Hello, Blog: Scenes From A SoCal Vacay

We've had a busy, full summer.

Ashlyn started soccer last week.

The girls start school this week.

Hope Kids had their New Testament Graduation ceremony yesterday.

The craziness of fall is upon us.

I'm excited.

I like crazy.

We took a trip to Southern California a few weeks ago.

It's an annual event.

Thanks to my generous parentals.

Hello, Newport Coast Villas coy pond.

I think the girls love the coy more than Disneyland.

The family's all together!

And eating.

With Princess Celestia.

So standard.

Poolside flirting.

Discussing if and how long salt water species could survive in chlorinated water.

Make it stop.

Sunset dinner at Ruby's.

Shirley temple shakes and Frito chili bags.

Poolside BBQ at the Burns residence.

Blog friend turned real friend.

Twin husbands.

Fun night.

Disneyland!

Tinkerbell shades was excited.

Radiator Springs, Population 57.8 billion.

But worth it.

The new Cars ride was magical.

Our car raced my parents and Ashlyn and they won.

Ashlyn called us losers.

And said "you guys couldn't do it."

Thank you, Ashlyn.

My dad's Disneyland motto?

Just say no to food courts.

So we ate our monogrammed pastries and threatened our children to behave like the fancy people.

It's a Small Air-Conditioned World.

Our favorite.

With smoothies.

Also, our favorite.

Fun, full day.

We all slept well that night.

And spent the next few days relaxing.

Participating in poolside extracurriculars.

Rainbow tye-dye.

All kinds of hippie awesome.

Coke breaks in the shade.

Swimming is tough work you know.

Sneak-away Fashion Island shopping trips for the girls.

Mom doesn't understand selfies.

And beach days.

Building sandcastles.

Digging for sand crabs.

Heaven for my rainbow-toed girls.

Thanks so much, Mom and Dad.

We love you!

A Birthday For Sudan. And My Favorite Enchilada Recipe.

As a family, we've been trying to think of creative ways to contribute to the Hope For Sudan campaign.

If only we had 25,000,000 pennies in our sofa.

I checked.  We don't.

Dave suggested we throw a party for his birthday this year.

In lieu of gifts, guests were to bring donations towards Hope For Sudan.

First I took his temperature.

Then I realized this fundraising effort was serious biz.

Let me try and explain.

He likes _____________________ more than birthday parties for himself.

I'm trying to fill in that blank with something sufficiently terrible and I can't.

Black bean and tomato casseroles?

Extensive dental work?

Traffic on Highway 5?

The Los Angeles Dodgers?

Nothing fits.

Being the guest of honor is not his favorite.

But our family and friends like to celebrate him.

And he loves helping people more than he hates birthday parties.

It is was an easy opportunity to do our part in this effort.

Because if we're asking you to help.

We better be busy ourselves.

New favorite enchilada recipe courtesy of Meg.

Yummy.

Easy.

Perfect for feeding people and making them happy when you're asking for lots of skrill.

That was tacky.

But totally true.

The puffs didn't hurt, either.

Our house has never been so full.

Literally.

And figuratively.

Overwhelming.

In the very best way.

I was praying some fish and loaves action over the enchiladas.

And regretting my puff intake, pre-event.

Thank you to all who came and contributed.

And to those who couldn't come but contributed anyway.

We are overwhelmed at your generosity of heart.

The way you love my husband and our family.

And your willingness to help people you'll likely never meet.

$1,500 added to our effort.

Bringing our grand total so far to $15,499.55

So exciting.

I'm so glad you were born, Dave.

I hope you liked your party.

Pintertest Kitchen 11: A Bridal Shower

Jamie is getting married next month.

She and her husband-to-be helped us plant Hope.

And serve on our worship team.

She is so passionate about Christ and a blessing to so many.

I'm excited to see what He has in store for these lovebirds.

Big things, I'm sure.

We celebrated her last Saturday.

With real family, church family and dear friends.

And it was fun to put my "bridal shower" pinboard to good use.

First, a disclaimer.

I was terrible about taking pictures of the food.

And by terrible, I mean I took none.

Primarily because I was preoccupied juggling cook times and temps.

And blow drying my hair 15 minutes before guests were supposed to arrive.

While waving a dish towel under our super sensitive smoke detector.

It was off to a hectic start.

Ikea framed invite and easy floral centerpieces for the decor.

With the exception of the limes and thanks to our backyard hydrangeas, I had everything on hand.

Adapted from two pins that are no longer active.

The picture was easy enough to copy without having to click over.

I saw this idea pinned a while back and thought it was so original and cute.

And I turned it into a game by letting Jamie pick the most creative idea.

Betsy was the big winner with this gem:

"Nerd night!  Dress up like nerds (think suspenders and taped glasses), go to your favorite museum
and end the night under the stars, picking out constellations."

Thank you bridesmaid, Haeley, for letting me steal your food picture.

You are a legit historian.

