Easter 2011

Isaac is at such a fun age right now!  Easter was no exception.  A few days before Easter, we had a little egg hunt at our house, where Isaac discovered that there is candy inside each egg.  Look at him filling his mouth in the picture above!  I made these Easter bunny cupcakes (courtesy of Betty Crocker) for our little egg hunt.

After his nap that afternoon, Isaac found his Easter basket again full of now-empty eggs.  He still reopened every single one to see if there was any more candy in them.  :)

We woke up Isaac early on Easter morning so that he could open his Easter basket before I went to church early.  He spied it right away on the island!

He was still a little sleepy, which must be why he looks so confused when he's holding this drill. Maybe he knew you're supposed to get candy in your Easter basket instead of toy tools? :)  He figured out what to do with them, though, and started drilling the gate attachments right away.

Easter morning at Keystone was incredible!  The service started with "Take Heart," during which there was powerful text and video on a floor-to-ceiling screen.  Click here to see the start of our service live--make sure you watch to the end!  To make Easter even more powerful, 88 people accepted Christ over the course of our 5 services!!! 

Easter Morning at Keystone Church!

Dave's mom usually makes a lamb cake each Easter, & I decided to start this tradition, too.  The lamb looks a little battered in this picture, because it had just endured two car trips on its way to Easter dinner.  :) 

After Isaac woke up from his nap, we had an Easter egg hunt at my mom and dad's house, where we'd had Easter dinner.  My sister was laughing that 5 adults followed one toddler around the yard for over half an hour.   

And, he still bit every one open.  :)

Isaac's Dedication

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1

On Sunday, November 29, we dedicated Isaac at our church! It was a memorable Sunday for us in many ways. All of our family members who now live in Texas joined us at Keystone for the service, plus many of our friends attended with us too. Our pastor spoke on the first part of Psalm 127 before praying for the families who were dedicating babies. David & I were again reminded of the awesome responsibility God has given us to train Isaac to know and love Him!During Brandon's dedication prayer, Isaac was smiling so big that Dave & I couldn't help but peek! (I'm sure he was just smiling at all the bright lights in the worship center, but it was still adorable.)One of the songs that we sang in the service was "Oh You Bring" by Hillsong United. The lyrics from this song spoke so strongly to me that morning of what God has brought us through:

"Oh You fill those who are empty
And rescue those in the valley
And through it all You calm my soul
Oh You find me in my weakness
And heal the wounds of my heartache"

I know that we keep saying it over and over, but we are so thankful for God's gift of Isaac to our family!

After the service, we had an open house. We had a blast having friends & family over to celebrate Isaac's dedication!


We're so grateful for everyone who was able to celebrate with us! (Of course, Isaac had no idea what was going on & slept like a champ through his whole party!)

A Shower of Love

I am absolutely oozing with joy over the incredible shower I received on Saturday from my sweet friends! Amber, Corrie, Alicia, Jenny, Kimi, and Holly spent so much time planning such a special celebration to welcome Baby Rinn!

The cake was my absolute favorite kind (marble with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting) from Sweet Memories in Keller....so delicious! (There are still a few more pieces in our fridge that I am rationing out to enjoy as long as possible!) There was also delicious egg bake, fruit, punch, and these adorable cookies that Corrie made! All of the cookies had different words on them (such as baby, cute, sweet, mom) and were so cute! I think Kimi knew that I had been eyeing the wreaths that her boys have on their bedroom doors, so she ordered this wreath for Baby Rinn's hospital room & bedroom door! I love it! Since the girls know how much I love games, they planned some really fun ones! One was guess the celebrity adoptions....for example, did you know that Faith Hill, Bill Clinton, & John Lennon were adopted? And, did you know that Walt Disney, Julie Andrews, and Nancy Reagan were adoptive parents? We also played baby bingo while I opened all my gifts!

I was absolutely overwhelmed by all the amazing gifts that we received...it seemed as if the pile of gifts never got any smaller no matter how many I opened. Each person's invitation said a different "time" of the day for which to purchase a gift....bath time, bed time, reading time, etc. (There was even one that said mom time!) Because of this, we received a huge variety of presents...and it really seems that now we have everything we need to bring Baby Rinn home! We are truly grateful for the overflow of generous gifts we received.


