I can't believe it's been a year almost!!!!

I was messing around today, and went to my blog, and noticed it has been almost a year since I posted anything. A lot has happened in a year. Over the summer, the girls and I went to St. Louis for World Changers. It was an awesome experience as usual. There were 22 of us who went from Spring Branch. In September, our 2009-2010 school year started. Meredith, a senior, Sarah, a freshman, and James, a 2nd grader, it was going to be a busy year. Also in September, Allen turned "40". We had a surprise birthday party for him at our home. We had over 100 people in our house, it was so fun. In October, the girls went on a mission trip to Arizona. Boy did I miss them. They went to help a Church Planter with a fall festival. Unfortunately, Sarah got the Swine Flu while there, her trip wasn't any fun after Sunday. They did get to go to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. They came back home on Meredith's 17th birthday, and she got the flu that day. Homeschooling is exciting this year. We are in a Homeschool Co-op, and every Monday we travel to Spring Lake for classes. Sarah joined Cheerleading, and is really good. They have 10 Cheerleaders, Go Warriors! So, that means on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we travel for basketball games. While Sarah is at Cheer practice, Meredith is taking Drama, they are doing "Oliver Twist", and she is Nancy. I am really excited to see the production, which will be on April 2 & April 3. In December, we were busy with Christmas parties, and more parties...The girls went to WinterFest at Liberty for New Year's Eve. They had a ball, 16 from Spring Branch went. Of course, Meredith can't wait until she lives there. Well, that brings us to January. We have so much going on, and now Graduation plans have started. 2010 is going to bring a huge change to our family. Meredith Graduates, and she is going away for the summer to work alongside a Missionary, then in August she lives for Liberty University.:( I am excited for her, but at the same time, I am not ready for her to leave. I guess it is a good thing that we will be so busy, it will give me less time to think about her leaving, but the time will go too fast. Enjoy the pics from 2009.

Alyssa and Jeffery Roth Wedding!

On Thanksgiving Day, we traveled from Dunn, NC to Washington, GA to celebrate the wedding of Jeffery and Alyssa. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with the Stewart family when we arrived. It was so good to see everyone again! Gail, Alyssa's mom, is such a special friend to me. We've been friends for 7 years, I taught Alyssa in youth choir. Yes, I'm old! On Friday, we spent the day with Gail and Tim getting ready for the wedding. Allen was performing the ceremony, so he met with Alyssa and Jeffery for awhile. It was such a fun day! That evening was the rehearsal and dinner hosted by the Roth family. On Saturday, we spent the morning at the church getting ready. Unfortunately, Alyssa woke up very sick. It was so heartbreaking, but she was determined to get married. Special preparations were made for her, just in case. Allen shortened the service as much as possible. Even with the illness, it was a beautiful wedding and Alyssa looked beautiful. The reception was nice, Alyssa and Jeffery did all they had to do right away so that Alyssa could sit down. We saw many people from the area that we hadn't seen in so long. I just wish we could've stayed a little longer. We are thrilled for Alyssa and Jeffery and even more excited because they have made their home in Salisbury, NC. I should get to see Gail more than once a year, I hope. Anyway, Congrats Alyssa and Jeffery!

Meredith's Sweet 16

Happy Sweet 16 Meredith! On Sat., Nov. 1 Meredith celebrated her sweet 16. She had around 40 people attend. It was so much fun! All of the youth from the church came, along with youth leaders, and friends from Wake Forest. The menu consisted of Chicken Lo Mein, Chicken Fried Rice, White Rice, Chicken Teriyaki, and Egg Rolls. We had a chocolate theme for snacks and dessert. Her birthday cake was a 2 layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing and decorated with purple and orange flowers and polka dots (her colors for the party). We had m&m's, hersey bars, and other chocolate treats. Each guest was given glow in the dark necklaces to wear and take home. As guests arrived, they signed a giant poster that had several pictures of Meredith through the years. This was framed and given to Meredith as a keepsake. After cake, it was time to open presents. Meredith's Grandaddy started the gift giving. He always has such a unique way to share love, he gave her several fun items each with a story (everyone loved this part). After Grandaddy finished, Allen came downstairs with her gift from us, a cockatiel. She loved it! Meredith has always wanted a bird and now, she has one and she named him Charlie. Everyone else continued with the gift giving! It was a special day, one that I hope she'll always remember! Love you Mere!

