Moments 06.2019 JoyFoodSunshine

I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of all the shenanigans that went down in crazy town (i.e. our life in a nutshell).  So here it is for June 2019!

Recipe love:

Here are a few must-share recipes from the month of June from my favorite spots around the web!

From-Scratch Fresh Strawberry Cake from House Of Yumm {So fresh & sweet}!

Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs from Cooking Classy {Love grilled pineapple}!

Angel Food Cake from Kitchen McCabe {Summer perfection}!

Caramelized Onion Frittata from Modern Proper {Looks SO good}!

New Recipe Videos

Here are the videos we produced for you in June! More to come in July!

Dirt Cake

Homemade Popsicles 

Homemade Basil Pesto

The BEST Fudgy Homemade Brownies

Burrata Salad

A few of my favorite things…

Here are a few products I have used over and over again in June!

Bar Keeper’s Friend Cleaner

Ok people I LOVE THIS STUFF! We have a white composite sink in our new kitchen and it was starting to get stained. So much so that when our neighbors came over to check out our house I was embarrassed for them to see it! I asked her if she had the same sink and if so how she cleaned it and she said, “Bar Keeper’s Friend!” 

We have some on hand because we use it to clean our oven and pots and pans and it restores them to looking brand new! However I never thought to use it on the sink! Well it worked PERFECTLY and our sink looks just like it should, brand new! 🙂 I highly recommend it! It seriously gets rust/burned on food off of our pots and pans and oven and makes them sparkle!

 

Large serving platter with handles 

I LOVE this serving platter! I found it on clearance (for $13) at Crate and Barrel and it’s still available online! It’s technically a “noodle bowl” but I used it to make this Burrata Salad. It’s perfect to serve just about anything on! 

Salad Servers

Tis the season for salads! I LOVE these salad servers! They are only $10 and are absolutely gorgeous! Plus they are big enough to get a hefty serving of salad with every scoop! 

Life with my tribe

I feel like June flew by at lightening speed! We had so much fun and got a ton done at the new house! 

However, this month was a tricky mix of joy and tears. One of my most cherished friends and mentors found out her daughter had cancer. We had just Facetimed her and her husband (of one year) and listened as they shared their love for the Kurdish people and their plans to become long-term missionaries overseas. Two days later we got the call that she had cancer. It gutted me for many reasons, but we told our kids and have prayed for her every day since. 

God answered so many prayers for our friends, and it has been an amazing time to teach our kids about His faithfulness even in trials. During this time I had what I thought was a clogged duct from nursing. It persisted for weeks and I decided I needed to get it checked. After what happened with our friend I owed it to my kids to not let it go if it was something serious. 

I had to get a 3D mammogram and ultrasound and they determined everything was OK. But those few weeks were mentally very difficult for me. I kept looking at my beautiful babies and thinking, “Half of my kids wouldn’t remember me if I died today.” I know that is a morbid thought, but the fear of death is something I struggle with even though I’m saved. However it did help me put a lot of things into perspective and focus on what truly matters in this life. The lump subsided and all the test showed I was in the clear, and I’m grateful for how it made me reflect on our lives right now and prioritize. 

Summer Fun!

We kicked off the month going to a fair in our town! It has been the coldest and rainiest June since we moved to Utah 6 years ago. So we went to the pool whenever we could (even in less-than-ideal weather), and also enjoyed the zoo! All the kids LOVE the pool, and Mara and Naomi just look too stinking cute in their little puddle jumpers and goggles! 

Keilah is 4 months old!

My baby girl turned 4 months old! She is our sweet and spicy baby. It’s so easy to make her smile, but you really have to work to keep her from crying (if that makes sense). She still doesn’t like being put down, and is held by someone most of the day (usually me and then Bethany comes in at a close second)!

Something unique that Keilah does is try to sit up. Literally she looks like she’s doing crunches! When I lay her on her back she lifts her head and feet off of it like she’s trying to sit upright on her own. We’re woking on teaching her to roll over, but she doesn’t have a lot of interest in that! 

She is still a great sleeping and clearly is nursing well enough to be at the 90th percentile for weight! I love me some cute chunky baby thighs!

This month she went on her first hike and we traveled for the first time since she was born! She did so great and slept in the pack ‘n play for the first time like a champ! I seriously just love her. That’s all!

Mara

Mara is coming into her own even more. She still is giving us the “stone face” every time we say or do something she isn’t fully on board with. She also started using the term “for 5 hours” every time she’s upset about something… “Naomi took my boodle (code for caboodle) for 5 hours!” “Need my lovie 5 hours!” It’s honestly hilarious and I have no idea where she got it from!

“Where are you?!

Ok I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this about Mara yet in my moments posts! She sings this song alllll the time. It’s some super strange kids show that my mom showed the kids when she was in town when Keilah was born…and they LOVE IT. I can’t tell you why, but these people know what kids like lol! 

So, Mara constantly starts singing this song and inserts our names into it like this, 

“Daddy dear, daddy dear, where are you?!”

Then whoever she names has to reply and say “where they are.” like this, 

“Here I am, here I am, eating lunch with you!” 

When we drive in the car Mara sings it and just goes down the list of people in our family. She expects everyone to sing their responses back and we all comply. It’s so cute and sweet and makes her so happy!

 

 

Deer Valley

My friends at Deer Valley Resort planned a little staycation for our family. I’ll be doing an entire post on our stay soon, but I thought I’d share more personal stories here!

This was Mara’s first time traveling that she can remember, and she didn’t totally get it. At one point I told her to go put her lovey in her bed. She walked all over the hotel room saying, “Mommy, I can’t find my bed. Where’s my bed?” Finally I realized she was looking for her own bed from home! LOL! Too cute!

We started our trip with a relaxing “hike” around Silver Lake! Then we had a fun day eating lunch, swimming in the hotel pool and going out to dinner. 

The next day we rode the lifts and hiked around, enjoyed more delicious meals, and a concert in the park. Then we went downtown Park City for ice cream and my kids found a little stage where they had a BLAST putting on their own show! 

The last day we rode the lift and hiked again, then went to lunch and went home for nap time! It was the perfect little getaway for our family, and a great break from all the house projects going on right now!

Sweet moments

Here are a few snapshots from June. Gabe fell asleep reading on the couch still holding his book, it was SO CUTE I had to get a pic! We celebrated Father’s Day with some grilling and edible cookie dough! Ritch took Gabe on a daddy-son date and we just had a fun month! 

Recipes I’m Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in June!

The BEST banana bread!

Homemade Mac & Cheese

Healthy Chicken Pot Pie

Healthy Balsamic Vinaigrette 

IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING FROM JOYFOODSUNSHINE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS! DON’T FORGET TO RATE THIS RECIPE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! ALSO, FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK ,YOUTUBE AND TWITTER FOR MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION AND A GLIMPSE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIFE!