Our Saturday morning began at a very early 6:30am (thanks to our effective alarm clock—Silas Clark). A breakfast of Strawberry Stuffed French Bread and Orange Julius was a fun way to start the day. We piled in the car for a drive around the White Tank mountains on the very secluded Sun Valley Parkway. Wickenburg was our destination as Amy hadn’t visited the quaint, authentic western town yet. By happy coincidence we were visiting Wickenburg during its famous Gold Rush Days celebration! A parade, panning for gold competition, rodeo, carnival rides, arts & crafts vendors, and BBQ lunch made the town swarm with people wearing all sorts of western garb. In case you’re wondering, the BBQ lunch was dee-licious! We topped of the afternoon with homemade ice cream from the Chaparral ice cream parlor.

Our three day weekend was filled with shopping at Arizona Mills, driving to Dobbins Lookout at the summit of South Mountain, exploring downtown Phoenix and the state capitol grounds, playing fast-paced Rummikub (great idea, Amy!), watching movies, making and eating sweets, and getting in some super fun aunt/nephew time!

hearts around the housedinner for my valentine

{Menu: Hawaiian Grilled Chicken, Coconut Rice, Baked Asparagus, heart-shaped Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies}loving our little cupidthankful to be hishappy valentines’ day

Yesterday we headed out to enjoy the Best Fest downtown. The grounds of the state capital were crowded with museum exhibits, carnival rides, arts and crafts booths, musical and storytelling stages, military vehicles, classic cars, and lots of our fellow Arizonans sporting AZ flags and t-shirts. The main street had even been recently redone to include the centennial celebration right there in the crosswalks!I was struck yet again with the diversity of Arizona’s population. First, we hit the Navajo village complete with hogans and wigwams, rugs, jewelry, and dancers in traditional dress Native American dress. Next, came the Hispanic cultural village where lots of fun music filled the air.Arizona’s natural resources and its famous attractions {Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, etc.} were proudly represented. We paused for a bit at the storytelling stage and then meandered through the military park. The road was lined with military vehicles, while soldiers, sailors, re-enactors, and memorials to fallen troops filled the park.The coolest parts of the celebration were the fly-overs done by five Stearman Trainers, a B-25 Mitchell and two P-51s. The bi-planes made several passes over the fest.The far end of the fest sported a Wild West town with an Old West Shoot-out performance for the crowd! Carnival rides and every kind of food truck you can imagine rounded out the experience. We thought we’d stick to foods unique to our state, so Indian Fry Bread and a Sonoran Dog were our picks. Anyone up for a hot dog wrapped in bacon?Happy birthday, Arizona!

I decided this New Year that I wanted to become a reader. I usually don’t make resolutions, however this year I made a goal to read one book each month. I’ve managed to read 3 books already! Of course, it’s way too soon to say that I’ve met my goal, but at least I’m starting strong.

I’ve discovered that the key to my becoming a reader is all in finding the right book. Thus far, I’ve read a parenting book, financial book, and a historical fiction novel. What’s next? Well, we’ll see which one of my library hold requests comes through first.

• God’s love for me. Unearned. I am accepted.


• My hard-working man. Lovingly providing. Happily returning home.


• Baby arms around my neck. Reaching up for me. Squeezing.


• Freedom to live Biblically. Refusing to be a slave to fear or guilt.


• Time. To learn. To relish life. To manage my house. To treasure family. To love others. To grow. To change.


• Friends. Close and distant. Friends who turn my face towards Christ.


• A home. A nest for family. A place of ministry.

I remember that all this has been given to me. I cannot act as though it were not a gift.

Motherhood as a Mission Field.

After discovering Jankovic has authored a book, Loving the Little Years, I added it to my Amazon wish list. Happily, my sister sent it to me for Christmas! Because the book is only about a hundred pages, it was a quick read, and I learned a few things in the process.

