Fitting in....

This blog post is pretty much for myself....so just a warning!

This past month James started his new job with Chevron.  I am so excited to see my husband doing what he loves.  He is such and outdoor kinda guy.  He's learning so much everyday and comes home with so many stories.  He is one of six Fortner men working in the oilfield so he has a big reputation to uphold.

This week has really set in that James is no longer on staff at our church. This week is my all time favorite week of the year.  It's the SMI and Pursue Mission Conference.  This week is exhausting but so amazing.  We have so many international friends coming in for this conference so it's like a big family reunion.

This week has been really hard on me. Usually James and I are making trips to the airport or the hotel and taking our friends to dinner and to church for meetings.  This week we're not doing any of those things.  These things may seem small to you but we have learned that these times are precious.  We have gotten to really fellowship and really get to know our friends during these times.  It's hard seeing pictures of the staff with our friends and we're not apart of it.  I think the hardest part for me is I was ministered so much by these wonderful people.  They prayed for us as a family before Farrah was born.  I LOVED getting to introduce Farrah to them.  Talk about seeing your prayers being answered when you have prayed for my family to have a child....such a blessing to us and to them as well.

This is such a strange season for me personally.  This season I am trying to find my identity again.  For the last eight years I was a pastor's wife.  With that comes a lot of responsibility.  Visiting with people, loving on people, praying with people and helping where we're needed.

Now in this season I feel like I don't belong anywhere.  Our close friends are on staff with the church and they're super busy.  Don't get me wrong...I know we can still minister but it's just not the same.  We really loved being apart of a staff that loves and serves Christ.  We have been taught so many things being on staff at COTR.  We went on our very first mission trip to the Czech Republic and were given a love for the world that we never thought possible.

I know this season won't last forever and I will one day turn around and be thankful for this season.

Summer coming to an end...

We've had a very slow summer and it's been wonderful!  We didn't go anywhere big on vacation this year.  This year we stayed home and tied up loose ends, like building a new house and James finishing up one job and starting a new job.

We played at the park a lot this summer.

Farrah loved swimming lessons this year!  She can swim all my herself!  She thinks she's big enough to not wear a life jacket but I'm not quite ready for that part just yet....maybe next summer.

Some friends and I went to the Coach Kingsberry coaching clinic for women and we had a BLAST!!

We even enjoyed some much needed rain here in Lubbock!

Uncle Lance took Farrah on a turtle hunt....there are a lot of turtles in their back yard.

We're building a new house!!!

I took Farrah on her very first ropes course and she LOVED it!

We did LOTS of swimming.

We enjoyed music and a movie in the park.

We had the pleasure of going to see Meme.

But my favorite part of the summer was learning to slow down and enjoy the sunsets!

Another great summer and I can't believe my baby is going to Pre-K!!!

New beginnings....

It's been a wonderful, crazy summer for the Fortner's!  We've spent a lot of time at the pool and with family.  It's also been a season of change for our family.

As of today, James started a new job with Chevron.  He is so excited to be working outside again.  He's loved working at Church on the Rock but his heart is outdoors.  The last couple of weeks for James have been crazy.  He's worked a lot of late nights trying to get everything ready for the new person.  He wanted it to be an easy transition for her.  

There were a lot of mixed emotions with leaving the church.  Excitement of course but heartache at the same time.  James and I have been blessed with an incredible church family.  We were taught so many things and have such a deeper love and relationship with God because of COTR.  We discovered a love for God's people and the world that we didn't have before COTR.  We have traveled the world and met so many incredible people through missions and COTR. 

The most important thing for me is the friendships we've had at COTR.  With all our struggles with infertility and then the joy of bringing home Farrah....our friends and COTR family have been there every step of the way.  We were blessed that James got a job where we can stay in Lubbock for about another year so we can still attend COTR.  

The hardest part was telling James' assistant bye.  Sharon has been such an incredible support to James.  She has stood behind him in so many ways and supported his decisions.  Sharon has prayed for our family from the day James started working at COTR.  She has prayed for Farrah before she was even born and everyday since.  Farrah loves going to her office and sitting and talking with Sharon.  Sharon has heard some really good and funny stories from Farrah.  Sharon always has Farrah's favorite candy in her desk....just for her.  We love and will miss seeing Sharon!

Here's a little funny story.  We were cleaning James' office out and James had a few dead animals in there.  Farrah wanted to pet them so badly but was scared of them.  I asked her if she wanted to touch them and she asked "Will they bite me??"  No, honey...they're dead!

