Scout: The Secret of the Swamp (book endorsement)

When Tom names his German shepherd puppy Scout, little does he know how aptly he has named him. Although the dog’s tracking ability gets him and his master into serious trouble, it also saves Tom’s life.

Tom finds himself caught up in events of World War Two. In his youthful adventurousness, Tom is forced to call on the courage and talents of his clever dog again and again. As the allied forces approach his home town, in Holland, Tom and his friend Carl overhear German military secrets. The secret trail through the swamp puts Scout’s talents and Tom’s courage and endurance to the ultimate test....

David just finished reading this book to the family.  It was very enjoyable for all of us.

Weight Watchers Here I Come…

There have been a couple of times in my life where I’ve needed to lose weight.  In the early 90′s I joined Jenny Craig and lost all the weight I wanted to, fairly easily.  In 2004, I turned to Arbonne, which a friend was selling, and did well with their weight loss program, too.  It’s in the maintenance that I’m having trouble and the older I get I know it will not get any easier.

So fresh veggies look out… I’m coming to eat you.

If any of my friends or family have experience with Weight Watchers I’d love to hear about your stories and have your moral support while I try to shed my extra pounds.  I’ll periodically check in and update you on my progress.

Nathan’s Birthday Quilt

I think he likes it.  I spent the year working on and off on it.  (more off since it really didn’t take that long to get done, it was finding the time to work on it.)

I had so much fun, buying the fabric, planning the pattern, and constructing the quilt.  The most fun I had all year.

Here’s a close up of one of the squares.  Perfect for a little boy.  He sleeps with it every night, and that makes me happy.

Costume Day

The girls wanted to do a costume day around Thanksgiving.  We were all suppose to dress as our favorite book character.  Jamie and Kayla were the only good sports, as the rest of us pooped out in the end.

Here’s Jamie as Dr Jekle and Mr. Hyde. (make up anyways)

Here’s Kayla as, you guessed it, Robin Hood.  She did a nice job on her costume, I think.

Isaiah 11:1-5

1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

3 His delight isin the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

This scripture was read on Sunday, it really caught my attention and made me think and yearn for the day that justice will really be righteously decided and not by mere men.  Thank you God for sending your true justice, Jesus, to the earth.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born, And a time to die;

A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

Lord, give me the wisdom and understanding to know what season my life is in right now.

photo by Kayla Terry

Happy New Years 2012 !!!

I am so thankful for all our friends and family.  I thank God for each of  you and the richness that you bring into my life.  I am thankful for old friendships and new ones too, and that God continues to help me grow in this area in  particular.

Here are a few shots of the fireworks we enjoyed during our evening celebration.

All done but the clean up.  Happy New Year everyone and God bless your year.

Jamie gets a kitty

Jamie got quite the surprise late Christmas morning.  It was hard keeping this little bundle of joy a secret.

Jamie names her Princess and spends some of her first pay check buying her new toys.

Pretzel Bites

Maybe you know this about me, maybe you don’t, but I like to try new recipes.  Here’s this Christmas seasons new recipe.  So easy that Nathan played a big part in making them.

Here’s the recipe:

one bag pretzels

one bag Hershey’s kisses (we chose dark chocolate)

one bag m&ms

Stack the kisses on the pretzels and heat in a 350* oven for about 5 minutes then press a m&m into the kiss.  Cool and eat.

Jamie gets a job…

Here’s Jamie with her first official pay check from the family business.  She is doing a super job answering David’s business phone and taking messages for him during the day, this way he can get more actual mechanic work done.

Here she is in action.  I am very proud of the young woman she is becoming.

Sisterly Love

Kayla lets Nathan help her with the cut out cookies she is making for our Christmas celebration.

It was hard not to eat them all at once… yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Here are some of the thanksgiving verses I found this year.  I love the one from the book of Revelations the most.

1 Chron 16:8
Oh, give thanks to the Lord!  Call upon His name;  Make known His deeds among the peoples!

Psalms 107:31
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,  And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

2 Cor 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

Eph 5:20
…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Col 3:16-17
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

1 Thess 5:18
…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Heb 13:15
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Rev 11:17
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,  The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

Making Apple Sauce

I purchased a sauce maker more than a year ago.  Bountiful Baskets had a good deal on 40# of fuji apples, so here we go…

First we washed them and then pressure cooked them for about 4 minutes.

We did 2 different batches and by the second one we were working as a team.

Wow, it looks like real apples sauce, and tastes good too.

We processed 21 pints of fuji apple sauce and strained 1/2 gallon of good apple juice out of the bottom of the cooking pot.

Over all we did well on our first try at apple sauce.

Vacation: Day 18, Home Sweet Home

Day 18 we got up early and head for home.  We drove from Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Phoenix, Az.  Drove 580 miles.   We had a wonderful time and glad to be home too.

Vacation: Day 17, travel day

Day 17 we drove from Arkansas, thru Oklahoma, Texas and then into New Mexico.

In Groom, Texas you can stop and see this huge cross in the middle of no where.  Around it are 12 stations of Christ’s crucifixion.

This is well worth the time to stop and visit.  Here’s the website to check out the rest of the photos.