Sophie's 3rd Birthday and other life happenings

Sophie turned 3 on January 17th. Kind of hard to believe my baby sister is already 3! It's also hard to believe that I was so mad/embarrassed when Mom told us that she was going to have another baby. I guess that comes when you are 17. I'm so thankful for her. I can't imagine life with out her! She really is such a blessing from God. She is really into princesses right now, so that was kind of the theme of her birthday. She had 2 of her cousins come, Aubrey and Kylie. They were both soooo excited to go to Sophie's birthday. So here are a few pictures from the party.

 It's a little blurry, but I'm lucky I even got a picture with all of them in it and smiling. They were pretty excited to be with each other, so there wasn't much sitting around.

 Enjoying their princess cupcakes.

The same weekend as Sophie's birthday, was also Princeville/Bradford's Invite-a-Friend. It was such a great weekend. I kept Holly Funk(Morton), Erika Massner(Oakville), Tressa Sinn(Silverton), Jenna Wiegand(Silverton), Teresa Tribbett(Silverton), and Wendi Roth(Silverton). We stayed up way too late most nights, but I must say it was worth it. That's when the best conversations happen. The Silverton and Oakville people came on Friday night, which was our Princeville YG Bible study. After the Bible study we sand around the piano a bit. On Saturday, the Princeville people and their guests went to the fellowship hall to do some World Relief projects. I was in charge of lunch, so a lot of my morning was spent in the kitchen making sandwiches and making sure everything was in order. My guests were huge helps with that, so thanks girls, I appreciated your help! We had the normal supper and singing then on Saturday night. Sunday we had church, sang at Skylines, and then on the way home I drove the long way and took my guests up Grandview Drive. The houses up there are very impressive. We barely snuck in before the prayer for supper Sunday night. Monday, the Silverton people didn't fly out until 4:30ish, so after breakfast, we went over to Hannah Schick's where we just hung out, played a few rounds of ping pong, dutch blitz, giant jenga, and catch phrase(insert groan here). Margie also feed us lunch, which of course was delicious. We had a great time, especially with a smaller group. The pictures I am about to post, you may have already seen if you read Jenna's blog or Tressa's blog.

 Kendra Schmidgall, Teresa, Jenna, Tressa, and me. In height order:)

 Group photo at Hannah's.

The girls I kept except for Wendi. We didn't get a picture with her:( FromL-R Erika, me, Jenna, Holly, Tressa, Teresa.
Thanks again for coming girls. I had a blast. Until next time, which I hope comes sooner than later.

Other things that have transpired in my life since my last post have been.
-Aaron Funk and Kendra Leman's wedding last weekend in Washington.
-Getting lots and lots of snow this last Friday(ugh). If you haven't figured out yet, I'm NOT a winter girl.
-Testimonies and Baptisms this weekend in Princeville for Cody and Clayton Blunier. I felt very blessed and encouraged by the weekend. We have more baptisms in 3 weeks for 4 more people, and then again in March. We are definitely a blessed church to have so many turn to the Lord. I'm so thankful to be adding more to our Church family, and to the Body of Christ. To Him be GLORY!
-Next weekend, I believe I will be in Oakville for Invite-a-guest. My Great-Aunt Patty invited our family, so I think we are planning on going out.
-February 14th and 15th, I am going up to Chicago with Jaylyn Knobloch, Kristy Kieser, Hannah Schick, and Amber Ehnle so spend some quality time. We are NOT going shopping, but rather going to Shedd Aquarium, ice skating in Millineum Park, and maybe hitting a few other attractions. And of course experiencing authentic Chicago restaurants. We are pretty exciting to go.
-This week I am cat sitting/house sitting for one of the Vice President's at the bank. I've done it one other time, and I enjoy it. It's definitely different being at a house by yourself, and sleeping in a house by yourself in town. I usually pull all the curtains shut because it kind of freaks me out. And so does the cat. I never know where it is and then suddenly I look over and it's staring at me. Also, it really likes to sleep on the bed I sleep on and lay on my coat. Last night I had a difficult time getting it off my bed, and even more difficult time getting out of my room. There is no way I was going to let that cat in my room while I slept. I've decided I prefer dogs. They are much more friendly and less creepy. Mom thinks I'm crazy to live in a house with a cat, but she pretty much hates cats. Oh well, at least it's not permanent.

Someone recently told me, that they know someone who reads a chapter in Proverbs every day, and this person is the most wise person they have ever meet. I've decided to do that this year. I'm hoping I do glean wisdom from the experience, and also memorize verses. It helps that Proverbs has 31 chapters, so it's easy to read them in order. I will TRY to post a couple of verses a day from the chapter I read that day. Try is the key word. Based on how often I blog, it is likely it won't be every day. Hope you are all having a blessed winter and keeping warm and safe.

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favor and good  understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:3-6

Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Proverbs 3:9-13

For the Lord shall by thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Proverbs 3:26