Happy new year

We have been so blessed in 2009. We have had a great school year so far, our church is doing well and growing and our kids are happy and healthy.
Looking forward to an amazing 2010! Happy new year from our house to yours.

Snow day

Merry Christmas form Esther Hope

Esther's Baptism

Esther has been wanting to get baptized for the longest time. She came to me over two years ago, when she was just 6, and wanted me to explain to her how to go to Heaven. We have waited a while for her to get baptized because we wanted her to understand a little more fully what she had done and make sure she understood.

The last time we had communion at church, Greg mentioned not taking of communion if you had not followed through with the command of baptism and Esther cried and cried because she wanted to get baptized, but her daddy wouldn't let her!:)

Well, we had a baptism coming up at church and Esther and another little girl from church both very much wanted to be a part of it. So Greg was able to baptize Esther. It is such a blessing that all three of my children have received Christ and now are baptised!

Thanksgiving

We actually had two amazing Thanksgiving feasts this year. We had dinner with my parents, sister and Amy in Virginia the weekend of Abby's birthday and then on Thanksgiving we were at Greg's parents cabin in the mountains of western NC. Both were sooo yummy! We have so much to be thankful for! I couldn't help but think that there is a good possibility we will have to more additions to our family to be thankful for by next November!

Abby's birthday

Ok...so I am only about three weeks behind blogging about my eldest turning 12. Here are some pictures from Abby's birthday. We went to Virginia and mom and dad took us to Kabuki's Japanese food. YUM! We also got her midnight tickets to go see New Moon and she got a cell phone. I cannot believe my little redheaded baby is now a beautiful 12 year old! I love how she color coordinated with her cake! AND she said that it wasn't even planned!

Turkey Gravy

Here is a yummy recipe for Turkey Leftovers from my mother in law, Lynn.

Chop a whole bunch of celery stalks and 2 onions and saute in butter until soft. ( My MIL says that the more celery the better, so don't be shy)

Add chopped up turkey

Add flour to cover and coat (about 1/2 cup)

Add a carton of chicken broth and cook until it begins to thicken. Salt and pepper, then pepper a little more.

Serve over toast.

A slice of Fall...

Made this pound cake this afternoon and it was really yummy... Thought I would share:

Pumpkin pound cake

1 c. Wesson oil
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. soda
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice
2 c. plain flour (presifted)
2 c. cooked mashed pumpkin or canned

Mix all ingredients in single bowl and bake in tube pan (greased and floured) at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool and dribble the following sauce.

SAUCE FOR PUMPKIN POUND CAKE:

1/3 c. butter
1 2/3 c. powdered sugar
2/3 tsp. vanilla
Few drops milk or egg nog

Melt butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and a few drops of milk to make thin enough to pour.

Zoo Day

We went to the NC Zoo yesterday. It was the first time we have visited the zoo and we had a wonderful time,. The weather was great and the kids just had so much fun! They came home and watched National Geographic videos of seals and sea lions because they had such an interest in them after watching them at the zoo.

The old rock house

Greg and I were able to go off Thursday night and Friday for some alone time. We were able to spend the night in alovely little cabin on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then we went to Floyd, Va to shop and eat. We had some time beofre we went to eat, so we rode over to my family's old home place. It is in Riner, Va and the house my grandmother was raised in is still standing as well as the graveyard where my great great grandparents, Joseph and Abigail Feather are buried.

Such a beautiful place out in the country. If those hills around the rock house could talk, I am sure they would tell us many many stories of past days.

Rockstar party

We went to some friends of ours house for a rock star party. It was so much fun! Esther really got into character. The food was great and we had a blast playing rock band.

Trunk or Treat

We had Trunk or Treat a chicken stew and hayrides at church last Wednesday night. It was sooo much fun!

Enough about me!

Well, now this was a fun 99 question, bucket list kinda thingy. Probably more than you ever wanted to know about me and I am sure if my sister had a blog she would have way more items in bold, but it was still fun to do!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain (only a little one!)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the beach)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Cool new website

Just wanted to pass along this cool website I found called Blastoff. You can make it your home page and then customize it with the news, games social networks that you like. There is also a "mall" where you can click on all these cute little flair buttons and go to the store of choice. If you go there from Blastoff you get a % off and if you invite friends and they sign up under you, then everything they buy, you get a % of that too in the form of a commission check each month. The best part is, its free! Check it out and watch the video and see what ya think:

BLASTOFF

Happy Monday!

Williamsburg/Jamestown trip

Clue Night

We had a Friday night free ( amazing!) and I was trying to think of something fun to do as a family. We havent had family game night in a while, so I thought we would just play a few games. Then I got the bright idea to have a Clue themed night. I made up invitations and told everyone which character they were to be. Then they had to dress as that character and come to dinner that way.

We had a candle lit dinner with fancy glasses and we called each other by their clue name ( except Abby, she was way too cool to really enjoy it, but we made her try!) After dinner, we got out the board game Clue and played. I ended up being the murderer. Mrs White in the Hall with the Wrench!! Fun Free Family entertainment!

Miss Scarlett

Mrs Peacock

Professor Plum

Mean Rev. Greene

Mrs. White in the Hall with the Wrench!

Dixie Classic Fair

We went to the fair today! We had a lot of fun looking at exhibits and of course eating all the yummy yummy food. We had ribbon fries and an onion blossom ( great lunch huh?) and then everyone got to choose a sweet for themselves.

I got a fried snickers bar, Esther a caramel apple, Nate choose a funnel cake, Abby got a snow cone and Greg reallly wanted corn, so he chose corn, but then got some cheesecake too. I think we hit our sugar intake for the month all in one Friday!