Sleep....

I am soo excited that Ella has been sleeping somewhat consistently from about 8:30pm to 7:45am! She wakes up in such a smiley mood and most mornings Phil gets up and brings Ella back to our bed to eat 'breakfast' and cuddle... I just LOVE the mornings when we all cuddle together after a good nights sleep...

I also love the routine we have somewhat established with putting her to bed and praying with her and hugs and kisses... I hope one day it brings back fond memories for her.

Phil is just the cutest dad ever! Most nights after Ella has gone to bed I find him in her room just watching her....most of the time I join him... hmmm.. we're in lovc....

*disclaimer* I know everyone has different opinions on sleep... I'm ok with that...

Broken Record....

We just broke a record... we have officially lived in our St. George house longer than 19 months!

It is the 3rd house we've bought and now the one we've lived in the longest! Yay us!

Each is special in it's own way....

Our First House

My Favorite House

Our Record Breaker

Family

We have both just enjoyed being parents. We love it! I am amazed at how fast the time is flying. Ella is learning new things every day. Phil is so in love with Ella it makes my heart melt... sometimes I have to say I'm a bit jealous... but I'm so happy that he adores her so much.

I have started a park day for some of my girlfriend's and me to have some fun together. We are reading a book together, Shepherding a Child's Heart. Even though Ella is not even 4 months old yet, Phil and I are wanting to soak up as much positive information on how to raise Ella to know what it means to love Jesus, and also for us to learn how to teach her that.

Today when I was cleaning up and doing laundry I was noticing how Ella sat in her cute purple 'bumbo' just watching my every move... sometimes it's overwhelming to think that God has placed us in charge of this innocent little life.

On Mother's Day we dedicated Ella, basically, in front of our church, friends, and family, committed ourselves to raise Ella in a Christian home.

I love that Phil and I, even before Ella was born, have set some goals for our family, something to strive for. We have always watched our friend's and family around us and talked about ways that we want things to be in our house... now I know every child and family is different, but we believe that there are some core things we can do... which brings me back to the book that my friend's and I are reading through together. It is a wonderful guide. I'm sure I'll read it many times over throughout my years of parenting, but it's so nice to have another Biblical perspective, and bounce ideas off friends.

Please keep us in your prays as we strive to raise Ella to be a woman after God's own heart.

Mustache March

I Know it's not March anymore.. but I was looking through some pictures and had to post this one for my hubby whom I LOVE so much.. but have a hard time kissing in March :)

Phil and some friends from church sure had some fun!

New House!

My Brother and his Wife, Jackie are buying a house!! I'm soo excited for them!

Life is Changing...

Life just took a big turn! Our beautiful daughter, Ella Jade, arrived on January 27th, at 11:45pm weighing 9lbs 1 oz. and 21 in. long. It has been so much fun having her in our lives. Phil is an AMAZING dad. I just love watching him with her. Love is in the air...

Striding forward

We have recently began two services! On January 18th we added a second service which has brought in some exciting and tough changes. We have had and continue to work on staffing both services with volunteers. This has been a challenge in the sense that we are asking people to serve at two services instead of one.
I believe God knew this was coming though because the people of this church have stepped up and, for the most part, are joyfully serving in areas of Children's ministry, youth ministry, audio/video, music, and our mainstreet ministry (greeters, ushers, parking, and guest info) for two church services. There is still a huge need to get people involved, so please pray that God would touch people's hearts to do so.
So why did we go to two services? We needed the room! God is reaching out to people and they are coming to church to get connected to him! It is exciting! Just this last week, we had some more folks from Colorado City join us.
God is doing some wonderful things in southern Utah and I want to say thank you for your prayers and support!

Recap of December

left: Pastor Tom and myself getting ready for service
The month of December brought about a new experience of a warm winter, followed by a cold Manitoba Christmas.
The first part of the month was exciting as things at SMCC the Springs had seen great growth in November and new connections in December. Being that St. George is a retirement community we had a lot of our regular attenders head out of town yet Sunday service attendance didn't suffer as we had a lot of visitors join us throughout the month. We hope to see many of them stay connected in January.
I did forget to mention that in November we baptized three people who's lives have been changed.
Before Melissa and I headed off to Canada for Christmas I had the privilege of meeting some of our attenders from Colorado City. They are very nice people and it is enjoyable to have them at our church.
While we were in Canada, it is with great pleasure that we are able to report that we also had a very well attended Christmas Eve service. After many mailings and connections sent, we had a full crowd of around 180 in attendance. God is doing some exciting things down here in Utah!
As far as being in Canada, it was cold but nice to connect with family and friends. For those of you who we saw, it was enjoyable and thank you to those of you who have decided to support the ministry down here in Utah. This month, I hope to send you a DVD with more specifics about what is going on down here.