Friday Faves

Here's another addition of Friday Favorites aka my "phone photo dump."😁 

My favorite little helper in the kitchen. 

#gottaloveamanwhocooks

 We haven't had pasta in FOREVER because quite honestly, all the GF pasta we've tried wasn't up to par... until NOW! If you're tired of gummy GF pasta that falls apart, you've got to try the Jovial brand (found at Wal-Mart). A new favorite, for sure! My kids are happy jovial. 😆

 Enjoying a bag of Pirate Booty on the beach is essential.

Little boys in hats are my fave. 

 These beauties and our happy place, the beach!

 My favorite summertime view. 😎

 Oh, just lounging around on the kitchen floor. 🙃 #thiskid

Yes, this! ☝

 A while back, we booked a cruise in August for our summer vacation but that got cancelled so instead, we just booked our tickets to the Carolina's next month! 

As far as the east coast goes, we've been to New York, Washington D.C., Virginia and Florida but this will be our first time to the Carolina's.

In addition to all the site seeing and East Coast beaches, I can't to experience what Southern hospitality is all about. 

My July book review will be a little late this month. I have one book I'm finishing up. 

Hopefully, I'll be done this weekend. It's going to be 118 here so you know where we'll be. #helloaugust 

Whatever you do, hope you have a nice weekend!

   

Bakersfield Weekend

Last week, we took a road trip to Bakersfield to visit family. 

 The highlight was meeting the newest little edition, Nevaeh (Christina's daughter). 

 Just 2 months old and growing so fast. 

Another highlight was the family ping pong tournament, complete with brackets and prizes, thanks to Ben & Lucy.

 After several rounds of play, here's our modest champion. 😏

He won those socks and wore them proudly! 

 Zach is all about babies so he couldn't get enough of little Vaeh. 

 Awww!! 

 He was so delighted to hold her. 

 Too bad the feeling wasn't mutual. 😩

 Another highlight that Zach won't soon forget is his EPIC "sword" battle with Uncle Ben and Dad.

He had the time of his life and gave the grown ups a good work out. 😉

The only thing that might trump his fondness for babies is dogs.

#zachandcocoreunite

   

This about sums it up! 💞

It was so wonderful to see the family, catch up, and make our summer visit.

Always appreciate the sweet hospitality and great food. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Thanksgiving! 

Ministry Happenings

Last month, we made signs to celebrate the homecoming of my friend, Holly's new baby. 
Holly and I have been friends for many years. She's the talented friend who designs our Christmas Cards each year. 

Of course, I had to go over ASAP to meet the little guy. 

Here's another peek at Mighty Zion. 

And here is a sweet photo of the whole Priest family.

I am so happy for them! What an incredible adoption story and testimony they have. 

God is so so good!!

We also managed to squeeze in a meeting the day before church had to close it's doors again. 

Even through the pandemic time, the Lord impressed upon me that our families who serve in orphan care, really needed some time for encouragement and fellowship. I'm so glad I listened and went ahead to plan a meeting. It was so wonderful to be able to gather together with our One Less Community.

This picture makes me so happy!

Look at all of our precious One Less babies and their mamas.

These sisters in Christ are amazing!! 

We also had the opportunity to pray for the Priests and celebrate Zion's homecoming with cake afterwards.

Adoption is so beautiful! 

And this week, I was honored to be interviewed by Zack Seals of Remnant Radio.  

He did his entire segment on: What does scripture say about adoption?

You can catch that and my full 3-part interview on Remnant Radio's Facebook page.  

What an honor and privilege it is to be able to encourage others towards God's heart for orphans.

And what a JOY it is for me to walk alongside families as they bring new children into their homes and lives.

When Parenting Is Scary

"What does it look like to raise kids in a world of masks and protective screens, scary viruses and scarier news feeds? How do we guide them through the muddy waters of communication online, through screens and notifications and an entirely new set of expectations? What if we opted out altogether – changed direction or made a course correction? 

It can feel like a new frontier, right?

Maybe. But maybe…not."

This post by Katie was one of the best things I read this week.  

Make sure you click the link to read the whole thing. 

We're already in the second half of summer. Normally, I'd be really bummed about that but I'm not sure how I feel about it this summer. It's been such a strange year! Whether you're staying put in your home or venturing out this weekend, I hope you make the most of it!  

