Guess who's an aunt...me!

Ayden Edwin Hoffman arrived late this afternoon, weighing 7lbs/11 oz. Born to my brother-in-law and sister, Ben and Becky Hoffman. He's the first grandbaby/nephew in our family. We are all so excited! I was able to go and visit him in the hospital..he's a cutie for sure :)

Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"


This verse gives me great hope...being 17 and almost finished with High school I'm constantly asking myself..what am I gonna do with my life? Is everything gonna work out? Will I ever get married? What if my life just goes downhill from here?...but I have to stop myself and remember. I serve a mighty God, the Maker of this universe, who loves me, cares for me, and died for me. I know that He will NEVER let me down. The only thing I have to do is make sure I look to HIM for everything. That brings me to the verse, if I'll just trust Him, He promises me a great future. But I MUST trust Him, and surrender everything to Him. 

Snowstorm?...I'd prefer Spring :)

These past day's have been busy, but what's been crazy is the weather! Just a few days ago we had upper 50's and now there's a snow storm blowing in! The snow shows no signs of stopping, we've gotten a couple inches within a few hours. Spring, come soon please!

Parents Night Out

So our youth group came up with a cool event. We call it 'Parents Night Out'. What we do is have parents drop their kids off at our church and us teens and our leaders watch the children, play games, prepare a dinner, do a Bible story, watch a movie, and do some crafts. This gives parents a chance to get out and enjoy some time together, while their children are being watched and cared for, and all for free! So last night, Friday, we prepared pizza and macaroni and cheese, played energetic relay games, taught a story on the Good Samaritan, made ice cream with snow for the older children, and play dough with the younger children. It was a crazy, fun night! I enjoy serving..and it's always fun when you have your friends there with you :)

I was only able to get two pictures..this was during dinner rush.

Coffee Break.

Today was a good day. I did a lot of room cleaning..even though it wasn't that messy. I guess I'm a neat freak. Tonight I went out to coffee with some super awesome friends. The coffee shop we went to is called Mocha n' Music. We had a good time...we chatted and got some coffee. Then we played some music. They have a whole stage set up for local bands to come and play music. One of our friends works there and said it would be okay if we played around on it...so we did.

Meet my family...

                            It's time to meet my amazing family! There's a lot, so be prepared ;)...All the pictures are in order of age..

Not the best picture, but I couldn't find a better one..here are my wonderful parents who have worked so hard to raise us. I love them and wouldn't trade them for anyone else!

(Pictured here with my older sister Becky and her husband on their wedding day)

On the right, Meet Buddy, he's hard to get a picture of ;) We don't get to see him much due to the fact that he live's down in Tennessee. He's 28, and a super hard worker...I love him and miss him.

Meet Jeff (26) and his lovely wife, Deborah. Jeff is a dedicated business man and has a great sense of humor. I recently did some filing work for him..because he didn't feel like doing it :) He's an awesome big brother! 

Next in line is Bethany, she's 25, and lives in upper Michigan. She visits as much as possible, but it never seems to be enough!

Here is Sarah (23) and her husband Paul. They have been married a little over a year now. They currently live in Pennsylvania and are both busy with jobs. I miss them lots! Can't wait till they come for a visit :) 

Here is Becky (22) and her husband, Ben. They will be celebrating their first year anniversary on March 6. They are expecting a baby boy this March. This is exciting news! I'll be an Aunt for the first time! They live in Michigan, near us. They are both silly and fun to be around, as you can see from the picture :)

Here is Julie (20) and her husband Nathan. They were recently married also and are expecting a baby in August! They're a lovely couple and live right by us and visit often! 

Meet Hannah (18), she's a beautiful girl and currently works at Biggby. I share a room with her and enjoy hanging out with her all the time :)

On the left, meet my twin! Leanna (also 17)! Do we even look alike?...I don't think so. This picture was taken in Iowa last summer when us two were visiting Paul and Sarah (they were living there at the time) We enjoyed it out there! In this picture we were trying on all Sarah and Paul's hats :)

This is Gabe (15). He hates pictures, and I was surprised I found one! He loves babies, obviously :) and he is very smart! I'm curious as to what his future holds...

Meet Laura (13)...Laura is a wonderful piano player and even composed a song for Julie and Nate's wedding. Her and I sometimes joke that we're actually the twins...we tend to do a lot together. In this picture we were on out way to tubing with our youth group. Us 3 girls (Lea, Laura, and I) enjoy hanging out with them. It's great to see what God is doing in the young people's lives. 

This is Molly (12), she's growing up so fast! She recently had a birthday and got her ears pierced (a tradition in our family for 12th birthdays). I love her and can't wait to see what God has in store for her. 

Meet Betsy (10) she's the youngest girl in the family. She's been learning to play the violin and is doing very well. She enjoys just bein' a kid :)

Here's the last one! On the right is Nate (7). He's quite spoiled :) In this picture he's being himself! He likes to come with me while I babysit for the Greene's, this is his friend, Ethan. I think he'll get a shock when the first grand baby comes along..he won't be the center of attention anymore...

Well, there you have it! My family :) 

First post...

So..my first post. I'm kinda excited about this :) I think it'll be fun. I normally wouldn't just like..start a blog. I'm homeschooled and my mom told me that I had to do this as a project for my final year in school. I think I'll be posting a lot of pictures because I'm not much of a writer, but I do love taking pictures! So...here goes.