Halloween '13

Exchange Church Launch

Exchange Church launched from Rolesville Highschool on October 6th! It was such an exciting day! This church plant has been officially in the making for almost 2 years and to see it finally happen was amazing! The Lord has blessed Exchange Church with an incredible group of people that have a heart for the Rolesville community and a heart for seeing others come to the Lord. We are so blessed to be a part of this!

 

Pool

We joined a pool this year, so we have spent many summer mornings and evenings there! Brody became such a great swimmer,  Levi enjoyed the water slides and spray ground, and Aven had absolutely no fear of the water! Several of the families from our church joined the pool as well, so the kids had tons of fun meeting up with friends there.

Levi turns 3!

Levi is THREE!!! Happy Birthday to the most fun-loving, hilarious, and sweet three year old I know! This year Levi went from being the youngest child to the middle child! He has taken it like a champ! He adores his little sister SO much and has not shown even a second of jealousy at all of the attention she has needed this year. Levi makes it impossible for himself to be overlooked....like most middle children complain of:) He is always the center of attention and the life of the party! He is our JOY! Life would be boring without this kid!

 

We enjoyed celebrating Levi's birthday with Brian's family in Virginia! The weekend of his birthday we took him on a surprise trip to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC. He loved it and we had a great time as a family!

Beach

This summer was the first summer of my entire life that I have not made multiple trips to the beach! It felt weird. My family is in the process of selling our house at Topsail and it is so bittersweet. The beach house was rented out the entire summer and so we were only able to make it down for a day trip this year. When it got to be August and I had not yet felt the sand between my toes, I couldnt take it anymore! Mom and I packed up the kids and went to Topsail for the day. It was a PERFECT day! Perfect weather, pretty perfect kids, and tons of fun in the sun! It was Aven's first trip to the beach and she did great!

A New Chapter: Homeschool

After months of prayer and seeking the Lord's direction in where Brody would attend Kindergarten, we are confident in our decision to homeschool! We are so excited about this new journey that we are on!

Adoption Day!

She has shared our last name for one year now. At this time last year, we made the long trip to Ethiopia to meet our Aven. She legally became our daughter when we appeared in the Ethiopian Court to adopt her! The next  4.5 months were the longest and hardest of my life as we waited to bring her home. I still remember SO vividly how dark those months seemed without her. I am STILL amazed that she is HOME. She has changed so much in the past year. Enjoy.