Here we are....gathered together....

as a family and as friends bound as one.

Together we lifted our best wishes
and prayers for God's highest good for 

Kyle and Nastia.

                                                                         
Scott and Judy have continued on the tradition of always having a place where the family could
come together as one....finding a sense of belonging.

One generation back...the gathering spot was the house in the orchard.  If you "listen" carefully you can still experience the sights and sounds!


Two generations back...the gathering spot was
the ranch in Montana.

Family is a precious gift.

Nothing is more uplifting to the human soul than experiencing the love of God and His amazing family.

It is coming!..... a brand new year!....a "start over"!

The WORDS we SPEAK are as important as the WORDS WE LIVE....

so....each year I choose my "WORD" for the year with care...to be my guiding light, my mantra...a benchmark.

For 2015 it is.....JESUS

ANN VOSKAMP said it so well....

 Hey Soul? I know -- right on the cusp of a brand new year. Can be...intimidating. There will be resolutions & plans & words for the year. Needed ones, good ones, life-changing ones. And just maybe... the Cliff Notes version of everything boils down to one plan, one word, one commitment, just to keep whispering this over & over again: 

Jesus.

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians1:17

‪#‎NoFearNewYear‬, New Year, New You: Just Jesus....

Time with Him, keeping company with Him, walking with Him,

 resting in Him, living in Him, growing in Him, changing in Him, becoming like Him.

It's okay... deep breath. We're not going to get overwhelmed here:

 you only have to hold on to one thing :

 JESUS. 

And the grace of it is? *He's already holding on to you.*

Anticipation!

We have turned the calendar to January....2013....a brand new year.  As we do this we are full of anticipation...wondering what the New Year will bring.  It is exciting! 

How have I spent this past year? 

 Have I made the most of each new day I've been blessed with?

There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day.

Good stuff happens!.....BLESSINGS

Good stuff happens!  

Throughout this

NEW YEAR 

when something good happens, write it down on a piece of paper and place it in a jar

...a BLESSINGS jar.  

This time next year your jar will be filled and you will be amazed at all the 

good stuff 

that has happened throughout 

2013.

Good stuff happens!

BLESSINGS!

ONE little word...

Those of you who know me, know that each year I choose a WORD...just one..to be my guiding light, my mantra...a benchmark. 

I have it!...my word for 2013 is

BLESSINGS!  

Sometimes we get so caught up in chasing the "charmed life" that we forget to notice the degree to which we are already living it. 

Try this...write down one BLESSING you can see in each of the various areas of your life that is wonderful, just okay, or even not as bad as it used to be....your HOME, your WORK, your HEALTH, your FAMILY, your CAR, your FRIENDS...your DAY. You can go on and on!
In an instant, you will realize you are just tripping over BLESSINGS.....that is a charmed life.

2011...we chose JOY

We chose JOY.

In 2011, we walked a path that was new to us but God, our family and friends walked along side us with comfort and love.
These difficult times have helped us to realize and
remember how infinitely rich and beautiful life is.
Our son, Eric, passed away on May 4th from complications of his
bone marrow transplant.  He left us with a lifetime of happy
memories. Although it is tremendously hard to be without him,
 we take JOY in knowing he is enjoying the presence of Jesus.

We have found JOY...in our family….and have drawn even closer.
We have found JOY...in our friends who have surrounded us.
We have found JOY…in our church family...such support.
We have found JOY in Sam...insert smile.
We have found JOY in  each ordinary day.

“Dear God, thanks for this beautiful life.  

Forgive us if we haven’t loved it enough.”

On those ordinary days...Ben can be found in his shop building houses for the American Kestrel Falcon.  Or he can be found at  agriculture meetings  promoting his latest business, Orchard Guard....showing orchardists how to protect their crops from bird damage.

On those ordinary days, Shari can be found in her craft room
creating greeting cards that will touch people’s hearts or maybe even make them laugh. Or, she can be found along with her business partner, Nadine, promoting their business, Paper Blessings, selling their greeting cards and other paper “blessings”.

On those ordinary days, Sam can be found  at the foot of anyone  willing to give him a bit of love.

