Race For the Cure

Last Saturday we all were signed up to walk the 5K Race for the Cure. The boys had to go fly a job for the weekend and were not able to join us in Boise, but were able to show their support on the road! It was a beautiful day and I had a great time with Shannon, the babies, and my friend Melissa from work! Here are some pics of our day!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted but I thought we would start off the summer right with a nice camping trip! Benj has been able to been home for a few weeks now and we both had a few days off of work at the same time! Because its still snowing in some parts of the mountains, we decided the desert might be a little more "camp friendly." We drove over to Bruneau Dunes State Park and stayed overnight there. They had a really nice camp ground and it was nice to just get away by ourselves, for a day. This park had 470 ft. sand dunes that you could climb, and while the climb was something I'll never do again, it was worth it when we got to the top. Here are some pictures and we are looking forward to our next camping trip when it gets a little warmer :)

Florida in January!

We are finally back into the swing of things after returning from our quick vacation to Florida and then battling the plague here at home. Everyone from the babies, to all the adults except Me, caught a horrible 24 hours sickness and we are all thankful its gone!
The last weekend of January, we went to FL for our friends' wedding (Eric and Cristina). Benj and I were both in the wedding, and we loved walking down the isle together once again! :) Though the trip was intended for the wedding, it was so much more than that! We were able to reconnect with friends that we haven't seen since we left over 4 months ago. It seems like such a short time, yet we feel like we've been gone forever.

We were able to hear and see how Discover Church is doing and loved spending time with the people we lived and worked alongside for over 2 years. The conversations we had and the time spent with so many that we love so deeply made the trip well worth it all! I can't even begin to list the ways in which we needed this time with everyone. We had wonderful hosts and experienced great generosity and thank God for our time there.

So Proud!

The past couple of weeks seem to have flown by, but we are anxious for next week to arrive! The past couple of weeks, Benj has been on a job in Phoenix. He returns next Tuesday and we will be heading to Florida to be a part of our friends' wedding! We are excited to see friends that we miss very much and to get a little bit of a vacation!

For those of you that may not know, when Benj isn't in the office, he is on the road traveling with a pilot, working the camera in a small plane. He works for an aerial mapping company and they bid on jobs all over the West. I am so proud of all the hard work he does and his company is extremely generous to us, financially and with his time as well. Though it's hard being away from each other, we know that this is just for a season. We are so thankful that Benj gets paid so well so that we can pay down as much college debt as we can! It's amazing to think about how much this job (as well as my job at Starbucks) provides for us and we know that God planned it all for us! Staying thankful helps the time go by more easily and it is such a blessing to be living with Nathanael and Shannon so when one or both of the guys are gone, Shan and I have someone to keep us company (and help with the babies too)!

In order to do their work, they start early in the morning and fly till the clouds come in or until the afternoon. They have to have clear skies and the sun has to be at the right angle in order for the pictures to be right. Here are some pictures of Benj at work!

It's been fun to be with Benj's family especially getting to watch our niece and nephews grow up. In the few short months we've been here, they've already started to change so much!





Christmas Eve!



The Excitement was just too much!


Opening stockings Christmas morning

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to our friends and family across the country!

We are so thankful for how God is continuing to provide for us in new ways and we could not be more thankful for the wonderful friends and family He has given us.

This year we are celebrating Christmas in Idaho! Benj's parents arrived this past week and will be with us and Nathanael, Shannon and the babies through January! So, needless to say, its a full house and we are loving it. We are missing my family very much, especially this time of year, but I am excited that I will get to see my sister and her family in February as I will get to travel to Dallas to see them and my parents too! God is so good and I am so thankful that He has already provided so much so that I could go see them!

As an early Christmas present, Nathanael and Shannon sent us away this past weekend! We were able to get away for a couple of nights up in the mountains in McCall, ID. It was so beautiful and even though there wasn't much snow to play in or go skiing, we took a long hike in the snow around the most amazing lake and loved the time together! Here are a few pictures and we are looking forward to posting more pictures of what we know will be a wonderful Christmas!

Praying you have a very Merry Christmas,
Steph (and Benj)

More Great Books.....

I just wanted to post some more of the books we are reading! I would encourage you all to get a hold of these and let us know your thoughts too! We are continuing to learn more and more about Missional Communities and church planting and want to take the opportunity to share with you what we are learning from!

Building a Discipling Culture--Mike Breen and Steve Cockram


Covenant and Kingdom--Mike Breen



...and yes, I'm still reading Faith of Leap--Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch! With school still going (and thankfully almost done, it's been hard to finish it but so far is an excellent read for anyone who calls themselves a Christ-Follower!