January Happenings

I figured since it was May, now would be a good time to tell you what went on in our lives in January! Ha! We have been crazy busy these past few months and blogging has taken a huge back seat...

January started off with a trip to Chattanooga with our youth group at church. We went to see the WinterJam concert, full of fun Christian artists and lots of really good music. The kids got to get into the building early, rather than waiting in long lines for hours, because we had the opportunity to volunteer with Holt International to try and find monthly sponsors for kids across the world waiting on their forever homes. It was a great teaching moment for the kids to get them thinking outside of their immediate world.

{this wasn't even all of the available children}

{learning about holt international}

{part of our youth group}

{an unexpected surprise - my childhood buddy leonard works for reach records and happened to be working at this show}

{lecrae was our favorite}

A couple weeks later, James, Mattie Rose, and I headed to Memphis! I was helping to host a baby shower for sweet baby Ella Grace and her awesome mommy and my friend, Lee. Our discipleship group hosted at Kathryn's house with a few of our other friends as well. 

{favors for guests with scripture attached to pray over ella}

{showering ella with blessings}

{the yummy spread}

{got to spend some sweet time loving on baby david}

{hostesses with the mama in the middle}

{such a special friend to me}

Sadly such a fun day came to a close with lots of sadness and scariness. My Poppy (dad's dad) had been in the hospital for a while and things weren't looking like they were getting better anytime soon. So after the shower, I headed back to mom's house, picked up the kiddos and Mom and we loaded up to head back to Crossville. We spent the night and got a good night's rest, and then we made our way (slowly, but surely) down to Ft. Lauderdale. Though the circumstances for the trip were no fun at all, it was really enjoyable for me to watch James and Mattie Rose enjoy Gigi and Poppy's condo the way my cousins and I did our entire childhood. Fortunately, Poppy has been out of the hospital for weeks now and though not back to where he was prior to admission, he's doing well. 

{james holding down the fort as the man of the house while poppy was away}

{mattie rose helping meme wash dishes}

{first visit to my favorite man}

{mattie rose found gigi's vanity very quickly}

{makeup and octonauts. life doesn't get much better.}

{sweet moments together}

{poppy usually takes kia for a walk, so mattie rose took it upon herself to chip in}

{first long walk around the hospital - physical therapist granddaughter had to kick some butts in gear}

Lots of miles put on the car in January, but every single one of them was worth it.