Mug Swap Recap, Five Years Late.

Happy Thursday.

Our house has been hit with the death plague.

I was it's first victim.

Then Ashlyn.

Now Kayla.

Dave remains unscathed.

So I'm a tad late on my Mug Swap recap.

And on everything else in life.

Except for Lysol wiping all household surfaces.

I am very up to date on that.

My friend, Kim hosts an annual mug swap to celebrate her blog's birthday.

It's all the rage.

Secret Santa style.

In August.

So not really Santa-y at all.

But you get my point.

Secret presents are fun.

I sent a package to Julie.

Which she heart bokehed and posted on Instagram.

Sweet Becky, also a church planters wife, sent a package to me.

The cutest ever Anthro mug.

And a delicious Chai recipe.

I can't wait to try it.

Thanks, Becky!

And thanks for hosting, Kim!

Oh and speaking of blog parties.

Mark Your Calendars.

Thursday, October 4th.

Amazing goodies from

Happy Days,

Pen and Paint,

CM Handmade,

Joy's Hope,

Katygirl Designs

and more

up for grabs to one lucky linker.

Browse those pins.

Get to planning.

And testing.

And say goodbye to that huge, clunky button I made last year.

New, fancy one coming soon.

Designed by a trained professional.

You won't want to miss this.

We Serve a Huge God.

You guys.

Look.

 And you know?

I'm not surprised.

I am thrilled.

Thankful.

So very thankful.

But not surprised.

God is good.

And He provides.

 Jon P. and John J. left SFO on the 11th.

And met a team of two others.

The four men arrived safely in Sudan and will head up to the Yida refugee camp sometime today.

And then move up into the mountain region over the next few days.

Please pray.

For safety.

Clear passage.

That rains would stop and roads would be accessible.

Lack of injuries and sickness.

For those starving and sick.

For families that have been separated.

It is a desperate situation there.

For grace and chances to share about the Living Bread.

That God would continue to work miracles.

Thanks to all of you.

Those who donated.

Those who opened shops and gave away your proceeds.

Those who shared of the need and the story.

Those who prayed and continue to pray.

Starving people will receive food in the next few days because God used you.

And on behalf of our family and our church, we are grateful.

So grateful.

We've set up a daily 24 Hour Prayer Chain in 15 minute increments.

There are still a few open spots.

If you're interested, please comment below and indicate a time of day preference.

And again, thank you.

It's a privilege to serve Him with you.

To be the Church, together.

Pintertest Kitchen 12: Tres Leches Cake

So.

I'm not going to lie.

I'm 100% phoning this post in.

Photos are straight-up, unedited.

Uncropped.

I'm sorry.

You'll just have to deal with my dog bowl, wood glue and Lysol wipes.

 

Julie and I made this cake on Sunday afternoon and our conversation went something like this:

Julie: "So what are you Pintertesting this month?"

Me: "Shoot.  That's THIS Thursday, huh?"

Julie: "Yes."

Me: "Ummmm.  This?"

Julie: "Quick.  Get your camera."

So, friends.

I present to you The Pioneer Woman Tres Leches Cake.

If you don't have a fancy white pitcher like PW recommends?

You can use a Giants Opening Day souveniur cup.

It tastes the same.

Probably better, actually.

Also, we drive a Honda.

You can find the recipe here.

Make it as soon as realistically possible.

It's GOOD.

Oh.  And if you forget to add maraschino cherries.

You can do it the next day.

When you eat the leftovers for breakfast.

Not that I would know.

Also, you'll want to come back next month.

Pintertest Kitchen turns 1.

Fancy new button will be revealed.

And we're having a party.

With lots of fun prizes.

You don't want to miss it.

Go Giants.

The Best Labor Day Weekend Ever.

Tonight our house is quiet.

And we're all a little sad.

The aftermath of a whirlwind weekend.

With some pretty amazing house guests.

Ten people shared one bathroom.

Which was an adventure in itself.

There were other adventures.

Hotel swimming.

Faux camp firing at Joshua Fest.

Random birthday partying.

With fun glow prizes.

ON STAGE with the Supertones.

Our girls are SPOILED.

Big girls, big couch sleepover-ing.

Tres Leche cake making.

With a cute little sous chef.

I'll be Pintertesting this on Thursday.

It's delish.

BYOD Sunday.

D is for dinner.

These nights are my favorite.

Especially when old friends make new friends feel like family.

Sidewalk chalking.

Impromptu Fantasy Drafting.

With a baby assistant.

Spray Painting.

Adios boring walls.

Giants gaming.

On Star Wars Day.

Sneaking out for a date night.

While our girls had one last sleepover.

Talking about life.

And ministry.

And dreams.

It's fun to dream.

It's fun to have friends to dream with.

Come back soon, Carson family.

We miss you already.

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.