Friends in California

Okay, so if anyone still cares about our trip to California, here's a little shout out to a few of the friends we saw...

Cayce is a sweet friend from college who I've been keeping in touch with via our blogs.  She's married to Jeremy (also a Biola alum) and has two beautiful boys.  

It was great to talk about motherhood, food and God together.  We had a nice morning hanging out at their place in Santa Cruz.  

Gina, who is married to Luke's cousin David and is therefore also family, is one of my dearest friends.  

Kara is her scrumptuous third-born and she really bonded with Noelle.  

Joseph and Elena are about the same age as our two and the kids always seem to have fun when they get together.

We also had the special treat of seeing other Biola friends, Michele and Debbie, and their kiddos.  It was so nice to see them again!

We really didn't get pictures of everyone we saw, but I'm going to blame it on post-partum memory loss.  I'm always forgetting to bring my camera, and then when I do, I forget to take it out and use it!  

(And someone put a sticker on my chart 'cause I finally figured out how to post more than 5 pictures!!!)

Giving Thanks

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration this year.  Though none of our family was able to join us, we were glad that a few friends from our church did.  We did it potluck style - totally the way to go for Thanksgiving, btw.  More great food, much less stress.  If I never have to cook a complete meal myself, I'll consider it a major life accomplishment.    

We read Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation, prayed, shared what we were grateful for, played a game, talked and watch football, and ended the evening around 10:30pm.  It was great.  

Leah and John chowed on the brined, organic, grassfed ("and expensive," reminds Luke) turkey.  And we - by "we" I mean "Luke" - finally put together the acacia wood picnic table from Ikea.  The kids loved it!

Our friends:  Sarah and Luke Goodrich (Shalom and Baby Naomi were napping), me and Luke, Doug and Andrea Stevens (with Baby Noah), Scott and Amy Herbert, and (not pictured) our lovely housemates John, Kristi, and Baby Jack Stofer.  

Amy is uber-creative (literally - she has German roots) and brought a turkey sculpted out of raw veggies.  She can make anything.  She's amazing.

And because it wouldn't be a Thanksgiving blog entry without a recipe, I'll share my favorite this year.

Cranberry Chutney

(tweaked from Shalali's recipe at www.pintsizedfarm.com)

3 c. organic cranberries (regular are grown with lots of pesticides)

1/2 c. pecans

1/2 c. sucanat or rapadura sugar

2 t. sea salt

1/4 c. whey (drained from kefir or yogurt)

1/2 c. orange juice

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. cloves

1/2 c. soaked raisins

Mix above ingredients and lightly pulse in food processor.  Let sit at room temperature for about 48 hours (or according to taste) and then refrigerate.  This is a true chutney because of the fermentation process and not only tastes great, but helps with digestion.  And we all know we can use a little digestive help during the Thanksgiving glut-fest.  

Leah and Elena

One of the highlights of visiting California this July was reconnecting Leah with her cousin Elena (daughter of David, Luke's cousin, and Gina, my good friend).



From the moment they saw each other, they stripped down and dressed up, with all the giddiness that 4 year old girls will.


And they had the memorable privilege of being flower girls together in cousin Annie's wedding.


Despite the occasional dispute over some pink plastic thing, they got along quite well and really enjoyed each other's company.

May God continue to grow their friendship across the miles and over the years.