Weeds and Gardens

 I have planted my garden and I am now spending time taking out the weeds so the little plants can grow into big healthy plants that produce and feed our family.  The weeds are never totally under control but if I keep up with things, they are manageable.  I used to sprinkle grass clippings on my garden to keep down the weeds.  The kids complained how it smelled.  So for the past few years I have just fought the battle of the weeds.  Really, the smell was only temporary but the weeding was dramatically decreased.  Since I stopped putting the clippings on the garden I have spent hours, and hours out there weeding.  This year I have started back with the grass clippings and wow what a difference my weeding time is.  The grass clippings smother most of those nasty little weeds and I have more time to enjoy my family and maybe even write a little blog post.

To me this is how the word of God (Bible) and prayer is in our life.  If we can spend a little time every day spreading the word of God in our hearts and seek God first then we can smoother the weeds that try to root and grow in our life.   It is important to do the same with our children.  We make decisions daily on what and who they can spend their time with.  Trying our best to smother the weeds we see taking root and growing in their lives and protecting them so that they can grow into the person God has desired them to be.

I have found that certain plants have weeds that grow next to them that sometimes resemble them. It can be hard to tell the difference between the plant and the weed at first.  That is similar to us.  Unfortunately some of the special characteristics that God has created in us have weeds that look like our characteristics.  If we continue to allow these similar in appearance weeds to grow next to us they will smoother and kill our Christian walk and testimony. An example would be someone who is aggressive and has no problem speaking the "truth", can justify their actions of rudeness by saying that God created them this way, when in actuality God created them to speak boldly His truth to those who are in desperate need.  The weed in that person's life would be to go about wounding and distancing those around them, boldly speaking the way they see things and not using wisdom.  Someone who is quiet and meek can hide themselves in a lifestyle that has no contact with others and withdraw into their own home, forsaking time with other Christians like the one in the above example who offends them and this quite and meek person can decide that God no longer cares about them.  The opposite is true, God gave them that quite spirit to reach those the loud aggressive person could never reach.

We were all created for God's good purpose.  If a person feels they were created in a way that is actually sin according to Gods holy word, then they are deceived and have allowed the weed that looks similar to them, to grow next to them and choke out the plan that God actually created for them.  God had a purpose for that individual to use their temperament for his Glory not for evil to abound.  Let's us not forget the other enemy of our lives/gardens, those pesky bugs who come to destroy.  People can be bugs in our lives that encourage us in sin and away from God's truth.  God have mercy on our nation and help us to call sin - sin and good - good.  God did not create you for sin but for his glory.  I wish people would stop using the excuse that God created me this way to justify sin.  We were not created to live in the sinful nature but in the Spirit.  Galatians 5:16-26 says:

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[a] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,[b] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And here is the important part...

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who areChrist’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

As Christians we must read the word of the Lord and follow God's leading in our life so that we know right from wrong.  If Jesus is your Lord, don't you want to follow his instructions.  After all God has saved us from sin not so we can continue there but that we might grow and flourish in the life he has planned for us.   From the time of Adam and Eve sin has been passed down.  We all have inherited this trait.  Your sin temptations may be different from mine but through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are all overcomes.  Sin is sin, no matter how big or small and without the covering of Jesus Christ through faith we are all on the wrong road.  I know the sinful traps in my life and I must work hard at pulling them out, but when I immerse myself in the Word of God (Bible), and seek God through prayer, then the traps in my life don't have a chance.  I have a dear friend who I find great encouragement.  I have told her at different times struggles in my life and she always directs me back to how she finds things so much better when she spends time in daily Bible reading and in prayer.  This truly helps.  So may I encourage you, seek the Lord with all your heart, talk to him daily, and read your Bible.  It is so important that we know what we are saying when we claim to be Christians (Christ Like), it means to be a follower of Christ and there is no other better person to be.  Have a blessed day.

