Sad Goodbyes

It is official. We are no longer Grahamites. The Lord moved so quickly that I don't think we truly had time to process how soverign and providental He is. The Sunday that we moved is when it finally hit me... we really are leaving Graham. It is hard for my mind to fathom how big our God is when I take a step back and look at the big picture. The Lord knew that I tend to worry, so He sold our home in 1 1/2 hours. My next thought was that it was obviously too late for me to find a job, a sure sign that we were not suppossed to move(I have been teaching 4th grade at Hirsch Elementary for a couple of weeks). Things just seemed to fall into place in a way that no one could explain. Throughout this hard process, God has been providential in showing us where exactly He has us. We are excited to be where the Lord has us, but it is still hard. It was hard leaving best friends, people that were our second families, and especially the precious youth. With the feelings of sad, lonliness, and excitement inside of you, there really is nothing you can do but cry. So I have. lots. We will miss you all tons and are thankful to all of you for sharing your lives with us.

Sad, Sad, and more Sad

It is official...brace yourselves...our digital camera has died. I know some of you are crying with us, while others are saying to yourself, "it's not that big of a deal." You're right, it really isn't that big of a deal and we will get over it, but I do have to apologize that you guys are not able to some of the pictures on shutterfly that I have promised you. For that, I am truly sorry. We will buy a new one soon and flood you with pictures. Mark it on your calendars people, today is a sad sad day.

Did you hear that?

Did you hear that? That whispering going on...can you hear it? That's right, there are whispers of dodgeball in the air! Last year Ignite Student Ministries put on a dodgeball tournament for junior high and high school students. This year...it's making a reappearance! There are rumors of t-shirts being ordered, the ESPN booth is being cleaned off, teams are starting to form and dodgeballs are being aired up. So get excited and stay rested because the date for the dodgeball tourney is February 18th. If you have no idea what we are talking about and are wondering what the maddness is all about, check out some of the pictures from last year on the shutterfly website . Just remember...the orange dodgeballs fly faster than any other colors.

A Year In Review For The Ivy's

I feel like yesterday we were deciding to move to Graham, but that was almost 2 years ago. It's crazy how life goes so fast! As Clint and I look back on this past year, many things have changed. Some of the things that have changed this year for us are:

• Making it an entire year without Clint having to have a surgery...yippee!
• We still had to pay the deductable...always goals for next year.
• Lauren started teaching 4th grade Science & Social Studies.
• We both have "beefed" up a little bit this year...check out our Christmas card.
• Clint finished his first year of seminary at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• Lauren is actually starting to love being in Graham, Tx (it was a rough adjustment at first).
• Ignite Student Ministries has grown tons!
• Graham Bible Church moved into its' new building...it's growing tons also!
• We bought our first home...who knew we could learn how to texture walls!
• Lauren got a new car...poor Clint is still driving the brown truck.
• We have been blessed beyond what we could imagine.

This year has been full of changes and we are excited to see what is in store for next year.

Bigger or Better

Every year for the youth Christmas party we play a game. This is not just any ordinary game, this is Bigger or Better. The youth are split up into smaller groups (each has a driver) and they start out with an item of little significance. For example: a toothpick or a Q-tip. They must then take this item and search the town to see if anyone has an item "Bigger or Better" than what they have. The people must willingly give the students the item. At the end of the time period, the students come back to "sell" their item to the judges in hopes of becoming to bigger or better champion. It is amazing to see what comes back. Last year the group that won brought back a live possum(someone actually gave it to them...that's Graham for ya!). Due to that someone almost getting eaten, no live animals were allowed this year. This year's winner brought back a metal ostrich! What?! That's right...A METAL OSTRICH....Unbelievable! 2nd place went to a hospital gurney that was missing a leg. Every year I can't wait to see what will come back next! Ignite Christmas was awesome! Don't forget to check out these pics!

Updated House

After months of "figuring out" how to do all sorts of things, we have come to a stopping point. this stopping point is mainly because we ran out of money and willpower. With plenty of things still left to do, I find myself dreaming about doorknobs. I would just love to have them on my doors. While I am dreaming about this word, and Clint has begun to use it as a bad word. You never really appreciate a doorknob until you don't have one...or any. Even without doorknobs our house is beginning to turn into a home. I will be so excited when the day comes that we are finally finished!! I know you are probably thinking to yourself..."self, I wonder what project they will begin working on?" I know, I know, it is pretty exciting (not really). Soon the adventure of building a fence and tearing down a leaning shed will be what we will try to conquer. Do we know how to build a fence? Nope. Have we ever torn down a leaning shed? Nope. But do you really think that is going to stop us? Nope.

We own a home...now what?

Ok, so about a year ago, we decided to buy a home. Since Clint is cheap and I have watched one to many home improvement shows, we decided to buy a home that we could fix up. Searching for a home is not easy, especially in Graham Texas! We finally found one that met both of our needs. With a big vision and a light wallet, we bought our first home! From the moment we have bought our cute little house, we have been working like mad to get things up to par....and we are not near finished. There are still plans for new furniture, a new fence, a basketball court, garage, etc... We may never finish! You can check out some before and after pics at this website. http://theivys.shutterfly.com

Say hello to my friend named Carlos

Clint and I went to Honduras this spring. It was amazing!! Our church took a group of about 18. We spent the first part running a youth camp (where I got to meet Carlos) and the second part of the trip we went up to mountain villages of 6 pastors that are training with the missionary that is there. In the mountain villages we painted schools, ran a day of VBS, and showed a movie for the townspeople. Everything went wonderful!! Clint is now known as the great white chicken...he played a chicken in a skit at the youth camp and by the time we got up to the villages, they had heard of the legendary great white chicken. I also got to meet a little boy named Carlos who taught us all about the simplicity of life. We made great contacts and are excited about going back in the future. PS-the coffee there is fabulous...check out our pictures on our shutterfly website which is:http://theivys.shutterfly.com

I would like to introduce Titus

I would like to introduce our cute little puppy named Titus. He is a minature sheltie...or a tiny Lassie. He spends most of his days sleeping, eating food and keeping it real. Titus is 1 year old. If anyone would like to buy him... we would be willing to swap him even for the remainder of Clint's student loans.

We Promise To Never Do It Again!

Ok, first of all we would like to send the biggest apology to everyone. WE ARE SORRY!!! Now after getting that out of the way, let me give you our excuses. Over the past 2 years we have moved 4 times, bought a new house, bought a cute little dog, run a youth camp in a different country, remodeled a home (which we will never finish), started seminary, went througha youth training program, started a youth program and worked several interesting jobs along the way. We know that this doesn't change how we totally stink at staying in contact with everyone. We promise we still love everyone.