This day...

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusts in thee.
Trust ye in the Lord forever:
for in the the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 26:3,4

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cousins!

Pretty cute.
Of course, two of those little peanuts are mine,
so I might be a bit biased.
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Recipes???

RECIPES PLEASE!

I have been going at the holiday baking this week, more than I have in previous years. This time of year always get me thinking desserts, so that has been my focus. Anyway, I have made our family favorites and then some special holiday favorites, too. I am looking for a few of your family favorites to add to my list for this year. Whatever is may be cookies, bars, cake, please send me your favorite sweets. I would like to try something new. Thanks so much. I know it takes time to send a recipe, but I would so appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

And stay warm! It was 6 degrees this morning when I left for my work meeting. Brrrrr........

Ramblings of me...

I know. Shocker. I am posting twice in one day compared to skipping a week or more. The girls are down. My usual time to get a lot done or sit down and catch up on blogs and e-mail. This morning Grace and I watched my wedding video. She has been so interested in weddings lately and all the details and the dress and the food and the party and so on.... So, she sat very intently and soaked up everything and asked more questions. So precious. Too long for Hadassah's attention span, but she tried to appear interested and was actually listening b/c when Dave started to pray to she starts yelling, "PRAY, PRAY , MOMMY!" And then proceeds to sit down and pray with "the movie". The video was a great reminder of all the important people in our lives. Josh got a bunch of you wishing us well and offering advice and it was such a blessing to remember so many in our lives who have cheered us on and encouraged us to be faithful in our walk with the Lord and in our marriage. Oh, and Grace said she is going to wear my wedding dress when she gets married and I can wear her pink dress from last Christmas, when it gets a little bigger. I am smiling from ear to ear as I type this.

A huge praise! Samuel's albation was successful and he is suppose to go home today. Praise the Lord!!!!

I cut both both of the girls hair this weekend. Did I type this already? It seems like I did. Jesse was starting to call Hadassah his mullet girl. She did have some pieces that looked very long when the curls straighten out. Anyway, I couldn't have that. Although I was afraid I would cut off too much of the baby curl, there is still some that remains. Grace got a nice trim and Hadassah was excited once again to do something that Gracie gets to do.

Grace and I began our Thanksgiving and Christmas baking this week. I quickly tucked the treats into the freezer before Daddy or the rest of us decide we are going to gobble them up.

And my Christmas shopping and making is complete. A record for me. All is not wrapped, but my goal is before Thanksgiving, so I have a little breathing room. I am quite excited about some of my projects, but of course must wait until the gifts are given to give too many details here.

Oh, and today I cleaned the junk drawer in the kitchen. I try so hard to prevent it from becoming the junk drawer, but over and over again that is what happens. I am enjoying how empty it is today and hoping it will last that way for a year. Okay, maybe a month.

Next on my list. Christmas letter and a family pic. Still working on a family pic with us all looking at the camera and possibly smiling. I guess you will find out if we have any success. No greeting in the mail from us means you will have to look here to be reminded of who we are and what we look like. Me, I look the same as my wedding day so maybe....okay, too much rambling. Farewell for today.

JLT Tuesday Tidbit

Today is Tuesday and I am actually here in front of my computer to enter my tidbit for the week. I wanted to share with you a book that really got me thinking about what I eat. I guess it did a great job of encouraging me to search for healthy meals and foods and opened my eyes to some things I had never really thought about before in relation to health...i.e. sun exposure and the pasteurization of milk among other things.

The book is called, WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HEALTHY LIVING. The author is Rex Russell, M.D. His book contains all kinds of wisdom for healthier living, including three principles that will change your diet and improve your health.

1. Eat the foods God created for you
2. Don't alter God's design
3. Don't let any food or drink become your God

A couple titles of chapters included in this book are....

