One Month Old!

Grace is now a month old (well actually 5 weeks cause I'm a little late on posting this)! We can't believe how much she's grown already! She's about 10 pounds now and growing like a weed! It's amazing to watch her become more alert and active. She smiles a lot and really interacts with people. She's a snuggler so she loves to be held and make faces at whoever is holding her.

Here are Grace's one-month pictures...she wasn't thrilled :-)

She wanted to cover up her face.

Dad stepped in to help pose, but she really just wanted to sleep instead.

 She definitely has a personality!

We've had lots of people come and visit since Grace was born. It's been really fun to have family come in town to meet the new arrival! Somehow I didn't end up with pictures of everybody (I think that's what happens when you're sleep-deprived and other people have cameras...you only take a few random pictures), but both sides of the family got to come see Grace! We had such a great time!

Nate and Nicole (Tiff's cousin)

Happy grandparents

Na with the first great-grandbaby

Chillin with Pop and Carrie

She loves Aunt Carrie!

Maggie is getting used to having a baby in the house. She's doing great but of course still wants lots of attention as always. Some things never change!

She's a very photogenic dog.

Grace enjoys her play mat.

But Maggie enjoyed it more!

Grace's cute smile!

My mom came down to help out last week and we got to go to the Mount Pleasant Christmas parade (which was huge and really fun!). I can't believe it's the holiday season already! Christmas is coming soon and we are so excited! It'll be great to spend the first Christmas with Grace. She probably won't remember much of it, but we'll have fun :-)

Decorating the tree! 

Sleeping on Nana

We are getting adjusted to being parents, but as always please keep us in your prayers! We have so much to learn and God has been teaching us so much as new parents. I can't imagine those late nights without prayer! We can't say enough how thankful we are for all the things God has given us, from an amazing daughter to a supportive family to great new and old friends! Thank you and we hope you have a blessed Christmas!

Family Clemson Picture....Maggie did not appreciate her t-shirt

Family Thanksgiving Picture

Meet Grace Eponine Forrest!

Grace is finally here! She was born November 8 at 10:40 a.m. and was 7lb 14oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing well. We're all getting used to life as a family! Maggie is being an angel with Grace and already sleeps on the floor near her when she naps and gets worried when she cries. I guess Maggie has maternal instincts too :-)

Our first family picture. Welcome Grace!

Meet Grace!

She really likes cuddling with Daddy.

Grace really loves her swing.

Cuddling on the couch at home. Maggie was so glad when we came home!

After her first sponge bath. She was glad when it was over!

She's not sure what to think about kisses on her belly.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers! We have lots to learn as new parents, but the first week has been pretty good. We are still just in awe that our baby girl is here. God is so good!

The Nursery Is Ready!

The baby's coming soon and we've been preparing for her arrival! Here's some pictures of Grace's nursery. We can't wait for her to get here!!!

Grace's Room!

We haven't picked up the mattress yet but here's the crib

The picture by the window was in my nursery. It was fun to add a sentimental touch.

Mom made all the decorations. She's so talented and everything turned out so cute! 

Her changing table. Thanks to the Kautsch's for that gift!

Ready for Josh to change diapers :-)

Everything is going well and we are all (including Maggie!) getting ready for Grace to come! She's due to come November 13, so it's a waiting game now.

In the meantime work is going well for both of us. I've been working hard learning the real estate industry and am so grateful that I found such a good job even with Grace coming soon. Josh has been enjoying working with students and it's been fun getting to know people at church. It's so encouraging to build community with such strong Christians. We feel so blessed that God brought us here!

Fall is Coming!

It's starting to get cooler (well, less hot anyway) finally and every day we're getting more ready for Grace to come! Grace is kicking more every day and from all the doctors can tell she's very healthy.

I (Tiff) just started a new job last week so I've been very excited to be learning something new. I'm working as an executive assistant at Keller Williams Real Estate, which has been really fun so far. I work for great people and am really learning a lot about real estate and how it works. I will probably just be starting to figure it out when my maternity leave starts, but hopefully I'll learn quickly!

