Our Faith, Our Family, & Our Friendships.

 A childhood favorite!   When I left home I requested my mom give me the recipe to one of the simplest dishes she ever made as I was a kid,  but one that I LOVED. It was a casserole of sorts with few ingredients and super easy to make.    I still love it today and make it for my family often!   It's also great as leftovers for my guy's lunches!  Broccolli and Cheese Cassarolle 2 cups cooked broccoli (drained of all water) 3 eggs 1/2 cup minced onion 1/4 tsp pepper 1 cup cheese 1 1/2 cups milk  1 tsp salt 3/4 cup busquick.  Grease 10 in pie plate,  mix veggies and cheese in pie plate,  Beat milk, eggs,  and Bisquick and pour-over.  Bake @375  35-40 min   Of course, I can't make a recipe without adding a few of my touches,   We try to use healthy organic ingredients, and I add in a cup of cooked meat,  usually ham to make it more filling.  I also add some extra seasonings like garlic p...

  We saw a snake,  Ben tried to catch it but it got away,   his goal is to catch a snake a day!   He's at 3 days in a row!    Of course he's catching them at school and freaking his teachers out!  Lol   We also discovered that our apple trees are starting to bloom!  Matt planted them our second summer here!   Those flowers were a beautiful sight!  

   Yesterday I got a call from Bens School and imagine my shock when I was told that he had acted up in class and had an after-school detention...   My first reaction was "Yeah right, you're pulling my leg!"   There was NO way Ben acted up that bad.  He's just not that kind of kid....?   But,  After some back and forth on the phone,   They did convince me that Yes,  indeed.  He had after-school detention.     I didn't even know his school did this!  Let alone,   Ben!?!?!?      My disbelief quickly turned to embarrassment,  shock,  and I was upset.          Ben KNOWS better,    100% not ok!   I sent Matt to the school to handle it.   I knew it wasn't the best situation for me to confront while upset and Matt is WAY calmer than me.    Matt headed to school while I listed in my head all the groundings I was gonna layout.     Be...

 She now take her babies all over the yard,   they run around after her as she pecks at the ground.  Its so much fun to watch!

 

  A few weeks ago I had a dear friend who was really struggling in a few areas of life reach out to me,    I was able to tell her about my best friend named Jesus,    share with her Scriptures,   and give her honest real-life examples of his goodness to me and how much we/I truly need him,  and that without him I would not be ok in my life,   He is my saving Grace.    He is not only here for the "perfect person",  but here for the worst sinner who desperately needs saving.   We can come to him in our lowest points and he will only love and forgive.    He is faithful.   He is wonderful    We spent hours and days talking about so many worries and fears and praying to our father together.       One day after talking,  She got off the phone and looked up the sinner's prayer.   A few minutes later she called me and shared how she asked Jesus to come to live in her heart and in that i...

 And I'm not even going to apologize for the overload of baby chick photos and videos you're about to see.    

 Do you guys remember a few weeks ago that I shared how we found the pile of Americana eggs hidden in a corner of our yard!?  Well, guess what!!    She was a fabulous brooder hen and faithfully laid on those eggs day in and day out,  rarely taking a break to eat or drink and as of just now,  We have 8 baby chicks!! They are soooo adorable!      

 Such a blessing to receive healthy foods from the inlaws bountiful asparagus patch!   I am so grateful that they are willing to share with us and provide our family with yummy veggies!    

I caught this photo of my little girl today as we headed into our church- she was skipping happily and was full of life!  I couldn't help but think how precious it would be if we as Christians would live our walk with Jesus as innocent little children do in almost anything in life. To happily skip along, excited about going to church instead of it being a "chore" or a check-off of our list of duties as followers of Christ.   Are we delighting in the small things instead of complaining about the difficulties in our lives, or begrudging what we don't have instead of being thankful every day for the many blessings we do have? Are we skipping with excitement about gathering together with the body of Christ and learning about our Lord,    Or are we bored in our walk with him, stagnant in our growth, and finding many more things capturing our attention? Just some deep thoughts as I grow from my daughter's joy in "going to church"

     To be fair with the whole story,   I'll start with a couple weeks to a month ago now (kinda lost track of timing) I had a chef reach out to me,   and offered a job of taking photos for a pretty tip-top restaurant about an hour from me,   for menus and billboards, etc.    It was an amazing opportunity working with one of the top chefs in the area who HERSELF creates and serves dishes to NFL players and many big-time people.    The chef would provide the fancy dishes and my job would be to shoot and help create fabulous images for the restaurants involved.       A dream of mine.   Like wow.   How often does an opportunity like that come along?     But,   I knew I had to turn it down.   For many reasons but the top one being the fact that even tho food photography is a passion of mine,  I am a beginner.    I 100% admit it.      My specialty is families and peopl...

 And what's better than painting beautiful master-pieces together!   

 My devotion times recently have been going through much of the Proverbs and several books of the new testament,     As I'm studying, one huge thing sticks out to me-  Giving, Hospitality, and Serving others.   It's been something the Lord has laid on my heart strong in the last year and has been very much confirmed through reading his word.      As I read these verses,   My mother-in-law always comes to mind,   she has been the most amazing example of all this to me.        Always hosting,   serving,   ministering to others,  the first to take a meal to someone,   visit a friend in the hospital,   sewing for the homeless,   and giving in any way she can.  Between her and my father-in-law,   you never leave their home hungry,  cold, or in need.    They would give you the coat off their backs and without hesitation.     And you will be guarantee...

3d model of the statue of liberty!    

A Yearly tradition!  

 "You know,  I can count to one million.   I just don't have time."

We pray you have a joy-filled Easter, filled with praise to our Savior for his Wonderful Love for us. He is indeed worthy of our praise!   In between the Easter baskets full of chocolate and Yummy dinners,    Make sure you stop and truly Thank Our Precious Father for sending his Son to die on the Cross for our sins,   Because of Jesus,  and his love for us,  We can now look forward to an eternity in Heaven with him.     Stop today and truly Accknowlege him today for this sacrifice! Amen!  He is Risen!  Sporting our new Easter Sunday clothes!   (Thank you Gigi for the dress!)