Baby Steps

She has been taking steps for the last month and has recently taken several steps together. Her biggest problem, as you can see at the end of the video, is that she wants to run! Slow down, my little one.

Go See This Movie on Friday!!!

I read the book Blue Like Jazz while living in Austin shortly after I had graduated from UT. At that time, I felt like I related to some of the characters in the book which really encouraged me where I was in my faith. So 9 years later when I saw that the book I loved so much was being released as a movie, I signed up to help promote it in any way I could!

Donald Miller, Author of Blue Like Jazz

In March, we got to go to a screening of the movie and hear from the Donald Miller (author of the book), Steve Taylor (the director) and Marshall Allman (Marshall Allman). Usually when you really love a book, seeing the movie version is a let down. Not so in this case! The director let Donald Miller have a lot of say in the movie process. I'm not going to summarize the movie or write a review because you can just google Blue Like Jazz if you want that information. My favorite line from the movie was when Don said "...sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself..." referring to how his friend Penny loved Jesus. My favorite scene was at the very end, it was so beautiful and powerful. As I found out later, it wasn't just acting.

Marshall Allman

It was so interesting to hear from the artists involved in creating the movie. Marshall Allman said that on the day he was offered the part, he and his wife had prayed together that morning asking God to provide for them. He was honestly expressing to God his disappointment because he felt God had called him to pursue acting and he was struggling to find work. God not only gave him a part in a movie, but the opportunity to work on a project that he truly believed in.

The Q & A session at the screening.

I also appreciated hearing the director talk about the content of the film and his desire to present reality without being gratuitous. I thought they did an awesome job of showing life on a college campus without being unnecessarily vulgar. He said that just because a film is faith based doesn't mean it has to be family friendly. Amen!

I just want to encourage everyone, no matter what you believe, to go see this movie! At the screening they said that how well the movie does on opening day, Friday, April 13th, will determine everything.

My friend Mindy and I had fun putting up posters around town to help promote the movie. Not easy with 2 kiddos in tow! That should tell you how much I believe in this movie!

Easter Memories 2012

These type of activities are getting more and more fun to do with Anna. She was so proud of her eggs! I love the $10 craigslist picnic table that I got so that we can do crafts outside.We made these resurrection rolls again this year. Daddy read the scriptures to us while we made the rolls. Aunt Karri gave these resurrection eggs to Anna and Haven a few weeks ago and Anna has been obsessed with them. It was a fun way to share the Easter story with her and she really learned it. I pray for the day that it is not just a story to her, but something much more meaningful and personal.They woke up to their Easter baskets on Sunday morning. I thought I would save money and be green by putting things in their baskets that we already had like books and stuffed animals (don't worry, they got a few new things as well). Anna totally called me out on it. She wondered why the stuffed bunny was downstairs and said it had to go back upstairs where it belonged! Ha!

Here is the classic Easter Sunday family church picture. I was so tempted to buy the girls coordinating/matching dresses, but when I looked in their closets, I could not justify buying them anything else!

After church, we headed over to Karri and Giam's where Anna went on a quick egg hunt (it started to pour and lightning about 5 minutes after it started) with her cousins and we enjoyed an AMAZING salmon meal that my sister made.

This is a cute idea for a veggie tray that I found on where else but Pinterest. My sister didn't have raisins so I had to use craisins, which caused my bunny to look a little possessed.

Signs of Spring...

Fortunately for Anna, there are lots of weeds dandelion flowers in our backyard for her to make wishes on.

It was warm enough to get the pool out and both girls had huge smiles almost the whole time they were in it.

Nothing says spring in Texas like pictures in the bluebonnets. Living in Central Fort Worth, it was impossible to find a field of bluebonnets but this little patch was good enough.

Another sign of spring is our anniversary, March 27th. I always dreamed of having an outdoor wedding in the spring and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day than the one we had over 8 years ago!

One of the best things we did for our marriage this year was go through a 6 week DVD series called Love and Respect with some of our friends from church. The series is based on the belief that love best motivates a woman and respect most powerfully motivates a man. I'm so thankful to be part of a community where people are willing to be vulnerable enough to come together to share some of the struggles and successes they had on their marriage journeys.

Having these two little ones has forced us to be more intentional than ever in our relationship. The picture below reminds me that it is worth it!