Zach Accepts Christ

Year six has already started off with a bang for this kid. 

We're only 9 days past his birthday but yesterday was monumental. 

Our boy accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior! 

A couple of weeks ago, I came downstairs after tucking him into bed and I told Morgan that Zach was starting to ask some really good questions about life, death, heaven, hell, etc. 

Honestly, that surprised me because as his mom, of course I prayed for his salvation but I thought it would come at a much later date. Only because generally speaking, boys mature later than girls. 

After reading Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms by Tim Challies last month (highly recommend for any mom raising kids), I was inspired to start praying out loud for Zach's salvation, allowing him to hear me pray for his soul-- that he would one day, come to know Christ as His personal Savior and spend eternity with Him in heaven. 

Little did I know how quickly God would answer those prayers.

Yesterday afternoon, totally on his own volition, Zach started asking some deep questions again. I answered as best I could in words that were age appropriate for him to understand and one thing led to another.
I honestly thought we might continue this conversation when I tuck him into bed at night but Zach wasn't waiting a moment longer. He said he wanted Jesus to live in his heart so he could live forever with Him in heaven one day. I asked him if he wanted to pray and he did! But not before grabbing his sisters (Morgan was at work). We sat on the couch and he started praying.

He couldn't wait until dad got home so he could tell him the great news! 

God saved Zach's physical life in the NICU as a sick infant, but today, He saved his soul. This is the most important prayer that God has ever answered for our precious son. And for me to be able to witness all of my children's salvation on this side of heaven has been the greatest gift.

Thank you, Jesus. My boy loves You. 

And we rejoice with the angels that his name is written in your Book of Life.

 God, you are so good to us! 

Faith Accepts Christ.

Grace Accepts Christ. 

Friday Favorites

It's been a LONG while since I've posted Friday Faves but here goes! 

 A couple of weeks ago, we had our annual beach day with the White's and celebrated Vivien's 14th birthday. The kids played hard. Good times were had by all! 

Mom was here for her birthday weekend and we celebrated her with lunch at Desert Willow. 

 #truth. 

 Can't believe he's SIX. He'll always be my favorite boy. 

 Lol. I loved this. We can all get caught up in the frenzy of our emotions. I have to remember that my emotions can come and go but to honor God, we have to control our emotions and haul them back to the cross. 

Yes, this!

Is there anything better than grilled veggies in the summer? And when it's 110 outside, 

I'm so thankful to have an indoor grill pan.

  

Last but not least, have you tried these?? 

We had tacos last night and oh, wow! I was so impressed with these little jicama wraps (and I don't even really like jicama)!

They were light and refreshing with a slight crunch.

I had them both warm and cold and cold was much better.  

You get 12 wraps in a package for $3.99. A new TJ's fave for sure!

Happy weekend! 

  

Zach's Birthday Weekend

Our patriotic boy turned SIX yesterday so we celebrated by spending the weekend at the beach!

 Don't believe everything you hear in the media. They kept saying all the beaches were closed. 

Every beach in San Diego County was open and so were the parking lots.  

 Can't believe our little guy is 6!

We made a new gluten free version of his favorite, Coconut Cake.

 

Thanks to Aunt Jen and Uncle Bryan for coming out to celebrate with us.

Bummed I forgot to take a photo of them before they left. 

 These two were busy riding the waves most of the weekend.

The water was a bit too cold for my warm blooded boy so he spent most of his time playing in the sand.

 Big 6!

 Love him!

 On Sunday, we hiked down to Black's Beach in Torrey Pines.

We got about two thirds of the way down when we noticed some nudes on the beach

(I guess Black's Beach is a nude beach) so we turned around. 🙈

#aintnobodygottaseethat

 Yesterday was actually his birthday so we celebrated with some leftover cake.

 And we gave him his last gift.

 He had outgrown his other bike and we found this one on Letgo. It was just his size, his color, and had Lightening McQueen stickers on it. The best part... it was FREE.

Dad just bought him a new red bell. 😄

And there he goes, riding his bike in 114 degrees. 😅

Love this kid!

Happy birthday, son!

You definitely make life more fun and interesting.

Five was a big year for you. You grew in so many ways, both big and small. 

What a joy it is for us to be your parents. 

We can't wait to see what the Lord will bring in year six.

We love you, Zach!