A little update from California 🥳

We have been having the absolute best time on holiday with our family over the last couple of weeks ❤️ The fact that the beautiful sunshiney weather (which we LOVE!!!!) is low down on the list of things that have been wonderful tells you how great a time we’re having 😎🥳 It is such a special thing when your family are people you would choose as your closest friends even if you weren’t related – and that is how it is for us ❤️ We are so thankful to be getting this time to be together.

Before we left I’d put a wee post on here about praying for finances for this trip. We’d been asking the Lord if we could have some money that was specifically to be used as spending money for this trip, and I’d felt God say ‘it’s going to be so much better than that’! Well, I just wanted to say, that has been more than the case even in the first 2 weeks of our trip!!!! Right before we headed away someone blessed us with some money, and then when we arrived here someone else reached out who wanted to give us something too 😭 And that was just the beginning!!!

Throughout these first couple of weeks we have had the most amazing opportunities, including being gifted a family trip to Disneyland and an Ed Sheeran concert in San Diego!!!!! Disneyland was so much fun!!! The 3 of us were there with our 2 nieces and our eldest niece’s husband. I’m the only one in that group who doesn’t do great on rides, but I was more than happy to stay with the bags (& I may have brought my Kindle to pass the time while I was waiting for the guys to get through the queues 😂👍) We all had SO MUCH FUN all day, and memories were made for sure!!!! Watching the Disney fireworks in Star Wars land after watching a huge parade was incredible. And oh WOW – the concert – I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of sitting, with our family, in an outdoor stadium, (feeling warm 😂😎) watching the sun going down over the city in San Diego, listening to Ed Sheeran play a live concert 🎵 It was just brilliant!!!!! Again, we were given the tickets as a gift – and what a gift it was ❤️🥳

Beyond that, Neil & Caleb headed into LA when a World Cup match was being played! They didn’t have tickets, but it was such a cool experience and memory, just to be around the atmosphere!!! And then, before we came over here, we’d been able to get tickets for Neil & Caleb to go and watch the LA Galaxy derby match in LA too which they totally loved!!!!!! The other thing that was a wee surprise thing for my boys was that they have found tickets to go and see a WWE night in LA while we’re here 😂 They’ve talked about the possibility of getting tickets to something like that for a wee while now but it’s never been able to work out while we’ve been at home. But tickets to go here are so much more available and affordable, and so they, along with our niece and her husband, are heading to see that this Monday night 😂💪 They are very excited!!! Meanwhile, my sister, our younger niece, and I, have big plans made for a girlie movie night at home on Monday evening…..I have to say I’m MUCH MORE excited about the thought of that than going to the wrestling 😂😂😂😂

Goodness me – those are just the really big things that God has blown our minds with this trip!!!! On top of all of that, Neil & I were invited to speak at church the first Sunday we arrived. It was so beautiful to see the Lord moving in the room and in peoples’ hearts! What a joy ❤️ Then throughout our time here, we’ve been taken out for multiple dinners, breakfasts and coffees!! We’ve eaten more frozen yoghurt than should be humanly possible, and we’ve been spoiled rotten by our family and friends every day that we’ve been here! Our hearts (& bellies 😂) are full, and we’re only just over halfway through our trip!!!!!! The faithfulness and extravagance of our God is totally breathtaking 😭❤️🙌

This weekend Caleb is away at youth camp with Dwelling Place (our family’s church). He was SO excited to head off yesterday afternoon! He went last year and really met with Jesus in incredible ways and he just couldn’t wait to go again! He has the total joy of being a part of the worship team this year which is so much fun!! And he was so excited to get time with his friends that he made last year, some of who he’s been able to stay in contact with this year which is so cool 🥳❤️ We can’t wait to hear all the stories when he gets back in a couple of days 🥰🙌

There is even more stuff than all of this that the Lord has been doing while we’ve been here…we are completely blown away by Him in all ways ❤️😭🙌 What a true gift this trip is, and I can hardly believe how much better God’s plans really have been than simply giving us some spending money! We are undone by Him ❤️😭🙌