Josh is doing really well too. He's been working at church and been really getting to know a lot of the kids and families at church. Last weekend he went on the middle school Xtreme Weekend which was a great success! Everyone had a lot of fun and 16 middle schoolers became Christians on the trip which really made whole weekend worth the work! It's really awesome to see God working in lives.
Josh and I have also been helping lead a high school LifeGroup, which is a small group that meets at a family' house during the week. We're very excited about building relationships with the students and helping them develop community among each other.

Please continue to pray for us as we're getting to know people in church and our neighborhood. As with any move it will take us a while to get used to our new schedules and to develop good friendships. Also, please pray for Josh as he's working full-time and taking classes. And keep praying for me and Grace that we will both stay healthy!

We're In Mount Pleasant!

We are moved! Sorry for the delay in updating, but we just got Internet at our new place. Josh got a job at The Church at LifePark in Mount Pleasant, so we are settling into life by the coast. It's rainy and humid, but I guess that's about the same as camp was this summer. :-)

God really worked out our living situation here, and we are really enjoying the condo we are renting. We called about this condo the night before we moved....we weren't feeling comfortable about the apartment we were planning to move to and friends of ours knew the owner of this condo. The best part is that it has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, so it's got a lot more space than our other option. We looked at it in the morning and moved in after lunch. It worked out great! God is good!

I'm not working right now so I am exploring the area and getting ready for baby Grace. I'm working on planning the nursery too....right now it's basically an empty room, but I'm getting my creative brain motivated! Can't wait for Grace to be here. November is coming soon!

Josh is really loving his job so far. He's one of two student pastors, and there are a TON of teenagers in the student ministry. He is working with middle and high school students, but with a focus on middle school. He got to teach on Sunday morning to the middle school group and it was really fun to start building relationships with the students.

Maggie is enjoying life here. She gets to look out the door and we bought her a bed so she's happy :-)

She loves the view of the pool.

She's very happy with her bed.

We also went on our first family trip to the beach. It was super fun. We will definitely be taking more trips for walks on the beach in the near future! (Although Maggie really loved the beach....the water is just not her favorite. She kept looking at us like "why is the water chasing me?!" It was pretty funny.)

Family Beach Photo

Maggie walking away from the water....typical

And I don't have too many food pictures yet....but here's one to start with!

Yay for pork chops and getting to cook at home again!

Our new kitchen!....with full-size appliances :-)

Dishwasher!!!! (My personal favorite part)

Second Favorite part - my coffeemaker has a home again!

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers! Continue to pray for Josh as he is starting his new job (and also taking seminary classes) and for our ministry here at LifePark. Also please remember both of us in your prayers as we're getting ready for Grace to come!

Job Search and Baby Update

Well folks, thanks for continuing to keep us in your prayers. We are working away at camp. It's been a busy but good summer. There have been about 350 kids who have made spiritual decisions at McCall this summer, which is what our work here is all about!

On the job front, we are in the waiting stage. We are still waiting to hear the decision from the church in Liberty (interviews went well!). In the meantime, Josh has also been interviewing at the Church at LifePark in Mount Pleasant. We are extremely excited about that opportunity as the church is very similar to Christ Chapel in Fort Worth so it would be a familiar transition. We are traveling this weekend to Mount Pleasant for a face-to-face interview and to visit the church. Please pray that God will open up the doors He wants opened! We are anxious to know where He has us to be after camp is over in August.

On the baby front, we found out it's a girl!!!!!!! We are very excited to finally know gender and can't wait to meet our little girl in November! From what the doctors can see everything is going very well, and we are praying that she continues to be healthy.

Thanks for following and we appreciate all your prayers!

Job Search Update

Quick update/prayer request. Josh has an interview tomorrow for a student pastor position at a church in Liberty, SC! It's a great church so we are very, very excited about the possibility of settling there! Keep us in your prayers!!!!

Greetings from South Carolina!

That’s right; the Forrests are back in the south! After several months of praying and weighing options, we decided that it was time for us to move back to South Carolina. Josh is able to finish his degree online, so we are working at Camp McCall this summer while he is looking for a youth pastor job. It was very difficult and sad to leave our friends and church family in Fort Worth, but we know that SC is where God wants us to be, and we’re so excited to be close to family again. It’s been a crazy ride, but God has really answered our prayers by giving us lots of support through this move. From prayers to giving us temporary places to stay, our family has been invaluable! Moving is always a huge transition, especially with a lot of unknowns in the near future, but God is here giving us all we need!

