The Gift of Family

As I’ve grown up over the years I’ve continually become more grateful for the Lord’s gift of family. Whether there’ve been tears of sorrow or grief, or joy and laughter, God’s used every season my family has walked through to draw us closer to himself and each other.

I was reminded of this precious gift while spending an entire month with them just about every second of the day. We very quickly realized once we left Jacksonville that there weren’t going to be many moments that we had “alone” time.

Some of my favorite times were…
-Staying up way too late in the back of the camper having “pillow talk” with my sisters.
- All of us huffing and puffing as we hiked a trail up to a gorgeous view or overlook of God’s glorious creation.
-Sitting around the campfire to stay warm in the freezing cold weather.

So many memories were made on our trip that I will never forget. I can’t even begin to name them all! I’m increasingly grateful for how the Lord uses each one of my siblings and parents to help sanctify and encourage me. I pray as years go on and my family grows bigger, that our relationships will continue to grow strong and bring much glory to our Heavenly Father.

Thank you, Lord for the wonderful blessing of family!

Family Fun!

Yesterday my family headed to my grandfather's house for the afternoon and evening. We had lots of fun swimming and hanging out by the pool (with some great tunes in the back round :). My grandfather cooked us up some yummy burgers and then dad put on a firework display. What a wonderful time! There's just nothing like spending a day with family!

Mother's Day Pictures

This year for Mother's Day I got sneaky and took some updated pictures of Josh, Victoria, and Karah for our momma. Enjoy!

I know this is early, but...

Happy Mother’s Day! Thank you, moms for the way you sacrificially serve your Husbands and children! Your hard work does not go un-noticed!

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” (Proverbs 31:28-29)

Happy Birthday Karah Lee!

Happy Birthday Karah! Thanks for being the sweet and caring little sister you are! I hope you have lots of fun today! I love you!!!

Jeremiah 29:11-13- “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart.”

My All Star Sisters

Last But Not Least....

....My mom and sisters!!!

Mom:
Proverbs 31:11, 12, 25-31- “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life…Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongues. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.”

The scripture above pretty much sums up my mom. Just watching her go about her daily tasks spurs me on to grow in godliness. Her example of trusting God in all situations gives me the desire to do the same. She’s kind and uplifting and has been faithful to teach her daughters the ways of a Titus 2 woman. I don’t know where I’d be without her in my life!

Amber:
1 Corinthians 4:-7- “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Amber is a loving person! She is patient and kind (especially with me!). She walks with humility and rejoices with the truth at all times. Amber has shown me time and time again what it means/is to be a loving and kind person.

Victoria:
Habakkuk 3:18-19- “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord is my strength!”

Victoria is definitely the witty sister…. She’s always making someone laugh! With laughter comes joy and she brings it out of a lot of people, especially her family!

Karah:
Romans 12:9- “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection."

Karah is caring and loving towards all of God’s creation (like having a lizard for a pet!!!). She’ll give you a hug when you need it! When someone has a need, she is the first person to go get it… I’ve lately been noticing a servant’s heart in her.

Happy Birthday Amber!

Dear Amberdee,

Words cannot express how grateful I am for you! We’ve gone through many things in this past year that we’ve had to lean whole heartedly on God and each other for support and encouragement. There have been times of laughter, times of pain and tears, we’ve made many memories that we’ll never forget, and have drawn much closer to each other as sisters.

Proverbs 31:30- “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” You truly are a God fearing woman. In this past year, I’ve watched you walk through many circumstances that I’ve never seen any one else walk through the way you have. Your constant fight for joy and desire to draw closer to God and be in His Word has spurred me on to do the same! The inward beauty you display of a gentle and quiet spirit has always been provoking to me!

Victoria, Karah, and I could not ask for a better “big sister” than you! Thanks for being a fun (and a little crazy at times :-p) person to hang out with! My prayer is that as we’re both growing older and have no idea what our future holds, that we can continue to grow in our relationship with each other, not just as sisters, but as best friends!

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Candace

Happy Birthday Victoria Joy!

Dear Toydy Be Doydy, :-p

When I think of you, I think of someone that’s fun, smart, witty, and energetic! Thanks so much for your joyful fun loving attitude you have daily and most of all for always making me laugh!
You‘re becoming one beautiful and godly young lady! I can’t wait to see all that God has in store for you in this coming year. Remember to ALWAYS listen to dad and mom… they know you best and they’re never wrong!

Happy Birthday little sis! Hope you’re having fun in Orlando and congratulations for going on your first upside down roller coaster!

I love you!

Love,
Your big sis

P.S. Your cake will be ready when you get home!

The Newest Addition to My Family!

My dad has always referred to our house as a zoo. A zoo simply because it isn’t very often that our house is quiet! There is always something going on. Either kids running around, people talking or laughing, pets making noise, vacuum running, etc. Just when we thought our house couldn’t get any crazier… it did!

Let me introduce you to our new pet bearded dragon, Jack! Yes, we have a pet lizard. Never in a million years would I have thought my parents (especially my mom!) would allow a lizard (a big lizard) to live in our house. Victoria and Karah have always been by far the most adventurous, out doorsy, pet loving kids in the family. They’ve always been the one’s that have BEGGED to get a bird or a pet snake (yes, I said a snake and yes there will never be one living at our house as long as I’m there =) ). One of their friend’s friends had a pet bearded dragon and they were looking for a new home for it. After much discussion with the girls my parents said they could have it. In my opinion it’s a pretty boring pet. It just sit’s in its cage most of the day under its heating light and eats a live cricket every now and then. It has been much entertainment to our other pets though. They want it so bad!

