Ella Taylor, E L E V E N

It's always an exciting morning when it's somebody's birthday! We started off with early morning present opening while the cinnamon rolls were in the oven. Ella has been working hard at volleyball and wants to make the middle school team this fall. She received, from Jake & I, a Tachikara volleyball and registration to a volleyball tryout prep came in July. She is super excited.

After her pick of homemade cinnamon rolls, they all headed to school.  We did tell Ella she was allowed to skip school today on her birthday, but she decided that she wanted to go to school and see her friends.  

After school we headed to the sand volleyball court to play. Some friends met us there.  Ella's friend, Haven ended up joining us for the birthday dinner at Bdoba.

The night before her birthday, Ella created her own birthday cake.  This is so fun when the kids start making their own cake. Ella recently watched a kids baking show and she wanted to try making a pattern inside the cake. She made a vanilla cake, with a blue dotted pattern, homemade peanut butter frosting and topped with crushed Oreo's. It smelled so good that we decided to taste test it Tuesday night. You can never start celebrating too early!

 Happy 11th Birthday Ella Taylor!

My Employees Champions Trip 2023

We had a crazy morning of actually getting to MEXICO but we made it!  We woke up Wednesday morning at 4:30am to our first flight already cancelled out of Wilmington, therefore we would have missed our 9:30am connection in Charlotte. American Airlines rebooked us for FRIDAY. We decided to get in Jake's Jeep and drive to Charlotte. Our group was rebooked for a 1:30 flight out of Charlotte. We got on the earlier flight at 11:30 to Cancun with the other half of our group. 

The trip was May 17-23 to Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya, the all inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We went to the same resort that we have been to in 2017, 2018, 2019, and were supposed to go to in 2020. It was really fun being back! A few new options have been added at the resort but otherwise it was the same amazing experience.

My Employees Champions Trip 2023 to M E X I C O

Night 1 Dinner at Mar y Tierra (steakhouse/restaurant)

Night 2 Group Dinner at L' Alsace (French restaurant)

**Shout out to Jake - he ordered me this dress and shoes for Mexico**

We saw some amazing sunrises.

Night 3 Dinner at the Ginger Sushi Bar (Japanese restaurant)

Love this man so much!

Beach Volleyball is a fun 11am activity - a little sandy tho.

We saw some beautiful sunsets.

Night 4 Dinner at Taman Sari (Asian restaurant) 

Night 5 Dinner at the Ginger Sushi Bar (Japanese restaurant)

A resort bike tour on Monday morning followed by a couples massage at the on site resort spa. 

Night 6 Dinner at La Hacienda (Mexican restaurant)

The Mexican Fair at Plaza Espana

It was so great to getaway, but we were ready to squeeze our kids.  THANK YOU, to My Employees and Dave Long for an amazing week in Mexico. I am so proud of Jake for working so hard! What a gift it is to get away on these yearly trips with Jake's work. We are so incredibly thankful.

Mother's Day 2023

Our weekend started off with a Spring Carnival at the kid's school on Friday evening. Each of our kids wanted to do the cake walk and each of them won a cake! To say that a lot of cake was eaten over the weekend is a complete understatement. After the carnival we headed out to Surf City for the weekend. We enjoyed a lot of bike rides, beach time, surfing, walks, paddle boarding & exploring - and of course cake. We hit our local favorite - Shaka Taco for Mother's Day lunch.

So thankful these 4 call me MOM.

Beach House Ministry Update

Remember back HERE, when we shared our vision for the beach house?  We are still pursuing that original vision of using our beach house as a ministry to fellow foster parents & social workers. This past fall we had many meetings and conversations, as well as spending time in prayer, regarding how to start this ministry.  Jake & I decided to partner with Restored Souls Foundation. They are a local nonprofit that come alongside of foster parents in many creative ways including Vacation for a Cause and Parents Night Out. In January, an email was sent out from RSF inviting foster parents, from The Bridge Church, to book a Couples Getaway at our beach house.  

Having been involved with foster care since 2014, we know there can be times as foster parents that can be stressful to foster parents. We have personally seen the need and benefit to getting away as a couple. We hope each couple can use these nights away to unwind, recharge, reset and regroup as a couple. We’re praying that these nights away will allow them to return to their family ready to do the task God has called them to.

Currently, we have hosted two couple's getaways and they have been a success. We are excited to see how God continues to grow this ministry.