Grace

Yesterday marked the last day of hosting Grace church in our home. Last day of moving out the couches and setting up chairs. Last day of setting up the kids rooms for Children's Ministry. And sadly the last day that someone else vacuumed my house for me :)

Grace. That's the word to describe the past couple of months. I've counted it a sincere joy to host Grace Church in our home during it's early beginnings. Often as a Pastor's wife and a mom of three young kids, my role on Sunday's doesn't go beyond getting the kids dressed and to church on time. And trust me I'm not minimizing that role! But it's been exciting to play a different role in addition to getting the kids ready. I will miss being there for the set-up and all the excitement before the meeting starts.



But yes there has been grace for backaches, grace in the form of the kids excitement to host church and their eagerness to pitch in, grace in others coming early to set up, grace for the spills and paint that's gotten chipped. And when I wake up monday morning wondering if I could possibly do it again the following week, grace. Loads of Grace! But it is time for Grace Church to move on and time for this family to start living like it's a house and not a church. After doing it week after week we'd found it easier to leave as much as we could set up for Sunday to minimize the work. Chairs left in rooms, sound equipment left in our living room and craft supplies on my dresser. But last week when we left the "Nursing Mom's" sign on Taylor's door I knew it was probably time we head to the Rio Vista :)

After we finished the meeting we had our first Grace Church baptism!



We'd appreciate your prayers as we gear up for our kick off on August 30th!

Carlsbad Is... Family

Well these posts could go on for quite awhile. Like Carlsbad is walking to the donut shop. Getting frozen yogurt from Linda's. The kids searching for snails. Playing cards. Of course I left that one off because Chris & I kept losing :) Shopping trips, guys poker games, walks in the morning, buying new reefs from the surf shop. But what makes Carlsbad Carlsbad, is family. My parents have been building memories with Ryan and I there since we were young kids and it's such a joy to go back with our families and see the tradition continue.

Here are a couple family pictures from our last night:







Until next year!

Carlsbad Is... portraits

This year I was able to rent a lens that I've been coveting. Yes, sinfully coveting :) But the next best thing to owning a lens is the ability to rent it! Carlsbad has always provided opportunities to get lots of pictures of the kids and they are able to do something there that they haven't been able to do for a couple months. PLAY OUTSIDE :) And well this photographer has missed taking pictures under the sun! So here are some hang-er-upers from this year trip:

Doesn't she wear this rad hat well?


Ok so I probably won't hang this one up but it captures a side of trevor that makes me laugh :)






Of course I couldn't resist this little guy who's almost 1 & walking :) Owen brought us lots of joy on this vacation!

Carlsbad Is... Getting as dirty as you possibly can and your mom not caring

um, yeah, eating seaweed is where we draw the line...



At least they clean up well :)

Carlsbad Is... Cousins

This year we had first generation & second generation cousins. So fun seeing everyone! Trevor took to playing with the little ones the most singing to them, letting them climb on him. So encouraging to see this side of Trev man.

Carlsbad Is...Discovering

*click picture for full size

Sanctified Sounding Fighting

Well we are back home from vacationing in Carlsbad, CA. We had such a wonderful time together as a family. Praise God no one got sick this year! Pictures will be up soon.

As most of you have experienced, road trips with kids can be challenging. I was so excited when I found this site, road trip bingo for kids. But then equally bummed when we hit the road and I realized I'd forgotten to print them out. Ha, maybe next year. Well thankfully we had our Sovereign Grace Kids CD, To Be Like Jesus. If you don't have it, get it! It far surpassed my expectations. The cd is meant for kids but don't let that fool you. I find myself singing the songs throughout the day. It not only provided an hours worth of songs that we all could enjoy but some humorous moments as well. Chris would start the cd and the demanding would begin, "No, not this one, I want Peace!", and another would shout, "NO, I WANT JOY!" and then the last would scream, "NO, I WANT TO BE LIKE JESUS!"

Wow! What wonderful desires, children! Almost brought a tear to my eye... if not for the tones :)

Singing Fun

The other night Chris' twin requested that we learn this song. It was late. Real late. Hence me having no makeup on. ANYWAY, we couldn't sleep so we checked out the song, learned the song and also learned that imovie can record, nice :) It was a lot of fun! What you don't see are all the goofy outtakes that happened while trying to record.
So here ya go Scotty. Maybe if this church planting thing doesn't work out we can get a job singing in coffee shops :)

Hope everyone has a great week! We are taking our act on the road and hitting the beach :)

*song Terrified written by Jason Reeves

Meaningful Decorating

I have always enjoyed having scripture around the house. I saw this sort of thing at a friends house and was eager to use the idea in my home as well. You can use any glass frame. This particular one below is from ikea because I needed it to be cheap :) Write on with a dry erase marker and wipe off when it's time for a new verse to meditate on!


I did the same sort of thing in taylor's room. I went with the cheap frame at Ikea and realized once I got home that since it's not glass you can't just write on/wipe off. But she's enjoyed using different colored paper and I bought some stickers from the $1 rack at Michael's for her to decorate her frames with.

Grace Church Announcement

Check out Grace Church's Sunday announcement here

I'm super excited that we've moved our start date up from September. And it's not just because I'm currently hosting this 50+ people church in my house every week :) Continue to pray for us as we gear up towards our "official" launch date. There's still a lot to get done!

9 Years

I can't let 9 years of marriage go by without acknowledging what a blessed women I am. It has been amazing to watch the Love of my life grow as a loving, faithful, caring husband. A father who leads his children gently and makes them laugh like no one else. And finally as a church planter, who although is being stretched in ways like never before, has his eyes on His father who is leading Him through each and every step of the way. Even though you are incredibly busy you have never sacrificed pouring into our marriage and making time for us to grow together as a couple! What beautiful fruit we reap because of this.

I love you babe. You are my best friend. There is no one I'd rather be walking through this adventure with.

*picture was taken a few days before our engagement at a New Years Eve Party back in 99' : )

Summer Sandwich

I love Trader Joe's. Living near a Trader Joe's was a must for me when looking at homes. People will often ask me what I get there. Oh the plethora of options :) Orange Chicken, hummus, tortillas & low-fat mexican cheese, organic frozen vegetables, specialty jams, peanut butter cups, the list goes on.

Well here's a delicious summer sandwich you can make using all Trader Joe's ingredients. I took pictures of each item in case you aren't familiar with the store.

First off you need some fresh tomatoes & basil leaves. Ok these you can get anywhere but it's a one stop shop for this dinner for me.

Pick up some roasted red peppers:

Some cheese. Here's my favorite:


Pile the above onto their Multi-grain Sourdough bread:

Butter the baby up and throw it onto the grill or griddle for a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich!


YUM!! I think I'm gonna go make myself one for lunch!

A Summer Morning

Who needs a pool when you've got these:







What day in the sun would be complete without these? I think otter pops have become apart of the food pyramid in our household :)