Disney World!!!!!

Hello! Sorry that it has been so long since my last post. As you can probably imagine, our life is spinning out of control and most of the time we don't even know which way is up. But, the real reason I haven't posted is because I have wanted to blog about our Disney present and Chris' appreciation dinner, but have found no good way of expressing our feelings and gratitude.

Most of you know that Chris has transitioned from youth ministry to associate minister this past month. The church held an appreciation dinner/pot-luck in honor of Chris and the ministry he has done in the youth ministry. We really thought it was just a laid back pot-luck on a Sunday night. Didn't think too much would happen, probably the elders would get up and pray over us. No big deal, right? We were way wrong! We walked in to the gym to a completely decorated appreciation dinner. There were tableclothes and luminaries on every table. The luminaries were made out of copied pictures of all kinds of youth group pictures. There were old ones, new one's, family photos, etc.. They were wonderful and so much fun to look at. We looked so young! They had a special table for us in the middle of the room with a beautiful flower arrangement that had been put in a glass cookie jar for us to keep. We all ate and then Abbey got up and started introducing speakers. Ashleigh Givens spoke first. She was great and so funny. It is always fun when you can make fun of Chris! She was the female youth minister when we moved to SW. Her and Chris worked together for 5 years. Lots of funny stories! Next came Jerry Cobb. He gave the perspective of a parent of a teen. He was very gracious and thanked Chris for everything that he had done. Third was Jared Winters. Jared was a senior when we moved here and he and Chris have become the best of friends. Jared and Chris have gone to Honduras together too many times to count. Jared made us all cry and thanked me for more than I deserve! Abbey spoke last and made us cry again! She was great and thanked Chris for ministering to her and teens. As she finished up we started hearing music! It was the music for George of Jungle from WOW! Out came George! He was looking for Chris to give him a "secret package"! He found us and and presented us with a certificate for an all expense paid trip to DISNEY WORLD!!!!! We were in complete and utter shock! Actually, I think I am still in shock! Church families all donated to send all of us to Disney world! I really thought he might get a gift-certificate to Gear Head, not a trip! They completely surprised us. We had no clue! We couldn't even talk about it all evening. Every time we started, we would both start crying!



It was an incredible, once in a life time night. I can't even begin to thank everyone that put it together. Abbey worked so hard and made a perfect night. Thanks to Ashleigh, Jerry, Jerad, and Abbey for all of their nice words and encouragement. The funny thing is, we truly feel like we should be thanking everyone for allowing us to be here. We can't imagine being anywhere else. We love Southwest and everyone that is a part of it. We feel so blessed that God has let us be apart of the ministry that happens here. Thank you for loving us and blessing us! We are so excited to go to Disney!!! We are going Spring Break!