Alicia

Wanted to add a little photo of our little love

Watching my garden grow

and grow

and grow

That Time of Year

My poor pantry is looking so sad.  We have almost depleted its resources.  Last year was a prosperous year and this year I have not had a great harvest.  I really have enjoyed the rain we have received the last few day, but other than that it has been a very hot summer.  I especially love the clean smell that comes with the rain.  Hail on the other hand I do not care for.  The other day we had an amazing hail storm that was very hard on my garden.  I'm not sure I have ever been in a hail storm with hail that big.  The hail was exciting and the kids danced around the house amazed by its force.  I was concerned for anyone caught out in the weather.  It was about that time of day when kids are walking home from school, and what about the motorcyclist or homeless.

As a child, my cousin Chris and I were at a family reunion.  We had been down playing at the water when it began raining.  Others had gone back to camp but we didn't mind the rain.  The sky darkened and I remember a sudden wind came up and then pelting hail began beating on us.  The hail really hurt and we were out in the open with nowhere to go.  We had been playing with a tiny raft when the hail came and we squeezed together behind our sad little raft for the shelter it provided.  We began to cry and to that point of my life, I was the most scared I had ever been.  I remember praying out loud trying to pray louder than the storm.  Suddenly we saw my Grandpa's station wagon coming to the rescue.  It drove down the hill and across the sand to us.  We jumped in and with tear stained faces received our answered prayer.  We sat in the car for quite a while waiting for the storm to pass.  It did pass and we are here to tell our story.  I find that effective in life as well.  Sometimes we just need to cry out louder than the storm, receive God's shelter, and wait for the storm to pass.  It will pass and God will be with us through the storm.

So now I must decide what to do about my pantry.  Should I buy some fruit to can or just buy from the store till next year.  My mothers garden has done quite well and she has provided me with cucumbers for pickles.  She actually started a batch of 10 day pickles and let me work on them.  Unfortunately we went camping on day 9 so my mom was so sweet to finish them and can them for me.  Thank you mom.  :)  Then someone at church was giving away the most amazing peaches, so we grabbed a couple bags and made some pies.  I kept a few seeds as a science experiment for my 10 year old to see if we could grow a new tree.  Here are a  couple recipes of them and some pictures.  Have a great day.

God Bless
Alicia

The hail bouncing down

so exciting when you inside

Danika trying it out on her feet

Cassandra collecting some

My poor flattened garden.  

10 day pickles 

 10 day pickles
1 gallon cucumbers-thick sliced or chunked
1 cup salt
  Mix with enough cold water to cover, place in cool place for 2 days (stir/shake each day)

Day 3 and 4
    drain each day and cover with clean water

Day 5
drain and mix with 1 Tbsp alumn, 1 cup apple cider vinegar.  Mix with pickles and add enough water to cover.  Heat and keep hot for 2 hours

Day 6
drain, rinse.  Mix syrup-1 qt vinegar, 5 c sugar, 1 tsp celery seed, 2 sticks cinnamon, 1 tsp whole cloves

Day 7,8,9
heat syrup from off pickles and put back on

Day 10
heat cucumbers and syrup together and put in clean jars and seal.

Peach pie
Combine 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tblsp flour, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and dash salt.  Add 5 cups sliced peaches.  Mix.  Let sit till glossy.  Place in 9 inch pan, dot with 2 tbsp butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Seal with top crust.  Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.  

What's in a Name

Last weekend David and I went on a camping/hunting trip with a couple other couples.  It was the first time I have left Isabella since her hospital trip and I was quite nervous but everything went just fine.  We went to a place called Black Rock.  The road was dirt and bumpy and just kept going and going.  The fall colors were amazing but we were getting concerned we might have missed the campground.  When what to our wondering eyes should appear but a big old black rock sticking out next to the river. I said to David, "Do you think that is the the black rock they named the camp ground after," and sure enough as we turned the corner there was the sign.  We had arrived.  This very neat rock just standing there so magnificently just makes you wonder how did it get there.  I'm sure evolutionist have some explanation of thousands of years of work but I am so glad I believe in the Creator who made all things.  I think sometimes He just has fun and goes "How about a big black rock right... here."  Just wandering around the mountains was so gorgeous, seeing God's creation in such vibrant colors.  I'm not a hunter so for me the weekend was so relaxing.  My mornings were time with God, His word, wandering through his Creation and spending time chatting with a couple friends.   Then relaxing evenings playing games and sitting around the camp fire with our spouses.  A very nice weekend with my hubby indeed.  We are all very blessed to be surrounded by the creation of a very creative God.  Have a great day.

