Life Group

We had our Life Group out to the house last night. It was such a neat feeling to be the hostess again!  I remember when we moved to Georgetown back in 2007; it was a small apartment, and then we moved into a rent house and then life turned upside down and it's been rent houses ever since, so it's been a looooong time since I've been able to be the hostess!  

Once everyone got there, we worshipped and prayed and then they prayed over me and Richard and then everyone prayer walked through the house, waiting on The Lord for a word or scripture or vision concerning our family and house.  It was so cool!! Some of the words that people shared were joy, sanctuary and unity.  I too received the word joy and during our worship, we were listening to a slower hymn when all of a sudden the iPod shuffled, mid song, to a very upbeat jazzy version of a different hymn. Everyone began to giggle and we just went with it! We began to clap and dance in our seats and I just felt like God was saying to my heart this house was meant for joy, for your family and for others. One friend shared that he felt like God was going to use all that He has given us to reach so many people. And I can completely agree with that. I feel like we have been blessed abundantly and in turn we will use what we've been given to help others or bless others or just show others God's faithfulness. One friend went upstairs where all the kids' rooms are and she received the word mighty for the boys. She said even though the boys are small they will be mighty. What a wonderful word, I'm so glad she shared that!

It was such a special night, and one I will treasure always.

Our home

I am finally getting around to blogging about the house. I kept thinking that I would do a blog once it was all done, but I'm quickly realizing that it may be a long, long until it's "done"! 

We did about 3 weeks of work before we moved in to update a few things and clean up a few things. We put new countertops in the kitchen.

Before

After

We stained the cabinets and painted the master bathroom.

Before

After

We gave the basement a facelift. We closed in the garage door area and vented it and made it such a fun space for us and the kids!

Before

After

(Ignore the longhorn, there are plans to change that ;) 

Since we closed in the basement, we also had a ton of dirt brought in to level the yard. The boys loved watching all the big construction vehicles driving around!

Richard also lined the driveway and shop area with railroad ties. It makes it look so sharp!

There is a wrap around porch that has so much space to entertain and relax! One of my favorite spots!!

Since we finally have space, we got a couch that seats all of us.

And a kitchen table to seat us all.  It was hard to find a table big enough so we ended up having this one made. It fits perfect with the rustic theme right down to the H branded into every chair.

I decided to decorate with wall decals and quite possibly went over board, but I love them! So simple and it adds so much to each room!

All the kids' rooms are upstairs with a loft area for video games or movies.

Koby and Kelby chose a western theme room.

Troy and Teague chose baseball.

And Baylee chose a mix of patterns; chevron, paisleys, etc...

Our bedroom is still in the works but it's so roomy and truly a sanctuary for us! Complete with a door out to the porch.

My mom got us this wall hanging that goes perfect!

And this is my latest delivery. I put it on the wall you see first as you walk into the house. Still need a sofa table against the wall, but I love how it turned out!

I love everything about this house and thank God daily, if not more often for the opportunity to raise our family here!

Troy's 8!

Troy's birthday concludes our marathon of birthdays in October.  We enjoyed dinner, presents and cake to celebrate the birthday boy.

He wanted to model his new cowboy shirt and boots. Watch out girls, he is not allowed to date...ever!

The birthday crown was in storage last year, but it has emerged and is back in circulation. It's crazy to see the transformation over the years and how with each year he looks less like his baby pictures. 

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

8 years old

Happy birthday, Troy. You are so loved!

Conclave 2014

Richard and I were able to spend the first part of the week at Conclave, a youth leaders conference. It was a nice little getaway to refuel, reflect and reconnect.  

It was kind of like youth camp for adults. We had different speakers, a great band to worship with and break out sessions to choose from according to our groups' needs. We got a ton of great info and we are excited to take it back to our team and the youth. There were also a ton of give-aways and Richard won a Bluetooth speaker ...

and I won a box of 36 bags of skittles!

We were able to enjoy dinners out and rehash everything we had heard through the day and we even got to do a little shopping for the house, which was a treat! And hat happens when we are not having to corral 5 kids? We act like kids ourselves! 

We are so blessed to be able to share our love for youth ministry with each other. Ministry of any type takes a lot of long hours and I am thankful we do it together and it's a source of life in our relationship.