Random pics

Yeah.... We don't get much personal space with this little boy.

Not sure why Aaron resumed this position with my oven mitt for his pillow.

Coloring with his second cousins Noah and Caleb

Discussing life over goldfish in their underwear.

The cousins. And yes, it is what it seems; Owen, at 3.5 months, IS almost as big as both of these two year olds.

"Movie Church"

Something that I have gained new perspective on GREATLY since becoming a parent is the childcare provided at a church; It is a huge bonus for a parent to feel comfortable dropping their child off somewhere where they will be cared by others and out of their immediate sight, which I'm sure you all can attest to!

Aaron has always had difficulty being dropped off and staying in nursery in his short little life and it is always something we seem to be working through, esp. the last few months of transition out of R.M.C.C. and into Harvest. (Many of you have gotten to witness and experience the brunt of his wrath in childcare) It was a point of stress for me, because really, we don't have a choice - with the responsibilities Lee and I have on a Sunday morning, Aaron just HAS to stay put in there. And not only stay put, but be happy so I'm not stressing about how he is wearing out the children's workers!!! =)

Fortunately for us, Harvest has an awesome children's pastor in Brian Baker who has established an amazing group of volunteers for Sunday mornings.

You can't really see Aaron in this pic, but this is a shot of Aaron's "Clubhouse Kids" classroom at "Movie church" (his title for Harvest). He has come to LOVE his time in this class every Sunday morning and I can't say enough what a relief it is to see him have fun and be happy, as well as hear and learn about the Bible.

Here is a picture of Aaron with one of his teachers named Kathy, who he has grown quite attached too:

Um... let's try not picking our nose for the nice picture, Aaron...

There. That's better.

A few weeks ago, they talked about Daniel and the Lion's Den and made lion masks....

Aaron had to carry his mask EVERYWHERE with him for the next several days. He was so proud of it....

These children's workers minister directly to my son, but in effect, they minister to me at the same time because they take such great care of him. I am so grateful for them!

Choose to Obey

Just a little brain-washing tactic that we are not afraid of.....

He LOVES to recite this frequently, even umprompted. And in the meantime, we are continuing to work on backing this simple statement up with our actions. =)

Labor Day in Pinetop

We decided at the last minute to take a quick trip up to Pinetop and escape the heat after church on Sunday..... It was so nice to get out and enjoy cooler temps.

Our friends, the Emeneckers, had the same idea so we got to meet up with them also. Aaron loved having a little friend in Kailey....

My grandparents also stay up there for most of the summer so we had a good visit with them.

And now..... Back to the heat and back to reality. =)

That's MY boy

Notice the left-handed swing. Yup. Mommy knows to teach this young.

Harvest Grand Opening

Thanks to so many of you for your prayers and support today as we had the official grand opening of our new church plant, Harvest Community Church.

Pictures won't do the whole experience justice obviously, but it was a great morning....

(Aaron, with Aunt Sarah, giving our children's pastor a very serious look)

(one of my jobs, other than being a trophy pastor's wife =) , is to handle child check-in)

To get to this day, it's been a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and tons of advertising....

But a lot of fun too. Our team has already experienced some awesome and amazing things, and we are so excited to see how God works in and through this church in the months and years to come.

And one more thing from this past weekend - To advertise the church we handed out free movie tickets in front of the IMAX theater, so thought you all would appreciate some pics from that....

This is my bro (as Napoleon Dynamite) and Lee as Darth Vader.

Lee was such a hit with all the little boys..... I think he sweat only a few gallons inside the costume. Not joking, when he took off his shoes, quite a LARGE puddle of sweat poured out. MMMMM.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!!!

Drummer Boy

This had become the new favorite activity.....

Then the guitar broke from the abuse and that made us quite sad. (Don't worry, Papa Bob fixed it) So we decided that Aaron needed a drum with his birthday money that hadn't been spent yet. Aaron is quite happy with this new purchase. Very loud, but very happy.