God Bless,

The black rock is in the background

This is the river, more of a creek right now, that ran through our camp ground.

Alicia

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."  1 Corinthians 2:27

The Right Time

There are three things I love to talk to people about.; one is their salvation story, two, their love story, and three, their baby story/stories.  I believe it is because they are all miracles.  They are personal stories that people are passionate about and all are different.   It is funny to me that the world will tell us to wait until the right time for all of the above.  What does that mean?  For us, had we waited until we were sinless we would be without God.  Had we waited until we had finished college or had the perfect jobs we would have not got married for several years past the time we married.  Had we waited to have kids until we had enough money and patience for them, I don't know when that would have been.  The right time in my opinion is very relative.

Children are such miracles.  The "older" I get the more of a reality this miracle is.  I do not take for granted the children God has given to us.   David was in his senior year of college and I was still a ways out from graduating when we had Alex.   We have absolutely no regrets for having Alex when we did.  Were we in the best of finical situations, no.  Were we real mature, patient and selfless, no.  But we were willing to bring life into this world and the blessings we received from our decission is far above what we had ever expected.  God has grown us in all those areas and I'm blessed to have had all my children, even exceeding the "normal" family size.

Our family

Marriage, Marriage, Marriage, what can I say about that.  I went to a concert the other day.  Warren Barfield, the writer of the song"Love is not a Fight," from Fireproof  shared his love story.  I wish you could all hear it but the abbreviated version was: he was young and not in a stable job but was in love and certain that this woman was the one God had for him.  He talked to his mom about this and told her how obviously this was not "the right time."  His mom encouraged him to marry this girl.  They got married and now have two wonderful children and God has been their provider.  Many times marriage is thought of as something we wait for until we have done this or that and are ready to be "tied down."  I really hate that analogy of marriage as a negative thing.  God instituted marriage in the beginning.  He saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone.  He knew that Adam needed a partner.  Could God have been that, maybe, but that was not his plan.  God blessed Adam with a wife, his helper.  This is the great mystery (Ephesians chapter 6) .   Marriage is a calling, a sacred union, a mystery to show the World Christ and the church.  Two are better than one because their return is better.  We more than double what we can do when we have a Christian spouse (Leviticus 26:8, Deut 32:30).  Marriage is not to be entered into lightly and I don't want to encourage anyone into a marriage that is not what God has for them.  I pray that marriage would be seen as a blessing and not an end of the fun, a beginning and not an ending.  My advise is that you seek God and the advice of those around you who love you before you enter into the union of marriage.  Your ministry should only increase when you marry.  Marriage is a blessing, a good thing.  The party is not over but just begun.  I am so glad that I am the wife of David's youth.  We have shared our whole adult life together.   The trips we took, were trips we took together.  The first home we bought was one we bought together.  Our adult struggles and accomplishments we shared together.  I guess what I am trying to say is that Marriage is a blessing and when God tells you it is the right time then be blessed until death do you part.   You can listen to Warrens song he wrote by googling "Warren Barfield the right time."  It is a great song.

our wedding as we were both 19

Our first trip together, our honeymoon

after splash mountain

our first, puppy, house and Christmas

Ok so I have saved the best for last.  The best is God loves you and gave His son for you.  Today is the day of salvation.  We have no guarantee of tomorrow.  Choose you this day who you will serve.  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  I have heard people say that they just aren't ready to serve the Lord.  They want to play in the world some more first.  That is just what Satan wants you to do, consume you with the things of this world so that the things of God have no value to you.  God loves you and this world has nothing to offer you that is good.  Only God is good.  Once God is first in your life and is your Lord, your life is better, your marriage is better and your children will be blessed.  Every day I have lived with Jesus is truly better then any day without.   I am not trying to say that being a Christian, a spouse, or a parent is easy but they all come with a blessing when we follow God's word and honor him with what we do and say.   May God bless you and I pray that you all know him as your Savior.  God bless and have a great day.

