Birthdays

It has been a little busy and I have been meaning to post these sweet birthday boys! My brother in law captured our big one year old- isn't he the cutest little bug?! He LOVED being the center of attention and LOVED his birthday cake. How this year has flown with our youngest. He has been such a joy and has been the easiest and happiest baby. His smile and giggles brighten our lives and his big brothers adore him. What a gift he is

 Next was our Gabriel- I had to share these of Gabe playing with water outside our old garage. He has loved to do this all this year and I love it because he still seems little when he plays like this. He is growing up so fast these days and I just want to freeze time! He chose to have a batman themed birthday even though he hasn't seen batman...So batman it was.

 My sweet sweet friend offered to have Gabe's party at her home and she went all out! It was such a cozy night and our kids loved playing together for one of the last times. 

 All into the super fun tool set!

The next present was the absolute sweetest- dear Abbey's gift to Gabe was her allowing him to brush her hair! honestly- Gabriel loves her hair and always wanted to brush it and she thought she would let him on his birthday :) Love this girl so much and Gabe was in heaven

And it was time for him to keep up with his brother with a big boy bike- love this fun loving boy!

Thank you to the Graumans!

Amazing Grace

I have loved this church for so many reasons so I thought I would list them! 1. Hymns - the first time I attended worship here I wasn't so sure I could do the hymn thing, but now I see the folly in my thinking. How rich the stories they tell, the poetry in the way they are written and how they capture the awesomeness of our God. Modern songs often miss the mark. And I love hearing about the saints past that wrote them. They are a beautiful part of our Christian heritage. Now we sing hymns in our home like "Amazing Grace" and many others our kids love to hear.
2. Weekly baptisms- such a joy to hear testimonies every week of how God changes hearts that once hated Him into children in His kingdom!
3. Our pastor- Andrew and I have learned so much from this faithful preacher. He is loved by thousands but that hasn't puffed him up. He is so humble and makes sure that Jesus Christ is the only one his messages focus on. I can only think of maybe 3 references he made of himself in messages and that says something. His desire that God's word go to the ends of the earth is happening through the steady stream of pastors and missionaries trained and sent from here and the free media that all can access. He unashamedly expresses his passionate love for God and God's Word like David did, and that's what I've learned the most from him. How precious the gift of the Bible is because it speaks of our precious Savior.
4. The people - I've learned from God's people here what it means to serve. Not just when it's convenient or when it feels good, but the Christ like getting down on your knees and dirty kind of serving. We have never had a need go unmet. And we have been humbled by the examples we have seen of true service.
5. The children's ministry- our kids have grown up here spending countless hours, good days and bad days with the dear nursery workers and Sunday school teachers. They often go unnoticed but their ministry to His little ones is close to God's heart. Our kids have always had a hard time adjusting to the classrooms and they have been shown such love and care. They are also taught so well at a young age the truths of the Bible. We knew dropping them off they would be cared for physically and spiritually.

We loved our years here and feel we have been given so much. We can't wait to love and grow with our new church in Prescott! The church isn't a building or location. It is His people. Pray with us as we go to build His church!

Grateful

This is the last fall mantel I will decorate in this house, in California! Yep...that's right, we are moving and soon! Andrew has accepted a position in Prescott, AZ to be a senior pastor of a church plant and we are so excited. It is also a bittersweet time. We have been blessed with relationships that have had years to grow and saying goodbye will be heart wrenching. BUT

The Lord has worked out the details and timing for all of this to unfold during a season of thankfulness and joy celebrating God's goodness and it couldn't be more perfect. 

Even though there are many unknowns in our future, God knows every one of them and He is a God who provides and cares for every sparrow and more importantly every child of His. We are never to worry or be anxious despite our temptations to do so because He tells us not to. We can rest in His love  when hard times, good times, uncertain times, happy and sad times come because we know He is in control and He is always with us. No matter what circumstances change- He doesn't.  Can you tell I am preaching to myself? :) 

I can't wait to share more of all that is happening but to sum it all up, we are Grateful. All that is happening is undeserved and we are so humbled by this opportunity to be used and stretched like we have never before. The new friends and fellow believers we will be joining in a few short weeks are some of the sweetest, caring, genuine and generous people we have met. To start a church that has been prayed for, for many years and in a place that hungers for the clear teaching of the only source of Truth is so exciting. Our family gets a front row seat in the making of something so beautiful! Please pray with us and for us as we help plant Canyon Bible Prescott. Stay tuned...!!!!

"Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised" Psalm 96:3-4a

Fall Break

 Oh what fun we had on Weston's fall break from school. We decided it had been long enough since the cousins were together and there was a new pool to swim in! And swim we did, every day and every night. Our nieces are just getting too big and too cute.

 Gabe grew fond of Ariel and took great care of her all week.

Grady loved playing with some different toys

 and Papa gave him his first early birthday present

 One morning Nanni invited the boys over for a special brunch. They felt so big 

One day we headed to a giant pumpkin patch. Gabe said "look there is hundweds of pumpkins!!!"

Joy and Ava are just the most precious little girls! They love loving on our boys, especially Grady. Being together is always a joy. Thank you Auntie Marci and Uncle Jon for spoiling us and letting us stay with you. We love you so!

Masters Kids 2015

Round 2 of our mommy and me program at church- this time with our sweet Gabriel. It is so much fun to see the different personalities between our kids as they are put in similar situations. Gabe is easy going and comfortable in this new environment and loves seeing what's coming next. He enjoys his new friends and has little patience for the craft time- which is opposite of his brother! I can't wait to see how he grows in the next few months and I cherish my Tuesdays with this cutie.

Weston Goes to School!

We can't believe the day has arrived to send our first baby off to school! We started the day with streamers and donuts ( bubs fav treat) and our little big guy was super excited for his first day. The night before I was feeling a little sentimental that the stage of life with all my babies home is over. I have loved every moment, even the hard days but I am also excited for what's ahead. Weston is just loving school and thriving in his new environment. We are so grateful for the school he is in and his teacher is such a sweet encouragement. We are so grateful to the Lord for this fun beginning!

For the first day of school they had the kids bring their teddy bear for a familiar comfort from home and it did just the trick

 And we had the special treat of having Nanni with us too

Watching these guys walking into school made me tear up

On the way home from school Weston said he wasn't tired but in a few minutes he was out cold :) Still my sweet baby

Camp Regen- Summer Part 3

                           

Next up for us was Summer Camp with our high school students. We decided to bring the kids this year so they could see all that Daddy was doing, and we knew they would love to be a part of the crazy that is summer camp :) In fact lots of friends joined in the fun and we had our own little peanut gallery. Our sweet and amazing babysitter came with me as well so that I could attend some of the sessions, it was such a blessing. The fellowship and relationships that form during camp are so special that it is always worth it to come despite the challenges of bringing 3 small people anywhere for a week. Halfway through the week the kids got pretty sick and then we had a little accident right after getting home. Grady rolled off the changing table onto the hardwood floor and became drowsy and out of sorts so we took him to ER but God is gracious to us and he was just fine! 

Highlights of the week were riding a mechanical bull( weston and mommy!), seeing hundreds of teenagers passionate about their Savior, staff members doing a sing off dressed in 80's garb and late night conversations with the sweetest of girls.

In-N- out stop on the way down to camp

Gabe had no trouble getting settled

 Watching the awesome camp games from above with a perfect ocean view all week- not too bad!

Grady was a fav of course with the girls

 Sweet brothers during one of the sessions

Grady love playing with his monitor cord at his first ( and hopefully last) trip to the ER