End of Summer Family Update

In the French Quarter of New Orleans

The summer is coming to an end and we are right on the brink of fall!  I am so ready for some cooler days!  Before we say goodbye to summer though, I wanted to give an update on what we've been up to the last few months.   We kick-started the season back in May with our one year mark since we moved to Springhill.  It's taking time but, after a year of living here, we are feeling more established in our home, our church and our town.  We have surely been blessed with a nice house, a loving church family, financial provision, and much more.  The summer days have included attending the local rodeo, celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks and friends, and enjoying spending time together as a family.  We have had a lot of fun taking various trips this summer.  In June, Zach went with the youth at our church to summer camp in Florida while Braxton and I were able to go spend that week with my parents in Ohio.  It was Brax's first airplane ride and I was a bit nervous about flying with him by myself but he did great!  In July we went on a week long missions trip to New Orleans and then turned around the following week to take some of the youth to a waterpark in Galveston, Texas.  Needless to say, we have been on the move and traveling quite a bit.  I love road trips and going places but it was nice to have a more laid back month in August.

Last week, Zach and I went to a conference in Dallas for a couple days.  The conference was specifically geared towards youth pastors and their wives.  It was a great time of worship with excellent teaching from men like Matt Chandler and Afshin Ziafat.  Our hearts and minds were refreshed and encouraged in the Lord.  We stayed with my aunt and uncle while in Dallas.  Even though we didn't get to spend that much time together while there, since all of our schedules were busy, it was nice to get to spend the time that we were able to with them.  My aunt, who does photography on the side, was also able to squeeze in a photo shoot of Braxton. :)  She did a fabulous job! 
  

I started working back as a pharmacy clerk again.  I am only working on Fridays and Zach is able to stay home with Braxton since he has Fridays off.  I enjoy it as I really like the people I work with.  It gives me a break from being home with a baby all the time and provides some adult interaction and variation to my week.  I do miss my sweet boy when I'm gone though and am eager to see him at the end of the day.  It makes me so thankful that I am able to stay at home with him full-time.  I have also started singing on our church praise team on Sundays.  Singing and helping to lead others in worship is something I enjoy doing and feel this is a way God has led me to serve in the local church. 

Braxton is just about 7 months old now and is very alert and active.  He is sitting up on his own, grabbing at everything he sees, and is on the verge of crawling.  He has just recently learned how to push up on his hands and knees.  Pretty soon he'll be putting some forward movement to that action!  He also recently cut his first tooth!  He is eating about 7 oz of formula at each feeding and about 3-4 oz a day of solid, real people food.  His favorites so far are peaches, banana and avocado mixed together, and sweet potatoes.  He is a good little eater!

Something we have been doing a couple times a week since Braxton was born is having family devotions together.  This past month we have really sought to establish this as a priority and make it a daily habit in our home.  We know that it is vital to our child(ren)'s spiritual growth for them to learn at an early age the importance of spending time in the Word and prayer regularly.  We also want our kids to see mom and dad treasuring God's Word.  We are still working on being consistent in doing this together every day, but the habit is developing.  Even though Braxton is still really young and doesn't really understand what's going on, he will one day soon and it has been a good practice for Zach and I.  It is one that we plan to continue doing as he (and any future children we may have) grow.  Currently, we are reading from The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski and saying prayers together before Braxton goes to bed.  If you're looking for a good devotional/story Bible that's good for adults and children I would definitely recommend this book.  It is set up to where it takes you through the whole Bible in narrative story form and there are a few simple questions to ask your kids at the end of each story.  It has colorful pages and illustrations as well.  My favorite thing about this book is how the end of each story points to how Christ is revealed through it.  Highly recommend it!

Hope you enjoyed that little sneak peak into what's been going on and thanks for reading!