It's true! This little angel is my very own niece. She has me wrapped tightly around her little finger. I couldn't love her more if she were my own child. And, she knows it!

So, go ahead and drool over her. She is the sweetest thing since chocolate!

Oh, and, the bow and tutu are from www.bows4Emma.com.

I have practically fallen off the face of Blogger but I am making a come back. I decided to start with sharing something that has changed me in ways that I cannot verbally explain. Here goes:

My son, Chase, has been involved with our church's middle school program for quite some time now. If you know me personally, you know that I do not let my children out of my sight and I trust very few with their well being. Having said that, you may remember that Chase took part in 40 hours last year with the same middle school group. That stretched me a tad but he was around the corner at the church. We visited him twice. Not long after 40 hours, he went on a Missions Trip to La Belle, FL. That stretched me a lot more but I trusted that God was in control.

Over time we have gotten to know the Middle School Pastor (otherwise known as PDA) and his amazing wife, Lisa. We trust them and know that they love each child in the ministry as their own. They are truly amazing. Having said that... if you know me at all, you would know that sending any one of my children 12 hours away would be a HUGE stretch. So, when we learned that our dear leaders were planning a Winter Retreat for the Smokey Mountains, I prayed about it and then offered to go to help. Ok, I was being selfish in wanting to be with my child, not really answering "the call;" or so I thought!

On January 3, 2010, at 2:45am (again, if you know me... hahaha!), I started a journey that would forever change me and draw me even closer to Jesus. I was blessed to have Lisa as my co-pilot, and I was entrusted with five precious girls. They were all truly angels! I got to know one of my oldest son's friends better and she is such a light in my life now and I got to know Lisa so much better! The drive there was awesome but it wasn't the best part.

Meet Amanda and Deanna. Deanna is my oldest son's friend. She is a doll and she has new Golden Retriever puppies that I am going to photograph soon (check back to see cute puppy pics!)

I know exactly who this is but we'll leave you guys guessing :)
The picture below is one of my favorites of the entire trip. I love it and so does his Mom! I got to know her on the trip too and that was AWESOME!


These poor unsuspecting girls were just walking back up to the cabin. They weren't expecting my "sheltered" son to peg them with powdery snow. Snow that everyone said that we would never see. We asked and God answered!
Meet our AMAZING leaders. Pastor Dave Avery (AKA PDA) and Lisa.

Just a beautiful fountain.
My boy! Isn't he cute? He gets that from me :)

So, you ask, what did you all do while you were in the mountains? We took the kids snow tubing, hiking through the mountains and shopping in downtown Gatlinburg, TN.
Again, if you know me, you know that I love kids and I especially love Jesus. What made this trip so amazing for me was seeing my two loves come together. To watch the Holy Spirit move in children that are growing closer and closer to becoming adults. Knowing that if they continue to love Jesus that they will be able to get through anything in life.
My favorite activity of the entire trip was not shopping or tubing, but Praise and Worship. It was amazing. The thought of it still brings me to tears. The pictures below were taken during Praise and Worship but could never capture the true beauty.


I'm back!! Expect to see more soon. I want to show off my niece but I have to get permission first. She is a doll baby!