Isabella's baby dedication as we commit our children to the Lord

Our pastor praying over us and our children

Alicia 

The snow is gone

Well, it was beautiful but is gone.

The remains of our snowmen

The mountains still have snow and that is very good.  The girls were sad to watch their snowmen slowly melt.

In my Bible reading I read 1 Chronicles 20.  David has prepared the material for the temple and has planned it as the Lord has directed.  He is not allowed to build it but has made it ready for his son Solomon.    He encourages his son "Be strong and of good courage, and do it:  fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee;  he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou has finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord."  1Corinthian 3:16 tells us that we are the temple of God.  I think these scriptures are beautiful together.  You are the temple of the Lord, as are your offspring, so be strong and of good courage. Do what God has commissioned you, such as building up Godly offspring, don't fear, God is with you and he will not fail or forsake you.  He will finish his work.  Speaking of Courage, if you haven't seen "Courageous" I highly recommend you see.  It  is one I want to add to my library.  My husband and the girls have also enjoyed listening to the book on cd during their trip to the ski hill and recommend it also. Have a glorious day.  God Bless

Alicia

New Growth

Well another Friday ski/board day.  My husband and older kiddos are up on the hill, except for Alexander who is back in classes and working hard on the College's Spring production.  The little girls and I have been able to have a very relaxing day and they are in the process of having a much needed nap.   We had been outside but Cassandra needed to go potty now.  So in we went and about at the same time both girls decided to have a melt down.  It was an hour before nap time so I was a little taken back and tried to settle them to a new project but that was not working.   So, early naps it is.

While I was outside I walked around my plants, observing what is going on with them.  Plants are amazing.  One plant thrives while another one dies.  I can't seem to figure out what makes one live and another die.  It was so encouraging to see little buds on most of my plants.  How exciting to know in a few months they will flower and grow and some will produce fruit.  It reminds me of the parable of the soils.  Luke 8:4-15 tells us about a sower who went out sowing seed.  Some fell on good ground and produced and some didn't.  Maybe it is the soil of my plants that cause them to be healthy or not.  Can the soil be so different throughout my yard?  What about my family, is the soil different?  As parents we need to be trying our best to see that our children have good soil in their life.  What makes up the soil?  I believe it is, in part, how we raise them and what we allow in their lives.  God has given us new life when he gives us a baby.  We are entrusted with the major responsibility of sowing the seed (which is the word of God, Luke 8:11) in their hearts.  Let us do our best to not only sow the seed  but also to nourish their hearts and remove rocks, and weeds from their lives that will choke or prevent the seed from proper growth.  Parents, grandparents, siblings, family and friends, let us protect our children from the influences of this world which are of the devil.  When the word of God is sown on the good ground, which is an honest and good heart, having heard the word, may they keep it, and may they bring forth fruit with patience.  (Luke 8:15)  Have a great day and God bless.

Look for the bud, the hope of new growth.

Buds on my apple tree, the hope of new fruit.

our little puppy

my sleeping beauty.

Alicia

Get the Ball Rolling

What you think, you will begin to speak.
What you speak, you will begin to do
What you do, you will become

If you think thoughts that are negative, you will begin to speak negative, which will make you act to others in a negative way, and so you will become a negative person.  But when you think positive thoughts, you will speak positive, your will do positive things, and you will become a positive person.  Check your thoughts.  The people in your life, the music you listen to, the books you read, the shows you watch, the church you go to, etc...  all effect your thoughts.  Likewise you can effect the thoughts of your spouse and children and effect the people they are.

Obviously this is one of my favorite verses....