Eating right in a world gone wrong
and
Health with obedience

And then he has a chapter about the different food groups:
Going with the grain(and nuts, too)
The fat of the land
The meat to eat
How sweet it is
Mom was right: Eat your fruits and Veggies
The spice(s) of life
Beverages: Elixirs of life- or death

It also includes a health IQ

There is all kinds of good information inside. If you are interested and live close you may borrow my copy, otherwise I hope your library carries it. If you read it, let me know what you think.

Check these out!

I have a few recipes that call for a young Thai coconut. And until now have not been able to find them locally. Young coconuts are a great food. The water inside a coconut is the best source of electrolytes found in nature. And the meat of the young coconut is soft and taste great in smoothies and desserts while giving you some great health benefits.

And while I was picking up my stash of young coconuts I found some giant avocados and could not pass them up. They are rich in essential fatty acids and high in Vitamin E. They provide a natural fat that our bodies crave. And there are many yummy ways to eat them. Although, Dassah and I like them right out of the skin the best. We add them to our smoothies sometimes and of course chopped up on top of tacos or with a salad.

Here is a pic. I held the avocado in my hand so you could get an idea of how large it was. I tried to place it below, but it only works on the top of the page.

Pray For Samuel

Please pray for Samuel. He is in the hospital awaiting an ablation for a cardiac arrhythmia. The ablation is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Please pray the doctor would be able to find the electrical pathway causing the problem and be able to ablate it. Samuel is having heart rates in the 250's. Here is the link if you would like more details as to how to pray for him and his family.

Samuel and his family are in the States on furlough from Italy. Pray for healing and safety and they face this health challenge.

Pray For Samuel

My Girls

Grace assures me this is how big she can smile.
I don't know about that.
Anyway, they were all dressed up to visit their cousins so I tried to catch a quick pic.
We spent Friday hanging out with the cousins.
Good times.
Busy.
I forgot to get pics of them all together.
We will save that for the holidays.
Can you believe it is so close to Thanksgiving?
It was 21 degrees when we woke up this morning.
And flurries all weekend.
I guess I should be getting it into my head.
Night.

It works!

The part came for my washing machine today! Hooray! I can wash clothes in the comfort of my own home. Who knew this could bring such excitement.

JLT Tuesday Tidbit

Okay, other than my reminder to vote today I have a website with a quick summary of ways to eat healthier. Although I don't agree with everything in the article it is a great summary of some simple changes to making healthier food choices. The website also has a great list of all kinds of foods with nutritional information and recipes. Have fun digging around their website if you have the time.

healthy101

And have a great day!

Election Day 2008

VOTE YOUR VALUES TODAY!

The Beginning Of A New Month

It is November 1, 2008. Can it be true? Is it daylight savings weekend? I think so. The girls are napping and I just put some granola in the oven. So, I have to remember to pull that out here shortly. The sun is shining and we spent a good part of the day outside. I did a thorough cleaning of my Durango. What a project. It was pretty messy in there this time, but wanted to get it good and clean before the snow flies. The next project on my list is the windows, outside. I don't think I will get to those today. Jesse just left with Scott to look at a car. Why a car, you might ask? Well, it could be a long story, but I will keep it brief. Jesse is in the process of making a career change. He has one concrete home that will hopefully be completed in the next couple of weeks and then Granite City Homes, Inc. will close down. We found a buyer for the truck last week and so jumped on that opportunity as we did not think that a Ford F350 extended cab was quite the efficient vehicle that too many people would be looking for right now. So, huge praise. The truck sold. Scott and Jessica are letting Jesse borrow one of their cars while we search Craiglist and beyond for a vehicle. Amidst all of this Jesse has been taking classes and training for his new job. He took his first licensing exam last Tuesday and passed with flying colors. Hooray! I guess the best definition of his new job would be teaching others financial concepts and strategies for managing their finances and reaching financial freedom. The company he is working with is called Primerica. Their concepts follow very close in line with Dave Ramsey. Jesse is very excited for the challenge of this new career path. It feels like the past few weeks have been a whirlwind in many ways. But we thank the Lord for His promises and look with hope toward the future. In Psalm 37:5 is says, "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you."

Ohhh...time to check the granola.

Happy Saturday afternoon!