Laugh. Love. Learn.

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Last Thursday night we took Tanner to Sesame Street Live! It was a perfect surprise for Princess Abby Cadabby. We started the evening at Chick-fil-A, T’s favorite restaurant. She sat by her favorite playmate, Daddy.

On the way home from school, Tanner kept saying, “i’m goin to ayanta! i’m goin to ayanta! i gon see sneffy street! and elmo! and daddy! and big bird! i’m gon take my purse! has gum in it.” The fam at Phillips Arena.

Katelynn and MooMoo were twins!

All her favorites were there! (Except Snuffleupagus.)

Tanner loved sharing popcorn with “Tatelynn.”

Sweet girl.


She was impressed with Oscar’s trash can,
but most of all, she loved spending time with Daddy!!!


Check this out. (9 second video.)
This joy was worth the cost of admission…intermission was over!

And for your viewing pleasure, 1:29 of the real deal.

At school, Tanner and her friends wear belts on their chairs while sitting at the table.
The goal is for the kids to sit at the table until it’s time to get up…
but apparently Tanner cannot be deterred.
She “runs away like a turtle,” and gets sent to the director’s office.


When I sent these to Katelynn, she replied,
“Oh Tanner, she is my little vicious monkey.”
Perhaps she’s a snapping turtle?
;)

And watching him with them makes me love him more.


(Coach Nick pitching to Katelynn at softball…)

Nick and I were stoked to spend time alone with Katelynn tonight. It reminded me of when Jon & Kate (+ 8 ) take one kid on a date! We went to see the movie Julie & Julia, and it was very cool since we love watching the Food Network.


Right now she thinks we’re embarrassing…but one day she’ll like us.

Tanner loves “Tarley.” They’ve been BFF since they were born, 5 weeks and 6 days apart. I think it’s awesome because my friends Morgan and Tanaya have been BFF for life, and I’ve always thought that was the neatest experience. These pictures will be really cool when Tanner and Carley are freshmen at UGA! ☺ (Goooooo Dawgs!)
Tanner, 10 weeks & Carley, 6 weeks

Tanner, 14.5 months & Carley, 13 months

Tanner, 26.5 months & Carley, 25 months

They’re so sweet to each other…precious!

She saw them coming.

They thought she was cute, and wanted to play catch.

But clearly they didn’t know who they were messing with.

She wasn’t about to share with a BOY.

She gave him the cold shoulder.

He he he.

That’s my girl.

We have a downstairs bathroom, and I can see the bathtub from the kitchen, so I decided it’d be a good idea to let Tanner play in the tub while I washed the dishes. She was being very quiet, and I thought it was working wonderfully! After about 10 minutes she said, “Get me out mommy! All gone!” All gone, I thought? Her toys were all gone.

Apparently I never mentioned that she shouldn’t put them in the toilet.

Jaxson is 3 months old today. We had to wash his 3-6 month clothing last week, and I can’t believe he’s already a big boy. He weighs 12lbs. 12oz.; he’s 25 inches long; and he’s starting to get dark brown hair. He’s staying awake for longer periods of time, and he smiles and coos and eats his hands. He loves going to school and flirting with his teachers. I’m continuing to learn how different boys are than girls…Jax is very, very cuddly, and likes to be held tightly, and I’m more than happy to oblige! He’s officially stolen my heart.

June 2006 seems like a long time ago. I’ve had two kids since then. And moved to another county. Then I was 25; now I’m 28. 28 seems much older. In June 2006, The Vine was an idea. A concept. A vision. A burden for specific people in a specific community that seemed rural and undeveloped. Everything definitive about the organization was contained in a 5 page Word document. But the prospects were huge. I knew without a doubt that the vision in David’s heart was God-inspired, and I couldn’t believe I was getting the chance to be a part of it. Everything was surreal.

I remember being nervous about pre-launch meetings…would anyone come? What would they be like? I remember literally praying that God would send computer-savvy people to be on our team, and that (in my introvertedness) I’d meet them…and lo and behold, Kris Jones showed up at the first meeting (thank you, Jesus.)

I remember our first Christmas Eve service in December ’06, an attempt to turn a fish-camp-looking golf pavilion into a worship center. Let’s just say we tried really hard. We had a really cool video that was half of the message…great idea until we lost power in half of the building. Lights out. Projector out. Everyone turning awkwardly to look at one projector across the room. Our first “real” service on Easter ’07 wasn’t much better, from a technical standpoint. We weren’t set up until the very last minute so the band hardly ever practiced, and we had major video issues…again. But somehow I managed to not pull my hair out and continued to learn…because I believed in the vision. I believed in the vision when I hauled our 50-pound Mac Pro and cumbersome 20” flat screen all the way from Loganville, every week. I believed in the vision when I had to schedule different worship leaders and an entire band every week for 3 months before we found Gregg. I believed in the vision when we stacked 900 bazillion chairs in the black box, week after week. I believed in the vision when we no longer fit, and had to scramble to come up with a plan for overflow. I believed in the vision when we decided to have a family Easter festival the day before Easter, and 1,000 people showed up. That was one busy weekend. We believed in the vision enough to sell our house and move our kids to Braselton. I believed in the vision enough to leave my secular job – which I loved – and risk moving to a new job, just to be closer to Braselton. I believe in the vision enough to use all of my “free” time to make sure Sunday mornings are as excellent as possible. Sometimes I believe in the vision to the point of tears. And though the vision is about people, and a church is not a facility but a group of people, something about opening a facility felt like fulfillment of a dream. Not that we’ve arrived – nor will we ever – but it’s a great next step. It will enable us to take more next steps. It will enable us to reach more people, and become a hub for ministry throughout the community. It remains surreal. And when I look back on the nights I’ve questioned everything, and wondered why I was here and if it was all worth it – I know that it was. And it continues to be. Every life that is redeemed and restored – every person who lives in freedom – makes it worth it. Every single life that is changed because they enter into a relationship with Jesus makes it worth it, over and over again. Salvation never gets less exciting!

And though it would seem that our fun new equipment and nice chairs in the new worship center are most exciting to me, they are not. I’m most excited for our children. As I lay awake Saturday night, all I could think about was the likelihood that our children will meet Jesus in this place. Each Sunday they’ll learn about Him there, and worship him corporately there. The Kidzu worship room is my favorite place in the entire facility, because the kids get to sing and dance and worship, and be EXCITED about Jesus! I’m so thankful that our kids have a place to learn and grow and have fun under the leadership of adults who love Jesus. I couldn’t believe what I saw when I visited Kidzu Worship on Sunday – the atmosphere was electric and the Spirit was so clearly present – and I am thankful. Thankful for a place where we can fill people up and send them out into a hurting world to be Jesus for people…to be the church as it was intended…and gather on the weekends to celebrate who God is and all that He has done.

Praying that the name of Jesus is always lifted high, above all other things,
Rebecca