Great is Thy Faithfulness

What a wonderful weekend!!  On Thursday we headed back down to Redding to celebrate the marriage of David's brother Benjamin and his beautiful fiance Melissa.  It was such a joyous and blessed time!  What a privilege it was to watch the Lord work in their lives, bringing them together and bringing glory to Himself through them. 

Lydia and Melissa's niece, Aleah.  New buddies!

The bride with her sisters and future sisters!

All the nieces and nephews! 

Delicious cake balls!

Good-bye Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin King!

It truly was a beautiful day!  I was incredibly blessed to get to know the Brink and extended family.  I felt like I was saying  good-bye to my own family when it was over. 

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!  Praise the Lord for proving once again that not only can He be trusted, but that His plans are far superior to anything we could ask or imagine!

You guessed it.....

I've been too busy to blog!!!!  It's always crazy when these times roll around but with gardening, canning, freezing, youth council retreat, wedding trip planning and daily life, my blog has been pushed decidedly to the back burner.

Please don't go too far!  I'm   l o n g i n g  for September 27 when I'm planning on officially starting our fall schedule (of course I don't know how I'm going to hold off next week!).  Blogging is on the schedule!  You will see more of me!  Until then (or sooner!) if you're a summer lover, drink up those last few rays of sunshine, if you're like me, light a pumpkin spice candle and dream of fall!

The best days of all, Daddy Days!!!

This summer has been crazy!  Really, really crazy!  But a couple of weekends ago Daddy decided to take the whole day and take his girls to the coast.  Nothing gets the five girls in this house excited like the idea of spending the whole day with Daddy!

Our first stop was Regatta Park.  I had been here as a little girl, but had forgotten all about it.  This is a really cool place!

This is only about 1/2 of the play structure!

Lydia and Bethany had a blast exploring all of the different things to climb, jump on, slide on etc..

Havilah was a little less than thrilled at not being able to swing the whole time, but still had fun watching her sisters.  "Swing now?"

The rubber bridge cheered her up a little!

The big girls however, never ran out of new things to try!

Finally, Havi got to swing!

Our next stop was the beach!  It was a little windy, but overall a gorgeous day!

"What's the hole for Daddy?"

Havi is the first one planted!

What pretty little flowers!

Lydia LOVED the ocean and would have chased waves all day long!

Bethany however, much preferred to keep her distance!

We went on south to Newport and checked out the wharf.

And of course the sea lions!

And of course, Mo's!

Waiting for food!

Mmmmm! Clam chowder!

Ella enjoyed her crackers!

On our way out of town we had time for one last stop. Salt Water Taffy!!!!!!!

Thank you Daddy for such a wonderful day!!!  It will be remembered for a very long time! We all love you!!!!!

Our Days

Psalm 90: 12~ So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

I know for myself as a mom, I have the tendency to be swept into two different pitfalls.  I swing from feeling trapped in each day, as if the crying will never stop, the laundry pile will never disappear and the stinky diaper smell will never dissipate to feeling like life is speeding past me with such ferocity that I go into panic mode.  Amazing isn't it, how when we lose focus of what we are called to, life has an uncanny way of falling completely to pieces.  What is our focus?  What are we preparing for every day that we are here on this earth?

Eternity.

How hard headed we are, to be so consumed with our material lives that we completely miss the point of it all.  This world is not our home.  One day, possibly much sooner than we would dream, we will standing before our King.  How ashamed I will be of all of the wasted time I spent feeling discontent, angry, envious, irritable, impatient, grumpy, lazy, unappreciative and many other things that I choose to let into my life on a daily basis.  How clearly I will see how what I look at now as "so important" is nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

So how do I number my days?

For me, first I must realize that not only is every day a gift, but it is also a fleeting opportunity.  If I look at every dish washed, every nose wiped, every sleepless night as merely an intrusion on the plans I have set up for my life, I will completely miss the beauty of the eternal perspective.

When I choose  to see each mundane, tiring or frustrating event that comes my way as an opportunity to give glory to God by working whole-heartedly and and thinking joyfully, I am choosing to cash in on a limited amount of moments I have to say " I know that there is more to this life than living it for my own pleasures."

Life is fleeting.  We were all reminded of that in a very real way once again this week.  Pray for the Lord to teach us to number our days.  Then, the Bible says, we will gain a heart of wisdom.  And that is what we need!  He is the one who knows the number of our days.  And He is the one who knows how we should live them! 

But please no anchovies!

I'm really not a very picky eater.  There are a few things however that I feel very strongly about.  Pizza crust is one of those.  I either love it or I hate really really don't care for it.  Making homemade pizza for me was fraught with disappointment.  As I would chew that pizza fresh from the oven that smelled so good, one thing would be going through my mind.  Cardboard. 

A few weeks ago though, I found a recipe that changed my pizza making days forever!  This recipe is easy, chewy, moist and delicious!  Here's how it goes.

Mix 3 cups warm water with  1 1/2 Tbl. yeast and let sit for a few minutes.  Add 4 tsp. salt and 6 1/2 cups flour.

This next step is one of the most important, so pay good attention!  Remove all rings!!!  Enthusiastically smoosh and squash the dough until it is thoroughly mixed.

It will be sticky!!!

Cover and let rise for 2 hours.

This is what it will look like.

After rising, punch dough down and either use immediately or cover and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks!  To use refrigerated dough, let rise 20 min. before forming.  This amount of dough makes about 2 pizzas.  Roll dough out on a greased pizza tray or cookie sheet.  Make dough thicker around the edges for a thick and chewy crust or tuck string cheese around the edge for a yummy filled crust!

One of the best things about things about pizza making is that there are multiple jobs that even the smallest willing hands can master with great success!

This pizza was just a classic.  Just a bit of spaghetti sauce spread on the dough, sprinkled with a light covering of mozz. cheese, topped with pepperoni and olives and then finished with more cheese, a bit of parmesan and a dash of Italian seasoning.

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

Mmmmmm! So good!

Pizza night has been an especially fun part of our week.  We've tried out many different variations and are excited to experiment some more.  Remember to take advantage of these times to have some real family fun and use those tiny willing hands!