As we  welcome this  wonderful time of year, 

may our hearts celebrate 

the true reason for the season 

and may our homes be warmed by 

His JOY, peace and love.

Merry Christmas,

Ben and Shari….Sam too

I've got it!...I'm jumpin' up and down excited!

Those of you who know me, know that each year I choose a WORD...just one..to be my guiding light, my mantra...a benchmark.

For 2010, my word was PEACE.  Eric had just been diagnosed with Cancer.  I needed PEACE.  God gave me  that when I needed it most.  For 2011, my word was JOY.  God provided JOY even in the midst of our grief at losing Eric.

Now for 2012...I choose GIVE. I believe God will use this to continue to heal the pain that is ever present.

365 days of PURPOSEFUL gift-giving.  

Here's the deal...every day I will purposefully look for a way to gift someone. 

(stuff I do anyway won't count)  It has to be purposefully.  

The gift can be my time, something tangible, money...maybe even something hard to give.  

Get this picture?  Want to join me in the fun journey? 

 I am "jumpin' up and down" excited about this.  Something special is going to happen, I just know it!

'The Lord has abundantly blessed me all of my life.  I am not trying to pay him back for all His wonderful gifts.  I just realize He gave them to me to give away.'

My GIFT to YOU today is a REMINDER

We all have gifts to share 

with

someone

someplace

Snickerdoodle Muffins

preheat oven to 350
line muffin pans with cupcake papers ( I used the tulip papers)

1 Cup unsalted butter
1 Cup sugar
2 Tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 Tsp baking soda
3/4 Tsp baking powder
3/4 Tsp cream of tarter
1-1/4 Cup sour cream
2-1/4 Cups flour

1/2 Cup sugar and 1 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling

• Cream the butter and sugar until soft.  Add the vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cream of tarter.
• Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture in the additions.  Start with the flour and end with the flour.  Scrape the bowl occasionally.
• Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled with the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Place muffin into the muffin paper.  Depending on the size of your ims, you should get about 12 muffins.  
• Bake 25 minutes at 350 or until golden brown.

Diner style food

I love diner style food!  My favorite "blue plate special" is

MEATLOAF...

not just any old meatloaf, but the kind like

Mom used to make.

A thick slice was topped with buttery mashed potatoes, French fried onions and green onions.

I wonder...do people even eat meatloaf anymore?  I recently dug out the recipe that

is sure-fire, everyone loves it...kids will even it.  THAT is what we will

have for dinner tonight...and tomorrow meatloaf sandwiches for lunch.

Just in case you would like to try this out...I will share the recipe.

Combine: 2 eggs beaten

8 oz tomato sauce

3/4 cup cracker crumbs

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 green pepper, finely chopped

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 t. salt

1/2 t pepper

Add: 1-1/2 lbs ground beef

Mix well and shape into a loaf.

Place in a 9 X 5 loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

now for the best part...don't skip this

Combine 1/2 cup catsup

2 t mustard

2 T brown sugar..

Pour over meatloaf and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

dazzling....windows and glass

I suppose on a rainy day, it seems a little pointless to talk about the bright sunshine pouring through the glistening windows....however, I  just have to tell you about this 

glass cleaner that works!...really works with no streaks

...for just pennies!

I have tried many glass cleaners - commercial and homemade both but this bottle of homemade wonder is 

my top choice for sure!

here is the "formula"

2 quarts of water

1 pint of rubbing alcohol

2 tablespoons of Prell shampoo

 (i found the Prell at Rosauers)

HOMEMADE laundry soap

The laundry is folded and put away....smells wonderful.  Today was the day to try out the HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP. 
It works great!...I love it!  Why, oh why, did I not do this sooner.  Think of the money we would have saved!!!  This costs just pennies per load.


I chose powdered laundry soap just because I prefer it.  However, you can also make liquid laundry soap.  These products are all okay to use in the High Energy machines.

Powdered Laundry Soap
mix together...
(all available at Wal-Mart in the laundry section)
3 Cups Borax
2 Cups Baking Soda
2 Cups Washing Soda
2 Cups Fels Naptha (or Ivory) Bar soap
 (I grated this in my food processor.
Use 2 TBSP. per load
I put this great smelling concoction in a crock sitting on top of my washer.  BONUS...great smelling laundry area.


