A note about my sis

For those of you who may not know, I am in the largest compound family in the universe! While I am sure there are those more complicated, here is our complex make up (see if you can follow along): I am the only child of my "real" mom and dad; then my step-dad and mom have two girls, Andrea and Cassie, my half sisters; my step-dad has a son from his previous marriage, John, my step-brother; and last but not least, my dad and step-mother have a daughter, Maranda, my half sister. With all of the halves, wholes, steps, and close friends that we consider family, talking about my family can by all accounts be very confusing to any listener! Since we were all little, we have never considered eachother less than "brother or sister" and have been close as can be at differing points in our lives. Obviously, I love each of them more than I could ever mention, and each of them is very special to me in their own unique way. When you have a family as large as ours, it seems that we have our moments of togetherness and our moments when are not as close as we have been or could be. Getting close to each of my siblings has been something that I will never be able to place value on.

Having said that, I have had the honor of getting to know my sister, Cassie the best over the past 2 years. She is amazing and I wouldn't be the person that I am without her. She is constantly busier than anyone in town, yet finds time to go out of her way to do nice things for others. She has dropped what she is doing on more than one occasion to come and watch Peyton on a whim, and does an incredible job. She is loving, supportive, caring, generous, and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I thank the Lord for her every day and am saddened that she will be going far far away for school in August; but look forward to the summer that we will share with one another.

The photo is on the day of her senior prom in May (note we look absolutely NOTHING alike).

I know I usually post about current events and trips, etc. but I had to take a moment to appreciate a key person in our day to day lives :)

Over a month...seriously?

I honestly cannot believe it has really been over a month since I last updated our blog. If it is any reassurance to anyone, I only now caught up on everyone else's blogs as well. So, figuring that it won't be too much longer before Kelly holds my blog hostage as well, I better get to typing!!







In the past month....







Peyton and I made a very big SURPRISE visit to Ohio to see family. It was super fun to travel across the country unexpected. We arrived in Columbus on the 19th of April, then drove to my aunt and uncle's house (they were the only ones who knew we were arriving). We then surprised my dad, stepmom, grandma, and little sis at the restaurant that they own and operate. Which, I must say is kicking some serious booty in small town Chillicothe, Ohio! We have been home for almost a month now and can still taste the delicious smokehouse food we were spoiled with during our visit. We also saw a few other family members and are looking forward to spending time with the rest when we return in September for my brother's wedding.







Micah has made some exciting changes to Lifeline that have involved more employees, a less stressed daddy, new programs, new clients, more employee time off, and growth all around. The changes have been exciting and scary all at the same time, but God has blessed us with the reassurance that we have needed during this time of uncertainty.







Peyton, Peyton, Peyton....is growing up way too fast! She is regularly using 3-5 word sentences, repeating everything that she hears, calls me "Stevie" on occasion (which is way too much for me to deal with), asks to play with friends now, and continues to be the greatest blessing that I have ever ever received! Her favorite things to do are play outside, go to Costco (mostly b/c she gets a smoothie everytime), hang out with Auntie Cassie, and take care of "Pinkberry" her most favorite stuffed animal.







We go to Kauai in less than a month which is so fabulous I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am!! Hopefully the weather will be a bit better than it was in December. If I could just have 1 full day of sunshine this time around, we'll be in good shape.

The photo is of Auntie Cassie and Peyton playing "let's put the blocks on our head." Too cute!

:)