Another exciting thing for us is we're building a house and we will be moving in a couple of weeks....Praise the Lord!!  Once we're in the house I'll post more pictures.

Now that summer is coming to an end....I'll do a blog about all we did this summer.

July 4th!!!

We had a crazy and fun July 4th!  We always attend the 4th on Broadway parade here in Lubbock.  It's always so much fun watching Farrah as she takes in all the sights and sounds.

This year was the first year Farrah was able to see fireworks.  When she was one, it rained so much that it was canceled.  When she was two the drought was so bad that it was canceled.  Last year when she was three was also canceled due to the drought and I was also out of town in the Czech Rep.  This year we finally had a firework show...and it was amazing.  Farrah LOVED it!

Farrah had a blast dancing to the music and wrestling with mom and dad...

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!

Dear Dad, 

I love that I was born to a dad like you!  I just wanted to tell you thank you for being my daddy and what you have taught me these last four years....

You've loved me from the VERY beginning!

You gave me my very first bath...

You introduced me to your favorite store...

You read me my favorite bedtime stories...

You've taught me to be silly...

You taught me what it means to work hard...

You gave me a LOVE of OREO's....

We've had a lot of tea parties....

You taught me how to play in the snow...

I know I have big shoes to fill....

You loved me when I am sick with extra special TLC...

You showed me a love for the outdoors...

You let me know how beautiful I am every day!!

You took me to see Elmo and his friends....

You have shown me some really cool toys....

You have shown me to love my country and honor those who have served it....

You have taught me to love all kinds of sports like softball, soccer, football and basketball....

Bath times are way funner when its your night to bathe me...

Your really good at playing babies with me....

You even let me do your nails....

You let me "cook" when you grill food outside....

I even have my own personal diving board!!

We share a LOVE of popcorn....

You have encouraged me with my food therapy....

You even give me a good "talkin to" when I need it....

You encourage me to go to new heights....

 You take me to church every Sunday and have taught me to love God and others....

 You have taught me love by loving mom everyday!

Thank you for being a caring, trusting and a fun loving daddy!  You have taught me so much and I know I still have so much more to learn from you!  Love you to pieces dad!!

Love,
Farrah

Summer Lovin....

We have had a great first week of summer!!  It's been packed full of swimming, friends and birthdays.  There are a lot of pictures so let the fun begin...haha!

Farrah began her summer with her first camping trip with Lula and Poppa to Ruidoso, NM.  Farrah had a blast!  I think Lula and Poppa were exhausted when they got back...haha!  From what I hear, Farrah talked the ENTIRE time!  So glad she got to go this year.

Farrah finished her gymnastics class.  She had a wonderful year....after we dropped the dance part.  Farrah loved her coach, Cici.

Farrah has an obsession with goggles.  Every time I turn around she has them on.  I've tried to hide them but she finds them.

Last week at Capstone CrossFit our coach, Justin's brother came for a visit.  Spencer plays for the New York Giants as Linebacker.  Spencer was so nice and humble.  We also had the pleasure of eating lunch and visiting with him on Sunday.

Speaking of working out.....James and I don't usually work out together because one of us stays home with Farrah.  It was fun getting to workout with James.

This week I celebrated my 35th birthday.  It's been a week of celebrating with family and friends.  On Tuesday, my actual birthday, I went with a group of friends to celebrate another friend graduating from high school.  We went to Painting With a Twist.  I had never been there and we had a blast!  We painted mustaches on a friend and then had a competition and Abby and I won....haha!!

Farrah's cousins had batting practice one night and Farrah has been begging to go "bat."  She was so fun to watch.  She thought she was pretty big stuff!  I can't believe she can start playing this fall.....WOW!!

We did have one downer to our week but Farrah is such a good sport you would have never know she didn't feel good.  She started coughing real bad and just kept getting worse.  So I took her in and the poor thing has bronchitis/pneumonia.  She has started breathing treatments three times a day.  The crazy thing is she still goes ninety miles and hour with a big smile on her face!!

James worked for his dad all weekend while they were out of town.  Farrah has figured out, when dad works all night that there's a spot for her in mommy's bed.  She has been asking for weeks when she gets to sleep in mommy's bed.  There is a reason why Farrah doesn't sleep in mommy's bed.  I got hit in the face so many times, but on the other side, I loved hearing her breath and "talk" in her sleep.

On Saturday we did a special workout for my birthday and after that we headed to the pool with friends.  We had so much fun just hanging out and swimming.  I have never seen Farrah swim so much with her face in the water.

It's been a wonderful start to summer 2013!!