If you prefer Liquid Laundry Soap...
2 Cups Washing Soda
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Citric Acid
Fill 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with warm water.  Dissolve Washing Soda and Borax in water by
stirring thoroughly.  
Fill to about 2 inches from top then add citric acid, stirring again.  
Use 1 cup per load.
(I haven't tried this one)

Maybe tomorrow...

 we will talk about making something to easily 

make your windows dazzle.  thanks for reading!

Back to the basics....

Know what this is?....not blue frosting.

HOMEMADE soft scrub...you know, the stuff you clean your sinks with.  

In the year and a half we spent at the Cancer Center with Eric, I did an abundance of reading about what the chemicals we have in our homes do to our bodies and our environment. 

SO...I have gone 

back to the basics and am using HOMEMADE cleaning products.

What is not to love about this? 

 It works and am even saving money - lots of it.  

Want to know how to make this soft scrub that really does do its job?

put 1/2 cup or so of baking soda in a small bowl, and add enough liquid Dawn soap to make it the consistency of frosting.  That is it....simple.

May this be true of me..

just peachy...

The peaches are at their prime....but evidently I am not.  

This morning I thought I will just can a few jars of peaches...oh my goodness, what a mess.  I even had to mop the floor that had already been clean.  It quickly came to me why I had not canned peaches for a long time.  

When we lived in the orchard, it was so easy. We did it like we did so many things...FAMILY STYLE....assembly line with lots of fun and laughter AND it was OUTSIDE.  Thus...no mess.

 And..each jar contained not only yummy peaches but a great memory of fun.

I think we had better savor these few jars because it won't be happening again.  This summer we will just eat our way through fresh peach season and I am sure I can find a terrific bargain on canned peaches for winter.

 Anyone need a couple of blue speckled very used caners?

Paper Blessings....at the bazaar

Nadine and I had a wonderful time "peddling paper blessings" at the Women's Century Club bazaar on Saturday.  The weather was hot...but the turn out was good and we were quite happy with our "success".

One of my very favorites though was a delightful little 100 Year old lady named Margaret Keys who had a table and was selling her published book, by a local author.  The Hat Lady 
She was fun to be with....colorfully dressed in bright orange hat and dress, black shoes and white ankle socks.  During the show, she got tired so simply laid down under her table and took a nap.  That must be at least part of the secret of her longevity.

Joy in His presence

"You will show me

the way

of life,

granting me the

-JOY-

of Your presence

and the 

pleasures 

of living with 

-You-

forever."

Psalms16:11

So amazing....

When we can't find the words to pray or don't know how or what to pray, the Holy spirit prays for us.  Every pain we feel, every tear we shed, every groan we make becomes a prayer that

God hears and understands. 

God feels our pain, experiences our struggles, and is slowly, steadily, healing our broken heart. 

Isn't that amazing!

"In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself interccedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts know the mind of the Sprit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."  -Romans 8:26-27-

walking the path of trust...

As you walk the path of trust you will experience situations that simply defy explanation.  When you look back, after the fact, you could never have figured out a better plan.  At the time it seemed strange, mysterious...even illogical.  Let me assure you, that's God working.  Things will happen that seem to be totally contradictory, but these are God's arrangements.  It was a wonderful day when I finally realized I don't have to explain or defend the will of God.  My job is simply to obey it. Bedside Blessings...Charles Swindoll

Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

There are times...

"There are times when you are awake and sense the coming day hovering just beyond the edge of the world. Your heartbeat quickens anticipating the blinding brightness of it, grasping its awesome possibility. You await the first rays of dawn, feeling that God must have whispered something in your ear just before you roused from sleep. You can hear the voice, not quite the words, but you feel, you know with everything in you, that a promise has been made. The dark night of your soul is fading and dawn will soon arrive." Lisa Wingate

i like this...God's promises are so real.

what?...six days have passed?

Yikes - it has been six days since I have posted on my "daily sharing".  Here are a couple of the cards that I have made in my "quiet" time.