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be an praise, think on these things.  Philippians 4:8

Follow this verse and see what you can become.  Get the Ball rolling and start an avalanche of good will toward men.

God Bless,
Alicia

Are You in Focus

The other day we had an exciting time preparing and taking our annual family photographs.  I tend to do things at the last moment.  Monday I woke up and thought what a great day for family photographs.  I checked everyone's schedules and set a time and place.  Now the real work began, we had to pick out clothes for each of us.  Do we have a theme?  Are we going with a matching style, or matching colors.  One of my daughters enjoys planning these things and helped me.  What a task.  We don't all have the same colors or styles.  We laid out many different outfits for each of us before coming to a settlement.  This took a couple hours.   We got dressed, hair done and quickly headed out the door.  My mom met us at my sons college and took our pictures there.  I had some ideas and she took around 100 pictures.  We looked at the little screen and thought we had a couple good ones and off we went.  When I got home I put the pictures on the computer and much to my dismay the majority of them were quite blurry.    What happened?  I looked at my setting and couldn't figure it out.  Then it hit me, check the lens.  Oh no, it was very dirty and most of our pictures looked quite out of focus.  It was easy to delete over half because the focus was not good and even more because someone was blinking or looking off to the side.  I worked with it for a while and got several that are fine.

This got me thinking.  I often wonder is my life in focus?  Do I see things the way God sees things? Am I pleasing my God? While growing up, the church we attended had some very strict guide lines. I never understood some of them. I was a challenge to my youth pastor. I would question the rules with no real satisfaction of the answers I received. As I got older I heard Christians talk about the "freedom" we have in Christ Jesus and how a lot of rules are burdens. It is so easy to be influenced by the people that surround you, the teaching you are under, or society as a whole. How easy it is to go to one extreme of the other. I have made mistakes in my training of my children based on the outside influences in my life. The Bible says that we need to "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness." Matthew 6:33. Are we as a Christian society truly seeking the kingdom of God? In Philippians 2:12,13 the Bible says "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." How many of us are doing that? Truly we must seek the Lord in every area in our lives. Open our hearts to his plan. Seek God in prayer and in his word. If you are in a close relationship with God He can reveal to you areas that need to be cleaned up. Don't ignore His tug on your heart. Then find mentors. Do you know others who are where you would like to be as far as their relationship with God, their relationship with their family,and their relationship with others? What is it that Christians do that help them to have Godly families and God's blessings in their life? Seek people that have good fruit and see if that is someone God would have you to learn from. I am so glad to know that God is still working on me. There was a song I knew as a child... "He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. It took him a week to make the sun and the moon, the earth and the stars, and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient he must be because he's still working on me." My challenge to you today is to seek God and question the morals you hold. Do they line up with the Word of God or do you use the idea of "freedom" to sin? There is no freedom in sin only bondage. We are to be the light of the world. Hold fast to God's Word, may God's peace and joy be with you always, and may the world see a difference in us.   Clean your lens daily. :) God bless, Alicia

Autumn Has Arrived

What a lovely brisk day we are having.  I guess I had missed the arrival of fall.  The weather has been nice and I hadn't noticed much color in the landscape, but here it is, so beautiful.  The girls and I went to an open house at the local fire station.  We got to climb the tower and look around.  There was a little show of changing colors and it was so nice.  This weekend we were able to skype with one of our dear friends who is doing missionary work in Africa, she spoke of the warm weather where she is and I started noticing, yep, it is starting to turn to fall here.  After our conversation David and I got to jump in the car and head up to the mountains to one of my favorite places in the world.  We stayed at Shore Lodge on the lake and it was so beautiful.  In the evening we found a cute little lantern in our room and got to go out on the beach.  The lodge had a bonfire going.  I jumped at the chance to make a smore and enjoyed the peacefulness of this area.  The next morning, while David was gone, I opened our hotel window which looks out over the lake.  The mountains were majestic, even with the clouds settling on them here and there.   It was just perfect to sit there, sip my tea, read my Bible, and enjoy God time with the creator of all this beauty.   We drove home refreshed and amazed at the show of red, yellow, orange and green decorating the mountain road.  There were pine trees that turn yellow in the autumn.  I had just found out about them a couple weeks ago and was so delighted to take note of them as we drove.  I wish I had had my camera with me. Then when I got home I was thrilled to see my Purple Ash that we planted a couple months ago had just turned it's purple fall color.

