june highlights.

June was a beautiful month in many ways for me. I finished my second year of teaching (gasp!), I was able to spend time with my whole family and got to spend Father's Day with my daddy.

Here are the other highlights from June:

• My high school friend, Adam, married his beautiful bride, Caroline. The ceremony was sweet and beautiful and Adam cried the entire time. It was awesome.
• Celebrated Stephen's 24th birthday. We had dinner together and I ordered him an ice cream cake. He insisted on taking a video of me singing happy birthday to him- thankfully shortly after it was deleted haha. 
• Stephen's momma came to visit us in Big D! She had been trying to plan a trip all year and we finally made it happen. It was so great to have her here for a few days. 

Not pictured:

• Katelyn and I's trip to Italy!!! I couldn't include our trip to Italy as only a highlight. Italy posts are soon to come!

I am very thankful for this season of rest, recharging and relaxing.

family vacation. austin, tx.

Lake Travis

The older I get the more grateful I am when all my family gets to be together in the same place at the same time. Because it happens rarely these days with my family spread out in four different cities and two different states.

Technically, our time together wasn't a vacation, but it felt like one so that's what I'm going to call it!

We all met in Austin to honor my brother, Grant, for the award he was receiving at his job. My sister and I drove in late Wednesday afternoon and surprised him which was pretty awesome. He was happy(:  We had dinner together that night and then went to the hotel pool so my nephews could swim. It was perfect.

pool time. family time.

mommy & slade. 

daddy & holt.

On Thursday morning we got up really early to beat Austin traffic and went to the awards ceremony for my brother. I forget how awesome and challenging his job is until I get around him and other men & women in his line of duty. I am so thankful for the men and women that protect and serve us here in the U.S. Thank you, bubba, and I'm so stinkin' proud of you!

After the ceremony, we had lunch at the famous Oasis restaurant overlooking Lake Travis. It is one of my favorite spots in Austin with a breathtaking view - the food isn't too shabby either. In the restaurant gift shop, Slade found a snake book and told me the "only thing in the whole wide world I'm scared of is a Water Moccasin Snake." My nephews are sweet sweet and growing up way too fast.

Soon after lunch it was time for all of us to part ways. It was a quick 24 hours, but my heart was so full on my drive back to Big D.

holt doesn't like selfies. 

I am incredibly grateful for my family. The saying is so true "No matter what. You always have family."

strawberry banana muffins.

My number one summer goal (okay, maybe not number one) is to find 5 paleo dinner & dessert recipes that Stephen actually likes.

Welp, I already found the first one. Stephen thought these were awesome. Yay! So that means that if you have a beloved family member that hates healthy food they will probably like these! My friend from work shared a similar recipe, but I made it my own by making it paleo-friendly.

Strawberry Banana Muffins:
*Grain free, gluten free, no artificial sweetener*

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (if using salted, omit salt)
• 1/2-3/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
• 2 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Mix all wet ingredients together, including bananas.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in strawberries.
4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
5. Enjoy! (I promise they taste better than they look!! I still have things I need to work on >> appearance!)

Almond flour doesn't allow for a beautiful-lookin' muffin. Yep, I'm totally blaming the flour.