September flew by entirely too fast and was utterly amazing. Some of the many highlights from a beautiful month (and my LAST month in my 30s, yikes).

“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. This is when I pause my usual recipe content, and take time to share our family’s favorite moments from the month!

Here are some highlights from September 2025!

Recipes I’m Making on Repeat

Here are some recipes I made for my family this month:

Edible cookie dough – because sometimes you just need it!

Cottage cheese pancakes – my breakfast of choice for quite some time now. I made a quadruple batch and freeze.

Best Homemade Brownies – irresistibly fudgy and chocolatey.

Pumpkin muffins – tis the season. So moist.

Things I’m Loving

Here are my  favorite things for September. You can find my favorite things for home, beauty, etc. in my Shopmy storefront or my amazon storefront.

1. ​2 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop. Another baking staple to make all my favorite cookie recipes this fall and for the holidays. This is the one I have from WS. ​
2. ​Comfy Crop Wide Leg Jeans. I love, love, love these pants. They’re stretchy and the perfect brown to match everything!
3. ​Comfy Denim Shirt. I wore this on the airplane when I took a trip with my daughter and it’s so comfy. It has an oversized fit but still so cute. Can wear this denim shirt with any pants this fall (I wore it with these wide leg comfy pants for travel).
4. ​Woven Ballet Flats. USE CODE JOYFOODSUNSHINE10 for 10% off! I wore these shoes almost daily last fall/winter. There are so many beautiful colors and they are comfortable straight from the box. 10/10 recommend. ​
5. ​Fall Hand Towels. We finally moved back into our kitchen (YAY – more details to come soon) but I threw away all our old (gross) towels and replaced them with new ones. I really love these plaid tea towels!​
6. ​Glass baking dish (with lid). Fall/winter baking staple for me. I use this to make brownies, bars, etc. A must-have. ​
7. ​Cream Cardigan. I sized up (I’m usually a size S but I ordered a M here for an oversized fit) and I LOVE it! Perfect neutral to match any pants this fall. ​
8. ​Alo Recovery Slippers. Fun fact, I wear slippers 24/7/365. I’ve tried every brand under the sun to find a great slipper, and these are my favorites. I’m a little disappointed because the price has increased quite a bit since I first bought them (I’ve worn through 2 pairs already over the past 2 years because I wear them every day), but they’re actually worth it. They’re lightweight and comfortable.

NEW September Recipes!

Here’s a recap of the brand new recipes I shared this month!

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread – moist and delicious. Plus chocolate!
• Apple Salad – fresh and delicious!
• Breakfast Tacos – I definitely make them for dinner more than breakfast but so good.
• Bacon Wrapped Green Beans – a delicious and impressive side dish
• Coconut flour chocolate chip cookies – for my gluten free friends.
• Baked Mostaccioli – classic, cozy, easy.
• Banana Crumb Muffins – who doesn’t love a crumb topped, bakery-quality muffin?
• Ground Beef Tortellini. A 20 minute dinner perfect for busy weeknights.

Snapshots

We truly had the best month. It kicked off with me and Naomi going on a trip to Disneyland.

We let each of our kids go on a special trip when they turn 10, and Naomi chose Disney! Neither one of us had ever been to Disneyland and we had a blast.

We landed in CA on Sunday, rented a car and went to the Huntington beach. She got to see a busy beach town (much different than our favorite beach that we visit often), we went on a long walk and she found a sand dollar! Then, we drove to Disneyland!

We were in the parks for 3 days and really went hard from sunup to sundown. We rope dropped early and stayed until close to 11 PM. Every day we rode every ride with very little waiting (thanks to lightening lane and early admission). Our word was “rally” – we’d say, “Come on let’s rally and after a delicious snack and a brief rest we’d get a second (and third, and sixth) wind.

Her favorite was Star Wars land, and we rode the millennium falcon ride at least 10 times a day since it was her favorite. Naomi was the sweetest travel companion. I had to work a bit to get her to assert her own opinions because she is always just so happy everywhere she goes she doesn’t have strong ones.

One thing that made me smile was how much she loved the characters. I didn’t expect hunting down characters would be a big part of this trip but she really loved it and it was the sweetest.

