Hopper House

.nanny bec.

2012-01-27T09:30:00.000-05:00

The day finally came about 3 weeks ago for my sister to move in with us to be our nanny!!!!....
It felt like forever ago that she had started her last semester of college with no real plan for when she graduated. We knew we were going to be planting a church in Greensboro, so I just casually one day mentioned to her to pray about joining our team for that and becoming our nanny. I really didn't know what she would say- she has lived at home for college and loves being at home; but I went ahead and threw it out there. So she spent some time praying and talking with my parents and her mentor. A few weeks later she came to me and said that she really felt like this was a great opportunity that the Lord was opening up for her and she said, YES! I was so excited!!! So she moved in with us the beginning of January. 3 weeks into this deal, things are going great. She is such a blessing.. I love knowing that she is the one at home with the kids everyday. The kids are doing good and have adjusted so well. I am so excited for her in this stage of life and thankful that this is a decision that she sought the Lord and has seen His hand in guiding her! Not to mention she really helps out with things around the house which frees me up in the evenings to spend time with the kids and Andrew.
We love you Bec Bec!! Here are some pics that she sent me last week-

.pure joy.

2012-01-26T06:00:00.003-05:00

.puddle jumping.

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

.we went on a walk saturday morning around the property and stumbled upon LOTS of puddles- we were not dressed for puddle jumping, but boy was it a blast! HJ loved jumping in them!. love the sound of her sweet laughter when she is enjoying something. needless to say we were SOAKING wet and muddy, but it was worth it!.

.Potty Training.

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

..sniff sniff... the little 2 1/2 year old booty in my house is no longer bulky in clothes... she is in her "big girl panties"!!!! YAY HattieJo... She has really taken off with potty training and is doing GREAT. She isn't hesitant to go in a public restroom and is doing so well in letting us know when she has to go! We are so proud of her. She has a potty chart in the bathroom and LOVES putting a sticker on it each time she goes...

:6mths and 7mths:

2012-01-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

AP is 7 months today! WHAT WHAT?!?!?!... So I was slacker and didn't do a 6 month post with the craziness of Christmas travels and such i just FORGOT! ooops!So today he is 7 months old! He has changed so much in the past 2 months. Here are some things that he is doing:
*sitting up alone
*standing up when holding on to things (love the chunky legs!!!!!!!)
*trying to pull himself up with a bit of help
*eating 3 meals a day and 1 or 2 baby food snacks-not a big fan of taking a bottle these days
*he is still NOT sleeping through the night!!! his smiling face wakes up still to eat...crazy!
*he loves to babble... he says, mamamama, dadadadadada, bababababab, and lots of pitches of squeals
*when i get home he about jumps out of his skin to get to me..I.LOVE.IT!
*prefers to stand versus sitting to play
*loves to empty a basket or box
*SMILES.NON.STOP.
*he likes to jump
*he has his 2 front bottom teeth.... 2 top teeth have just broke through along with another one the bottom (i am hoping this is what is causing him to wake up in the night)
*he adores HJ... he wants to be right where she is and playing with her
*has great hand/eye coordination when it comes to reaching and grabbing things he wants
*the cousins have named him the "hair grabber" and boy is it true!
*he will listen to a story as long as he can be in control of the pages
*he is SO SWEET!!!!!
*LOVES water- as soon as he hears the water running for a bath, he gets SO GIDDY! he splashes the whole time he is in there
*he is NOSY- he will whip his head all the way around if he hears something going on that he needs to know about

AP- We love you more than you know. We praise the Lord each day for the blessing He gave us in you! We pray that you will come to know and follow Him early in life. We love you baby boy!

.pinterest.

2012-01-19T09:15:00.005-05:00

...so i might just be IN LOVE with pinterest.... yeah i know, but its WONDERFUL and has so many great ideas... here are a couple that i have done recently:
*Prayer Pail- took a pail with cute ribbon(thank you JennT. this is one that she had for me at a shower for HJ!).. .then i wrote names of people we would pray for; family, friends, Mercy Hill Church, fundraising, etc. on popsicle sticks..each night at dinner HJ pulls out a stick and we prayer for whatever is on that stick. LOVE IT!*Clothespin Learning (at least that is the name that I gave it!)- wrote the alphabet and numbers 1-10 on clothespins, then wrote it on strips of paper. I did the lowercase letter strips and clothespins in blue, uppercase in red, and then the number is blue. HJ has to match the clothespin to the correct letter or number. She has really enjoyed this! It is helping with letter/number recognition and then fine motor skills with working a clothspin.

.we love a park.

2012-01-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

For Christmas the Summit had 2 services on Thursday, 2 on Friday, and then 2 on Saturday- so that meant over those 3 days Andrew was gone ALOT! So on Friday between the 2 services we met him at a local park to play. The weather was so nice and it was good for HJ to get some fresh air with the nasty stomach virus that she had. We even took Opie with us!

.date night.

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

While we were in Florida, Andrew's parents kept the kids one night and we headed to the movies! It was so fun! We hadn't been to the movies in FOREVER. Thank you Gigi and Poppa!

:Cousins Christmas Party:

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Every year there is a "cousins Christmas party"... All the cousins on Andrew's mom side of the family get together for a party for the kids. In years past the kids will exchange names at Thanksgiving and get gifts, so that you aren't buying a dozen gifts. This year they decided instead of spending money on gifts that they would donate the money that they would spend on the gifts to our church plant! What a blessing to have family that is willing to partner with us in this journey! We were so thankful!

All the cousins- Too bad they aren't all looking, but its as good as it gets with this crew!

