renniebird... 22 months {instagram}

easy overnight fruit yogurt recipe

Sunday morning meals are a challenge for both Andrew and me.  We get up early enough that we aren't rushed getting to church, but we just tend to forget to eat.  :-P  Now that we have an always-hungry toddler, we've been reminded what a big deal breakfast is.  One simple solution I've found (that doesn't require dirtying a pan like eggs do and is also a better source of protein than cereal) is Greek yogurt!  I like to avoid a bunch of sugar, so here is the super easy, make-ahead version of berry yogurt I make on Saturday nights for us to enjoy in the morning!  Andrew and Rennie both love it!  I also made it for some family members and now they make it as well.  :-D

crazy old days... lake michigan adventure

My mother is an adventurer.  And she reeeeeeaaaally loves spur-of-the-moment excursions.  Hence a random trip on a Monday evening to the Indiana Dunes to watch the sun set over Lake Michigan.  <3  While my introverted, planned-out nature doesn't always keep up with her so well, I'm very thankful for these sweet times.  She definitely brings out the adventure in me.

Sometimes I can feel like a dandelion whose seeds have been blown to smithereens and left a plain, strange stem.  Not much to offer.  Nothing special.  But today my daughter picked several of them, dubbing them flowers like the rest, to present to loved ones.  How marvelous that it just takes eyes of love for something small and ugly to become valuable and beautiful.  Jesus loves me (and all of us) just that much.  He sees our hearts of sin and extends His grace.  He presents us before God, a treasure.  But He also takes it a step further by pulsing new life into us so we can grow and thrive and LIVE.  He makes an army from dry bones and beauty from dying weeds.

--- my instagram

family pictures... and i'm going to be an aunt!!!

A couple months ago (I know... I'm really late sharing!) my family had some *amazing* pictures taken by a friend!  I'm so excited to be sharing them along with the news that my sister, Jessie, and her husband have a little one on the way!!!  She is almost halfway through her pregnancy now (due in November!) and I am over-the-moon excited to meet my FIRST niece or nephew this autumn!  Pretty thrilled for Rennie to have a cousin too.  <3

So, here are my very favorite shots (there are quite a few):

sisters!