May 18, 2011

Love Loud Lancaster

Four months ago Jason and Adam Langley, another music minister in town, started planning a community event called Love Loud Lancaster. Love Loud was a contemporary gospel concert that included over 100 singers from 6-7 churches in the area and a 20 piece orchestra. The music was fabulous, and it was such a great and fun way for our churches to share God's love in the community. Jason and Adam put in so many hours of planning, promoting, and rehearsing, and I loved sitting back on Sunday and watching all of their hard work pay off. Love Loud coincided with the Red Rose Festival, so we spent the whole weekend enjoying the festivities:


First, we checked out the Red Rose Festival activities on Friday night












On Saturday, our church joined Second Baptist in a combined Praise Team concert












After the praise teams sang, we enjoyed the Red Rose festival a little more







Camryn sliding with her friend Sara



And, finally, the big Love Loud concert!


Jason singing his solo










Jason and Patti leading one of the songs





Our friend Anna singing





Cardboard testimonies






Jason directing
















I am SO proud of my husband and all of the hard work he put into helping pull this event off!

May 12, 2011

Catching Up

There are so many events I've intended to blog about, and for one reason or another, it just didn't happen. So, here's my attempt to catch up.

First, sickness has hit this house in a mighty way, and I'm ready for it to be OVER! Here's the short version of what's occurred over the last 6 weeks so I don't take all day explaining our various illnesses. Doctor visit #1: Ella has an ear infection in her right ear. Doctor visit #2: Ella has allergies and an ear infection in her left ear. Doctor visit #3: Camryn has croup/her reactive airway disease acting up. Doctor visit #4: Ella's ear has still not cleared up, and she has reactive airway disease. (I've lost count of the number of breathing treatments we've done in the last 2 weeks between these two girls). Doctor visit #5: Mommy has a double ear infection. (Funny fact: Ella and I are currently taking the same antibiotic). The day after my ear infection diagnosis, I developed some sort of tonsillitis/strep/torturous throat pain that had me standing in the kitchen crying because it hurt so bad. I mean, really, not a single tear shed through two labors/births, but give me a sore throat and ear infections, and I'm a whiny mess. And finally, Doctor visit #6 will occur today when Jason goes at 11:30 am for a sore throat and cough. I love our doctors, but I'm really tired of visiting them.

Ok, now on to happier things ...

A couple of weeks ago, we had Ella's baby dedication at church. We were so excited to have all of our family there to share this with us.




Grammy came ...


So did Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Justin, and Keller


Also, Papa and Debbie


And, last but not least, Grandma and Grandpa



Aunt Alison, Uncle Isaac, and Caleb were there, too, but they had to leave before all the picture taking commenced to get back home for a friend's birthday party.


The day before Ella's dedication, Papa and Debbie took a trip to the zoo with us.














A couple of weeks before that, Grammy came for a visit. We had so much fun that weekend. We spent Saturday doing what girls do best, which was shopping all day. That night, Jason and I were supposed to go on a date while Grammy stayed home with the girls. Because I was worn out from shopping all day, and Jason was tired because he had to work all day, we decided just to order pizza and stay in. That turned out to be a really good decision, because that was the night of the big hail storm. We were glad we stayed in, instead of being caught out in the middle of it! Here are some pictures from our fun that weekend.


Ella sported a cute little bum on the way to church Sunday morning:





The Kids Choirs sang in church that morning. Cam was precious. It's sad for this mama that this is her last year in the preschool choir.




While the hail came down outside, Grammy and Cammy dyed Easter eggs











I also forgot to post some of Ella's big firsts. These are a few pictures from the first big girl meal she had where she fed herself.





That same day, she also decided to take a few steps behind her walker ... well, maybe more than a few. Once she realized what she could do, she walked all over the house.




And, finally, there's this little gem that I found while looking for pictures on the camera.
Ohhhh, how it makes me giggle. Camryn got Just Dance Kids for her birthday, and this is her shimmying and shaking her way through one of the songs.