3 months...

We love the Dunns

We hosted a baby shower and going away party for our sweet friends, the Dunns, who have adopted little Ellie and are moving up to Oregon this week.  Their lives are truly a testament to God's love and grace.

I think Ellie and Annaliese will be friends as they grow up since I know that we will still see the Dunns over the years.

Our house was full of friends (22 adults) and kids (9 kids), with joy and sadness as we prayed for the Dunn family.

We'll miss you guys!

Valentines Day Brunch

Sweet crepes, mimosas, friends from 15+ years ago... what a great Valentines Day!  Thank you for such yummy brunch, Shannon!

Annaliese & Ruby got to meet their honorary Auntie Shannie (aka Shannanigans).  Christy - she's a cutie!

Andy and I had a wonderful time in the evening and enjoyed steak & Kahalua creme brulee.

cute chick

Annaliese loves to practice "standing up!"  Sometimes she even will even quiet down when she is fired up if I help her stand up, I think because she has to concentrate a bit on her wobbly, chunky little legs!

And now, since I seem to be addicted to these cookies, here is the recipe for Cranberry Hootycreeks.  (They are supposed to be given as a gift in a jar, but this was a gift I gave myself... mmmm.)  I can't have chocolate since Annaliese is such a critic of chocolate-flavored breastmilk, but I can't get enough sweets.  Seriously, I ate 5 yesterday.

Bumbo & BOB

Sitting up in the Bumbo seat! (still no smiles for the camera though! I'll work on that!)

So great that she's holding her head up!  It's much easier to hold her now that we don't have to cradle her head.

Oh how I love my BOB stroller!  It is so funny how they are every where on the central coast and no one uses them here in the central valley!  In fact, I got this one at an REI garage sale (used gear for sale at the store) for $65 last fall and I got there way after it started.  (This is particularly amazing since anywhere else, the BOB strollers are the FIRST thing to go and priced much higher!)  Anyway, she's screaming in the picture because we're not moving, but she likes our daily walks and falls asleep once we get moving, as long as the sun is not in her eyes!
I'm just starting to jog with it... I want to get in better shape for the 10K Miracle Miles for Kids run.  It is from Morro Rock to the Cayucos Pier on May 30th.  A few years ago I did it in 66 minutes and I want to beat my time.  It is an amazing event not only for the run that takes place right on the sand, but because it is an annual fundraiser for Family Care Network.  People totally do the run with their BOB strollers, but I think I'll have Andy push it since he said he'll do it with me... some other people from our Young Adult group are going to do it too!  Ultimately, my goal is to do a half marathon in November!  Yikes, now I've put it out there for the world to see, I hope I make it!

Happy 20th Birthday!

Actually I'm 28.  But on Feb. 2, 1989, I prayed with my dad on the couch at home to receive Jesus as my Savior.  Whew.  I feel old!  I give the Lord all my praise that He has drawn me into Him, more and more, through ups and downs over the past 20 years.  Since that little bitty faith of an 8 year old child, I've had doubts, shared my faith with non-believers, dried-up times, joyful highs on missions trips, depressed times, growth by leaps and bounds at times... and Jesus has been faithful to be my Savior and Friend all along.  How good is our God!?!

For myself, I'm praying that I will be come a woman of prayer over the next 10 years.  It's not that I don't pray now, but through the Bible study that I'm currently doing, A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George, I am encouraged to have a long term spiritual goal that I know God will help me attain.   Weird to think about looking back in 2019 over the past ten years, but I know it will come faster than I think.  Does anyone else have any spiritual goals that they've met or are working on?

I pray that our daughter will know and love Him at a young age as well.