Amidst all the changes happening with moving and finding a place to settle in SC, God decided to give us another blessing. We’re expecting a baby in November! Tiffany is 15 weeks along today (which means the baby is the size of an orange!….why the books compare babies to fruit I’m not sure J). She’s doing well, and so far everything seems to be progressing very normally which is a huge praise! We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat a few weeks ago, which was a really crazy, exciting experience!

As usual, I’m sorry for the delayed update! But thank you for praying for us and keeping up with what we’re doing! It means so much! Here is what we are currently praying for: Josh’s job search; Tiffany and the baby’s health; and our ministry here at Camp McCall this summer. Thanks for praying and I will send another update soon!

Groundhog Day

Well I apologize for not updating the blog more often! Here's the best recap I can come up with for the past few months:

• Thanksgiving was very different but fun! Josh's cousin Jesse was in town for work, so that was great to have some family around! A co-worker of mine invited all three of us to go with her family to the country club for Thanksgiving dinner. Quite the experience! :)

•  I went Black Friday shopping with a friend at midnight....INSANE! We had a blast but I'm glad we weren't too serious about shopping because we probably would have never found what we were looking for in that mass of people!

Me and Jenna

Yep, the 2nd busiest Wal-Mart in the US...we were there!

• Christmas decorating with Maggie was quite hilarious. She wasn't too sure what to do. And every time she got to wagging her tail near the tree she would end up sending ornaments flying!

Maggie was already exhausted after getting the boxes out of the closet!

The Final Product

The Kitchen Table - It was fun to be festive every time we ate!

• Christmas was so fun back in SC! We got to see family and also got to see some friends. We ate too much food...For me that was mostly mac & cheese at Mom's dinner (Rachel and I hogged it all!) and mint chocolate candy from my stocking at the Forrest house (Definitely glad I didn't plan on dieting during the holidays!).

• New Years' was a very quiet night at our house, but we did eat ice cream at midnight now that my New Years' resolution was over! Super delicious!

• A few weeks ago I went on a trip to MD to see my cousin Ashlee's wedding. I hated that Josh couldn't go, but I did have so much fun seeing my grandmothers, aunts, and lots of cousins! It also snowed so it was good to see some winter weather - Texas hasn't had any of that this year. And I got to see Jennilyn before I went to the airport. So great to see my maid of honor!

Me and Ashlee, the beautiful bride!

Me and my other cousin, Rachel, with her hubby Garrett in the background!

The Table Decorations

The Cake - Beautiful and Delicious!

Rachel and Garrett's son, Jaice, giving my arm a good morning hug. So cute!

•  I'm not sure if this qualifies as a bullet point, but here's some food pictures!

Bean and Kale Vegetable Soup

Milk Muffins - they were really good!

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies - only 90 calories each :)

Morraccan Eggplant Couscous - not very tasty, but it was fun to make!

Maggie trying to lick icing off her nose...I guess I'm just a mean mom, but it was really funny!

Well now it's February...Groundhog Day to be exact. We are busy as ever with FishStix ministry and work and school. Josh is really working hard in classes; he has a few extra hours this semester. Work is going pretty well for me, just trying to get spring and summer events organized. FishStix has been exciting, and there's been a busy calendar the past few months. The spring is a busy semester, and it's also the last few months before the 6th graders move up to the middle school ministry. Continue to pray that the kids will learn what it means to be a Christian and that they will accept the gift God has given them with a repentant heart. We pray that the kids who have grown up in church will not take God for granted and that the kids who are starting to hear about God for the first time will understand how He cares for them and offers a different life.

Our couples small group that meets at our house has been really exciting too. It's been great to be part of building community. Pray that we will continually be open with each other and that we can all grow together. We are currently in a study on the characteristics of God. Also please be praying for one couple in our group. David is working in Ohio for a few months, and his wife Caroline is here in Fort Worth. They are both working very hard to keep a strong marriage despite the long distance, but please pray that they will have perseverance during the next few months.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!