First Day of School Pics and Baby News. .

Our two school kids! They were excited. . and both had great starts to the school year.

Aren't they cute??

This is a rare family pic from Labor Day at my parents' house. We celebrated my sister's and my dad's birthdays.

And in other news .. . .for my blogging friends who may not know already, our family will be growing. . . and she's a GIRL!!  We had an ultrasound today and got a clear shot! :) Praise the Lord!  We are excited and amazed at God's plans for our family.

Sea World

We went to Sea World for the weekend and had a great time. It was the perfect way to finish off the summer. . next week is our last week before school starts!

Here are some pictures of the kids:

on the Shamu roller coaster

right after the roller coaster ride--super excited

sweet Maddie helping Hope get her life jacket on for the lazy river

our baby girl

our silly boy

Stephen and the kids

another roller coaster shot

Birthday News. ..

. . we are home this week! Yea! Jackson and I celebrated our birthday this week. Monday was the big day, and we went to an Astros game that night. We had awesome seats, and Jackson thought it was great.  I can't believe he's four!! Then, on Tuesday night, we had a Hot Wheels party at the club room and pool at the condo where we live. It was a tons of fun with friends and family.  Here are a few pics:

We had a big pancake breakfast Monday morning

Arriving at his first Astros game. . pretty exciting

Stephen and Madison having fun

We're here!!!

Hope is a party girl! She could not wait to get to the party, and she had a blast the whole time! She especially loved talking to Valerie-she kept saying "baby" and then babbling away at her. Hope talks in these long, emphatic strings of baby talk--she know every word that she's saying and she emphasizes the important parts with head gestures and hand motions. Too cute!

the happy chaos of opening presents. . 

. . .and again!

This week we're in Anderson, South Carolina with Student Life for Kids! This is our first time to do kids camp--and it is so fun! They are precious! Our kids are back in Houston spending time with their grandparents--all of them! Marsha had them Tuesday and Wednesday (with a zoo trip with Gene on Tuesday) and with my parents until Friday when we get back.

Wow! The summer fun never stops!

See you later!

Camp. . .again!. . and other happenings. .

Yes, we've been to camp and back. . again. . .since my last blog. Last week we were in San Angelo at Angelo State University for a Student Life camp. It was an incredible week. We are so blown away that we get to be a part of such a wonderful week. I always pray that the things the students saw and heard will go down deep into good soil. I hate the thought of it just being another week in their lives, and I want so badly for them to be truly transformed because of God's work in their lives at camp. That sounds super-spiritual, but really--what is the point of the week if they aren't changed?

Do you know that Stephen and I have been going to camp every summer together for 14 years??? Our anniversary is coming up in July, and that first summer--14 YEARS AGO--we went to camp right after our Honeymoon! Seriously! It just wouldn't be summer without camp! :)

Here are some pics from last week. . 

in the green room

at a Q&A with the band and speaker (Matt Carter)

Maddie and me

Jackson finishing off a 2 liter of coke--at 10:30 PM!!! This was the Thursday night after party.

Does Hope look like a rock star, or what!?

And here are a few pictures from the week before last:

This was a "Mission Wednesday" moment. I try to have day each week where we purposefully do something for someone else. Last summer it was "Mission Monday". This summer has been so crazy, that I'm just catching it when I can. This was for their VBS offering. Yes, we did VBS LAST week--in between Oklahoma and San Angelo.

This is a sweet Father's Day pic, don't ya think? 

My newphew Caden is getting so big--he's soooo close to full-on crawling!

Hope is a reader (just kidding! :) but she does love books. Thank you, Aunt Melody, for all the new books!

Good night!

Camp Pics

Hanging out in the green room. We were so thankful for a nice, cozy room to spend our backstage time in.

Molly (our wonderful nanny-for-the-week) and the kids spent a lot of time on playhousedisney.com!

My little strawberry girl. . so sweet!

My cup cake girl. . so sweet, too!

Just look at those legs! Love them!

We're at camp!

We're at Falls Creek in Oklahoma with about 5,000 teenagers! We are loving getting to lead worship here. It's a wonderful invitation and we have so much respect for the camp director and the speaker this week. . so it's all good!

The kids are having fun playing in the green room, driving the golf cart, playing ping pong, making new friends, and going to the "Devil's Bathtub" (a natural spring in the mountain).

I love summer! It's my favorite time of the year. . the more relaxed schedule, kids home, and time to play and hang out. I love it! Hope you are, too.

Have a great day!

Star