Those seriously super siblings of mine.

So I have these really fabulous siblings, and I still feel so blessed to be able to say that I have 3 of them! I got to spend some of my Fall Break at home with them last week! It was literally a blast. I shot an obscene amount of pics while I was there, but I couldn't resist! THEY'RE SO STINKIN CUTE.

Couldn't you just eat him right up?

Max loves his Madie! They're best buds.

Such a pretty sister.

So Madie and Max both love grabbing my camera anytime its out, and I just love watching them learn how to use it! I took Madie to this cute little abandoned fruit stand on the side of the road to let her shoot some, but of course I shot my fair share of her too, BECAUSE HELLO SHE WAS IN A POLKA DOTTED ROMPER. It had to be documented.

Madie took these! Aren't you impressed?? She's fabulous!

We celebrated my Opa's birthday while I was home! Aren't they the sweetest?

Precious little parentals!

Love them to pieces.

MAL GOT A CAR! AND IS GETTING HER LICENSE SOON!

So proud of this girl.

So thankful for these wonderful people.
So thankful for the time I got to spend with these wonderful people.
And SO thankful for the BEYOND special decision that Max made this week.
MAX ASKED THE LORD TO BE THE LEADER OF HIS LIFE!! Praise Him! We've been praying for his little heart for over a year, that it would be softened and ready for the gospel. And ever since he moved here in May, Mom, Dad, and many others that are in his life have been pointing him in the direction of the gospel. And slowly but surely he became curious enough to start listening and asking questions, and discussing who Jesus was and who He is today. And last Monday night Max told mom that he wanted to ask Jesus to forgive him of his sins and to be AND I QUOTE "the leader of my life"! And of course all mom could do was grin and try to keep from tearing up. So that night we all sat on his bottom bunk while he so preciously and sincerely thanked his Jesus for dying on the cross, and asked him into his life.

The Lord is so ridiculously faithful it just gets me. And I know that He promises us nothing less in His word, but it's always just so much more in your face when you actually witness it first hand. Love Him, and all His perfect ways.

So thankful.

father's day

Father's day came and went!  And I'm so thankful that I got to spend it with my daddy dearest. It was wonderful, and much needed. I hate that it takes a day like this to make me realize just how rarely I tell him how much I appreciate him. Not that I'm trying to justify that, but even if I did make it a habit to tell my dad how incredibly thankful I am for all that he does for me, my sisters, my beautiful mother, and now, my little brother, that wouldn't even begin to cover it. Because he's simply the best. Really. Love you more, Dad.

Sunday I got a little photo happy because that wonderful father of mine let me play around with his 1.4 50mm lens. MY FAVORITE. So please don't judge the ridiculous amount of bokeh in these pics. Thanks.

During dad's gift opening time, Max was the most precious little gift giver ever. He was literally giddy while waiting for dad to get to his gift. He painted a little motorcycle at the mud hut with mom a couple weeks ago, and he couldn't have been more proud, and I think dad enjoyed Max's excitement even more than the actual gift.

There was also a lot of wii played this weekend, which is always fine by me.

Oh and Max got a new bike on saturday! He's completely obsessed, and we just love it.

My lovely sister.

Side note: I love love love this girl, and I'm so glad we got to catch up this weekend. You're great, Rach.

Mr Matthew Brooks on a pink kids sized bike, ladies and gentlemen.

Also, I'm just realizing how incredibly hard it is to not upload a million bazillion pics when I post. Like, how am I supposed to decide which ones make the cut?! Oh the life of an indecisive retriever.

Hope you had the best Father's day, celebrating your dad!

Quick Trip Home.

I love being home, for several reasons. First because I really do think Longview, Tx can be pretty great, and I know the rest of the population that's my age would wholeheartedly disagree, but seriously sometimes it's nice to get away from Dallas traffic and such. Second because MY FAM IS AWESOME. I love getting to spend time with them when I can. Ok, so can we just talk about family friends for a second? The Fortner family has the coolest families close to us, it's kind of insane. I am absolutely beyond blessed by them anytime that I'm home and able to spend time with these wonderful people, and if we're being real the blessings usually follow me all the way back to Dallas too. They're great.

The past several months the Lord has really been teaching me a ton about community and what that should look like in my life right now. And because of this, I think I've been extra thankful lately for this community that He's built around my family in Longview even though they've been here for years and years. I am so grateful for new perspectives. So incredibly refreshing.

There's about a billion names I could list in this little shout out post, but one of the main families that has really gone overboard to love on my fam in the good times and in the bad has been the Phillip's family. These people are wonderful, Mrs. Sheryl and my mom grew up together in Deer Park and have been the closest friends ever since. Somehow they both ended up in Hallsville, Tx and boy am I glad. Sheryl and Rodney have 3 wonderful kids who are still super special people to me. Meredith, Trevor and Travis, and now Meredith is all married and pregnant and such so Jacob is a part of this wonderful family too. And we're all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Adalyn Grace! She's going to be perfect. I could literally talk about them for days, so I won't. But all you need to know is that they're a blast, and beyond that, a blessing. Seriously.

All this to say, they threw Max (my little russian brother) a welcome home party on Memorial day (complete with huge inflatable slide and many butcher shop burgers), so he could meet all of these family and friends that have been praying for him and his arrival for over a year. It was such a neat thing to be a part of, and we're still so grateful to the Phillip's and their sweet sweet hearts that they wanted to do this for him.

Our new family of 6 at the party!

After everyone left, the Fortner's and Phillip's had a late night swim, and of course it was instagramed.

Today I'm just feeling beyond blessed to even know these people, much less get to do life with them daily. So thankful.