It has been a while since I have posted anything. But I've been pretty busy lately.
Just for good measure --- I cannot explain how much I LOVE THIS GUY! 
He is the bestest ever! I told him that this was his "Anna Nicole Pucker" pose.
He is the bestest ever! I told him that this was his "Anna Nicole Pucker" pose.
Matt and McKenzie 
I went for a short visit to see my parents after I had my tonsils out. I had a great time with them, despite the fact that I was still hurting pretty bad from the surgery. 
I rode down to MS with my sister-in-law and my niece, McKenzie.
I rode down to MS with my sister-in-law and my niece, McKenzie.
Papa & McKenzie
MawMaw & McKenzie 
My dearest friend, Kellye, came and hung out with me one weekend as well.
We had a blast snowtubing, and playing in the snow!!!
Amber, Dandee, Jared & Stamp
We left on Monday, April 9th, and returned on Wednesday, the 11th. We had 12 teens that ranged in age from 11 - 18. There were 4 adults as well. We cooked our own meals, made crafts, watched movies, hung out in the hot tub, played pool & air hockey, and most importantly we had 5 devotions. We did go out to dinner at TGI Friday's on Tuesday evening. We all had a great meal and enjoyed ourselves.
What was so awesome – is that even though in the course of 1.5 days we had our 5 devotions, but they ended up lasting anywhere from 1.5 - 2.5 hours each! That was awesome. With each devotion we had a couple games/activities to help demonstrate our points. The girls interacted and spoke up and got involved in the devotions. Our main theme was The True Beauty that God expects from Godly, Christian Girls/Ladies.
We've always had some cliques here and there in our youth group – as with any other group there is. But one thing I wanted to try to achieve while we were gone was Unity. And even without me saying anything or doing anything, the girls just picked up and I noticed girls who normally didn't hang out were taking pictures together, and sitting together at dinner. I was so proud. Then the very last devotion was done by a couple of the girls themselves. Lauryn & Marina done an amazing job! They made my heart happy! They done this activity with a ball of yarn. All the girls had to get in a circle and then they had to throw the yarn at someone as they gave them a compliment of some sort, and by the time is was over, we had created a spider web. But the web showed how each of the girls were connected and how we all had to work together to reach our goals. Below is a picture of the yarn circle. (At least the best that I could get) Before their devotion was over with, the girls were giving their testimonies. It was awesome!
On Wednesday, we had to be out of the cabin at 10:00 - so we actually left earlier and headed over to Dollywood. We had a royal blast! Those girls had us all cracking up. After we left Dollywood we headed back over the mountain and went to church - where the parents picked up their children. They all seemed to have an awesome time. I had been blessed in so many ways in those three days.
It really and truly was an amazing time. What makes it so great is that we are already planning our next trip!
My dearest friend, Kellye, came and hung out with me one weekend as well.
We had a blast snowtubing, and playing in the snow!!!
Matt and I have spent some time with our friends, Amber and Jared. We recently had a cookout and bonfire at their house in Bryson City. They are so much fun to hang out with. Amber had gotten a new dog that day, and she was way precious!
Amber, Dandee, Jared & Stamp
I have spent most of my time preparing for a "True Beauty" Retreat for my girls at church. The girls had to raise their own money for the trip. So we washed cars, baked cookies and goodies and had bake sales, and worked very hard to raise the money to stay in a cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN.
We raised more than enough for the girls to stay at The Preserve Resort, we stayed in the Points of View cabin. I can only begin to tell you how AWESOME this place really was. Here is a picture of the male turkey that was strutting around after some girl turkeys in our front yard, shortly after we arrived.My Man Turkey Strutting his stuff
They also raised enough money so that I could purchase them all some goodies. They each received the following items: Canvas bag - that they decorated themselves); Journal; Picture Album; Stickers; CD - that was compiled of music they chose; Pens; Highlighter; Throw Away Camera; Picture Frame - that they decorated themselves; Nail Polish; Lip Gloss; and Hair Band
We left on Monday, April 9th, and returned on Wednesday, the 11th. We had 12 teens that ranged in age from 11 - 18. There were 4 adults as well. We cooked our own meals, made crafts, watched movies, hung out in the hot tub, played pool & air hockey, and most importantly we had 5 devotions. We did go out to dinner at TGI Friday's on Tuesday evening. We all had a great meal and enjoyed ourselves.
What was so awesome – is that even though in the course of 1.5 days we had our 5 devotions, but they ended up lasting anywhere from 1.5 - 2.5 hours each! That was awesome. With each devotion we had a couple games/activities to help demonstrate our points. The girls interacted and spoke up and got involved in the devotions. Our main theme was The True Beauty that God expects from Godly, Christian Girls/Ladies.
We've always had some cliques here and there in our youth group – as with any other group there is. But one thing I wanted to try to achieve while we were gone was Unity. And even without me saying anything or doing anything, the girls just picked up and I noticed girls who normally didn't hang out were taking pictures together, and sitting together at dinner. I was so proud. Then the very last devotion was done by a couple of the girls themselves. Lauryn & Marina done an amazing job! They made my heart happy! They done this activity with a ball of yarn. All the girls had to get in a circle and then they had to throw the yarn at someone as they gave them a compliment of some sort, and by the time is was over, we had created a spider web. But the web showed how each of the girls were connected and how we all had to work together to reach our goals. Below is a picture of the yarn circle. (At least the best that I could get) Before their devotion was over with, the girls were giving their testimonies. It was awesome!
On Wednesday, we had to be out of the cabin at 10:00 - so we actually left earlier and headed over to Dollywood. We had a royal blast! Those girls had us all cracking up. After we left Dollywood we headed back over the mountain and went to church - where the parents picked up their children. They all seemed to have an awesome time. I had been blessed in so many ways in those three days.
It really and truly was an amazing time. What makes it so great is that we are already planning our next trip!
Oh i am so glad that you shared tose pictures. The ones of Matt are really good and funny. That was so sweet of you to say that about me and Jared. We think the same of you too. Can't wait to hang out again.
ReplyDeletelove ya'
Ambs