Dedicated

Sunday, August 14th, was a very busy day.

The night before, we "dedicated" to get up early and take pictures to commemorate the more meaningful Dedication Ceremony later that morning.   By 8am, we already had wonderful photos under our belt! (That has to be a Hurlifam record).

She looks like such a big girl!
(What am I saying?  She IS such a big girl!)

Here, they are cute sasses holding hands.
More often, they are partners in crime (but still cute, of course).

When they hug, they are so adorable.

Beautifulleriffic.

My little isn't quite so little anymore :(

In the past few weeks, Ellery has gone from ripping bows off her head to saying "where bow bow?"  Who knew this momma who had to be forced out of sweat pants at age 12 would have pink-clad girls who love bows? (or such adorable kids, for that matter? :)

Cute Sass pic, with some flare.
I love Tanner's sly-but-loving grin.

Next was the MAIN EVENT:

Last Sunday at church, we got the girls DEDICATED! 

This was a big deal on many levels, and it's especially exciting that John and I have found a church in Denver that we truly love attending and want to raise our family in.  We couldn't be happier!

John and I started attending Grace Chapel in May 2010 and went sporadically for the rest of that year.  Originally, we went because my friend Kelly's husband, Nick, would occasionally preach at the Sunday evening service and she invited us to attend.  After going a few times and liking it (A LOT!), we decided we'd give the morning services a try.  As it turned out, we LOVED it!

Last January, John and I committed to getting more involved in Grace and started taking both Sunday morning and Wednesday evening classes.  We met lots of great people, learned sooooo much, and really felt like Grace was the place for us.  The transformation our little family has undergone since that time has been pretty amazing, to say the least.  Having the girls dedicated at Grace was the logical next step.

Lots of people have asked what being dedicated means, so I will do my best to explain it.

First, what it wasn't: it was not a baptism nor a christening; there was no water.  It wasn't a ceremony declaring that our girls are saved.  Instead, it was a ceremony in which we committed to raising our girls in the church, teaching them about Jesus and the Bible, and giving them a biblical foundation in life.  Family and friends standing with the dedicatees (in our case, Kelly Slaughter Berard and Kim Fischer) committed to support us in our faith journey.  Lastly, the congregation committed to guide us and our girls in the process.  When T & E are older, we hope they will choose to get baptized. 

Pic with Family Pastor, Ron Brenning, after the dedication ceremony. 
His parenting class in January really set the stage for how we've changed our focus at home and in life.

After such a busy morning, how could there be more?  Indeed, there was more, so much more - and when I can finally muster up the emotional reserve to write about saying goodbye to my bestie, I will.  For now, enjoy the pictures of our incredibly blessed family, and pray for us in our journey to raise and lead our girls the way God wants us to!