Pinned brunch recipes found here, here, and here.

Pinned dessert recipes found here, here, here and here.

Bacon Wrapped Artichoke Hearts a la Emily.

Everything else a la Trader Joe's.

Which should be pinned everywhere as a shower-thrower's lifesaving mecca.

Every item is Pintertest approved and highly recommended.

Easy, straight-forward recipes.

Yummy, crowd-pleasing results.

Especially the chocolate chip cookie dough dip.

And the puffs.

And the baked french toast.

Who's getting married next?

Happy shower day, glowing friend.

It was fun to celebrate you.

Hello, Tuesday.

Hello, busiest weekend in a looooong time.

Hello, Sharon and Ozzy.

All aboard the crazy train.

Hello, beautiful bride.

I'll be recapping Jamie's shower in the Pintertest Kitchen this week.

It's this Thursday.

Are you going to link up?

I would love it if you did.

And I'm sorry that I don't have a cute new button for you.

Yet.

Blame Dave.

"Hey babe, we need to raise $25,000 in 6 weeks."

Speaking of.

Hello, MIRACLE.

Almost halfway there.

In TWELVE short days.

God is so good.

And His people are so faithful.

Hello, pastor friends.

Hello, irreplaceable gift.

Hello, awkward hand-holding that I didn't notice until now.

I love our triple dates.

Hello, Step Up 127: Dance Revolution for Protest Art

Or something like that.

I don't really know.

Such a tragically, terrible movie.

But with the BEST company.

Baby guuuuurls.

Hello, Hope Kids 5-Day Club!

All week long.

Local friends, come join us!

2 PM - 3:30 PM in Shoreview Park.

Games.

Snacks.

Jesus.

All you need in life.

See you there?

Happy Tuesday, friends.

Winners!

OK, people.

This is going to be short and sweet.

And not super fancy.

Jamie's bridal shower is tomorrow and I've got baking, shopping and prepping to do.

Both girls have sleepovers at different houses.

One has a party tomorrow and I still need to get the gift.

Also, the carpet cleaners are coming between 1 pm and 3 pm because they missed a spot.

And shower favors need to be picked up by 4:30.

Groomer wants Kobi to go in for a test walk up her new ladder before she'll book an appointment.

Today sometime.

Also, Dave and I need to look like Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne by tonight.

For an Olympics Opening Ceremony party.

Come as your favorite Brit.

The choice was obvious.

Dave will most likely be wearing eyeliner.

And I'm supposed to bring cupcakes for that, too.

It's one of those days where I wish there were 124 hours instead of 24.

I'm already exhausted.

Basically, it's 6 am and I'm in my pink polkas.

Picking your names, old school.

Because let's face it.

11 True Random Number Generator screen shots = SNOOZEFEST.

Ready?

I'm so excited to give this stuff away!

Julie's prints.

Four lucky winners.

And they are...

Susan

Laurie Hawley

Natalie

Kathy

 Email me with your choice.

Next.

Katy's prints.

Four more lucky ladies.

Denise

Jen Smith

Ashley Helenius

Leslie

Congratulations, girls!

Email me with your choice.

 One pair of Happy Days earrings.

Winner is...

Jeannett

Email me your choice.

Woo hoo!

I love giving away other people's stuff!

Next?

Daylight Designs Invite package from Mel Larson.

Super lucky winner is...

Melissa

Email me for claim deets.

 

And, last but not least, Make Pie $20 store credit goes to...

Cara

Again, email me for deets.

Congrats all!

And thank you, from the bottom of my busy, overflowing heart.

To date, we've raised $4,925.00!

With more fundraisers in the works.

Keep spreading the word.

We're just getting started.

Hi.

Happy Wednesday.

I feel the need to sandwich a post between my giveaway and winner announcement.

Be sure to ENTER.

Your chances are excellent.

Also, make these.

The frosting is super thick and heavy and a little stressful to work with.

And they are slightly awkward to eat.

But they are so delicious.

It's worth the stress and awkwardness.

Speaking of stressful and awkward.

My husband has a new cell phone case.

He has a habit of giving away his cases when people compliment them.

Weird, yes?

I'm sure it has some kind of diagnosis.

So he bought this super cool black hard case/trap door wallet combo.

And gave it away to anybody that said it was super cool.

He was on his third when Uncle Dave complimented last Friday.

So my mom gave him a orange and black camo freebie.

She said it reminded her of the Giants.

It reminds me of a white trash backwoods hunter.

And bad news?

No one is saying they like it.

Help.

This might be my favorite shirt ever.

Hands down.

And so fitting.

She is so chatty lately.

Putting things together.

I'm in awe of her progress.

I chopped my hair off yesterday.

According to My Fitness Pal, it weighed .4 pounds.

So that's exciting.

Also, we're getting our carpets cleaned today.

That's exciting, too.

I need to go move chairs now.

Don't forget to enter.

Winners announced this Friday!