Today is another exciting day.  Latisha has finished her driving time.  So, today she took and passed her driving test.  She is now taking her written test.  Where does the time go? Well, off we go.  If it really is autumn it must be time to make some caramel apples.  Hope you are all having a lovely day.

PS  Latisha passed her test

PPS  Here are our caramel apples and recipe:

4 cups sugar
2 cups Karo
1/2 tsp salt
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 quart 1/2 and 1/2
1 Tblsp vanilla  -add at end
Wash apples and but stick in them.  Combine in large sauce pan sugar, syrup, salt, 1/2 and 1/2,  and milk.  Bring to boil, stir constantly until comes to firm ball stage.  I just test with an apple to see if the Caramel will stick ok.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Cassandra helping

Sierra stirring

Danika preparing apples

The girls swirling the apples to keep the caramel on

enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Thankfullness

more canning

I have been quite busy lately, mostly by choice.  I have done more canning this year then I believe I have ever done.  That is not a lot in some circles but I was excited with my full shelves.  God has so blessed me this year and I haven't had to buy most of the food I canned.  What a blessing.

So, I was finally wrapping up my day and washing the floor.  It is one of those continual jobs that I haven't got to for a while.  I have been doing a lot of cooking, canning and freezing and the floor got pushed aside.  Well, tonight I tackled the floor and I started thinking back.  I remember around 30 years ago vacuuming the floor when I was a kid.  I used to ponder how someday I would be vacuuming my very own floor and it would add a little excitement as I worked.  I wonder if any other little girls imagine the same things.  My mom would leave us lists when we were on summer vacation and she would head off to work.  We would wake up to a list of things that needed to get done before she got home.  This didn't happen very often, normally we would do very little during our summer, but some days we would wake to a list of to dos.  Well, soon the day came and I was working in my own home.  Those little list my mom would give me helped me to make my own lists and get the work around my own little home done.

Our first little home was just that, little.  It had two little rooms and was over 500 square feet.  It was ours and we bought it as a hud home for a whopping $25,000.  Not to bad for two college kids.  Then I would imagine how the spare room would someday be filled with a baby.  I so longed for that day.  Eventually that day came and I was so thankful, overwhelmed, but thankful.   David had graduated and found a job that required us to move.  I was so excited when we found a house that had 1050 square feet.  I had found a house that was larger that I really wanted but it was just out of our price range so the this house was wonderful with it's 3 bedrooms, cutely decorated, and about twice the size of our first home.  Once again we had another child and filled the third bedroom and I was thankful.

Off we went again and had to move to a new city.  This time I was really hoping for something with a bit more elbow room.  We found a cute little house that had 4 bedrooms!  It was only 1525 square feet but it was in our price range and we were thankful.  When we moved into this house the neighbors were so excited because we only had two children and the people before us had had 3 and that was too much for this house.  Well,  we had two more kids and we did just fine in that home.  While we were there I felt God place on my heart a desire to entertain.  We would invite small and large groups to our home and loved to fellowship with our family and friends, it concerned me that our home was so cozy with so many people.  God had given me a vision of a lovely big home and I believe that he told me that if I would take care of what he had given me and used it for him that he would give me the desire of my heart.

