Lesson Learned. (I hope!)

Don't cut your sister's hair (or your own for that matter)

I took these pictures before I knew what was going on...

thought they were being so cute brushing each other's hair.

Then I realized there was a lot of blonde hair in Kristen's round brush.

I asked Ellie if she was rolling Gracie's hair and if it was hurting her.

Ellie said, "No, have you heard Gracie crying??"

Then I connected the dots and realized that scissors were involved.

And she was sitting on them.

So Gracie's really pretty curls are now gone.

Sad.

But lesson learned.

They went with Travis once when he got his haircut and Ellie was 

doing what she saw the lady do with Travis' hair.

Not one chop on one side, oh no.

A little bit from everywhere!

The Phillips girls' hair is super slow to grow as it is
and we've had a set back,

but we'll all survive!

Ellie cut her own hair too, but it was mainly in the front...

she cut several pieces right around her face.

Here's Gracie's after her "real" haircut.

She did a pretty good job of salvaging what was there.

A little stacking in the back and longer in the front.

Pretty cute.

Just no more curls.

We all learned a lot from this experience.

I had to take a moment before responding with discipline.

We had just had a conversation the day before about how she 

was never to use scissors unless she asked us first.

So it was a deliberate act opposite of what she knew to be right.

I "secured" the scene and then told them to stay put for a minute.

I went to my room, tried to collect myself, called Trav, and then tried my best, 

by the grace of God to respond and discipline in love.

Everyone responded well...but I had to make a conscious choice throughout the day

in my heart to move on (with the reminder and encouragement from Trav).

We teach our kids that once they receive their discipline, ask forgiveness from whoever they have

disobeyed or offended, and pray and ask forgiveness from God, they are free...it's over and done with.

But as I saw their sweet butchered hair all day long I had to choose to release them and let them know from their mommy that they were free.

Meaning...

Not retelling the story anymore in their presence.

Not lamenting over the result out loud in their presence.

Not talking about the work that it was to clean it all up!

(thanks to the Reeds Dyson I was able to get it all, but it was EVERYWHERE!)

Thankful for the lesson that we all learned.

And hoping that we really learned it and won't have to relive it!

Three of my favorite things in January

1) Our family hike.

We've done lots of fun things on our family nights...they are usually Travis' great creative ideas.  But this one was mine!  I had been conjuring it up for a few days and was so excited about it.  It started out with a hike and ended with ice cream cookie sandwiches! 

"A" mountain (actually called Hayden's Butte).  Named after the founder of Tempe who climbed this butte, looked out over it into the desert and said, "This is fertile ground if only man could get water to it."  This is one of the main words that brought us here to this desert to believe for streams of living water to flow.  We do believe it's fertile ground.  We are experiencing it.

So this little butte is significant to our family and our church.  Ellie has climbed it a couple of times with Travis and some teams that have come in, but the little girls never had so we've never done it as a family.  It's a pretty easy hike and from the top you can see the whole valley.

And, the sun was setting.  Arizona has the most beautiful big sky sunsets you have ever seen.  Stunning.  One day if I ever get good with my camera (help, Lisa!) I'll capture one.

Trav and I each had a backpack with a kid and Ellie walked (well, maybe Reed carried her a lot of the way up...one "please" from Ellie and Reed couldn't say no!)

Thankful Canela and Reed were with us...our kids tend to be a little crazy these days.  And we were on a mountain!

These two are getting closer every day.  So fun to watch.  They love each other.  Someone asked SG today who her best friend was and she said, Ellie.  And then they asked who her second best friend was and she said, the baby.  Lord, knit their hearts together for all their days.

We so want our kids to know why we do what we do.  We want them to know and walk in the presence of God from an early age.  We believe we are a team in this church planting journey and so they are with us in all that we can bring them into...

So they prayed together with their daddy at the top of this mountain just as we have done many times before...believing for streams of living water to flow in this desert.

After the hike we went to Fuzzy's for buy one get one free tacos and then to the yummy new Slickables for ice cream cookie sandwiches! 

Fun family night if I do say so myself!


2) My half marathon.
No pictures from this but wanted to document it because it was so significant for me.  It was a huge race here in Phoenix...thousands of runners.  We started in Tempe and ran through Scottsdale, some of Phoenix, and back to Tempe.  I ran by myself.  Trav dropped me off, I ran, and they came and picked me up after.  Very anticlimactic as it may appear to most.  But it was so significant for me.  I have run for years...since junior high cross country, but in recent years it has become a time where I connect with God, worship him, listen to sermons, hear him speak.  I almost always run alone (the only exception being when Travis comes with me, which I welcome!).  So now, when I start running my heart automatically begins to connect to the spirit of God.  It's so sweet.

So to get 1:45 minutes with Jesus, while doing something I love to do, it was bliss.  Travis and the girls would "hey tell"  (an app on my phone that works like a walkie talkie) along the way to cheer me on (and pray for me...had a blister that randomly developed early on but went away after they prayed).   It was such a spiritual experience for me.  Felt so close to the heart of God.  Felt his nearness in such a real way.

Was reminded over and over again of one of my favorite verses...Fix your eyes directly before you, don't look to the right or to the left (Prov. 4:25)...as I ran.  And worshipped multiple times over to two new songs that I have recently downloaded (which I think is a huge help in running, especially in a race, get some fresh music that you're excited about).  No One Else...Cory Asbury and Laura Hackett.  We Are...Kari Jobe.  Loved these.

