Dallas Weekend

My friend Heather just had a baby girl on November 14th so I headed to Dallas last weekend to visit with friends and see Heather and the baby. Three of my best friends live in the Dallas area and I only get to see them at most a few times a year so I was so excited to make this trip!

We went to eat at one of my new favorite restaurants, La Hacienda Ranch, once I got there on Saturday. We had such a good time catching up and eating their apple pie dessert..which is by far the best I have ever had!

Britni, Carrie, and Me

The restaurant was a log cabin and it was all decorated for Christmas...I loved it!

About to go see Heather and the baby



Britni and baby Karah

Baby Karah at 7 days old...she is so beautiful and I could have just sat and stared at her all day long!

Mommy and baby

I love this picture...so sweet! She is one blessed little girl to have Heather and Wallace as her parents and two big sisters that just adore her!

Beautiful Mommy!

Heather had Karah at home and she weighed 9 lbs! She deserves the title "Supermom" for sure :)

I feel so blessed to have these amazing, Godly women in my life! I treasure their friendship and am so thankful I got to see them this weekend!

For supper that night we went to the Town Center in Frisco to eat at one of our favorite places. They were having a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the time we went and there were so many people we didn't know if we would get a parking spot.

We ate at Fish Tales...so good!

It was a great weekend and I look forward to our girls weekend in March!

St. Francisville Weekend

This past weekend my family and I went to Ross and Stephanies to celebrate Ross's ordination at his church. It was truly a miracle that everyone could be there and I loved it! Ross's family also came and it was really good to see them too! over the past few years we have gotten to know his family really well since we have had two hurrications at Ross's mom's house :)

Grammy and Ross's Grandmother, Shirley

Me and Steph

We celebrated Stephanie's b-day on Saturday and I was so glad we were there on her actual b-day!

Riley (Stephanie's friend Joni's little girl) helped her open her presents

After church on Sunday morning all the girls went shopping at the cute little shops downtown










I had to get a picture of Grammy and I in our matching outfits :)

Ross and Steph with the Bunch's.

The Bunch's are like Ross's secondfamily..they lived next door to Ross growing up and they surprised Ross and showed up! Of course, Stephanie knew they were coming and kept it a secret...she said there were many tears when they saw each other. Mr. Bunch has been a very influential person in Ross's life and a BIG part of how he got to be where he is today and it was so special that they got to come to his ordination.

Marsha (Ross's mom), Ross, Steph, and Shirley

We also enjoyed meeting all of Steph and Ross's new friends and church family. This is a picture of them with their friends Joni and Scotty.


Group Pic


Family Pic

It was a great weekend. The ordination service was so special and there wasn't a dry eye in the place. I look forward to going back for "Christmas in the Country." Everybody kept telling us we HAVE to come and experience it...all the shops set up their stuff on the sidewalks, there is a Christmas parade, lots of good food, and you get to look in all of the Plantation Homes.....
they call this the "peep show!" Looking forward to the peep show :) HaHa...I know I am like 12 years old, but it is funny when you read that in the church bulletin :)

Joyce Conference

This past weekend my mom and I went to Houston for the Joyce Meyer Conference. I look so forward to this weekend every year...it has become an annual trip for us. I took off work on Friday and we drove to Houston early and got to eat, shop at little, and check into our hotel before the Friday night session at 7. There was a Thursday night session, but we only went to the Friday night and Saturday morning ones.

Martin Smith (former member of the Christian band Delirious) lead the worship at the conference and it was so awesome!!! I have never been to a Christian concert so this is as close as I've come to one!






The Conference was at Lakewood church and it was packed!

I loved being in one place with all those people worshiping together...powerful!!!


Joyce's message was on serving others and it was a good Word...she reminded us all that we are here to serve others and it's not all about us! I know I tend to get selfish at times and it was a good message for me to hear!

Life has been busy the past few months for me with going to school and working and it was a nice break to get to soak in the Word all weekend, relax at the hotel, shop, eat at two of my favorite places (La Madeline's and The Cheesecake Factory) and just spend time with my mom. We had a great time and my dream is to get to go to her women's conference one year in St. Louis.

The Abiding Place

This weekend was the ladies retreat at church. I have been looking so forward to this weekend. We go to a place called the "Abiding Place." We went last October and it has become an annual event. The "Abiding Place" is the home of Teresa and Bob Nix where they hold Christian retreats and conferences year round . They are good friends with my pastor and his wife and it was such a blessing to be able to go again this year.

The Abiding Place

I love all the Fall decorations




There is a pond in the backyard and a gorge that runs along the side of their property..we saw a herd of wild boars running across the gorge on Saturday, deer, and a armadillo!

I love this cross at the edge of the pond

In this picture most of us are wearing our t-shirt that says, "Breaking Free" which was the theme of the ladies retreat.

Cecilia, Linda (their mom), and Sara


Last year it rained the entire weekend so we didn't get to enjoy all the hiking trails and outdoor fire pits, so on Saturday morning we sat and had coffee by the fire.

Kathy, Melissa, Me, and Mom

Teresa is an amazing cook. Since the weather was so pretty we ate lunch and supper Saturday on the back porch. Lunch was taco soup, salad, homeade salsa, homeade jalepeno dip, and peach bread pudding with glazed pecans on top (the peached are fresh off her peach trees)....delicious!

Saturday night we sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows..the stars were so beautiful! The "Abiding Place" is out in the middle of nowhere in Centerville, TX and the stars were so bright and beautiful...when you live in the city you forget just how beautiful the night sky is.


Grace (the girl in the blue jean jacket on the front row) is from the Philippines and had only been in the U.S. for two months. Her husband is American and met her in the Philippines and they just started coming to our church. In the Philippines, when you take a picture of the people they either frame their face with their hands (I am not sure why, but I think it means "Beautiful") or give the peace sign...that is why they are doing this in the picture with Grace.

Roasting Marshmallows

This weekend was such a sweet time with the Lord and fellowship with the ladies at Joy Church. I am so thankful that God has brought these ladies into my life.

The scripture on our shirt is Galatians 5:1 and it says,

"It is for Freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and so not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was a busy weekend. Friday night we celebrated Grammy's 82nd birthday and my church had a garage sale and link sale on Saturday. I love getting together with family any chance I get and Friday was such a good time. We went to eat at the Olive Garden for supper and then went to my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Mark's house for dessert to celebrate Grammy's birthday.

Grammy had not one but four birthday cakes...coconut cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, and apple pie. I had to try each one and they were all so good!


Grammy with all 5 of her kids


Grammy opening her gifts


Mom and I spent the night with Grammy on Friday night so we would be close to the church since we had to be there at 8 Saturday morning. The garage sale was to raise money for missions and it was the perfect day to have a garage sale...the temps were in the 70"S and it was sunny.


Love these girls...Sara and Cecilia are both sisters and they are some of the sweetest, most Godly women I know. They are such a great example to me of what it looks like to be a Godly wife and mother.

Making Signs

Meredith Making a Sign

Linda and Mom

We had 2 link sales and the women ran this one...Linda did a great job! She had never grilled before and we weren't much help..around our house my dad does all the grilling!

The garage sale was a hugh success and I enjoyed getting to visit with everyone who helped out.

Poor kid...if you rember from last year I posted a picture of Samuel with a wig on at the Chrsitmas Party and well, we found another wig at the garage sale and couldn't resist :)