Megan is home!

After battling complications from a blood clot in her leg, our sister-in-law Megan is finally home after nearly 2 long weeks in the hospital. Thank you God! It is completely by His grace and mercy that she in home now with her family - especially her precious little baby, Evan.

Matt, Holly and I went to Greenville this weekend to spend some time with Kelly and Megan, and Grammy and Pappy. This was Holly's second time to be around 3 month old Evan, and she was quite the character. It was interesting to watch her jealous streak come out...and she wasn't at all jealous of me. In fact, when Matt's mom was holding the baby, Holly would say "Mommy hold you!" She wanted ME to hold Evan so that Grammy could be 100% hers. Pretty funny. She really did try to be sweet with him, even it was just to get our praise. She would give him (hit his head with) his little toys, and lean in to give him hugs.

I have a feeling we can expect lots of crazy cousin antics in the years to come.

Happy Days

Last Saturday was the Happy Days Festival here in Hapeville. Yes, our little town has a festival! It was a great time with neighbors, friends, great weather and yummy food. Holly had a blast - here are some highlights.

Fun with pretend play

In the last couple of weeks, Holly entered the brand new phase (for us) of make-believe. All those stuffed animals that used to just sit in her basket are now her friends, and her baby dolls need frequent naps and diaper changes just like Holly. They sometimes even have to sit in time out.

The other day Holly put one of her babies in her new baby doll stroller (thank you Aunt Boo!!) and walked her up and down the hallway, saying something that was at first unintelligible. I soon realized she was saying "Going to Starbucks! Going to get a coffee!" Grammy and Pappy, I think Holly misses those walks to Starbucks in downtown Greenville!

I love this stage - I'm getting to see more of the little person Holly is becoming. While there are plenty of babies being dropped (thrown?) on their heads, she almost always follows it up with a kiss and "Poor baby. All better now." That's somewhat reassuring, since there will be a real little baby in her world soon. I did only say somewhat.

As I write this, she is in the living room, feeding coffee to her baby doll and stuffed llama. And I have a few precious minutes to myself. Thank you, God, for imaginations.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Over the weekend, our family gathered in Memphis to celebrate the upcoming birth of Leigh's baby, Abygael. But we also were able to take a few minutes to celebrate my dad. Today is his birthday, and I can't help but get a little sentimental when I think about what he has meant in my - our - lives.

It's a big job to be the father of two daughters. Dance recitals that he had to (pretend to) be excited about, tears he had to wipe, but perhaps most importantly, displaying for us how a husband loves and honors his wife.

Thank you, Dad for teaching me not to settle. Thank you for helping to protect this little girl's heart as I waited for God to bring my prince. And thank you for teaching me that, if that prince was never to come, I already have my King in heaven.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Happy Birthday Pappy!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful dad, dad-in-law, and Pappy. So today we celebrate this wonderful man who brings so much joy to our lives. Hope your day is full of walks in the park and lots of Starbucks coffee!

Holly and her big girl bed

Above are a couple of pictures of Holly's new room. She's been sleeping in her big girl bed since last Friday, and has adjusted wonderfully (to my amazement!). I was terrified of taking this step, as this girl LOVED her crib. But she was super excited about the transition and has slept through the night every night! She can climb in and out of her bed through a gap between her bedrail and footboard, but she hasn't been brave enough to try it. Until today...

When I went to get her up from her nap this afternoon, I noticed a lot of light coming from under her door. I thought it was odd, since I had closed the blinds before walking out of her room. I opened the door and this is what I found (see below). Blinds open, hat on her head (and a few in her bed), toys and books all over the floor.

She has discovered freedom. I am just hoping I don't walk in tomorrow morning to find her curled up in her bookcase...

And she will be called...

Anna Caroline Rife!


After a process that had to be more grueling than vetting for the VP nominee, we finally chose a name. And it was all by the grace of God - truly - because we were about to pull our hair out and just call this poor child Number 2. A couple of people asked it we had prayed about her name, and our answer was "no" - it seemed such a trivial thing to pray about when there are much bigger things on our hearts. But we were reminded that names are important to God: "As his name is, so is he" (1 Samuel 25:25).

Names were so important to God that He often changed people's names to reflect their new identity in Him. Abram means "father," and God changed his name to Abraham which means "father of a multitude." And we can't forget Saul, who before meeting Christ on the road to Damascus was a persecuter of Christians, and whose name meant "demanding." After his encounter with Jesus, his name became Paul, which means "worker." And what a worker he was! From persecuter to the perescuted, from Christian hater to one who would give his life to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth...

So we prayed about it, and a few others did as well. And within a few days, it was clear to us both. No arguments, no disunity - having been through this twice now (Holly was no piece of cake!), that's a miracle in itself!

Anna (gracious, merciful)
Caroline (beautiful woman)

Some cute (I think) Holly videos

A couple of weeks ago we visited my parents in Nashville (Mt. Juliet). In this video, we're at the John Deere park and Holly's wearing - gasp - a John Deere t-shirt. Am I even spelling Deere correctly? During our stay in middle Tennessee, I even found myself dropping the "g" off of participles such as "eating." Instead, I did a lot of eatin' and sleepin'. I love it! Lots of thanks to Nana and Papa for a great weekend, and to Uncle Drew and the boys for making my car as good as new!

We're in the process of putting Holly's new room together. Still waiting on the headboards/footboards for her twin beds, and excuse the lack of wall decor. It's coming. But we have the pink shag rug, and really, what more does a girl need?