Here are Gigi and Poppa's sweet matching monkeys!

This boy TOTALLY STEALS my heart with that sweet smile!!!!

:Collins Cousins:

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Andrew's sister has 3 boys and we love them so much!!!! I am so thankful for cousins that HJ and AP have to hang out with and grow up spending time together and making such fun memories- just wish we all lived closer, but we cherish the times that we are able to spend together. Here are some shots of our time together while we were in FL:I don't have any pictures, but one day while were down there the boys came over to Gigi and Poppa's house to play- the weather was GORGEOUS, so we were outside having "a war" they had gotten nerf swords, shields, and axes for Christmas, so me and the big boys were in a war against Andrew and Mike! It was so fun! Those boys are so creative when it comes to crafting a plan of attack!

:sneaky snake:

2012-01-09T06:00:00.003-05:00

I am afraid we have a sneaky snake on our hands when it come to HattieJo and treats that she likes to eat!!! Let me explain:Picture1: Mr. Snowman- he lives at Gigi's house and holds Hershey Kisses
Picture2: This is a hershey kiss wrapper behind Gigi's couch
Picture3: The hershey kiss that once resided in the wrapper that was on the floor that once resided in Mr. Snowman
Anytime HJ would get quiet while we were at Gigi's house, you could bet she would be behind the couch with a hershey kiss!!!!

Recent incident:
Me: HJ where are you?
HJ: I right here, I not eating anything mommy
I go into the dining room and she is behind the dining room table with the bag of powder donuts, a cup with a donut in it and powder all over her face!!!

.LOVE.MY.GIRL.
here she is in her "model" pose

:FL Christmas:

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

We left Christmas Day to go spend time with family in Florida. We had such a great time while we were there. HJ and AP traveled so well, we were so grateful for that! Funny thing about traveling on Christmas day- there are NO fast food places open!!! So our wonderful Christmas day lunch consisted of; jalapeno cheddar chex mix, a beef stick, granola bars, apple(which got thrown out the window after we thought about eating an apple from a gas station), banana(peeling protected the edible part!), peanut butter crackers, peanuts, dr. pepper, and a diet cheerwine. That is a memory that will last forever! haha... I should have packed us a lunch, but we left in such a hurry and I just wasn't thinking. So back to our time in Florida- When we arrived we spent the evening opening some gifts with Gigi and Poppa. Don't worry they had a delicious lunch with all the family and saved us some for dinner!! We did lots of playing with cousins and lots of just being together. It was wonderful!

.Christmas Morning.

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

HJ had a TERRIBLE stomach virus the week before Christmas. It was just at night that she was getting sick, but it was BAD. I was in tears as I watched her get sick each time, it was breaking my heart to see her like that. We took her in to the doctor on Saturday (Christmas Eve..ugh!) and the first thing the doctor said to us was, "man she really doesn't look well." She was right- on top of the stomach bug she had an ear infection. So we got 3 prescriptions to help with the virus and ears and left praying! We had so many people praying for her on Saturday for which we were grateful and we saw the power of prayer when our sweet energetic HJ woke up on Sunday morning. WHAT A BLESSING and an answer to prayers! So we decided at 8am that we would leave by 10 for Florida- AHHH! You can only imagine the mess that we left the house in- oh well!
HJ was very excited about her gifts on Christmas morning as well as helping AP open and enjoy his! Neither one of them have on their Christmas pj's because we didn't know how things were going to go Christmas Eve so we didn't want to get them messed up!!

.Christmas MercyHillGSO style.

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

The week before Christmas we also had our first Mercy Hill Christmas party! It was such a sweet time of fellowship with a HUGE spread of food. Everyone pitched in to bring different things and the room was decorated all festive with some great Christmas tunes in the background. Once everyone finished eating Andrew got up and just talked (while holding HJ who by this time wanted no one but her daddy!) about all that the Lord has done over the past year. Then several people shared where they were this time last year in the decision making of joining the team. It so neat to hear story after story of people sharing that GSO wasn't even on their radar, yet now they are going and are pumped about it! What a blessing. I sat back as Andrew and others shared, so thankful at how faithful the Lord has been in this whole process. Next Christmas we will be celebrating together in Greensboro, so EXCITING!!!!

SC Christmas (part2)

2012-01-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

While we were in SC we went to my uncle Kenny(my mom's brother) and aunt Lynn's home. They live on a farm with goats, chickens, horses, and a mule! It is awesome. HJ loved being able to feed the chickens and pet the goats(baby goats were 5 days old!) and horses. It was great to be able to spend time with them since we don't see them often.

Christmas in SC (part1)

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ok so the next several days are going to be SUPER heavy on the pictures, so just brace yourself! We went to SC the week before Christmas and had a great time while we were there other than HJ having the stomach bug- hate to see my baby girl sick, breaks my heart.We were able to spend time with lots of friends and family- We opened presents in shifts, it was not the typically sit down in one sitting and open them all, so that was fun. i did have to come home and do a toy detox to move in the new! We were so blessed!HJ was so funny opening her gifts, she definitely took her time with each one. It was like a double Christmas for her because she is able to enjoy some of AP's gifts as well! Also AP got his first pocket knife. Don't worry it will be staying in the package for a while :)

.blessed.

2011-12-27T06:49:00.002-05:00

Our hearts are so full from a blessed time with family and friends this Christmas! We are so thankful to have been able to spend so much time with so many of the people that we love. I will be back after the new year to let you in on all our adventures!
Here is the video from the Christmas service at our church. We had service on Thursday night, 2 on Friday, and then 2 on Saturday and they were all PACKED OUT! It was such a great time of lifting up our Lord Jesus. Please enjoy!