I’m so happy I got to spend this special time with her!

Bethany’s volleyball season is still in full swing and she’s loving it. Z misses her (we all do), but she’s doing so well in school. We all went to the away game at East high – where they filmed high school musical – because the kids just had to go! 🙂

We have spent almost all our free time hiking. It is so beautiful and the weather is so perfect.

Favorite SLC area hikes:

📍Primrose Overlook via Horseflat Trail – 3.3 miles, 830 ft. elevation gain. Moderate. 

📍 Bell Canyon Trail (Reservoir) – 1.5 miles, 460 ft. elevation gain. Easy – fun to climb on rocks or throw them into the lake. 

📍 Burch Hollow Trail to Pipleline Trail Millcreek – 4 miles, 800 ft. elevation gain. Easy out and back – we hike until we want to turn around. It’s flat and fun and easy for kids. 

📍 Willow Lake Trail: 2.5 miles, 629 ft elevation gain. Easy and flat. 

📍 Stewart Falls – 3.5 miles, 650 ft. elevation gain. Moderate/easy out and back with beautiful waterfall. 

📍 Silver Lake Trail: 0.9 miles, 55 ft elevation gain. It’s like a walk in the mountains.

B had her first homecoming dance. It was so fun to see her so happy getting ready and going with some friends!

Healing in the Lord

It has been a while since I’ve posted a meaningful life and ministry update. It has been one year since we moved into our building (that took 5 years to find, secure and renovate) and the Lord has blessed us richly.

If you were here and along for the journey a couple years ago – we experienced some deep betrayal and hurt from within the church. I believe the enemy was doing everything in his power to stop us from putting down christian roots in this valley (the building) – but he did not succeed.

The Psalms were balm for my soul – places like Psalm 41, 52, and 55 gave me comfort. The fact that God allowed David’s raw emotions and wishes for the evildoers in his life during his darkest seasons to be recorded in scripture helped me feel the love and Grace God shows us in our time of need.

Well, I led our church’s women’s retreat this month. I am a major introvert and retreats aren’t my cup of tea (pun intended – see below), but I knew God was calling me to do it. The day before the retreat I was under pretty considerable spiritual attack as a result of a handful of things, one of which being people doing peopley things again.

So, Ritch took the kids to co-op so I could have some time to prepare my heart and mind before the retreat (I also went on a long solo hike which was amazing). I was sitting at my desk preparing to speak on the Proverbs 31 woman, and my friend and mentor Lois called me (whom I haven’t spoken to on the phone for many years). If anyone else had called me in that moment, I probably would not have answered the phone (to be honest I rarely answer my phone haha). But she did, and I did.

She told me the Holy Sprit put it on her heart to call me and when she asked me how I was doing my eyes filled with tears and I told her raw, and honestly, exactly what happened the day before and exactly what I was thinking and feeling (the no filter version).

Then, after sharing some wisdom, she read her devotional to me from that morning (read below). It literally spoke directly to my soul. “His process can be slow, but His work is thorough. He heals completely.”

I have felt unseen and unprotected by the Lord during our time in ministry in Utah, especially in the last two years. I felt like my Defender did not step in to act when I needed Him and it made me feel angry and unloved. However, on this day – the Lord, through Lois, said I am with you and I see you.

Every second of our conversations was God’s love pouring out on me from Him through her. It was His way of saying, “I see what they’re doing and it’s not of me and I am with you.” Through Lois He said, “I am your defender, I’ve seen your trauma – use it to speak MY presence into the wounded places of others, I love you, and I will continue to heal you.”

So, I went to the retreat full. Grateful the Lord spoke so directly to my heart and soul through someone I love so much.

The retreat was beautiful and I kept looking around feeling so blessed to have these women in my life. Thank you Lord, for the pruning so sweet fruit could grow.

There was a moment when I was making a craft on the retreat – something I haven’t done in over a decade because I’m not crafty and because there always seemed to be a negative spirit around craft time that I avoided – and I looked at my friend who was also making one and said, “look at us, healing – one craft at a time!” We laughed together but it was such a significant moment for me that I will cherish this cute little teacup candle forever.

How was your September? I hope it was amazing.