Call me crazy, but I loved it...all 13.1 miles! :)
  

3) Two day planning retreat with Trav.
A highlight for sure.  My mom came into town and we were able to get away for a little bit.  It wasn't so much play...but LOTS of planning, goal setting, preparing for the year...or at least for the next quarter.  We came out of it having logged lots of hours at Paradise bakery...AND with detailed goal sheets for Travis and I and one for the kids.  As well as a print out of my personal schedule.  Trav even surprised me and got them all laminated so we can put them up and keep them before us!  Can't wait!  It's crazy how a little time taken out to plan and set goals can affect how you live your life and what you choose to prioritize.  Jimmy Seibert sent out a suggested "roles and goals" sheet to use as an outline in praying through the year and we loved using that.  It's so powerful and encouraging to wait on God for each area of life and to then hear him speak...We're moving forward with intentionality on His words and we're excited to seek to be obedient to them.  (And the girls had a great time with Grandmommie while we were away...they went to the Children's museum AND the Science museum in the time we were gone!)

Thankful for a fun, purposeful start to our year!

She's growing up...

ONE: 

We have entered into a new era in the Phillips household...

SPORTS.

My sense is there may be a lot of this in our future, but guess we'll have to wait and see.

For right now, every Saturday morning at 9am we are on the soccer field with Ellie,

and usually a small fan club!

She is loving it.  And is so cute in her little uniform.

We missed the first practice because I maybe got her signed up the day before the first game.

(in true Phillips style!)

I wasn't thinking about getting it figured it out until after the holidays and that was almost too late!

But, we took the last spot!

This is a great shot...about where Ellie is most of the game.

Usually not any farther away from the ball than this,

great at staying right with it...

but not a big fan of closing in on it any more than this!

Blurry, but check out that kick!

There she is!

Sandra called to hear how it went...

Typical Ellie...multi-tasker!

Practice (from what I hear) is a different story.  She does awesome there.

Scores goals, gets in their and gets the ball.

So, we're working on that transferring to the game!

But hey, she's 4!

Some of her fans...

Though some mornings are a little chilly, 

we love starting out our Saturday mornings watching E play soccer!

TWO:
Dance.  Ellie has just started taking ballet/tumbling at a great church
in Mesa (the town next to us).

They teach them dance while simultaneously teaching them how to use what they are learning to dance/worship before the Lord.

Ellie is loving it.  Can't wait to go every time.

It's a fun balance to her little sporty self!

THREE:
Worship.
Growing in her gifting! :)
Appreciate Adam for letting her play with him for the first song every lifegroup.

Helping to lead out...taking it so seriously!

Colorado (and this is the LAST Christmas post!)

(another heads up:  pictures, pictures, and more pictures!)

So we drove the short 6 hrs to Travis' parents ranch right after Christmas 

where we got to spend a few days with his family.

We had a great time.  They have a beautiful ranch (complete with cows and horses)

so the girls had a ball...and again, lots of new experiences for them.

First off..."Christmas morning"...take 3!  But we didn't mind!

Hearing the Christmas story...I think they're holding up Mary and Joseph?

Once again, a very focused Sarah Grace.

Notice the soccer ball...a very fun gift for Ellie.

The weather was unbelievable.  So beautiful.

There was snow everywhere but the temps weren't super low

so we could be outside a lot and didn't have to worry about being cold.

But we did still have to bundle up!

We did a LOT of sledding.  This was our first time out

and the girls were into it from the get go.

The newlyweds were able to meet us there (Bret and Abby),

so that was fun to get to be with them.

Gracie's snow angel.  Pretty good, huh?

Cousin Alicia...it's been so fun getting to know her

over the last 7 or 8 years.  Love any time I get with her.

I found these great snow suits on huge clearance 

at the gap for the little girls and they were perfect!

(complete with hood, booties, and mittens!)

Even Emmy was able to crawl around in the snow!

And of course she loved it...felt like she was one of the big kids!

Climbing through the tunnel Trav made them...E wasn't so into it...

think she might have her momma's claustrophobia!

More sledding.

On to bigger and more challenging hills!

The girls got more brave every time, to the point that they were 

flying down the hill by themselves!

With or without a sled!

SG always surprises us with her courage!

My man.

He makes life so fun.

Abby and Emily

We also played lots of games...

the kids,

and the adults.

This is Uncle Roger holding Gracie while playing 42

(MANY hands of dominoes were played!)

We were so glad Roger, Sandy, and Alicia came!

Another family pic!

So fun to have everyone together...even Gigi and GranBear!

A beautiful sunset behind the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.

We also had a little early family snowman birthday party for Emily...
Jackie is so great at throwing parties!

 I think Emmy loved being the center of attention!

Such a fun cake!

Jackie let the girls help decorate it.

Then our last day there we got to ride a train through the Royal Gorge.

(thank you Uncle Roger!)

It was much fun!  I don't think the kids have ever been on a train,

except for the "T" in Boston, of course.

I like being at the bottom of the gorge better than the top.

Taking a look from the open car.

Another fun time with family.
Those memories are priceless to us.

And with that...Christmas with the Phillips is finally all recorded!
We survived the month of December!

And though it's almost February I feel like I'm still catching up in more areas than just the blogging world...
but we would say that every moment, every mile traveled, every late night, early morning, long day
was worth it.

But we're ok to not get back in the car for a long drive for a good little while!

(at least not until we go to World Mandate West in San Diego in two weeks!)