Christmas at the Summit from The Summit Church on Vimeo.

.bec bec graduates.

2011-12-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

My sister graduated from college earlier this month, so we make a trip to SC to see her walk across the stage! We were so proud of her! Not to mention super excited that her next step in life is to move in with us to be our nanny!!!!!!!! SO STINKIN' EXCITED about that. I know it will have its challenges, but we are really looking forward to this and are super excited that she feels the Lord has led her to move on to Greensboro with us as well to be a part of Mercy Hill Church.
Here are some pics from our short weekend there:Funny thing: we went to the Olive Garden for lunch one day and HJ went potty (#1 and#2) in the bathroom there and when we returned to the table she announced it to everyone around! haha.. Oh the joys of no shame!

.bettty crocker.

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

.frosty the snowman.

2011-12-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

this is hj's new favorite toy!... its one of those tacky hallmark toys that plays music, lights up, and frosty dances. She will mash the button cutting it on and off ALL NIGHT LONG! When she lets it play she dances around like a crazy person and when it finishes, she will bow saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" hahaha... PURE ENTERTAINMENT! AP even enjoys watching it and her. I thought he might be unsure about it, but he isn't and likes to get his hands on frosty too!

.cousin ry ry.

2011-12-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

i love these pics... this was when HJ was in FL... her and ry ry having some breakfast at Gigi's house.

.sweet and smiley.

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

.so thankful for my sweet smiley blessings!.

.oh Christmas tree.

2011-12-19T06:00:00.001-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving we got up and went shopping (not at the crack of dawn) then came home for Christmas decorating!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE having our house decorated for Christmas, and it's nice to have extra hands to get it all put up. HJ had a good time helping and AP just jumped in his jumper watching it all.

.thanksgiving.

2011-12-16T09:09:00.010-05:00

. i mean better late than never right!. haha.
We had a great Thanksgiving! My family came up for the week/weekend. Thanksgiving morning I ran the Gobbler Run here in Wake Forest, its become a little tradition! Bobby, Allison, and Brandy came over to enjoy Thanksgiving late lunch with us. It was DELICIOUS and such a sweet time with family and friends!After our bellies were full we just hung out watching, American's Next Great Baker (i think that's the name of it)- it was a marathon on TLC! Some of us even dozed off- AP was so interested in HJ's pillow pet!

.HJ in FL.

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

here are some more pics from HJ's time in FL... from what I can gather she had a great time... there was lots of popsicle eating, time with cousins, a christmas parade with candy, a christmas parade picnik, time out a the padgetts for a christmas party, lots of snuggles, giggles, jumping on the bed, and running wide open with her boy cousins!...i snagged these pictures from my sister in law's blog- she is quite talented when it comes to photography!

.HattieJo goes to FL.

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Last week Andrew, Bobby, and Jeremy planned to go to FL because they had several meetings with churches that are possibly going to partner with us with our Mercy Hill church plant. They were going to be in Jacksonville where Andrew's parents are- staying at their house, so when they started planning the trip Andrew asked what I thought about HJ going with him. So she did! Crazy thing was a virus jumped on her on Sunday and they were set to leave late Tuesday night- long story short- she left and was sick, but I knew she would be in good hands in FL. She had a rough day on Wednesday, but started to get well on Thursday and by Friday was back to her good ole happy self! I am so thankful for family in FL that LOVE on her and were so excited that she came to spend time with them. I am glad she was able to spend time with her 3 boy cousins too- From what I hear she was in LOVE with Tyler! Here is a stream of pictures that Mrs.Penny and Mr. Perry sent to me while she was there.... boy did I miss that girl! The house was too quiet and I think AP was in shock because he didn't have someone to watch or have someone poking on him the whole time.

:check us out!:

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Blest Photography

Thanks again Cole!! The pictures are great.... If you need a good photographer, contact Cole!

::my man::

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

...i am so in LOVE...

babe, you are the best. thank you for how you love and lead our family!

:my loves:

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

(HJ LOVES LOVES LOVES her little brother! She will say, "hey there chunky" hahaha)

:daddy and his girl:

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

:Andrew Patten Hopper, JR.:

2011-12-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Always smiling

Pure joy

:HattieJo Hopper:

2011-12-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

Has a smile that lights up a room
ALL girl
Talking all the time
Teachable spirit
In to everything
Energetic
Joyful
Opie lover (thats our new puppy!)

.family pictures.

2011-11-30T18:05:00.009-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Cole Gorman, from Blest Photography came out to take some pictures for us. He was awesome to work with. He was great with the kids, laid back, and the pictures turned out great! We were all dressed ready to go and AP decided he would spit up all over his shirt- OF COURSE..then he decided that he wasn't going to be his smiley self for the camera. Nevertheless, the pictures turned out wonderful. Here are a few of my favorites. Check back tomorrow for some of HJ and then Friday I will spotlight AP!