October 2008

I'll do my best to remember what happened. October was a busy month at our house. We had moved to our new house! Praise God! Allen was officially pastor of Spring Branch Baptist Church and a student at Southeastern. We also began the 2008-2009 school year for our school. It was a great start to a new ministry and our new "life". Our church blessed us with an amazing "Pounding". We had so much food, and enough paper towels to last us into 2009! Allen preached the homecoming service at his parents church (Broad Street United Methodist Church) in Mooresville, NC. He enjoyed being at home and the privilege of preaching with his family in attendance. The end of October brought our first Fall Festival with Spring Branch. It was such fun, and we had a good turn out!

On Tuesday of last week, Sept. 2 we signed the contract for our house. This week has been busy with packing and getting all of the documents that the lender needs from us to get us to closing. It's so exciting, but also so unnerving. This is all new to us and we want everything to go perfectly. Our house is full of boxes. I can't hardly wait until we're "home"!

In our "spare time" we have been closely watching the presidential candidacy. We were so thrilled with John McCain's choice for a running mate. Go Sarah! She is going to be a great addition to this race! We just pray for her as she has this private challenge with her daughter. I'm so thrilled that she is supporting her daughter through this.

Will update more as the days progress!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Well, the ball is rolling. We have found our new house!!!!! It is currently owned by the Phillips' and soon to be ours. The contract process started today. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. The house is all brick, tri-level with an inground pool! We'll have a living room, family room, sunroom, 3 current bedrooms, a garage that will be another bedroom, dining room, and kitchen. It has 2.5 baths and just a perfect home for our family. It is such a God thing! He's so good and I just feel like all our dreams are finally coming true. I hope this will be our home through retirement, a place the kids will always know as "home". I need to be packing, but want to journal all the details of buying our first home. Here are 2 pictures!

I am so excited! We spent an awesome weekend in Dunn, NC with the Spring Branch Baptist Church family. They treated us like royalty, I felt so blessed. When we arrived on Saturday, the Phillips' welcomed us to their home with a wonderful lunch. Then we went to the hotel where we had 2 connecting rooms and a large platter of goodies from Sherry's Bakery (Thanks Mr. Fred). After freshening up, we went to the church for a wonderful reception and met many nice people. I think I already got in trouble as Tammy W and I went to look at the youth room and ended up watching the teen guys rehearse in the sanctuary. On Sunday, we went to church. Allen preached an awesome message as usual and then we went to the Naylor's home for lunch (loved the chicken casserole). Allen, Sarah, and James went swimming for a little while back at the hotel. Then it was back to church for the youth led service and more from Allen. It was there that we found out that Pastor Greg (youth pastor) scratched his eye pretty badly, so he was unable to make it to church. After service, we had fellowship and pizza with the youth group and youth committee, it was great! I felt so overwhelmed at how perfectly we fit together. God is sooooo good! On Monday, we were treated to breakfast at Sherry's Bakery. We also were blessed to meet the members of the "Wisdom Table". That was so fun. The kids were spoiled. Afterward, we drove to Wrightsville Beach for a splash in the ocean. That brings us to waiting for the vote. On Wednesday, the church voted on whether or not to call Allen as their new pastor. At 7:45 Mr. Naylor called and extended the call and we accepted! So, Allen is now Senior Pastor for Spring Branch Baptist Church! We are so blessed! Today, Friday, we are going to look at some homes and change our phones. We received our pre-approval letter yesterday, and can't wait to find our 1st home!