Thanksgiving 2010

My pretty baker making her pie crust.

She loves baking.

Another little baker happy in the kitchen.

Mixing dough.

The finished product...what a pretty pie!

Organic golden Yukons with loads of organic butter, sour cream, milk, celtic sea salt & garlic pepper.....yum!

Me, Monica & Angela & Selah.

Outside fun.

Roasting marshmellows....cinder stained smile!

Lovely young ladies enjoying each other's company.

Both girls love to draw.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family or friends or both! This is our second Thanksgiving that we have spent with dear friends since both my family and my husband's family live more than 2,000 miles away. It's heartwarming to be able to spend holidays with your family, but if you can't, it's a blessing to be able to celebrate special days with family in Christ. I'm grateful that we have many friends in the Lord within our church body.

We spent the afternoon and evening with our friends, the Fernandez family. I baked a turkey, made our famous mashed potatoes, and my daughter made a coconut pie and we bought a pumpkin pie. Our friends provided the rest of the Thanksgiving "fixin's." It was a very pleasant, peaceful evening of food and fellowship. After dinner more friends came over and the children roasted marshmellows outside at a fire pit in the backyard. I completely forgot to take photos. I did take a few and my daughter took a few also, but I don't have a single family shot, a group shot or any pictures at the dinner table. :( Here are the few we did take. Enjoy!

Called To Nourish

As a Keeper at Home I have the blessed opportunity to provide wonderfully nourishing foods to my family. Foods that promote healing, that strengthen the immune system, provide energy and important vitamins and minerals to growing bodies.

I’ve been interested in nutrition on and off throughout my life as a wife and a mother. My interest in nutrition once again has been sparked due to health situations in my own life and that of my youngest son. The Lord has impressed upon me the importance of taking responsibility for my “temple”, and the “temples” of my husband and children.

Several years ago, due to chronic sinus infections, I embarked on a semi-vegetarian diet with mostly all organic whole food for myself and my family. Although I benefited greatly from that diet, I quit after one year because it became very expensive. For several other periods I bought only organic meats and dairy and grocery shopped at only natural food stores, but also quit again due to the expense. I came to the conclusion that in order for this change to be permanent I needed to take time to research, plan, comparison shop and budget to be able to provide the highest quality whole foods to my family. I have found that with a lot of planning and creativity I can provide a mostly organic whole food diet for my loved ones and stay within reasonable boundaries in our food budget.

To be continued…

My Snow Princess

Yesterday, my daughter and I were in a rush to execute my plans for a photo shoot in the snow before sunset. Even though the sun did set on us, we had alot of fun taking these photos.

Play our Smilebox below to view more photos from our photo shoot. Our slide show turned out lovely.

Winter Smilebox

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Let It Snow!

Hmmm... I wonder what they're going to do with a wheelbarrow of snow?

The most darling snowbaby in the world!

Sledding down the driveway.

Having fun with Daddy.

Dad and his firstborn.

Aren't these the cutest snow boys?!

Our "Little House in the Big Woods."

Going for a winter walk.

We awoke to a winter wonderland this morning! My husband had announced to us earlier this week that snow was forecast for today, Saturday. When I pulled up my shades this morning I was surprised to see the amount of snow! Wow! It really snowed. Everything is covered in white snow and it looks very beautiful.

The children awoke a little after 6 am, were ready and all bundled up in their snow clothes and boots by 7 am. They spent a blissful afternoon in the snow. They had lots of FUN! I enjoyed watching them from the safety of my front porch, far away from the flying snowballs. Later I came inside and watched them from the window. This Mamma doesn't like the cold very much, although I love the feeling of being all cozy, snug and warm inside our home.

Isn't the Lord good to give us four lovely seasons, a variety of weather, which we can enjoy and in so doing remember His greatness and power.

Read Our Interview With Feelin' Femenine

My daughter and I were honored to be the Featured Femeninas, on the Feelin' Femenine website, for the month of January 2010. We were interviewed by Angel of The Daily Planet who is also a regular contributor to Feelin' Femenine. Read our interview by clicking HERE .

If you are not familiar with the Feelin' Femenine website please visit them today. The following is their mission that I copied from their website:

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The mission of the Feelin’ Feminine site is simple and it is our hope to ignite a fire that has long been put out. We hope to rekindle the beauty of dressing and looking feminine. While we will encourage modesty of both inward and outward appearance, this design of this site is not that. We want to show you that being feminine in it’s truest and purest form is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to resent. Feminine is the opposite of masculine, and they are both quite equal but so very different, working together to build and complete the unity of the family. If one does not do their part or does the other’s then both of them, the family, the home, the culture, etc all fall a part. It’s a domino effect as we’ve seen. We hope to build our lives on the Scriptural foundation and restore His purpose for us as women. The Word says that a capable wife [woman] if valued far above rubies, pearls, or diamonds, and so we want to fulfill the calling of becoming a woman that is sought after with a priceless price.

Our Mission:

To encourage, inspire, and challenge young ladies to rediscover the treasure of dressing in a feminine manner. So we may be an example in a world where true beauty has been lost that we may bring glory to our Maker.

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Isn't that just beautiful!

I am greatly encouraged to read about all the young ladies who are striving to be set apart and holy unto the Lord by following His plan for their lives through the light of Scripture and not according to the World's expectations, popular culture or examples set forth by the liberal media. May these woman arise to be holy woman of God, the wives of great warriors for Christ and the mothers of millions!

This Is My Beloved And This Is My Friend

I thank the Lord for my husband, who is my very best friend, my confidant, my shoulder to lean on and the first person I would choose to spend any day with. I have been so blessed by my husband these past two months in which he has been an especially loving servant to our family. I was very sick with my last pregnancy (my baby is now with the Lord after 11 weeks in Mamma's womb) and my dear husband arranged his schedule to work earlier so that he could come home earlier to help the children clean house, do laundry, supervise chores and help my daughter make dinner. He then spent time with the children, bought groceries, held family worship, and attended to whatever else needed to be taken care of (the list was long). At one point he became terribly sick with a flu, and stayed awake most of the night attending to our sick toddler two nights in a row because I just couldn't. The following mornings he got up and went to work, came back home and continued to serve us even though he had not recuperated from his flu in the least bit. I never heard him once complain and when I felt discouraged about my own situation he would pray for me, encourage me to rest and tell me to leave all the worrying to him. I couldn't have gone through this difficult time without the support of the husband the Lord has blessed me with. Thank you Lord for my patient and caring husband. I love you, Pappa!

When Mommy Asks For A Cup of Water...

One morning, a few days ago, I asked my daughter to please bring me a cup of water. Joshua overheard, ran to the kitchen and brought me a big pot! He must have thought that I was really thirsty!

I thanked my little helper and couldn't help laughing aloud. He started laughing also and proceeded to place the pot on his head! My cute little boy!

Sunday Fall Photos

Me and my man.

Nathan loves to have his picture taken. He is always ready to pose and smile.

Abraham & Abraham.

Daddy's girl.

I love this smile.

My children. This is the only photo I could take with Joshua in it. I couldn't get the little guy to stay still long enough to get a decent picture of him by himself.

Yesterday, after church, we stopped at a park and had fun playing and taking pictures of ourselves. It was a beautiful, surprisingly warm afternoon and we enjoyed our time together.

Fall in Love

Enjoying the beauty of the fall season with the one I love.