:thankful:

2011-11-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

So I do realize that Thanksgiving has come and gone for this year... most people including myself have already decorated for Christmas, but before the craziness of Christmas begins i wanted to make a list of things that i am so thankful for... they are in no particular order at all... just some things that stand out and make me thankful for this past year!
*Jesus Christ- apart from Him I am NOTHING and can do NOTHING-
*Andrew- my best friend, partner in life, my LOVE
*HattieJo- her sweet spirit and teachable heart
*AP- his LIGHT UP THE ROOM smile and his snuggles
*my family- for their support in all that we do
*my sister- for how she loves my kiddos SO much!
*my in-laws- they are great! they raised one studly man that is what i know
*all my other family on both sides- blessings!
*Summit Church- where the Lord used JD Greear to make the GOSPEL so personal and real
*Mercy Hill- thankful for how the Lord has been, is, and will continue to work through this group that is moving to take the Gospel to Greensboro.
*Eggletons- a picture of true friends, thankful for their sacrifice to take the Gospel to the nations
*my job- it really is a joy each day
*my friends
*the Herringtons- who have been behind andrew and i 100% in the decision to move to Greensboro, who are packing up their life in the midst of having a baby in March to take the Gospel with us!
*the Dagers- who have also been their from the initial talk of planting a church and said, "we are in!" not to mention their daughter Nora is HJ's BFF!
*the Word- what a joy to have something that we can go to in order to know the Lord and his plan better and it has become so much for alive in this past year of digging into it
*the laugh of my 2 precious kiddos
*good health- the Lord has been so gracious to bless us with good health in ourselves and the kids
i know i could go on and on...

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His LOVE endures FOREVER!"

Wordless Wednesday: FLEXIBLE

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

:Opie:

2011-11-22T06:56:00.002-05:00

We have a new puppy! Let me introduce you to Opie.. .HattieJo LOVES him. He likes her as long as she isn't chasing him (which she does quite often!)..He is so sweet though. He loves to play and is so gentle.

:Pinny Pinterest:

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I told you I was loving some PINTEREST... So i decided to declare Sunday, "Pinny Pinterest" day- I mean I pin TONS of ideas, so I needed to cracking on making them a reality and not just a nice idea! So last week here are some things i did:
*made BBQ pineapple chicken in the crockpot- DELICIOUS!
*made a chocolate ice cream cake (1pt. of ice cream in the cake batter with eggs and water then you bake)-*these 3 signs, the wood for the signs were old drawers and cabinets from Andrew's parents house which makes them extra special!

::5months::

2011-11-20T07:23:00.005-05:00

Little Man,
Can't believe that you are already 5 months old! Time is truly FLYING by. I feel like this month you have changed so much- You are so confident in holding yourself up, you are starting to sit up on your own. You are VERY aware of things around you and are all the time trying to reach for everything that you can see! You have started eating cereal and are really enjoying it. Those sweet rolls of yours are getting bigger and more are appearing! You still just have those 2 bottom chompers. You are wearing size 3 diapers and clothes sizes 6mths and 6-9mths. You are such a happy boy and you LOVE to smile! You have found your feet and you enjoy putting them in your mouth-you are very flexible. You are starting to form your own little schedule with your naps during the day which is great! We love you so much and are thankful for the healthy happy little man that you are. Your little sister loves you so much too- it has been so fun to see how they are starting to interact now. PRECIOUS! *click here to see HJ when she was 5months old- they look so much alike!

.be still.

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

.the LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will REJOICE over you with GLADNESS; he will QUIET you by HIS LOVE; he will EXULT over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah3:17*these were taken on our hike on the retreat*

.sugar.

2011-11-17T06:00:00.003-05:00

..please look it is dripping from his lips in every one of these pictures and is constantly dripping all day these days!..

..pure.sweetness..

:Check this out:

2011-11-16T15:17:00.002-05:00

Check out our Pastor's blog from today.
Its so exciting that we are being sent from such a great church. We have been so privileged to be up under the Gospel teaching of JD each week. What a blessing!

.caged animal.

2011-11-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

I guess since she had just been to the zoo and saw animals in the cage she thought this would be fun! The girl is so good at imaginative play! After she got finished pretending she was an animal, she put the basket on the ground and was hitting her golf balls into it...never a dull moment that is for sure.

.the before and after.

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Before the hike:

After the hike:

Mercy Hill Vision Day Video

2011-11-14T10:26:00.001-05:00

Mercy Hill Church Vision Day from Josh Sliffe on Vimeo.

:Mercy Hill Retreat part3:

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the group...well minus about 3 people! These are the people who have signed the Launch Team Covenant and are committed to taking the Gospel to Greensboro! There are quite a few more that we are talking with that are interested in going with us as well. We are SO BLESSED!
*HJ and Norah spent the weekend with their grandparents is why they are not in the pictures-It was HJ's first spend the night away and she did great!!*

:Mercy Hill Retreat part2:

2011-11-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Julianne and I trying to keep our footing because the wind was blowing something fierce on Saturday!

Dinner time! We divided into groups to prepare the meals for everyone.
"Dirty D" and Mark grilling some burgers for lunch:

Game time:

The ladies relaxing and enjoying the scenery!

This picture cracks me up! Just before this one of some of the guys we took a girl picture where we were all squeezed in close, then you move to take a picture of the guys and they act scared of each other!

:Mercy Hill Retreat:

2011-11-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

It was AMAZING! I think we all walked away from the weekend saying it couldn't have gone any better. What a blessing! I am amazed at the team that the Lord has already put together. I feel so overwhelmed at times just thinking of all that the Lord has in store for us! It is crazy to think that 5 years ago we had someone in SC telling us that we should visit the Summit when we moved to seminary, now we have been here and are being sent out by them to take the Gospel to Greensboro. What a joy!
So we spent the weekend walking through the statement for our church, "the Gospel changes EVERYTHING." I feel like that statement has truly rocked me lately.
We had 4 sessions where Andrew taught through what these 4 statements mean for Mercy Hill Church: The Gospel saves, the Gospel sanctifies, the Gospel gathers, and the Gospel sends. It was awesome! You check out the website for more on those 4 statements as well. www.mercyhillgso.com. On Sunday morning Andrew laid out goals for the next 5 years for our church and then we prayed through each goal. It's so neat to think how apart from Christ we are nothing and can do nothing, but in Christ we have EVERYTHING that we need to do all that he has called us to do and so we pray expecting great things for Greensboro. We pray that the Lord will, even now as we prepare to go, break our hearts for the people of that city.

