It's Apple Time

We went picking again this year and, again LOVED it!  It is so yummy to get an apple off a tree and within a few hours have a pie.  So delicious!

Moriah is 2!

My Sweet Little Girl,
Where did this year go? I have come to embrace the fact that you are no longer a baby. You are a beautiful little toddler now. What a spirited girl you are, too! The changes I have been able to see in you this year simply amaze me. To think a year ago you were not even walking and now you are RUNNING all over the place. This past year I have seen you stretch your physical limits. You have blossomed from and unsure baby to a very independent girl. You have mastered playing at the playground and often request to go down the slide and climb all by yourself. If I offer to help you politely tell me, “No Momma, I do it all by self.” It makes me proud to see you accomplish things. It also makes me very aware of the times you do ask for my help, or to hold my hand. I cherish those moments because I know they will not last forever. The older you get the more independence you will desire, and as it should be. I will say though that you love to snuggle. I lose count of how many times in a day you ask me to snuggle you. “Please, snuggle me Momma,” is a very common sentence in our house and it is precious. I wish we could just snuggle forever.
You have continued to stay on the petite side. Something I must say I find completely adorable. I love your little petite legs and skinny waist. I just think you are so beautifully and wonderfully made! God sure blessed us with a cutie in you. Your smile lights up my day and your giggle just makes me laugh out loud. You may be little for your age, but darling you sure can fill a room with your sweet nature and adorable personality. You are friendly with whomever you meet and love telling them about your life.
You have also mastered the English language this year. Your daddy and I are AMAZED at how well you pick up on not just words, but grammar as well. You are using pronouns and have excellent sentence structure. Every time you have a conversation with me, daddy, or anyone, if there are people around who don’t already know you (and sometimes those who do) they are just astonished by how well you speak. I get asked a lot how old you are. You speak so well for a 2 year old and you look so tiny that it is a funny combination. You really shock a ton of people.
We have started having themed weeks around our house and boy have you enjoyed it. You seem to have a love for learning that just makes my heart swell. You absorb everything right now and can generally tell others what you have been learning about. I pray you always have a zeal for knowledge.
What fun it has been to see you enjoy friendships this year. Among your best friends are Simone (who you lovingly refer to as Simonie) and Abby. You have tons of fun with them and talk about them all week long. You are still mastering the art of sharing. I think your friends are pretty understanding though because they are still trying to figure that one out too. It has been sweet to see you interact. You are our little cheerleader. You are constantly cheering your friends on and encouraging them. You even like to encourage yourself. It is absolutely endearing. I often hear you tell others “Yay, you did it!” and since we are working on potty training you think it is extra exciting that your daddy and I use the potty. We can’t go to the bathroom with out hearing you cheer for us. Even if you are on a different floor of the house you scream, “Good job, Momma!”
One of my favorite things about you is that you love Jesus. At dinner and bedtime you insist on praying. They are the sweetest prayers too! All day long you talk about God making you and the world, you will carry your Bible around and tell me very matter of fact, “I reading my Bible, Momma.” Some of your favorite songs are worship songs. We love to just sing together and praise the Lord. Church is one of you favorite places to go. You often try to retell the Bible story. The other night you told me after church that “Jonah fell down.” I asked you if that was because he disobeyed God and you sad, “Yeah, God sad.” What a little light you are, even at 2! I continually pray that you will grow in your knowledge of Him.
I have to say, the biggest surprise and joy this past year was seeing you become a big sister. What a MARVELOUS sister you are! From the day we bought your “Baby Levi” home you were in love with him. You dote on him and play with him all day long. When you wake up from a nap he is the first thing you ask for. “Baby Levi wakin’ up?” I have even caught you going into his room to wake him up you because wanted to play with him so badly. You are good about giving him his paci and toys. You read him stories and snuggle him a lot. I am excited to see your sibling relationship grow. The thought of you two playing together and loving on each other for the rest of your lives brings tears to my eyes. I pray you become the best of friends and keep a look out for each other.
You are still a Daddy’s girl and he loves spending time with you. My favorite time of day is bedtime. We get to be together as a family all snuggling, laughing, and praying for each other. It is the sweetest. You are very fond of your extended family as well and often talk about Grandma, Nana, Papa, your Uncles, Aunts and your beloved cousin Hannah. Even though two and a half years separate you, you are such great friends and playmates.
You are into playing “real life” right now. I catch you mothering your baby doll, cleaning and doing all the things you see me do. You love helping with the dishes and laundry. When I vacuum you get out your vacuum and help me out. It is fun to see the world through your eyes. You crack me up all the time with your corky ideas and funny sayings. What a joy you are.
I said it last year, I will say it this year, and I will say it next year. You sure are such a sweetheart. God has given us an amazing gift in you, my little Moriah. I cannot thank Him enough for the blessing you are. I can’t imagine you not being part of our family. I look forward to the new and wonderful things you will do and accomplish in the coming year. God has great plans for you my little girl, great plans.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweetie!
I love you,
Momma

Where He Leads

For the past two years we have been going to Grace Community Church and been involved with their Fusion service. It has been awesome. The service is geared towards young adults and Zack has loved jumping into the music ministry and serving there. I have to admit we were "comfortable" there. The church facilities have everything a parent could ever want. It was a bit of a drive but the Word was preached and the worship was amazing.

Last month Fusion announced that they are splitting from Grace. Not for any doctrinal issues or because of strife, but because the Lord was calling Fusion to a different location. We were going to become our own church plant sent out by Grace. The goal is to reach the family's a little north of the church. Which, surprise, is right in our back yard!

Zack and I struggled with the decision of where were we going to go to church. Should we go with Fusion or start attending in the mornings at Grace. There were pros and cons to both. After much prayer and talking we are going.

And boy are we going! We are jumping in the midst of this thing God is doing. It is a bit scary but I can't describe how at peace we are about it. Zack is a part of developing the new churches worship team and I am helping get the children's ministry organized. Being involved in this process has brought to light so many things I just took for granted in church. Who will set up, who will do this, how is this going to get done? Wow. The labor is great and the workers are excited!

Our first service was held at a park in the area. We divided up into groups and went on prayer walks through neighborhoods and then regrouped for sharing, worshiping and prayer. God is certainly moving.

If you have a mind to, please pray for our church as we embark on this journey. We don't have a place to meet yet, we don't have a name, or all the "church" supplies that we might need. We do have a heart for following where God is leading and we do have a body of Christ that is ready to go where He leads. What a joy it is to part of the work He is doing!

Philly!

This past weekend we went to Philadelphia. It was FABULOUS! We have not been on a vacation just us since before the kids were born. We have been so blessed with having vacations with extended family that we just never had to go alone. It was nice to just be on our own time schedule and just go. We didn't have a to do list but rather spent two days just strolling though the city and stopping where we wanted to stop. It was so relaxing and fun. The kids did great, except for the whole sleeping thing. They both were out of sorts being in a hotel and so none of us got the best sleep. It was ok though because we were in beautiful Philly!

I can't describe how amazing it was to be where such profound things happened. There is so much history there. As we strolled the streets I tried to imagine it over 200 years ago. Who was walking where I was walking? Was it Ben Franklin or George Washington? Zack and I were talking about how cool that is and how much cooler it would be to go to Israel and Jerusalem where Jesus walked over 2000 years ago. Hey we can dream right?

Zack really liked taking cool shots of the city. He is into photography and I must say he really has a knack for it. He always has. Even when we were first married and we just had a point and shoot he was good.

Our weekend ended taking the car trip back and going to church. We are a part of a new church plant, which I will share more on later. Man it was a great weekend!