Thanksgiving is over, which means christmas time!!! It also means christmas music. Which also means that OUR CHRISTMAS ALBUM IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!! Woo~hoo!!!

My husband and I released a Christmas album last night and I am so proud of it. You can order it here.

To entice you a bit more, our kids sings on it. Cutest thing ever :)

My husband is having a black friday sale as well: if you purchase the Christmas album (“Bright Bright Bright” ) you can get his worship album, “Broken Hallelujah” for 50% off!

Also, today some of the vendors from the Queen Bee Market will be having a black friday sale on instagram. Look up the hashtag #qbmblackfriday and you’ll find lots of great stuff you can claim right there on instagram! I will be selling some of my holiday banners at discounted prices before I list them in my etsy shop. My instagram is @courttoney

Happy Christmastime everyone!

Music is a huge part of our family, of our marriage, my life story and of my passion. It can move my soul and inspire me in ways that no other art form can.

My husband & I met in Jr. High as a part of our church worship team, so it has been a part of our relationship from day one. He is doing what God made him to do: serving as a worship pastor and sharing his heart in singing & songwriting. It is a beautiful thing for me to be a part of.

One of the perks of having a super musical husband is that I get to find out about cool bands and music that I never would have happened upon myself. Today, I’m going to share two of the artists that fall into this category that have impacted my life greatly in the past year. I could list 100 great artists that my hubby has shown me, but today’s have been big to me recently and their hearts and faith come through their music effortlessly.

The first, I mentioned briefly in an Instafriday post a few weeks back: Josh Garrels. His music is unique, enchanting & beautifully penned. His album, Love & War & The Sea In Between is awesome. But the most awesome thing is that there’s a documentary that Mason Jar Music made featuring him and a group of incredible musicians. They all flew to an island to play music together for a week and record it and it is absolutely amazing! We saw a premiere of it, along with a concert afterward, in Encinitas last month and I was in awe. Here is the trailer:

I don’t know when it is being released, but if you have an opportunity to see a screening, go go go! If you are a musician, you have to see it when it comes out. Christian or non-christian, the musical ability of the artists featured is incredible. I would recommend it to anyone though- it’s a sweet peak into Josh’s life and music and, specifically, this awesome collaboration.

Another favorite artist that I was introduced to by my husband is Andrew Peterson. His songwriting is amazing. I fell in love with his last album, Counting Stars and his newly released one, Light for the Lost Boy, is incredible. Track 9, “You’ll Find Your Way”, which he wrote for one of his sons, has made me cry multiple times (don’t tell him I told you this, but my husband told me he wept as well when he saw Andrew play this live a couple of weeks ago :)  )

Now, I have to throw in my favorite new album of the year, though I would have known about them without my husband’s guidance, unless I had been hiding under a rock for the past couple of years. Mumford & Son’s new album was released last week and I LOVE it! If you haven’t purchased it yet, do it. You won’t regret it.  I cannot get enough and this girl is super excited that her aforementioned husband got tickets to their show at the hollywood bowl next month :)

InstaFriday time again! Linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged.

Friends joined us in our Saturday routine of the farmer’s market & train rides. Here is Isaiah riding the train with his future wife, Abby :)

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Backyard popsicles on a hot day:

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This little dude loves his books:

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We had friends from our homegroup at church over for labor day. We swam & had a BBQ. So much fun, even with 14 kids running around our little house :)

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Our little rascal after a swim:

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Promises that fall is coming:

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Isaiah had his first day of soccer. He didn’t like it at all :)

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Naptime:

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It is really cool that I can listen to my husband’s album on vinyl:

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Hip hip hooray! A fun custom banner that shipped out this week:

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The best gift I ever gave my husband was signing him up for a pasta making class. (the gift that keeps on giving to me!) He makes fresh pasta often and it’s so delicious! I’m a lucky girl :) Also, his hat hair is pretty sweet…

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A rite of passage into boyhood: Isaiah got to watch Star Wars for the first time today:

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We’ve got a really exciting weekend coming up: it is our anniversary and my husband’s birthday on monday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend as well!

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Photographer: Carlie of Gabriel Ryan Photographers

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Cake & Desserts: Sweet and Saucy Shop

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InstaMonday this week. We were on the road all day Friday and unpacking and getting back to life this weekend. So, I’m linking up with Jeannett a bit late, but better late than never, right? :)

What a week! I spent the first part of the weekend at our church’s womens retreat down on the bay. Some friends and I grabbed some Mexican food and had a picnic on the beach for dinner. Not a bad view…

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My friend Holly & I showed up wearing coordinating outfits. We didn’t plan it- I promise!

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Then, on Sunday, we packed up and headed up the coast right after church. Our little mini-tour for my husband’s album was so much fun! The first show was in Camarillo for a group of around 100 college students and it was awesome! We had the full band with us and had so much fun. This was my little station:

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The band:

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The next day, we drove north to San Luis Obispo for another show and to hang out with my brother, sister-in-law and their kiddos. The cousins had such a great time together:

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I found a banner-making assistant :)

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Then we landed in the Napa area for a few days. It was such a nice little vacation for our family. My husband’s parents were with us and the boys loved it. We swam, visited wineries, ate good food and relaxed. So needed for us. The boys were troopers with all of the travel.

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Daveed and I got to sneak away for a date night, which called for my sassy shoes. We went to dinner and visited Russian River Brewery.

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We happened upon Truett Hurst because it was one of the only wineries that was open before 11. It ended up being perfect for us- great wine, beautiful property and it was right on a creek. Isaiah explored and threw rocks into the creek for over an hour.