On Saturday we had just a day of doing whatever, except we weren't allowed to nap; Bobby declared him and Andrew the "no sleep police." The weather was gorgeous! So we all just hung around playing games, hiking, chatting, playing football(a2hour game that had all the boys walking funny on Sunday!), volleyball, and some KanJam. Here are some pictures from our time.

Here was our view from one of the porches of the house we stayed in:**More to come tomorrow!**

:storytime:

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

I LOVE reading books to the kids! HJ asks every night lately for me to read her princess books to her. They were a birthday gift from the CollinsFive and she loves them!

.Mercy Hill Church.

2011-11-04T06:00:00.001-04:00

Two Sunday's ago we got together as a team to have a "letter packing party." The whole team minus 3 came over to our house to grill out, stuff support letters, and then we had a bonfire. It was so much fun! i am so thankful for the team the Lord is forming of people to go to Greensboro with us...it has been so neat to watch friendships form and grow.
This weekend we are headed out to the mountains as a team for a retreat!!! I am SO EXCITED for this time to get away from the busyness of life to just spend time in the Word with these people. Please pray for us that the Lord would continue to build unity among our team, break our hearts for the lost in Gboro, give us vision for taking the Gospel to the city, and that this weekend would be a refreshing and challenging time in the Word.
Also, check out some information about the vision day we will be hosting at the Summit by using this link: http://www.summitrdu.com/gboro

:we got mail:

2011-11-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

. i love getting mail. except bills of course!. So here lately we have been getting a lot of FUN mail. here is what has come lately-
a big box of goodies from gigi and poppa:My awesome creative mother in law made this pumpkin! i love it because its not real and i can use it for years to come!! HJ loved her pj's and halloween outfit! she also got some m&m's(her favorite) and a fun scarecrow lady!AP's excited face about all his goodies:Then Bon Bon(my parents back door neighbor sent the kids some books- They loved them!My parents, gmama and gdaddy, had given them some halloween clothes when we were down there and they sent cards with stickers this week. HJ loved making pictures with the stickers. She was so creative!The Collins Five also sent the kids cards! Here is HJ saying to me, "it says happy halloween. i love my ryry and dylan and tyler and eddie(erin) and mike." it was so cute!

Wordless Wednesday: MELT.MY.HEART.

2011-11-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

.hopper halloween.

2011-11-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

We spent Halloween afternoon hanging out at home before we headed to bobby and allie's house for pizza with them and the dagers! the weather was cold and wet, so we just helped them pass out candy to trick or treaters... HJ enjoyed that! She was a cute cowgirl that didn't want any part in wearing her cute boots! AP sported a shirt that said, "this is my costume!"

.carving time.

2011-11-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

She was so excited that is was pumpkin carving time... until Andrew asked her to get the guts out! haha Notice the hands behind her back in the next picture:Then once she saw her daddy do it she gave it a try and immediately said, "that yucky mommy, i not like it."The finished product, "Jack the Jack-o-lantern":

.our punkins.

2011-10-31T06:00:00.002-04:00

I don't know if you know about Pinterest or not, but OH.MY.GOODNESS.... I am addicted! Its such an awesome website. It is the website that has inspired me to do lots of DIY projects for Christmas, given me new recipes, new ideas for our house when we move, and so much more-like our pumpkins!
So 2 of our 4 pumpkins were pinterested, one was carved (check back tomorrow), and the other is going for the all-natural look hanging out by our fall flag! I love the "boo" pumpkin, the "H" pumpkin isn't my favorite, but its cute with the fun colors!

.lil man's stats.

2011-10-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to the dr. for ap's 4month appointment. It went so well. The doctor said, "He looks great. He is so smiley! He is growing right on track and is a bit ahead with his motor skills."

He took his shots like a CHAMP. Andrew was proud, "that's my boy!"

Weight:15lbs 7 oz.

Height: 26 inches

Head: 42 cm.

"its a punkin patch"

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

On Saturday morning we loaded up and headed over to Hillridge Farms. We had such a WONDERFUL time together as a family. We got there not long after they opened and then left about noon and it was getting crowded when we left, so we were glad that we went early!HJ went through the maze, played in the corn pit, went down the HUGE slide, RAN everywhere she went, we rode the train, feed the fish and the goats, and ended with a hayride to get our 4 pumpkins! Yes, I said 4 pumpkins, they said every person in your family got a pumpkin. HJ had a blast picking up all the pumpkins. She would say, "mommy i use my muscles, that punkin HUGE" Yes, here I am holding 2 pumpkins, a baby,a lala(HJ's blankie), and her hat! A lady at the pumpkin patch said I needed to be on a billboard for advertisement! haha..WOOHOO..(Check back on Monday to see what we did with our pumpkins) Here are some pictures from our great morning!The train ride! (AP clearly wasn't interested in our family photo!)HJ LoVeD the big slide that they had, it really was fun and fast:

.its official.

