HERE for me/us/my family.

3. praying for those at PC that continue to pour their lives into campers and staff everyday!

to my pc friends... 

"I thank my God every time I remember you!  In all my prayers for all of you, i always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.... God can testify how i long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ- to the glory and praise of God!" - phil 1:3-11

quick wedding weekend

this past weekend our family had the privilege of joining another staffer on her wedding day.  Maddie Bolin (now Maddie Quick) worked for lance for four summers and has been our adopted forge student this past year.  we had the opportunity to do premarital counseling with her and her hubby, Stephen.  lance officiated the wedding and all three of the big kids were in the wedding as well!

here is a run down of our wild weekend.

the wedding was in Salado so, of course, we stopped at common grounds in Waco for a fun drink.  this one is my absolute FAV!  coconut, lime, and Italian soda - soooo good!

i have no rehearsal pics because riley was a little bit of a handful.  let's just say that he threw down what he was suppose to carry down the aisle and refused to do A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G he was asked.  sigh.

however the next day we hit the pool while daddy prepared for the ceremony

ummm... they were freezing! but kept assuring me that it wasn't cold.

but i used it as a great opportunity for snuggles

and lots of pictures!  L O V E this precious face!

when the kids finally agreed that it was indeed cold... they resorted to searching for bottle caps in the flowerbeds... the boys collect them and now have plenty of "BLs" to add to their stockpile.

we really had a great time and i enjoyed just laughing with my kids (it's been too long)!

caught caleb laughing at riley... they kept saying he was "too much!" and they were right!!  he is so silly!

after a quick nap to ensure good moods, it was off to the wedding!

here are my big boys getting ready for their walk. the bride got them those lunch boxes and filled them with toys and snacks to keep them entertained during the ceremony.  allie got that cute build-a-bear bride.

i snapped a quick pic of the wedding party praying just before the ceremony.

this was maddie dancing while the girls chanting maddie bolin over and over again... last time, ya know?

allie and the other flower girl, reece.  they became best friends instantly!

ok... seriously beautiful women!!!  L O V E these ranch girls!

the boys playing with their new toys after the ceremony while pictures were happening.

after the ceremony the wedding party rode on a trailer to the reception.  the kids got to go too and had so much fun!  sweet jon was positioned to catch riley if he fell.  thanks jon!

too much fun!

we got a really great pic of all the ranch staff at the wedding just after the happy couple left.  i'll try to post it later when it starts getting around on facebook!

mothers

our moms have such a great impact on every aspect of our lives. lance and i have both been greatly affected, loved, challenged, and encouraged by our moms throughout our lives. they are both hardworking women who have given up alot to put their kiddos needs before their own. and, of course, you never realize that until you have kids of your own. although my kids didn't see sunday as any different from any other day, they did make me laugh. i couldn't leave these pics out...

we went to noodle wave for lunch and had some chopstick fun while also treating mommy to some of her favorite kind of food!

we mailed our mimi and grammie the grand kids hand prints.  the goal was to get them on thin canvas, but both craft supply stores were out...  we'll get them mounted up right in the near future!

kitchen reveal

here are some before pics of our easter egg kitchen. i wouldn't say that this kitchen was horrible, but the paint color that they chose with the yellow tile did not do this space any justice.

down the road we would like to get new cabinets and counter tops, but until then we decided to embrace the tile color rather than fight it.

we went with a color called warm earth and got a new light fixture.

and the table has a story too.  i had the find of the year at the cccsale this year.  i snagged this solid wood table and chairs!

  woohoo! we gave it some table leg love and my uber-talented husband added bench seating.  and, yes, for an added bonus it has storage underneath.  the third chair has griffin's seat and the forth chair is our computer chair.

we also replaced our nonworking gas powered oven with a new double convection oven... but that also meant lance had to rebuild the pantry and surrounding cabinets.  so out with the old...

and in with the new design...

and taDa!  sheer perfection!  so proud of my guy!  the basket on the bottom holds all our non refrigerated produce!

so that's it.  nothing fancy, but WAY better than the start!