Christmas With the Weavers

I have mentioned in my earlier posts that I spend many of my Tuesday evenings with my friends the Weavers. I just absolutely love our time together. We have such a nice evening eating dinner, playing with the kiddos and just really enjoying each other's company. Yesterday we exchanged Christmas gifts. I love that they know me so well. I got a book and my favorite game Quelf (that I now own!!) Side note: if you are looking for a fun game to play with your friends, get Quelf. You will be laughing for hours. Love it!

One of my favorite things to do is give gifts. I got Saul a dress up costume. He is just the cutest :)

I also got to get some cuddle time in with Audrey. She is really just the sweetest baby. Love her so much :)

I just realized that I got no pictures of me and Carmen and Andrew. I guess when you are surrounded by these cuties that you tend to forget about the adults. I am so blessed by this family and they mean so much to me. So thankful that I have them in my life!

Weekend

The weekend for me started off pretty rough. I was so saddened about the shooting that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. It just absolutely broke my heart. I cannot imagine what the family members of those who lost their lives that day felt. It made me cling to the fact that this horrible world is not my home. This weekend I counted my blessings, meditated on how thankful I was to be able to hug my mom and dad brother and sisters. My thoughts and prayers are with the families that lost daughters, sisters, brothers, sons, Mom's...

I actually ended up having a pretty nice weekend. I get off at 3 on Friday's and I got to spend the rest of the day hanging out with Parker. He's such a joy. Friday night consisted of game and Christmas movie night with friends. Frozen Hot Chocolate (which the boys did not understand ha!)  and then a sleepover with Jessica, Parker and Lori. Fun times :)

Saturday was sooo lazy. Jessica Parker and I laid around the whole morning/early afternoon. We didn't even eat lunch till 3:30. (one of those days...you know what I'm talking about) And of course what Saturday would not be complete without some shopping :).

Sunday was our last performance at church. It went absolutely beautifully. I didn't make it through one service without crying. So thankful that God sent is only son to be born in a manger, live a sinless life, and crucified on the cross for  MY sins. And so blessed in knowing that Jesus rose from the dead and He lives! Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow :)

And of course the girls got together to watch one of our guilty pleasures. JP and Ashley's wedding. :) Looking forward to a great week ahead!

-Cassie

The Story

This Sunday is going to be the third Christmas Program. Like I mentioned in one of my earlier posts. We are doing something a little different this year. We are telling the life of Jesus in three parts. Announcement/Arrival/Atonement. This week is Atonement. This week is probably one of the most drama heaving Sunday's. We will get to see Jesus grow up, witness the miracles that He performed in the bible, His death and resurrection. My ABF class is very involved with this. Such a blessing to serve the Lord alongside some of my favorite people. If you are local you can come see our program Sunday at FBC Rogers 9:00 and 10:15. You can also stream it live at those same time at www.fbcrogers.org Here are couple of teasers.

This is a clip from part of the miracles. My friend Alex plays the dead girl's dad. He does such a good job.

This is part of the song that my friend Beau sings. Jesus grows from a baby to an adult during this song. 

 



 

I couldn't resist putting a picture up of my three favorite Roman Soldiers :)

 

I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store this week. We have already had many salivations and many people wanting to join our church. God is good!


-Cassie

Love :)

I was checking out one of my favorite wedding blogs The wedding Post and to my surprise the post today was covering my best friend's engagement session. So sweet :) I'm hoping this means that they will be covering the wedding too! So So Fun! Congratulations Donnally and JR.

http://www.theweddingpost.net/2012/12/arkansas-engagement-donnally-jr.html?showComment=1355331368716#c2846229024999249951

Go check it out you won't be disappointed. Their pictures are to die for. They are one of the most beautiful couples you will meet (inside and out). I'm so blessed to be apart of their big day in June. Love you guys :)


-Cassie

Quick update

Once again it has been a LONG time since I updated my blog. Maybe it should be one of my new goals to start blogging more. I really do enjoy it I just keep forgetting to update things on here. So here we go again I'll just start from December . I'll try to update more often :)

One of my favorite things to do is go see Christmas lights. The first weekend in December me and some of my friends went to Fayetteville square and spent the evening enjoying each other's company and the lights. It was weird being the first day of December and not needing a coat at all. The weather was absolutely perfect .

