Our Audience

A while ago my Father-in-law, Greg, was talking to Christian and said something to the effect of, "Christ should be your audience. When you behave as if Christ is your only audience, your life will become better." (This is second-hand from what Christian told me so it went something like that.) Anyway, this really struck me, and I have been thinking about it a lot since then. So, yesterday I was on facebook and I kept seeing this talk come up- a devotional by Jeffrey R. Holland. At first, I kind of waved it off, but then I saw it again and again so I decided to listen to it. It just really helped me to better understand how we can make Christ our audience, especially in our world today. When you have a minute, I would encourage you to take the time to listen. It's worth it.

It can be found HERE.

Adventures in August Part II

August was SOOO busy- just the way I like it.:) After the Crofts' visit, we started making preparations for school, which began with us putting money down on a property and getting Oliver enrolled in that school. Oliver also celebrated his 6th birthday and a few days later, started Kindergarten.

 Eloise is finally sitting up!!! And, at only 7 months! :)

 Her eyes get bigger by the day.

 We went to some ward friend's house for dinner and the kids played the whole time in their beautiful back yard. This is also where Amelia goes to preschool.

 Oliver loves to lie down and let the baby have her way with his face.

 And this is our lot! I know it doesn't look like much, but we love it. It's 3/4 acre, about 3/4 mile from Belton Lake and has a community pool and lots of trees (all things on our "list.")

 We met our friends at McDonald's a few weeks ago to play and escape the 100+ degree heat.

 Who needs a photography studio with these kinds of props around??

 Happy Birthday to my sweet, angelic, little Oliver. He turned 6 and was so excited for his big day. We had a yummy breakfast and then went to a small waterpark, followed by Chick-fil-A. Oliver, who's so easy to please, loved every minute of his day. Oliver has turned in to the sweetest, most tender-hearted boy. He's always taking care of Amelia and loves to share and include her. He's also so obedient and quick to obey.  He's also about the smartest little 6 year old I know. He absolutely loves to learn and asks such intelligent, thoughtful questions and then remembers everything we tell him! I can't believe how much he's grown up in the past year.

 I know what you're thinking: that is one good-looking hyena cake! I know, I know. Christian thought it was an armadillo, Amelia thought it was a cow, but Oliver- who had requested a hyena cake- knew right away what it was. 

 We invited the neighbor kids to come and eat cake and ice cream with us, but we spent the rest of the day celebrating with just our little family.

 And now, Oliver's first day of Kindergarten! It was really hard for me to say goodbye to him. He's my little boy after all, and it's hard to let go of that. But, he's really loved it so far and his teacher is fabulous.

 Walking in to school, green breakfast smoothie in hand:).

 Oliver and his teacher at their classroom.

 Oliver's little locker.

 And, after all that picture taking, Amelia wanted a few of her own with her new princess backpack.

Adventures in August Part I

 One of the reasons I was excited to move to Texas was that I would be living a short 3 hours away from my twin sister, Rachel, in Dallas. We've been able to get our families together a few times already and it has been so much fun for us and for our kids. They came to visit us here at the beginning of August and Brian's Dad was generous enough to loan us his boat for the day so we could enjoy beautiful Belton Lake.

Preparing for a big day on the lake with a hearty breakfast. Amelia, Lauren, Oliver, Kate, and Taylor.

Even mom's like to have a little fun! Oliver, Amelia, me, and Kate.

 Kate was an old pro out there and wasn't scared in the least. Here she is with Oliver, Amelia, and Taylor.

 We spent most of the day parked in coves where we swam and cliff jumped. It was SO, SO, SO much fun. I'm dying to go out again.

This was Eloise's inaugural trip to the pool. She loved kicking around and then got tired and practically fell asleep in her floatie.

End of July

 Amelia was so tired one day that she nestled in the couch next to me and fell fast asleep.

 Downtown Belton- after dinner we listened to a live band for as long as we could stand the heat and then posed for a pic in this wagon. Belton has such a cute little town right on a river.

 Amelia loving on Little Eloise

 We went to this reptile "show" at Christian's facility. This kid had all sorts of icky little creatures there and this was his final exhibit: an albino python. You had to pick my jaw up off the ground when he pulled this thing out.

 I don't know how this happened but it did.

 Amelia "laying out" with Momma at the pool. (It was 7 PM.)

Eloise doing a little self-feeding.

July was warm, warm, and hot. We spent a LOT of time at the pool and splash pads with friends. We got visits from my parents and the Sedgwicks, which we loved. Now on to August!