Love all these sweet friends (and, of course, the ones who also aren't in the pictures)...they have prayed us through a lot of tough times, and it's so wonderful to be able to celebrate with them now!













And...Grandpa Kal & Daddy came back at the very end of the shower--just in time to get some cake and load a LOT of presents!

Women's Fall Dinner

Our church hosted a wonderful fall dinner on Tuesday night, "Thankful for the Journey." There were so many small details and touches to the evening that made it amazing! Each table was decorated differently, and I wish I would have taken pictures of the others, but this is the table that Jenny and I decorated. Actually, Jenny decorated, and I just supplied the linens and dishes. I am so thankful for our church that provides these amazing events where we can connect with sweet friends & the Lord. l - r: Holly, Jenny, me, Kimi, Alicia, & Ann Marie

"You Never Let Go"

Though we've never written directly about our infertility on our blog, most of our friends and family know that we have been struggling to have a baby for over 2 years. For a number of reasons, October is an especially hard month for us in this process, though we had a powerful morning at church today. We both feel overwhelmingly blessed to be a part of such a loving & supportive church family.

During this morning's services, our pastor, Brandon, took time for people to pray for those who are struggling. Since I was singing at church this weekend, I was in both services today, and I was absolutely overwhelmed that sweet friends of ours came to lay hands on us and pray during both morning services. It was such a precious time. Though our burden is heavy, it is such a blessing when others share it with us. After the time of prayer, we all sang the song, "You Never Let Go," which has become so meaningful to us during our journey. These words are our hope and prayer during this time of waiting.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back, I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Swim Party

After church on Sunday we went swimming at my parent's pool with some of our friends from Keystone! We had so much fun swimming & hanging out together!


The boys loved this inner-tube and kept wanting rides on "the donut." :)

I think this is such a sweet picture--I loved swimming with Aiden & Jimmy...that is, when we could get Jimmy to get in the water! He'd much rather run around the pool deck trying to "catch" the beach balls! ;)

~Alan & Stephanie, Tiffany & Audrey, Corrie & Mark, Jenny, Joel, & Caden~

~Caleb, Todd, Dave, & Sandi~

Women's Retreat

This weekend our church held their first-ever women’s retreat, “Sharing the Journey.” It was truly an amazing two days of worship, Biblical teaching, and fun girl time. Here’s Sandy, Kelli, and me working at the registration table.

The dinner on Friday night was delicious, and I was impressed by all the extra touches the planning committee had done to make this event so special, such as the beautiful table decorations and the bags full of fun goodies (like coupons for free Starbucks coffee!) that were at every place setting. These are some of the sweet girls in our community group at dinner—Erin, Stephanie, & Annika.


A wonderful lady from our church, Jan Franke, spoke on Friday night about her life journey. She has been through so much—infertility, breast cancer, parenting challenges—but through it all, she spoke of how God has been faithful. "Whether the tide of your life is in & all is going well, or whether the tide is out & you are on the rocks, God is faithful." Her story was so encouraging!

Three ladies from our church spent hours getting different businesses to donate amazing door prizes; all together, they had over 60 prizes, such as $100 gift certificates to a spa in Southlake and Mary Kay & Arbonne gift baskets! They had a fun game where they would call out random items that might be in your purse, such as a calculator, floss (which, of course, I had!), etc., and then the first girl to jump up and show the item from her purse won one of the door prizes! It was hilarious! I won a $50 gift certificate for custom framing for being the first to show a pack of Trident gum!

There was also a fun fashion show, and I was a model for it! A lady who sells CAbi clothing brought tons of clothes, handbags, and jewelry, and on Friday night after the session, we all went to her hotel room and tried on different outfits to see which we would model. The next morning, after breakfast, we walked through the banquet hall modeling the clothes, & she spoke to all the ladies about the new fashion trends. It was so fun! (I wish you could see the dress that I was modeling better in this picture—it was beautiful!)

On Saturday morning, we also had small group Bible studies, and I led one on the topic of God’s grace. It was such a sweet time of sharing God’s word with a small group of women. This verse in particular from our study spoke to me: “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. This is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (II Corinthians 12:9-10)

We ended the retreat with a beautiful time of worship. I am so thankful for a church that designs incredible opportunities where we can experience the Lord in such a sweet way.