Five On Friday: A Full House & A Puppy Birthday

Happy Friday, friends! This was our official first week of summer.  Even though some last minute family staying with us (see below) made the week look a little different than we had planned, it was a fun weekend/week and we couldn’t be happier to have a break from work.

This last weekend, Jordan and I headed to good ol’ Carthage, MO for Jordan’s annual family reunion.  Jordan’s grandpa is one of 11 siblings, and the descendants of each family gather in Missouri each year to catch up and celebrate all the ways God has grown their family in the last 100 years.  The descendants of those 11 siblings add up to over 400 people, which is CRAZY! I’m grateful to be a part of this big, crazy family.  Anyway…on to a few favorites and updates from this week!

1) A Full House

After we went to Jordan’s family reunion, Jordan’s cousin, her husband, and their three little girls came to stay with us for a few days before heading to Colorado for another family reunion.  Their girls are 5, 3, and 8 months, and are about as sweet as can be.  We had a lot of fun hosting them, and our house was a much cuter, snugglier, and louder place to be this week.  It was definitely a glimpse of what having a couple kiddos will look like, and it made me very, very grateful that you usually just start off with one tiny baby who can’t move all that much for a few months.

2) Making Some “Cute” Desserts

Like I shared on Instagram this week, I have always been kind of jealous of girls who can make super cutesy little desserts that are colorful, beautiful, AND delicious.  I can make a mean pan of brownies, but usually eat them before they can be beautified and made picture perfect.  But y’all, I was pretty dang proud of these mini fruit tarts I made for a women’s dessert night at my church.  There is cute dessert hope for me yet, friends! Check out the recipe for these mini fruit tarts over at Summer Scraps!

3) Good Books

I reread a great book this week called Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet by Sara Hagerty.  Sara describes beautifully her journey of fighting for her marriage, her journey with infertility, and how God ultimately led her and her husband to adopt four little ones from Africa.  She’s a former Young Life leader too, so for that and a few other reasons I really connected with many parts of her story.  I found myself bawling at her descriptions of how she discovered that God loves her and is good to her for who she is, not for what she can do for Him.  Seriously, y’all…so good.  You need to read it or check out her blog!

4) A Puppy Birthday

This little lady turns one this week! I can’t believe it was almost a year ago that we adopted her.  Olive is the best thing to happen to our family yet, and adopting her has made me a better human.  Check out this post for more stories and cute pics about how we brought this little lady into our family! Happy birthday, Olive.  My heart is so much fuller with you in our home!

5) Reminders That I’m An Introvert

I love people and time with people, but this week was such a reminder how much of an introvert I am.  I found myself setting early alarms just so I could wake up and have some time to myself to drink coffee, journal, and work on blog stuff.  I have a feeling that I will really wrestle with this when we have kids and will have to do my best to carve out margins and space where I can recharge (Moms, I’m sure you are laughing at the idea that I’ll have any time to myself.  But a girl can hope, right?).  But this week, it was pretty fun to have interruptions and extra “help” from little ones who want to help me take pictures for my post on how to use packing cubes.  Thanks for the support, little miss Angela.  You make for a lovely model!

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you are soaking in summer and have a wonderful, firework and joy filled Fourth of July!

Head over to  A. Liz Adventures, Fitting It All In, Life in Leggings, Grace and Love Blog, Momfessionals Friday Favorites, and Running 4 Cupcakes for more Friday favorites!