Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. This year was our first thanksgiving on our own. We have always traveled on Thanksgiving but this year we thought it was time to start our own family traditions. Our student ministry sells fried turkeys as a fundraiser, so we joined Stephen at the church and Mary Beth was the cutest little mascot.

After we finished up at the church we came home to finish cooking our Thanksgiving meal. Thankfully, I didn't have to cook the turkey or dressing, just heat them up. Once we got everything on the table we realized that the turkey was as big as Mary Beth - all 14 pounds of it. We have lots of leftovers!

As always, we have so much to thank God for: our family, our church, our friends, our relationship with Christ, and all the provisions the Lord has made for us. To him be the glory!

We hope that you are your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Finally!

Day 1 - 45 minutes of sleep

Day 2 - an hour and a half

Day 3 - 2 hours

Getting 8 hours of sleep on Day 123 -

PRICELESS

Okay so I know that was a little cheesy, but in all seriousness thanks to everyone who has been praying for us (and our lack of sleep) the last 4 months. Hopefully last night was not be a one time occurance but a trend that will continue. We are so proud of our precious little one.

Eating - Day 2

Okay, so I promise that I wont start posting everyday with pictures of Mary Beth eating, but today I turned the camera on Stephen while he fed her. Stephen says that I'm like a professional (after every bite cleaning up what has come out) but he is an amature and just trys to get as much in as he can - then worries about cleaning up later. It made for some really cute pictures!

Our Baby is Growing Up

Today Mary Beth took her first few bites of a somewhat solid substance. We heard that it takes them a few days to learn to actually just take it in rather than spit it right back out.



She is looking so big and we have mixed feelings about her growth. We are excited to see new steps but we are also holding on so tight to our newborn baby girl.

Halloween Happenings

Here are some pictures of our little pumpkin on her first halloween.

(The excitement wore her out in less than an hour)

The Retreat Formerly Known as Awanita (TRFKAA)

The Fall retreat was awesome! We had a whole lot of fun the entire weekend. God showed up in a big way touching down into the lives of our students, leaders and myself. We were all challenged to not let the weekend go by without impacting our daily life. Too many times, retreats leave us with a great emotional high but lack to impact us for the long haul. If you're reading this please pray for us to take our love for Christ to the world and into our day to day thoughts and actions.

Parent/Church Dedication and Baby Recognition

Stephen and I had the privilege of being part of a baby dedication ceremony at our church. Our pastor, DJ is awesome at explaining the purpose of dedicating ourselves as parents to the Lord and the importance of the church committing to support parents in their role. He also clarifies that unlike other denominations, we are not making any sort of spiritual decision on behalf of our child, thus the title Parent/Church Dedication and Baby Recognition was very fitting.

The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deut 6:4-9

New Pics - 3 months

We are trying to keep up with monthly pictures for those of you who only get to watch Mary Beth grow through the internet. Well I was a few days late this time but close enough - Here are the 3 month pics.

Fall Festival

We took part in our first Westside Spartanburg Fall Festival put on by our church. Our student ministry sold tons of food to help students with financial needs go on retreats and mission trips. There were rides, a mechanical bull, tractors, helicopters, and firetrucks. I can't wait until Mary Beth gets older and is able to realize the fun she has. What a fun day!

Bucky and Stephen working REALLY hard.

Stephen and Mary Beth in the firetruck.

Mary Beth is driving the John Deere!

Our little buddy Xan and the fireman.

Successful Mall Hunt

My first big ministry event was a success as we were able to take 30 middle school students into the mall to find mall runaways. That was fun, but then back to the church for time of worship and a short devotional.

God is definitely good.