One thing that has taken up a lot of time the past couple weeks is getting ready for our Christmas Programs. We are doing things a Little different this year and I am loving it. We are telling the whole story in three parts. Announcement/Arrival/Atonement. It's been keeping me busy but it is all worth it. Last week my precious 4 year old choir got to sing. They did so good and are just the cutest.

As you read in some of my earlier posts one of my best friends Donnally is getting married next summer. Me and a few of my friends went to meet her at a local dress shop to look at her final two choices (by the way we have been to multiple stores in different cities, and even states and she has tried on 65ish dresses). We were in for a big surprise when she found a special way to ask us to be in her wedding. It was so sweet and we had a blast. Not to mention that she said YES to the dress. She is going to be gorgeous :)

Have I mentioned lately that I just love my church family? Because I really really do. We have a great small group with some of my very favorite people and some of my very best friends. We always have the best time together and our Christmas party was no exception. I am beyond blessed to have these people in my life and serve along side them.

On another note. I found out last Thursday that my Grandpa Rudy had passed away. He hadn't been in the best health but it's still hard. I wanted to go and be with my family and my grandma especially but there was just so much going on here that it didn't work out. I know everyone understood but it was still a little sad that I could not be there. My mom and dad were able to make the 11 hour trip though. I will miss him but I know that I will see him again. So thankful that I have the peace and comfort of knowing that.

So there is my December so far in a glance. I'm looking forward to more great things to come. It is the Most Wonderful Time of Year :)

Memo

I haven't blogged in a little while. I have been thinking about what I want to write about and I couldn't think of anything better than a tribute to my sweet sweet grandma. My Memo recently passed away. It wasn't a total surprise since she had Alzheimer's but it was still really hard to deal with. She was put in the ICU and then an hour later she was gone. My family and I left the next day and headed for Texas. One thing about funerals is that it brings people together. We had a lot of really good family time and had some good conversations remembering Memo.

My grandma was one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She never met a stranger and she was always eager to help out in any she could. I would say that she was a great example of a Proverbs 31 woman. I am honored to call her my grandma. She did a lot of good and touched a lot of people's lives in the 81 years she was on this earth. She is missed dearly and I think of her often. I am so thankful that I will get to see her again in heaven.

One of the fun things that I got to do while I was there was sing with my cousins and my sister Chelsea. Joel played the guitar, Jonathan did vocals and guitar, and Chelsea and I did vocals. It was such a fun experience and blessing to sing with them. We sang 4 songs at the memorial service and two songs at the funeral. And I actually sang in Spanish!! I know that it was something that my Memo would have loved so much. At both the memorial service and the funeral it was like a worship service. All in all, even though it was really really hard at times, I spent a wonderful weekend with my family. I am blessed to have an amazing Godly family.

 This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandma

All the girl grandkids with Empo

All the boys

Story time with Empo after the funeral

The handsome Paul Bearers

All the girls with Empo

Crazy Fun Weekend-Sunday

Sunday morning started early for me because I went to the 8 o'clock service so I could leave right after the music portion of the 10:15 service. Jessica and I had to pick up a few things and then head to her house to start decorating for the surprise engagement party. Yep that's right, the surprises for Donnally were still not over. We had been planning this party for 3 weeks! She had no idea that I had been in contact with her mom and JRs mom to get this whole thing put together :) it was great. So we spent the afternoon making cupcakes, decorating, getting food together, and getting pictures together of their weekend. All and all it was a major success. Donnally was so surprised and she was so happy to be able to celebrate with family and her closest friends. The party concluded my eventful fun filled weekend that I wouldn't change for anything. I got to spend it with some of my favorite people. Enjoy some pictures from the party. Congratulations JR and Donnally love you both!