Well, once again we had to move to a new city.  We looked for a home and found a new home in a new subdivision that was 2525 square feet.  What a blessing.  I remember thinking I had hoped for something a bit bigger but was thankful for God's provision.  After our 5th child we began to search a bit for something with a more land and around 3200 square feet.  We didn't really find what we were looking for so we took a break.  A few months later our realtor just happened to send us some listings.  In these listings there was a house that was just a few years old and over 6000 square feet.  It was a foreclosure and I giggled to think that we could own such a home.  Well, just for fun we drove by the house.  I didn't want to really look much, all I could think was how much it must cost to heat it.  David got quite excited and decided to call the realtor.  The realtor showed us the house.  Then I got so excited,  I could walk through each room and imagine what it would be used for.  Then the next room was perfect for something else.  I felt that God was fulfilling the vision he had given me years ago.  David looked at the tall ceilings and many rooms and got concerned about the heat.  Well, the house was a bit out of our price range but we made an outrageous offer and God was so good to give us favor.  We were able to get the house for an amazing deal.  We have been able to entertain over 100 people at a time even when it was down pouring outside and most were inside.  So, as I was washing my floor with my sore back I was overwhelmed with a feeling of thankfulness.  My back was sore from the canning and scrubbing the large floor but God has been so good to us and I am so thankful.  He has provided us with each other, children, health, and more than enough food, clothing, and shelter.  I am thankful for all the trips we have been able to take and how little we have had to spend on them.  What an amazing God we serve, a God of more than enough, who doesn't just provides for our needs but sometimes even for our wants.  Thank you God.  Be encouraged and thankful for what God has given you and may he fulfill the desires of your heart that he has given you.

Our first little home.

Alicia  

Politics and Canning

Ok, I have become very behind in keeping up with the news lately.  I catch things here and there but have found most of it to be too annoying to listen to.  I know we need to be informed and am grateful that my husband keeps me updated on the necessary.  This whole "he said she said" thing drives me crazy.  It is so amazing to see Congress trying so hard to push their own agenda that they can't get anything accomplished.  I really believe if they would use the Bible as their guide our world would be such a better place.  I've heard this before but recently heard it again so thought it worth repeating.  As the family goes so goes the church, as the church goes so goes our nation.  God help our families to follow You then maybe everything else will fall in line.  There is so much in life that can bring us down I want to encourage you to make Philippians 4:8 to direct your thoughts...

   "Whatsoever things are true,
      Whatsoever things are honest,
      Whatsoever things are just,
      Whatsoever things are pure,
      Whatsoever things are lovely,
      Whatsoever things are of good report;
      If there be any virtue,
      and if there be any praise,
      Think on these things."

I try to test my thoughts to see if they match up.  When my thoughts match up then I am so much more content and my stress level is less.

Now what a busy couple of days we have had.  I love watching my canning shelf fill up.  Lately I have been quite busy with making jam or preserves or syrup, matters who you talk to.  I have decided to quit using pectin in my jam making.  I feel it is such of waste of money.  Fruit has pectin already in it and if I cook it a bit longer it makes wonderful jam.  I so prefer home made jam over store bought so now I have several jars.  My friend told be how making jam without pectin saves money both because you don't have to buy the pectin and the jam is a bit runny so you don't use as much on your sandwich.  :)

We have also made 10 loaves of zucchini bread (and ate 3), zucchini cookies, chocolate zucchini cake, and strawberry rhubarb pie in addition to our strawberry rhubarb, apricot, and apricot/pineapple "jam." I really enjoy cooking. The clean up not so fun but worth it. 

  Have a great day and if you ever wondered what to do with rhubarb I included a recipe for the pie.

Rhubarb pie for Davids birthday party, with the left over dough we roll it out, spread butter over it, and sprinkle Cinnamon and sugar.  Then bake it with the pies. 
Strawberry Rhubarb pie:  mix 1 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.  Add 2 1/2 cups rhubarb and 2 1/2 cups strawberries.   Mix all together then let set while you prepare the crust.  Pour into crust and top with dots of Butter around top of pie.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. 

here are 6 of our zucchini bread loaves ready to freeze

made strawberry rhubarb jam with remaining strawberries and rhubarb and for fun added some raspberries.  Can't hurt, right?

Here are the apricots.

and here is my poor sick little Cassie girl.  She is better today but hasn't been doing much but sleeping lately.