Because Jankovic’s online articles were so deep, I expected Loving the Little Years to be completely devotional. Instead, I found it to be highly practical and instructive as she depicted what biblical parenting looks like in her everyday training of four children 5 years old and younger.

Chapter 3 begins with an illustration she uses to curb sibling rivalry and ends with a reminder about a mother’s tongue. Her admonishment to correct in love looks a lot different from a mom who throws sarcastic retorts like grenades into the back seat of the car. You know what I mean!

Try thinking of discipline as a different kind of nourishment—a sweet means of grace to your children. Bring that to the table with a smile and a wink—a means of building up little people, not a means of bringing them down. Make a point of telling them all about how you love them—with a lot of good solid points. ~p.19

Prioritize your children far and away above the other work you need to get done. They are the only part of your work that really matters. ~p. 51

Our bodies are tools, not treasures.  You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in its eighteen-year-old form. Let it be used. By the time you die, you want to have a dinged and dinted body. Motherhood uses your body in the way that God designed it to be used. Those are the right kind of damages. p.58

Scars and stretch marks and muffin tops are all part of your kingdom work. One of the greatest testimonies Christian women can have in our world today is the testimony of joyfully giving your body to another. p.59

Me: “Babe, what’s your favorite _______?”

Him: (pause) “Umm. Do I have to have a favorite?”

It’s so very frustrating (and sometimes hard to comprehend) that he doesn’t have favorites! Well, at least not as many favorites as I think he should. However, there are a few categories in which he has a strongly held favorite. Apples is one of those categories. His absolute favorite apple in the whole wide world is…yes, you guessed it…a McIntosh.

Unlike Stephen, I did not grow up loving fruit. I didn’t care to eat an apple, let alone have a favorite kind of apple. That’s all different now that I’ve met a McIntosh. (Stephen and I both agree that Red Delicious apples aren’t worth the effort to chew them.) I find myself wanting to eat an apple when we have McIntoshes in the house. That’s not normal for me! I not only want to eat it, I act as though it’s going to disappear if I don’t eat the entire apple in two seconds. They’re that good. The skin pops as you bite it—only to introduce you to the soft sweet/tangy inside that’s anything but mealy. Silas has decided that McIntosh is his favorite apple too. He sees them and begs to eat one.

Sadly, McIntosh apples are rarely sold in our local grocery stores. We’ve found them twice since moving to Phoenix, and we’ve bought a load of them both times. (Just this week I found them for sale at Basha’s and came home with two bags.) If you’ve not yet tried a McIntosh, you don’t know what a good apple tastes like!

Grandma was pretty amazing herself—raising four sons, volunteering for various community organizations and serving as president of the Pittsburgh Women’s Club for one term and vice president for two. She and Grandpa loved to travel, and they visited over 100 foreign countries. That love of travel was passed down to their children and grandchildren. I’m sure that’s where I get my wanderlust. I don’t think I’m capable of picking just one place to live for the rest of my entire life.

Apparently they were both musical. Though the above picture was staged, Grandpa played the piano and Grandma, the violin. One of my uncles plays the banjo, and if you know my dad at all, you’re well aware that he plays about thirty instruments. My sisters and I grew up in a home full of music and instruments, and we’re continuing the tradition.

Here’s the Manka clan back in the day. See that handsome dude on the far right? That’s my daddy. Yep, sideburns and all!

Although Grandpa and Grandma are gone, their love for learning, travel, music, nature and science—just to name a few—is mine to keep.

One afternoon we took off for South Mountain Park and Preserve for a little hiking. Since we weren’t feeling very ambitious, and the Buick’s low fuel light had just come on, we picked a short hike near the park entrance. Although it didn’t seem like we had climbed much in elevation, after just a bit of hiking, we had a nice view of the valley and downtown Phoenix.

Silas and Jon took advantage of a lot of nephew/uncle time together. Jon gave him piano and drum lessons. We even had a cookout (in January!) Jon’s last night here.