2011-10-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

Yep, no turning back now.... it has made it to the internet world! ha

Our church website for the new church plant went "live" yesterday. So go check it out:

www.MercyHillGSO.com

I am SO stinkin' excited about this! No doubt it will be hard to leave here; the comforts of friends, a job, our home, memories, and our church family. But what a JOY to be able to be moving to take the Gospel to Greensboro! I am already praying expectantly for what the Lord has in store for us there. This is something that is so much bigger than we are, but praise the Lord that we are not going at this alone, this is something that we are confident that the Lord has called us to do we know that He will go before us!

"Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wonderous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done." Psalm 105:1-5

.fall is here.

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

.i.LOVE.fall.

cool crisp mornings
leaves changing colors
running in shorts and long sleeves
coffee on the porch
playing outside ALL THE TIME
the sun shining with a cool breeze
leaves crunching on the ground
having to wear a hat to keep warm in the morning
pumpkin spice candles
.i.LOVE.fall.

one of my favorites about fall is the kids getting to wear their hats when we go outside in the mornings!

.dinner.

2011-10-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

Preparing dinner with 2 kiddos under 2 can be a bit challenging sometimes... So this was us the other night.. it was nice and calm, which makes dinner preparation so much easier.

:whooo...whooo:

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

I got this adorable hat and mitten set for HJ and she LOVES it! She wears it around the house all the time and every time she puts it on she says, "mommy i an owl and i say whooo, whooo." She put it on and started playing her instruments. It was cracking me up!

.sweet.

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

This was the night after Andrew got back from SouthEast Asia.... HJ didn't want to let him out of her sight. It was so precious!

:4months:

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Little Man is 4months old today!!

Here are some things that AP is doing these days:

*he is STILL loving to eat about 2 times in the night- but I am thankful that he goes right back to sleep*taking at least 2 LONG naps each day with about 2 smaller naps too*he has found his feet! The boy takes off his socks all.the.time! he LOVES to play with his feet*he is constantly trying to sit himself up whether he is reclining on a pillow, in his carseat, in his bouncy seat, or in your lap* likes playing with the linking links*always has his hands in his mouth and is DROOLY*he has his 2 bottom middle teeth (don’t know the dental terms for those teeth!)*he has discovered his voice and LOVES to hear himself talk, sing, and squeal, its OH.SO.CUTE.*the boy is ALL SMILES. His sweet smile will light up a room and he smiles with his whole face(like his sister)*he quickly responds when he hears me, andrew, or hj*if he is in your lap, he prefers to be standing!*he rolls from belly to back and has rolled back to belly a couple of times*he has started sitting in the exersaucer and really enjoys looking at all the toys and turning himself around!*he is such a sweet happy little boy!*he is in size2 til this box is out and will be ready for size 3*wearing size 3-6months in most clothes, 6months in some*at the dr. 2 weeks ago he was 15 pounds!

We go to the dr. next Friday for his 4month.. yucky shots!..will update the blog with his stats when we know!

(love how HJ is trying to get away from him on this pic and he is grabbing her shirt!...he loves his sister!)

.my loves.

2011-10-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

"wanna marsh mallows?"

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

So when I was a little girl and would go camping I would always invite my "friends" that I met while we were camping to come to our campsite at night to "marsh mallows." It still is one of my favorite things about a fire... SMORES! HJ loved her some marshmallows too, but she didn't want them in the fire. She did like to blow out the fire from mine though!

.camping.

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

While Andrew was in SouthEast Asia for 2 weeks, I loaded up the kiddos and we headed to spend a week in SC with my family. I was pretty nervous about driving down (4 1/2 hours) by myself with the kids, but it was a breeze! The kids did A.MAZING! We found a super nice McDonalds and hung out there for an hour to break up our trip and let HJ play. We arrived at my parents house on Monday afternoon and spent several days there then went with them camping from Thursday through Sunday. It was so much fun! I haven't been camping in FOREVER. (I grew up camping at least 1x a month!)It was so nice to be away from everything and just enjoy God's beautiful creation! Now this isn't your camping in a tent camping.. I like to refer to my parents camper as a "house on wheels".. I was able to bathe the kiddos each night in the camper. We did lots of playing in the sand, swinging, sliding, riding the tricycle, taking walks and rides in the stroller, picking up "shells", painting, resting, and relaxing! My parents said that prior to me even being married they used to talk about how one day they hoped that they would be able to take their grandkids camping, so that was pretty special that they have now done that.

:bday/NGU weekend:

2011-10-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

This is a little overdue, but here it is... While we were in SC back in September we celebrated Andrew's birthday with my family! We also went to an NGU football game (where we went to college and Andrew played football!). It was a fun weekend with friends and family, so here are some more pictures that I had forgotten to post:

HJ loved helping her daddy blow out the candles!

The "old men" haha.. (both former NGU football players)Wonder why this is blurry.... you guessed it... HJ is a dancing machine! Anytime she would hear the music she busted out a move!

.Andrew's surprises.

2011-10-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

So for each day that Andrew was gone I had him an envelope that HattieJo colored and we wrote a prayer or bible verse on the back of each for Andrew to open and inside each one was this:

.today.

2011-10-07T15:11:00.002-04:00

Yes, that is right.... we are SUPER excited that today has arrived...
Andrew has been in Southeast Asia for 2 weeks! I am so thankful for the opportunity that he had to lead a team there, but boy did we miss him!

.pioneer woman.