So meet Jack everyone! Maybe our house is turning into a zoo after all!

GO GATOR'S!!!!

Bring your sister to work day...

Yesterday Amber and I brought Victoria and Karah to work with us. We are still in the process of moving lots of stuff from the store that closed to our other location. So we decided to bring them to help! This day just happened to be one of the messiest one’s in the process of moving stuff. We had to move all the ewey gooey variegates that get put into the ice cream and combine both stores containers into one. Yeah we made quite a mess, but had fun in the process. We blasted the Jonas Brother, Miley Sirus, High school musical, etc. to keep Victoria and Karah motivated (and maybe Amber and I ;) ). Thanks girls for all your help! They got a hold of my camera a couple times :/ Here are SOME of the pictures they took.

Why I Love My Dad

I know I’ve mentioned before that my dad is working very hard right now, but I don’t know that I’ve mentioned how much I appreciate him. Here’s a little glimpse of why I’m so grateful for him:

There has never been a day in my life that I haven’t witnessed my dad glorifying God in some way. Whether it be leading his family, correcting one of his children, speaking to a church congregation, the way he conducts business, etc. it’s always been evident that his hope rests in the Sovereignty of God. The thing I love most about my dad is that he fears the Lord. When saying something or making decisions he never fears what man will think of him and this is something that I have always admired!

In growing up, my family has faced many difficult circumstances that have been very hard to get through and are still facing them today. Whether it has been moving from state to state, business ventures failing, losing his mom out of no where, or the house we are in now and all the difficulties that have come with it, my dad has always been faithful to point our gaze straight to the cross and remind us of the work that Christ has accomplished. The best part about all of this is that you would never know my dad was in the midst of a trial because of his attitude towards it. In laying down his life to serve the Church or his family, dad has affected numerous lives in the way he lives out his life for the glory of God and the gospel.

He has always been a very FUN person to be around. He’s constantly making people laugh (even when things are hard for him)! And though my sisters and I make fun of him a lot for the way he protects his daughters, we are truly grateful we have a father that even cares to protect us!

Words cannot express how grateful I am to God for my dad. He is such a BLESSING! I know that when his time comes to go to heaven, he will receive one big crown. I love you, dad!

Speaking of a hard working father, I went to visit him the other day and he said, "Candace, I'm running out of gas." Hmmm.... I wonder why???

Now this is how you get the job done!

Who walks a pumpkin back and forth when you can throw it?

Graduation and Fun

Like I said in my last post, things have been pretty busy around my house. For one week my family stayed in St. Augustine with my moms side of the family and the week after that my dads sister and a very close family friend came and stayed at our house. The reason they all came was for Amber's graduation. It was a blast having them all in town! We had a great time and made many memories! They even helped us roll flyers!!!

Here are some pictures of Amber's graduation....

Girls Night Out

I’ve started taking my little sisters through the book, “Girl Talk” and tonight was our first little meeting. It started with Birthday shopping for my mom at Target then we headed to “Barnes & Nobles” to go over chapter one. First stop, we headed to the “Barnes & Nobles Café” and got us all a Strawberry and Cream Frappuchino. Mmm.... mmm….mmm….delicious! (but not the best idea :/) We then found a little corner in the back of the store to sit and chat. Little did I know that it would turn into a severe sugar rush and lots of giggles. Because of our little sugar rush we had to stop discussion numerous times for some pictures! Let’s just say the girls will be getting sugar free next time.

I’m really looking forward to the future discussions that we will have going through this book as sisters and the memories we will make (like having sugar rushes after drinking frappuchinos). I’m praying that God uses this as a tool to strengthen our relationships even more then they are now. Also, that He would give me much wisdom as I lead my little sisters through this book and that the Lord would use them to convict me of areas in my life that I need to grow in.

This Is How We Roll

Here is a little glimpse of what my family (and Ryan) have been up to over the last week. My dad has recently started up a lawn care/pool cleaning/landscaping/pressure washing business all in one. It’s become a family project daily to roll as many flyers as we can in our free time to throw out in different neighborhoods. It’s been quite fun! It’s been great to talk about different things as a family, poke fun and laugh at each other, (something that my dad is VERY good at) and even going as far as racing each other to see who can roll the most in different time frames. 7,500 have been rolled so far and I think my dad has another 10,000 coming.
Woo Hoo =)

Happy Father's Day to My Dad!

Dear Dad,

Over this past year, I’ve seen God’s grace working in your life in so many different ways. Thank you so much for your hard labor every day! I’m sure their have and are many days that are VERY difficult to get through but you are always strong to push through them no matter what. Though you are always tired after long days of work, you always come home ready to talk to the family and ask us "how our days have been?" In doing so, you are always faithful to make us laugh and lift up our souls with encouraging words if we are feeling down. Thank you also, for your constant fear of God and lack of fear of man. The way you trust in our Savior day to day spurs me on to do the same. No matter what circumstances our family has found ourselves in, we knew our future was secure because you were leading us as God was leading you. Now the fruit of your faith and prayer has shown in the many blessings God has sent. You’re not only a spiritual leader in our family. You’re a shining example for me to look up to. Know that I pray and thank God for you each and every day that goes by. It is truly a privilege for me to call myself “your daughter.”

Happy Father’s day!

I Love You!

Candace

Family Fun on The Boat