 This one of the tables we decorated

The food table (yes those a re more pinwheels you see) I am now the pinwheel making queen :)

 Fun times

 The besties celebrating after everyone left :)

 

Me and my best friend Donnally. Can't express how excited I am for her :) love you!!



Crazy Fun Weekend-Saturday

So we got back from Joplin about  12:30 and then Jess and I went to Walmart to get the stuff I needed to make for Carmen's shower. Walmart at 12:30 am is a very interesting place to say the least. Once I got home I had to make the punch and prepare the food. I was up for  24 hours before I actually got to sleep! But it was all worth it for my sweet friend Carmen :) Lindsey and I had spent part of Thursday making the decorations. It was so much fun to catch up with her and be crafty. And it turned out great if I do say so myself. The shower turned out great and it was a great fellowship of friends and family and celebrating Carmen and Audrey. I am so thankful for Carmen and I was happy to help out with her shower.

 I spent most of my time making pin wheels but look how cute they are

one of the tables

 my sweet friend carmen :)

All the hostesses. We can't wait to meet Audrey!

 

 

After we cleaned up from the shower I went home and took a much needed 2 hour nap. Boy was it refreshing. Then went to Fayetteville with some friends for dinner and a late movie. Then it was to bed as quickly as possible because I had to be at the 8 o'clock service in the morning.

 



Crazy Fun Weekend-Friday

I had one of those weekends where it was absolutely non stop. I would change anything about it but come Monday I was ready to just sleep. I am going to split up my weekend into three posts (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

It all started early Friday morning. I got up at 3:30 to meet up with Jessica and Nikki so we could surprise Donnally with the first letter from JR for her surprise engagement trip. It was early but it was so worth it. She was so confused at first but once she realized she was going on a trip the packing began. We helped get her get all packed while she took a shower and got ready. She was so excited. It was great to be able to spend that time with her. I had been keeping this secret from her for a month or so and it was great that the time was finnally here. JR was so sweet and had everything planned out perfectly. They flew to New York and they are now engaged. I am so excited for Donnally. She is one of my very best friends and she has been waiting for this for awhile. It is such a fun story. Enjoy some pictures from their engagement .

 This was when we woke up Donnally and she was reading the first letter from JR

 This was us trying not to cry as we surprised her haha

 Where it all happened...look at that view!

I just love this picture because she looks so happy

The ring

 

So while all the engagement stuff was happening Mary Claire, Jessica, and I were in Joplin for the Kari Jobe / All Sons and Daughters concert. Wow was it amazing. It was just a bit worship service and I absolutely loved it. We had such a good girl trip. Lots of fun was had with those two. We got home about 12:30 and my night was just starting...

 

Before we left for Joplin



 My new favorite picture of me and Jess

we had such a fun time worshiping and spending time together. not to mention two McDonald's stops haha



Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday! We had a special night planned for her. My dad cooked steaks and grilled some yummy vegetables on the grill. I made the mashed potatoes and bread and my sister took care of the cake. It was all sooo very yummy. We surprised my mom and got her an Ipad. She didn't expect it, which made it even better. She is enjoying it already. I am so glad that I got to spend the evening with my sweet momma just celebrating her and how much she means to me. I am blessed with such a great family :)

I am so thankful for my mom and all that she does for us on a daily basis. When you stop and think, it is crazy how fast time flies. I remember like it was just yesterday when we celebrated her 40th birthday and now we are celebrating her 51st! Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you had such a wonderful day because you deserve it. Love you!!

