And Here's April...

Ellie's Soccer

This was Ellie's second season to play soccer and this time Daddy coached!

(makes all the difference!)

There were just 5 on each team and the kids played 3 on 3 every game.

We LOVED this because all the kids got much more experience and play time.

Ellie did so well...and improved so much every game.

She's always been aggressive but you could tell she held back a little,

well, not any more!  She was all over that field!

I think it helped to have fewer kids on the field, but I think Daddy was a 

huge part of that too.  Love what a Daddy can impart to a child...

if Daddy says you can do it, then it must be true!

Gracie and Ellie's fan club!

Meant the world to her that "Race Lauren" came to watch her!

I have no pics of Ellie in action because my telephoto lens was 

on manual focus so all my pics are blurry. :( 

We'll just say, she's intense!

Last game treats!

Oh Emmy!

Ellie, Colton (her good friend from preschool),

and Cadence with the best coach on the planet!

(even though he actually never played soccer growing up!)

She and Gracie both are already asking when soccer is going 

to start again!

So proud of you Ellie!!

Pat's Run--Phillips Family Run!

Towards the end of April we did another family run...

they have become tradition.

The kids LOVE to do them and Trav and I do to and he's great

at finding them for us.

I had to keep reminding him that I was almost 7 months pregnant and probably won't 

be able to keep the same pace...he didn't really hear me,

but it also didn't matter too much because the race was SO crowded and 

we got stuck with a LOT of strollers so it wasn't ideal running conditions

 (not for a time anyway).

We had to be in line super early but the kids were troopers!

The race was in memory Pat Tillman (a football player and veteran 

that was killed in the line of duty).  I had no idea it as such a HUGE race...

30,000 runners!

He was #42 when he played professional football so the adults ran 

4.2 miles and then they had a race for the kids after that was .42 miles.

So they were official runners too!

Which was a big deal!

Here we are after our race...so thankful for our jogging strollers!

in our matching shirts!

 

Then Ellie and I ran the .42 miles together.  

She did awesome!!

This preggo mom could barely keep up with her...

she's a runner for sure.

Passed up the 6 year olds with no problem! :)

Trav came behind us with both strollers and the other two kids...

Gracie ran the whole way and Emmy for a little bit.

Wish I had a pic of him crossing the finish line...quite the circus!

Team Phillips

Our faithful fans!

Showing off their Gatorade tongues!

Way to go girls!

Backyard Camping Adventure

My creative husband was at it again with this backyard camping night!

We borrowed a HUGE tent from some friends and he set it up in the backyard...

we've been wanting to go camping as a family for a while but just

 haven't had time, but Trav would not be stopped by that!
He was determined to make it happen!

So one free Saturday evening we went for it...

hot dogs, games in the tent, a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt

(yes, Easter had long come and gone, but that didn't stop us!).

Then we read stories and all went to "sleep" in the tent...

in other words, we layed there until they were all asleep and then moved them

inside! :)  Guess we weren't that hard core...or maybe we just love our quiet

mornings too much and didn't want them waking up with the sun!

Fun times!

Ellie's Baptism

March 31st was Easter Sunday...but it was also Ellie's day.

A day we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

It was the day she publicly declared that Jesus Christ was the 

Lord and Savior of her life...and that she wanted to follow Him all the 

days of her life.  It was the day her Daddy baptized (or "bath-tized according to SG)

her in front of friends and family and she will never be the same.

It was a big day for our church because besides baptizing 9 people we also dedicated

9 babies and kids...we had our largest crowd to date and overall had

such a powerful service celebrating that He Is Risen!

After Travis preached the service moved outside for the baptisms...

our dear friend Jenny was the first to be baptized.

A great one to prepare the way for Ellie...she is a freshman at ASU 

that I have been discipling this year and she is a dear friend 

to our girls!

Then Ellie was up...

as she and Travis practiced she, with Travis' guiding questions

shared her testimony of how she had asked Jesus into her heart.

Here's the general story in her words:

Ellie: "We were driving down the road on the way to gymnastics one day and we 

were talking about gymnastics.  Then I stopped talking about gymnastics and started talking

to God.  I asked Him to come into my heart and wash away my sins."

Travis: "Then when did you tell Mommy about this?"

Ellie:  "After gymnastics we were getting ready for lifegroup and I went up to Mommy

and said, I'm not going to think about myself anymore.  And Mommy said, That's great, why?
Because on the way to gymnastics I asked Jesus to come into my heart."

We SO love her testimony because while we'd been saying for a while we 

felt like she was ready to ask Him into her heart, we knew it hadn't happened yet...

and then when it did, it was clearly the Holy Spirit initiating with her and her responding to Him.

It was also clear that she understood that with Jesus in her heart, she would be changed.

She would be able to "not think about herself anymore."

So powerful and so real.

So it wasn't long after that that we started talking about baptism.

Our dear friend Danielle took these amazing pics...

she literally caught every little moment!

This pic is priceless to me because I have a similar memory

and pic of my mom wrapping me up and hugging me right after I was 

baptized when I was 8 in Lake Waco!

Then we all got to pray over her...with all our church family!

Unforgettable...a life dedicated to the Lord...may she 

walk with Jesus wholeheartedly all her days.

A sweet Easter Sunday for our family!

After the service we had a little party to celebrate (of course...

we love to celebrate in the Phillips' family!)...with Ellie's favorite:

homemade mac and cheese!

and Emily made a cake (again, of course...wouldn't be a party without 

a cake from our Emily!)

It was so special that Mimi and Poppy got to be a part of this day!

 Full of life, full of personality, full of Jesus.

Love this little Ellie Joy...fits her name so perfectly...

LIGHT and JOY.

(and so much fun--with Mimi's scarf on her head to end the evening!)