2011-10-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I enjoy cooking... really i do! My husband loves to eat, so it works out nicely. However, he is one who finds what he likes and thats all he cares about eating... so lately i feel like i have been in a rut with my cooking... last week i decided i would venture out. a lot of the girls at church are all the time talking about the Pioneer Woman, so i got on her site and got a recipe for "Apple Porkchops with Bacon and Cheese Grits."..... YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Side note: this lady makes her grits from the homemade stuff, but i cheated and used instant grits, cooked my turkey bacon (not the real stuff) in the microwave instead of frying it, and didn't use as much butter for browning the pork chops.. but it turned out DELICIOUS! It was way more time consuming than the dishes i usually make, but it was a nice change. Thank you Pioneer Woman, i am hoping to try some more of her dishes soon.
Here's a little pic of the final product.. yeah probably should of had a different veggie to add some color to the plate, but i had corn that needed to be cooked!

.one last goodbye.

2011-10-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

The other week we were able to go visit the Eggletons one last time before they were commissioned to go serve overseas...it was so great to spend a few hours with them. When we pulled in the parking lot, HJ said, "Lebiiiiii, i see him, i see him mommy!" She loves her some "Lebi." We got to walk around the place where they have been for training the past 2 months(its gorgeous),meet some of their friends, and play on several of the playgrounds. Then we went out to dinner one last time at one of our favorite places: "Welcome to Moe's!"Me and my lil man.. excuse my hair being a HOT MESS! haha

LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Danielle! What a blessing she has been to me.. a true friend, encourager, and challenger to me in my walk with the Lord. So thankful for her! (AP wasn't interested in this photo opportunity evidently!)

.happy fall y'all.

2011-09-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

this:plus this:plus this:plus this:equals this:My wonderful mother-in-law introduced me to this "fall mix" several years ago. She even gave me the fun candy corn dish to serve it in! The simpler way is to use regular candy corn, peanuts, and plain m&m's...I did this "fancy" version because its stuff I had around the house! This mix is the perfect mixture of sweet and salty all in one handful...YUMMY!!!!

.Church at the Ballpark.

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Sunday before last, our church met all in one location... only one word to describe it...
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! It was so neat for all our different campuses to come together in one location in the heart of Durham to proclaim the Gospel... There were over 7,200 people in attendance and over 300 baptisms...AWESOME! I stood in awe as we all stood and worshiped together. What a joy to be a part of something so incredible...the Lord was truly glorified as the Gospel was preached!
Before the service started they had fun games which included sumo wrestling between campus pastors:(yes, that is andrew in the blue suit! haha)It was a joy to be able to worship together as a family as well. HattieJo LOVED being able to sing with us! Then she colored and loved on her daddy during the message.Here are a few shots of pictures of part of the crowd from where we were standing:Andrew had the privilege to baptize in one of the 4 baptism pools:- HJ said as we watched him, "i get in the pool with daddy?!" Oh how I cannot wait for the day when HJ will commit her life to following Christ. Here is a great (professional) shot of the crowd:And after the service the concession stands were open selling things for lunch! A great ending to a great morning!

.Wordless Wednesday: Our Little Gator.

2011-09-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

.NGU football.

2011-09-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

While we were in SC, we were able to go to a North Greenville University football game! This is the college that Andrew and I graduated from. It was neat going back to the stadium where Andrew had played. HattieJo had the best time at the game. She was ALL SMILES and cheers during the game. Before the game we tailgated with my family and some of our friends which was fun catching up with all of them and their children. (I didn't take my camera into the game, so I will have to snag some from my sister to post soon!).

.old macdonald had a farm.

2011-09-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

We made a quick visit to SC last weekend. It was so fun! On Saturday morning we went over to one of my mom's friends house.... she lives on a farm! HJ was in heaven. She LOVED all the animals. Mrs. Gail has TONS i mean TONS of turkeys and chickens. She also has goats, horses and a donkey. HJ had fun chasing the turkeys when we got there, then we moved on to pet the horses. The goats were quite the sight. There was a "grumpy goat" as HJ called him because he bumped her hand when she was trying to pet him!AP just enjoyed it all from the comfort of his stroller. HJ has been talking about it ever since.

.September 11.

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

This post is a little late...

On September 11th when HJ woke up we put on her flag shirt and came downstairs for breakfast. We were eating and watching the Today Show's special on September 11, 2001. When they showed the flag being folded at Ground Zero, HJ said, "mommy that a flag like my shirt." That afternoon we went up to the local town's fire department for a special celebration. HattieJo loved being around all the fire trucks!

.fried chicken anyone?.

2011-09-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

happy birthday babe

2011-09-21T08:14:00.002-04:00

.3months.

2011-09-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yep, its here already... 3 months...

AP,
We can't believe that you are 3 months old! CRAZY! You have changed so much this past month. You have started to come into your sweet personality. You love to smile! You have started cooing and "talking" to us more and more. You LOVE your crazy sister. You will follow HJ and smile at her so quickly. You are rolling over from belly to back frequently and you have already started teething! We can feel the little bumps and boy do you enjoy gnawing your hands and anything else you can get in your mouth. You are enjoying playing with the toys on your bouncy seat and you have quite the grip on mommy's hair and your toys! We LOVE you baby boy and thank the Lord for you! You are a precious gift.
Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and HJ

.earning her keep.

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

The other day while I was getting dinner ready HattieJo asked, "i wash da dishes mommy?" so of course i let her! hahaha...She had so much fun playing in the water!

.more fun in Charleston.

2011-09-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

While in Charleston so many fun memories were made by being all together with the cousins and gigi and poppa. we are so thankful for the fun that time we had!

.SC Aquarium.

