Church Happenings

I realized I haven't mentioned much on the blog about our church here and how it's doing! We love it and it's going great. Please check the website at www.commongroundarizona.com.
We average about 150 people a week, we have lots of young families and children, but we need to grow our youth group. Jonathan helps lead the youth group every Sunday night with his friend Steven Compton.
I'm getting to lead worship with our worship team about twice a month and LOVE that. We have a great team. We need a drummer to complete us..we're working on that. I love the worship experience!
We just finished a series on money management, based on Dave Ramsey and I loved it. Apparently, consumer debt is a pretty common problem in our community and this will help, I believe.
Jonathan and I attend a small group on Thursdays and as we grow, we'd like to branch off and start our own.
We meet at the local elementary school every Sunday so on Saturday night, Jonathan heads over there with some other guys to help set up the cafeteria to look like our church. It's alot of work but it looks really nice. Then after service on Sunday, a team stays behind to pack it all back up into boxes for the next week.
We love being a part of something new and growing! Come and visit!!!!!!!!

My First Week on Nights

Wow, so I admire people who work nights! It is ROUGH!!!!! This week I worked Tuesday and Thursday and slept REALLY great when I got home!!!!!
This will be an adjustment! Please let me know if you have great advice that will help me!!!

Had a doc appt. Friday am. All is well. We find out what this little peanut is on March 4th......March 4!!! We are very excited!!!!!! I'm starting to think it's a girl, but who knows! I thought both the girls were boys so my motherly instinct is obviously a bit off!
Last night, Jonathan and I both saw my belly button jump. It was the first kick we could see and we both got pretty excited! This baby is pretty active!

Right now, the best foods in the world are Nilla wafers and blueberries! I cannot get enough blueberries! Those little things do amazing things for me. Since Wal-Mart matches competitor's ads, I march right in there and get six packages of those suckers! And then I eat a whole one on the drive home! I also really like Taco Bell's rice and beans! Very good. Try them and tell me what you think!

We went house-looking today. Very fun!
Our house here that we're renting is coming along nicely! It looks like Jonathan's mom is moving here to stay for a while before she finds her own place and we finished getting her room ready this week. I hope she loves it!

Our Stocking Girl(That We Finally Found)

This story is late, but nonetheless, amazing! So, if you recall, we had a filled stocking for a little girl and Christmas came and went and we hadn't found a girl to give it to.
But on December 29, we went to McDonald's with my parents while they were in town. Little Paulina was there....5 years old, long braided brown hair,beautiful eyes and a dimple when she smiled, but I couldn't find her mom in the play area. Meanwhile, Glory and Grace had fallen in love with their new bosom buddy and were with her every second.
Twenty minutes later, a McDonald's employee comes in and talks to Paulina in Spanish about moving out of the doorway. Come to find out, it was Paulina's mom and since Paulina was on Christmas break, her mom brought her to work with her every day and Paulina would play in the play area ALL DAY!
We had our girl! We think about her alot and want to play with her at McDonald's alot in the future!
Hopefully, I can get a picture of our new friend!

12-Week Pregnancy Pic!

So, here's the tummy! Feeling so much better now! Much more energy! I've gained 2 pounds and this is the last time I'll mention numbers again!!!! Ha, ha!!

I crave couscous, pickles, orange slices and milk much of the time!

Doc appt. last Friday went well. She said all looks good and she will deliver this baby at the hospital where I will work, so that'll be nice! Glory wants this baby to be named Pylie.We are not in agreement! Jonathan doesn't let me clean too much. He says cleaners are bad for me, so I've gotten out of that one for awhile! Being pregnant is great for pampering benefits sometimes!

On another note, my exciting news of the day is that my friend, Lauren Benesh, in Boston, had her son early this morning, Little Noah Thomas arrived healthy and very big!!

Lauren and baby are doing well and I'm so happy for her and Nathan! They will be wonderful parents! We all love you, Little Noah! Please sleep well at night and do it fast!!!

Christmas with the Tucsonians!

We spent Christmas Eve this year with my two aunts and their families! We had tons of fun!

The girls absolutely adore my cousin, John as you can see. He adores them too!

We ate tons of great food and everyone had plenty of presents to open!

Christmas morning was great...we had a quiet morning to ourselves with homemade cinnamon rolls and Glory is in love with her new barn and horses with all the accessories!

And you know how I needed a new phone for Christmas? Well, the greatest hubby ever got me a Blackberry and it made my day!

My Aunt Dottie's Graduation!

Wanted to share this exciting event. My Aunt Dottie recently graduated with her Master's in Library Science and we got to celebrate here with her in Tucson.

A little background on my aunt that is really amazing is that she's been a widow for 7 years, supporting herself and my cousin, Debbie Ruth.

Prior to that for 12 years, she took 24-hr care of her husband who went blind 3 weeks after their wedding and was later diagnosed with a brain injury that left him unable to work and eventually unable to walk, talk, or care for himself. She continuosly demonstrated courage, faith and unwavering commitment to her husband and her marriage vows. I wanted to take this blog to honor her and her example.We enjoyed a great lasagna dinner after her ceremony and all her friends from her church were there and lots of family. It was really neat and we are very proud! Congratulations, Aunt Dottie!

Snowy Mt. Lemmon

Today, we went to Mt. Lemmon, Tucson's tallest mountain. It was covered with thick snow and we had a blast. We took a picnic lunch which we ate in the truck and then had hot apple cider at this little cute restaurant. We plan to go again soon...it was really fun!