My Weekend Review

This weekend we had our annual music retreat. It was Friday from 6-9 and Saturday from 8-4. I always have a great time :) I got to spend time with my friends/ choir buddies (Misty and Joy) all weekend. It wasgreat  hanging out ( I mean practicing) with them all weekend. Ha! One of the things we always do at the retreat is begin learning our Christmas music. And for someone who LOVES Christmas and Christmas music, it is just lovely. When we start getting restless Misty likes to doodle in her music. This was one of her creations. Can you guess which one is me?

On Saturday night I got to hang out with my friend Camie who now lives in Illinois. I went out with Camie, Nikki, and Jessica. It was so great to spend some time with her. She is one of those friends who you don't get to see very often but you remain close and when you get together it's as if nothing has changed. We laughed, cried, and just enjoyed each other's company. And great news! She found out this morning that she is having a baby boy. I am so overjoyed for her and Steve. Eisley and Lola are going to be the best big sisters ever.

Well a new week has begun. I have come to dread Mondays. Not that I don't love where I work, because I do. I love my job. But I really love my weekends and time with friends and family and I hate to see it go. Good thing we have a three day weekend coming up. I could use one of those!

Adventurous Night

Last night I helped my friend Donnally get her classroom together for tonight's open house. We had a fun group. It was me, Jessica, Sarah, and Donnally's boyfriend JR. We made quite the team and got lots accomplished. So around midnight we heard a loud beep so JR and Donnally decided to go in the hallway and see what it was. And then the security alarm started blaring. And then to make things worse the lights turned off. So there we were freaking out ( well Jessica and I were freaking out). We locked the classroom from the inside and Jessica and I got on the floor and hid behind some cabinet doors. haha. We called the police and about 4 policemen showed up the school. JR went to let them and take them to where we all were. The police escorted us out and told us to wait outside or in the car (seriously they left us outside alone) They then searched the entire building. They assured us that everything was ok and there was no sign of forced entry or of anyone being in the building. The security guy reset the alarm and we went back in to finish decorating. I was laughing last night ( well technically this morning) as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, because really, this would only ever happen to us. But hey, it keeps things interesting right. We ended up working till about 2:30ish. And let me just say, she has one good looking classroom :)

Weekend Review

I would have to say I had a pretty great weekend. I get off at 3 on Fridays and I am so thankful for that :) My friend Misty invited me and my other friend Joy over to house for an afternoon of chatting, food, and fun. It was so great to just hang out and talk. It was funny because she sent us this formal invitation inviting us. We are "choir buddies" and sometimes get in trouble for talking all through choir so she put something on there along the lines of being able to enjoy an afternoon of chatting with no interruptions from Mark (our music minister). it was too funny!! We had a great time together. Misty and Allie Jane made such a great spread. We will have to do it again soon for sure.

 The spread! Doesn't it look yummy?!?

Misty, Joy and I :)

I had been missing my AJ

After Misty's I went home packed a bag and headed to Nikki's for our Wolf Pack Sleep Over. I totally needed it. We had the typical sleepover. Pizza (nikki made it. It was sooo good), popcorn, candy, movies, painting nails, and talking. We started feeling old because at about 11 we were all ready for bed haha. So we turned off the movie and then we ended up talking till 1:30. We hadn't all been together like that in awhile so it was so much fun. Nikki even got us all gifts with cards asking us to be apart of her big day. We loved it.

To work off all the junk that we ate the night before, we went to Jazzercise that morning. That was my first class and wow it was hard but so much fun. I have already been again. I plan to go a few times each week. It is tough but it is fun and I can feel it working haha.

Late that day I got to meet my friends' sweet baby boy Elijah. He was such a joy to meet. Mom and baby are doing great. The gift of life is such a beautiful  thing.

And then Sunday we got to celebrate Cole's 1st birthday! I seriously cannot believe he is 1. I feel like yesterday I was waiting in the hall for Davinia to deliver him and now he is 1! Time flies by so fast and before we know it there is going to be another Archer.

I had a pretty busy weekend but I would change any of it because I got to spend time with some of my favorite people. :)