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Beauty:

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They gave him special glasses to help spot the salmon in the creek :)

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My favorite part about visiting vineyards is touring their grounds and gardens. This would be a gorgeous spot for a wedding!

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We found this little birds nest in a bush right outside of the tasting room. So perfect- it looked fake!

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They have chairs all along the creek to sit and take it in. This picture totally melts my heart. That look on Hudson’s face… oh my. Never mind the fact that he doesn’t fit in the bjorn or moby anymore- we make it work when we have to :)

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Healdsburg is such a cute town. We loved walking around and exploring.

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I have seen weddings at Barndiva featured on blogs a bunch of times, so it was fun to check it out in person. It is such a cool spot! We had dinner there and it was amazing. The outdoor event spaces are really really cool.

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We stopped in Napa for a few hours on our way back to the bay area. A little more wine tasting and garden viewing.

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Picnic lunch at one of my favorite markets ever. If I am in New York or Napa, I always stop at Dean & Deluca. It all started with Felicity. Now, I’m hooked. We grab some fresh baguettes, interesting meat and amazing cheese, and plop down on the grass right next to the parking lot. SO good!

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Good boys on long drives get cupcakes:

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We finished up the tour with a homeshow in the bay area and a concert at David’s grandma’s retirement community (so funny!). After the homeshow, David gave our friend (& sweet host) Emily a harmonium lesson:

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We did a terrible job of taking pictures of the actual shows. Emily grabbed this one on her phone during the homeshow:

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It was so much fun, but we are happy to be home :)

Next week, my husband and I are going to be doing a little mini tour for his new album. If you are live on the central coast or in the bay area, we’d love to see you at the shows! For the first night, we will have a full band with us. The other shows will be just the two of us.

If you the address or directions for any of the locations, email me: courtney at joyfuljoyful dot com.

Linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged again for InstaFriday.

This week, I will title it music edition because that pretty much sums up the week. No craftiness or good food, but a dash of cute kids and a cool personal project thrown in.

Last Saturday, I had the honor of being interviewed for a documentary on cancer. It was a really special time of sharing my heart and my cancer story. It was 11 years ago this month that I was diagnosed and it is still a huge part of the woman I am today. I love getting the opportunity to talk about my experiences and encourage others on how to support those around them who are fighting cancer.

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On my way home from LA, I dropped the boys off at my parents for an overnighter. This is the only home I lived in until I went away to college and I think it is so special that my parents still live there. So neat to see my boys building memories in the rooms that held my childhood.

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From there, I went straight to band practice.

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Band practice was for this:

Bad picture of our church’s bulletin, but it was for my husband’s album release concert! It was Sunday night and was such a fun night! It was really special to have so much of our church congregation, friends and family there supporting him and worshipping together.

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This was during sound check:

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I didn’t get any other pictures of that night, but someone in the audience captured this moment:

All of the band had left the stage and David told a couple of stories and played the first worship song he ever wrote (which was at 17). I loved being able to sit in the audience and watch him for a couple of minutes :)

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And then the really big day- the day his album released- was Tuesday. So so cool. I am so proud of him and this album :)  And it’s totally no big deal to see him on iTunes :)

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You can find out more about the album on his website, davidtoneymusic.com 

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Isaiah had a little fever on Monday and fell asleep watching baby einstein with his baby brother :)

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Meet our new instrument: a harmonium!! Isaiah is now saying that he wants to be a harmonium player when he grows up- ha!

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Father son music night. The song Isaiah requested? Joy to the world- he loves Christmas songs :)  Some of my favorite moments.

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Isaiah practicing his smile for school pictures:

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I came down with a stomach bug- not fun. The next day, the boys took me out for soup at one of our favorite little mexican food spots. They have the best chicken soup ever. Literally- their website is thebestchickensoup.com.

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Happy weekend everyone!

You guys. This is an exciting day.

After years of song writing, worship leading and recording, my husband’s first full-length album is released today. I am so incredibly proud of him and this album. It blows me away when I listen to it, even though I have been a part of the entire process.

The album is called Broken Hallelujah (songs for sunday mornings (and other times also)) and it is a collection of my husband’s original songs, with one hymn thrown in. Songs about God, songs about hard times, songs about rejoicing, songs about how God’s love never ends. This morning, someone said, “With one foot planted firmly in tradition, and the other floating over that Sufjan/prog rock kinda world, BROKEN HALLELUJAH is a fantastic record”.

It is a really really great album. And I’m not just saying that because he’s so cute :)

If you are looking for some new good worship music, please check it out. You might even hear a little bit of me :)

It is available on his website (you can order a physical CD, digital download and/or pre-order the vinyl) or on iTunes.

Meet my husband.

His name is David. But it is pronounced Daveed. I write it phonetically on the blog so that you all know his name isn’t david :)

He is my high school sweetheart. He’s an incredible dad. He’s also an amazing songwriter and musician. Next week, his first full-length album will be released.

It’s awesome. This has been one of his dreams for years and it is so rad to see him accomplish it.

It will be released next Tuesday, the 27th, but you can hear a sneak peak right now at davidtoneymusic.com

This Sunday, we will be having an album release concert/worship night at our church in San Diego. If you are local, please come :)  It is free and childcare will be provided. I’ll be playing in the band :)

Here are the deets:

Sunday, March 25th

6:00 pm

Green Valley Church

11501 Rancho Bernardo Road

San Diego California 92127

Let me know if you are coming! Hooray!

**All of the great pictures above were taken by our friends The Youngrens. They are awesome.