2011-09-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

While we were in Charleston with the Collins5, Gigi and Poppa we went to the SC Aquarium..it was so fun...the kids had a blast running from one exhibit to the next and taking it all in...HJ touched a snake and a crocodile...BRAVE GIRL! HJ and Gigi talked about their favorite fish, HJ would say,

"gigi favote fish puuple...my favote fish is lellow!" *LOVE this picture on the left! Gigi and HJ both have their mouths wide open!!!..PRICELESS!* After lunch at the aquarium we saw some more fish and exhibits, then we watched a Dora movie in 4D(HJ's first movie experiment...which she enjoyed) after the movie we were all tired and ready to catch the FREE trolly back to our hotel for naps!!I LOVE the top picture of AP... his smile melts my heart EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!
After naps we all got cleaned up and hit the town in search of some dinner....well downtown Charleston is quite the college town at night.. most places were not ready for our HUGE family with 5 children under 5...we landed at a mexican place that was D.E.LICIOUS! Then no dinner out is complete without...ICE CREAM and we found my favorite place a few blocks away.. YOGURT MOUTAIN!

.GreensboroPart2.

2011-09-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

On Sunday night we had our first small group gathering of our launch team.. It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!!!!!!!!! I am so pumped about watching things unfold and to see how the Lord is going to use this group to take the Gospel to Greensboro. On our way to the gathering, Andrew and I were talking about how crazy it is that this night had finally come! It has been over a year coming so it was very exciting! The night consisted of some fried chicken and all the fixin's...fact game about Gboro(gotta know the city to reach the city), launch team commitment signingsand a great time praying.
Here are some facts from our game:
*Greensboro is named after American Revolution General Nathaniel Greene
*The mascot of UNCG is the Spartans
*Greensboro is 69th in the top 100 largest cities in the US
*There are 1,717 homeless children in Guilford County
*20% of Greensboro's population lives in poverty
Here are the members of the launch team minus 3 people:Here is a picture of the signed launch team commitments:
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

.GreensboroPart1.

2011-09-13T06:00:00.005-04:00

Guest Blogger: Andrew

The other day I had a man tell me that church planters were all either crazy or stupid! Needless to say it was very encouraging. I think his point was simple; church planting is a difficult task and therefore it is a difficult decision to make as a family. Every family that has taken such a task probably has a story of how they came to the decision. Anna and I want y’all to know ours...

Moving to seminary for us was an easy decision. I felt called to ministry for a long time and Anna had the very same heart. What wasn’t easy was finding a church to plug into when were first arrived in Wake Forest, NC. Many times people can’t find churches because they feel there isn’t a good one...we were the opposite. After visiting a few in a row we realized that we could plug, do ministry, and be discipled in a number of churches in this area. But after attending the Summit Church in the Summer of 2007, and attending small group, we bought in...and what a blessing it has been.

I start with our story of finding the Summit because that is really where the story of church planting begins for us. I know that in reality God has been preparing our direction for years and years (awesome families, mentors, support, experience, etc)...but at the Summit it started to take shape. Under the discipleship/mentorship/friendship of Pastor JD Greear 2 things have come alive in me over the past 4 years. First I have learned and become passionate about preaching the Gospel for BOTH salvation and sanctification. And second I’ve learned that in this broken and ravaged by sin world...the local church is God’s plan A for redemption. With these two passions ignited in my heart Anna and I began to ask the question of what God would have us do when our time at the Summit was over...

Even asking that question was sobering in that it meant a move from RDU and the Summit. It was hard to think about a time when we would leave the staff and family here. The most formative years for ministry in our lives have been at this church. Our friends are here, our children were born into this family, and we have been treated extremely well! But if our heartbeat is the Glory of God, and He is sending us from the Summit...we concluded that even these good gifts from God were worth laying down. So the conversation continued. The elders of the Summit were clued in to what we were thinking...and a vision was forming.

The Summit Church wants to plant other churches...in fact we have the goal of planting 1000 churches before 2050! Inside that vision is a specific niche to see churches planted in North Carolina. As Anna and I talked about church planting in North Carolina a few things become clear. First, we love the Carolinas both north and south. Second, we feel pretty equipped to do ministry in the traditional south. Third, the exchange of true Gospel for moralism in the south is heart breaking to us. As these truths started to weigh on our hearts planting a church in North Carolina became more and more exciting. For who knows how long our prayer had been that God would weave us into the 1000 church vision in a way that fit...and we felt like planting a church right here was it.

As excited as we were becoming the big question in my mind was, “will THEY follow me?”. The “they” I am referring to really is another entire story in and of itself. Throughout the process I’ve chronicled here is an important piece that God was forming...a team! When things started to become real in our minds I knew that much of it was contingent on whether or not a few families would partner. Being one of the Brier Creek Campus Pastors afforded me the opportunity to work closely with two families for a long time. Both the Herringtons and the Dagers were people that I knew we needed before even Anna and I would solidify our answer to this call. So almost exactly a year ago I started the conversation with these families about what it would look like for us to plant a church in NC...and to my joy it didn’t take long before they were totally on board. While our elders knew that we were in the process of evaluation, it came time last December for me to formally bring them my thoughts. The conversations that followed were the most encouraging of my life. The collective response from these men was, “we see this in you, we believe in you, we are behind you, now go for it!”. With that the decision was made...we were on track to plant a church in North Carolina...

But where?! After an extensive search we came to see Greensboro as the best fit for us and our team. To read more about the “why” go here http://sendrdu.com/greensboro...

God is continuing to write this story and blowing our minds all the time with awesome team members and support from all over. There is so much more to the story being written everyday...but we will save that for other posts. We will keep you updated as to what is happening when. But for everyone who wondered, “how did you come to that decision”...now you know!