what's wrong with this picture...

I'm taking a picture of my daughter taking a picture of granola!!

Lol!

The recipe.

I have made this recipe in the crockpot and it was great. This time I made it in the oven because I didn't have as much time. I put the two trays in the oven at 250 degrees turning every 15 minutes for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I will never buy granola again! So delicious! My daughters and I love it on our yogurt. My sister is really good at playing hostess to visitors which she has often. When we recently visited I was so touched by all the little things she did for us. In our room we were greeted by lit candles, not one but two bouquets of flowers, Italian sparkling water, water bottles, a bowl of various granola/energy bars.

Yesterday, she told me a funny story about some young people she had visiting from Africa. She had set out in their room among other things I'm sure, a bowl full of granola and snack bars, just in case someone might need a little something to tide them over. Anyway in the morning the bowl of empty wrappers was brought downstairs. They had eaten them all-(there were a whole bunch), thinking it was their breakfast. Meanwhile my sister was in the midst of cooking them a lovely meal for their already full bellies-(he he). With appreciation and wonderful manners they ate what was prepared.

Just listening to her talk of her time with them was both heartwarming and eye opening. We truly have so much in this country. We are abundantly blessed.

Lord, thank you for every good thing you give us.

Help us to see the needs of others and to try to

meet those needs in your name Jesus.

skating, skating...

Daddy made a little ice skating rink in the backyard.

Which is, at this moment, packed with the neighborhood kids.

Fun, fun!

ping pong...

On the dining room table!

There was a time when I would not have been okay with this. ;)

As our family has grown and our home has not, we use every bit of it's space, this room is now the kitchen/dining/classroom/and sometimes rec room.

I found this set at a Cracker Barrel on our way home from Florida last month. You can turn any table into a ping pong table. We've been having fun with it! This one is just so much fun these days. She's growing, sitting up and keeps me laughing everyday. Enjoy the weekend!

goodbye 2010...

some questions to reflect on...over here

May God bless you and yours.

peace,

amy

thankful...

That they have each other to share all this fun stuff with.

something different...

This Christmas we decided to do something different. Instead of adding to the "stuff" we have, my husband and I decided our gift to our children and ourselves would be to be a trip to Florida to spend time with family.

We started off in Central Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa and it was so wonderful to be with them. We don't see them enough but we treasure the time we get to be together.

There are not too far from Disney, so we had planned to spend a day there.

It was a bright blue sunny but crisp day. From there we headed to my sister's to spend time with her family

they live near the Gulf of Mexico.

We went orange picking.

Because of the cold temperatures the oranges were super sweet.

My precious niece...

The tangelo orange is so yummy for juicing.

Wish we brought home more of them.

Another day was for strawberry picking.

We went to a farm where they are grown hydroponically. mmmmm! some fun on the beach for cousins...

first time for this one...

Christmas card perhaps?

We had a really good time together. Not only did we spend time with our family in Florida but we also got to reconnect with each other.

With the older ones in college now,

God only knows if we'll get to make this kind of trip together again.

beauty...

I asked dd18 to pick up a new compact for me yesterday. Look what I found when I woke up this morning. I love this perfume! I wouldn't buy it for myself. What a treat!

Thoughtful girl, thank you Love. She is aware that I am not feeling fabulous about my physical appearance at the moment. I have the misfortune/fortune-not completely sure-of gaining weight after pregnancy and not during. Happens every time that way for me. After about a year, things start to balance out and I go back to normal.

Anyway, my sweet girl left this reminder for me this morning. I feel as if God himself spoke these words to me, and indeed He has, through His word...

Go ahead, look it up 1 Peter 3:3-4

It's for all of us.