December Happenings

Whew! December is flying by! I can't believe I go home in 3 days!!! eeee! But, to catch you up! On Dec.4th we had a girl's christmas party where we made Christmas ornaments, cookies and did a gift exchange. I was so excited that my small group girls came! And although it was a lot of work! I loved seeing the girls enjoy themselves so much- a lot of them had never made Christmas cookies before, let alone frost them. Shekinah and Michelle frosted like 100 of them! haha I realized that when doing events, what matters is that the girls have fun and get to know each other- Then last Monday, JAWS went off! It's a local surf spot that breaks 3-5 times a year- Craig, our senior pastor, called us up and told us to be ready at 6am to go see it! And it was epic! 40'+ waves- they were towing in the surfers...I guess all the famous guys were out- including laird hamilton (is that the right name!? Haha...) The best part though was calling up dad while I was watching; it was like he was there with me- I so wish he could have been. It's his dream to see Jaws go off-
After that Brandon gave me the day off, so Leslie, Risa and I went to the beach to soak up some sun- it was wonderful! I love those girls so much~

On Tuesday we had a gingerbread house making night! IT WAS FANTASTIC! We used graham crackers- which by the way, is the way to go!!! It was so fun and so great to see everyone's creativity-

This past Saturday was one of my favorite days! Leslie and I met up early in the morning to paddleboard- and right away we saw two turtles! (and apparently an hour after we left a shark joined those two turtles! eee!) We just layed down on our boards afterwards and stared up at the sky and talked- love it! Then all of us girls went to Jill Walsh's home (her husband is a captain) and sun bathed, swam in her pool and watch Just Friends in their movie theatre room- aw! It was so relaxing- I am so thankful for people's hospitality here. Then that night we had our Staff Christmas party, which was so great! haha We did a big pirate christmas gift exchange. The best though was at the end, we all prayed together- I can't tell you how blessed I felt to hear the ocean waves breaking, and talking to our Papa with all the staff and pastors- that night will always be in my heart.

So this week!

Yesterday: flat tire! haha

Tuesday: bible study with the ladies

Wednesday: Paddleboarding, drop John off at the airport (how sad!), RISE Christmas Party Bash

Thursday: Youth Group Christmas Party, Rio spends the night!

Friday: Lunch with the girlies, FLYING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to you all-

Happy Birthday Mama & Caitlin!

Happy Birthday Mama! Oh Mama, I love you with my whole heart! You are a woman of truth, wisdom, mercy and kindness. You seek the Lord daily and are always looking to see how you can serve and encourage someone else. You are a treasure to my heart and I praise and thank our Papa daily for you- thank you for laughing with me, crying with me- for listening and speaking truth to my heart. You are my dearest friend Mama- I LOVE YOU and Praise God for His creation of you!!! Have a wonderful day!!

Happy birthday sweet Caitlin!!! You my dear girl are such a blessing to my heart! You are a woman of God who loves Him and seeks Him wholeheartedly! You are a woman of truth and purity- and I love your honesty and tender heart. I'm thinking and praying for you today and CANNOT WAIT to see you and your mama for Christmas!!! LOVE YOU!!