Happy First Birthday Hallee Jae!!

Last Tuesday, my precious niece turned ONE! I can hardly believe that one year has gone by already. It seems like just yesterday that we were waiting for what seemed like forever in the waiting room for her to get here. And then she arrived. And she's fantastic.



Hallee Jae. So full of life. She is exuberant. She's got a fire and a sass. A beauty and a firecracker. My kinda lady. I look forward to every year that comes along to watch her grow into a beautiful young woman. God has wonderful plans in store fo her life. I'm so glad He picked me to be her aunt.




We had a birthday party for her last Saturday at Rosiclare Park down by the river. It was a little chilly, but overall a beautiful day. It was a cowgirl theme, for the little cowgirl herself. She got so many wonderful presents. And she smashed her cake to pieces. She loved every bit of it.

1) trying out her new tricycle
2) loving her new rockin' horse from grammy, gramps & aunt E
3-6) CAKE SMASH!
7) trying to share some cake with Aunt E
8) all cleaned up

being a youth leader

One of the greatest joys in my life right now is being a youth leader to the junior high and high school kids at Little Chapel Church. While I was at school, I didn't really have time/I was still too close in age to the kids to really be "relevant." But now I'm just old enough to be a leader. Most of the leadership is made up of people my age, with a few older couples. I feel like we really relate to the kids because we are so close to their age. I just remember when I was their age, and how significant the relationships with college age/a little older adults were to me. So I try to be the best that I can be, and live my life in a way that they can be proud of. One month I taught junior high Sunday School. We all try to meet one-on-one once a week with one of the girls, and go through a Bible study or just meet and talk about life. Just take time to invest in them. When I find verses in my quiet time that I think are relevant, I'll send it to the girls. They need people who will love them and want them to grow up in Christ. This weekend is the girl's conference, WORD. We have an exceptional speaker and an awesome worship leader coming in. It's going to be great.

Some of my favorite girls :)