June books

 Here are the books that I read this month (some as a family):

We finally finished the Harry Potter series with the Deathly Hallows. We started this series as a family back in 2019. We always tackled one in the summer. Either I would read aloud or we would do an audible book. We loved these stories and always made a goal of watching the movie as soon as each book was finished. Rowling’s imagination is absolutely incredible!

Years ago I had read the series of “the #1 ladies detective agency”, taking place in Botswana. This book starts a new series with a new author and detective. It’s reminiscent of the first series that I loved, but with its own characters and twists. It focuses on

multiple murders related to a local Botswana diamond company. It has a sense of an African Columbo where at times you as the reader know who did it and then watch the detective figure it out, and others where you are finding clues together. I’m excited to read the next one!

This book takes place in the English countryside in the 1960’s. It a mix of romance, fictional memoir, a murder mystery with a twist, navigating loss and family relationships, and characters developed in such a thorough and beautiful way. I would absolutely recommend it!

VBS 2025

 We got to serve as a family, at our church’s Vacation Bible School this last week. Kit did the bible story station, Eden did crafts, Ryder did recreation and games and I was on the hospitality team and “camp nurse”. 

It was a really sweet week!

It’s a love/hate relationship…

 This is usually the month of all my doctors appointments and screenings. I absolutely love my doctors and the access to the healthcare that I have, even if I honestly hate the actual testing, I am so grateful. As someone who was an oncology nurse eons ago, it’s SO important! It can absolutely be life saving.

like old times…

 When we first moved to Tustin, the kids were 2 and 3, and we were living in a DIY home renovation. I loved finding little adventures for us like local parks and beach spots and kid friendly play gyms. One of the spots we frequented was Ikea in Costa Mesa. We would eat breakfast for a couple bucks, and they would play in the play area where the food was. I’d get a free coffee with being an Ikea family member. They’d go through the children’s area and when they’d get tired, I’d load them in my jogger with snacks and leave with things like tea lights, paper napkins, and rolls of craft paper. It was such a sweet and simple outing. Fast forward to current day. With Eden recovering from her concussion, we would choose one outing per day, keeping it low key. We chose Ikea last week and had such as sweet time.

She had a dream of someday living in London, and we kept looking through the spots for how she might decorate a future flat. It was really sweet dreaming…

Times have changed from that tired mom with two babies and strollers and snacks, but the time together was still so sweet!

Mother and Daughter Tea 2025

 This last Sunday, we got to go to our close friend Brookie’s house for our annual mother/daughter tea! It’s ALWAYS magical! Our first tea in 2012:

And here we are this year! I wish I could capture every detail…

What a beautiful tradition this and what an honor it is to be included all these years!!! We love you Brookie!

Cheering our Jonesy on!

 Last Friday night, we got to cheer our dear friend Brian on as he and his band rocked the night away! We also got to see some of our sweet friends from college and that was just the best!

He is our favorite lead guitarist, hands down!!! We can’t wait for next time!

Ryder’s Father’s Day Prayer

 I had shared that Ryder had written a prayer for all the Dads on Father's Day. I received these pictures and thought I’d love to save it in this space:

Dear Jesus, Thank You for the gift of dads. Thank you for their strength, wisdom, and steady love for the people around them. Today, we lift them up in gratitude. Bless them with peace, joy, and strength in their hearts. Remind them that their love reflects Yours, and that their efforts matter deeply. Holy Spirt, would you surround them in Your grace and guide them as they lead, love, and serve you and the people in their lives . In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Sweet messages…

 Someone put these all over our hospital…

 It’s sweet to see them and know that the message of them is true…

grand opening

 On June 9, a new Mac Donald’s opened around the corner from our house. it seems like such a silly thing, but our family was so excited about it. We went on opening day.  Kit actually said, “We’ll take our grandkids here for ice cream cones and tell them we were here the day it opened!” His enthusiasm was pretty sweet, especially since it’s not a place we go, hardly at all. 

We were laughing so hard at how excited Kit was to be there on opening day!

We went after a long day and looked rough, but we’re excited to say that we were there.

Celebrating Kit’s birthday!

 Kit’s birthday is the 16th, and very often bumps up to Father’s Day. It just gives us even more reason to celebrate our favorite guy! Kit requested to make a Korean short rib feast to use his Blackstone and grill. So as a family we made a trip to the Korean market, Zion, in Irvine. We got some fun snacks for the kids that they LOVED!

We had so much fun shopping. So we decided to make his birthday meal on Sunday, Father’s Day, after church. Even simple packages like edamame took me a minute:

Cooking while taking to his dad…

Feast!

Then on his actual birthday, we got to celebrate with our tradition of doughnuts and coffee.

Kit wanted to drive up a recently opened off-road trail to have a picnic at the top of Santiago Peak. We grabbed Jersey Mikes and headed up for sunset. What we didn’t know was that SpaceX would be launching a rocket to release over 20 satellites. It was an incredible sight to see!!! The kids also did affirmations and said the absolute sweetest things: Eden said Kit set the bar further what a real man should be and Ryder said how much he loved him, valued his opinion and that he was one of his best friends.