A New Addition To The Family

About two weeks ago my mom, siblings and I went to my uncle’s house for the weekend. We stayed at their house and on Sunday we went to a really good church that we like and went home that afternoon. My uncle raises hairless dogs and sells them. Hairless dogs may not be the cutest but they sure do have a personality. On Friday evening, my uncle brought in one of his Powder Puff puppies. Both of her parents were hairless and all of her siblings were hairless, but she had hair all over her! She was the sweetest thing ever! And very hyper. I love dogs and I immediately fell in love with her. The next day we were having a yard sale at their house, and my mom came on the front porch where we were sitting and say’s, “They sold the puppy. But you can hold it a few minutes before they leave.” So I was really sad and thinking that is was a bummer that the puppy was leaving. It seemed to take them forever to get the puppy ready. Finally my aunt comes out with the puppy in this cute little dog purse. So now I begin to think, I’m not going to get to hold her before she leaves! My aunt walks over to me and say’s, “Delivered!”

This puppy was going for $600 and they gave me the puppy plus two harness’, a collar, a leash two bowls, a dog carrier and some training pads. She can’t go outside though because the way she kind of hops, the hawks will think that its a rabbit and will come down and catch them. I certainly would not want that to happen to her! I am super happy with her!

And just a few more cute pictures to share with everyone! With such a cute dog, how can you not take pictures?

She is so fun to play with!

She’s also got the cutest little bark!

 

Medicare Birthday!

Today we had a birthday party for a women that Jennifer works with. She was turning 65 and was so happy because she could get Medicare! So we invited her over for supper and a surprise party! We invited the rest of the people she worked with in her office and we decorated our living room in red, white and blue (the colors for Medicare) and had balloons and streamer all over the roof! Mama also made her a birthday cake that looked like a Medicare card! It turned out really neat. 

 

 

Me and Bethany had to blow up all of the balloons! It was a lot of work but it was super fun!!

 

I saw how cool this looked and I thought, “Wow! Can we do this for my birthday?” I love the red, white and blue theme. I’m really big on that, but yet I’ve never thought of having those colors for my birthday. So some new idea’s came today for mine!! I should have gotten a picture of the cake but I didn’t and I’m so sorry because it looked really cool but now its cut into so it wouldn’t look very good.

Have  a blessed day!!!

Amy

We Are Spoiled!

Yesterday, my church had a visiting preacher down from Virginia to preach the Sunday services; and can I tell you, it was good. =) Both services he hit on how much we take for granted. We have a lot of luxuries, even of just running water and indoor plumbing is a luxury to some. You may not have thought about it, but missionaries give up everything they have here in America, to go places that don’t have things such as AC or heat, cars and local grocery stores. I know myself, if I want something in particular to eat, I can drive 15 minutes to go and get it. Some missionaries have to have everything flown in; they can’t just drive to the store and get these luxuries.

• How about coffee. Bro. Cox told us that over seas it’s $28 for a pound of coffee. Over here, it runs about $8.
• What if the plumbing line broke? You could call in someone to fix it and they’d probably have it done in 4 hours or less. Over in the Philippines they have an ash tray and 1 foot shovel. They can’t just fix a plumb line in that amount of time.
• One more thing, what about a nice house? Most missionaries have to live in a one or two room shack. They don’t go to places that have nice roomy, big and beautiful houses. They have to go and start at the bottom. Bro. Cox told us of a family that had a room for the kids, a room for them, a kitchen, bathroom and living room. Their living room had to be the church as well. Talk about cramped living.

Now, I know that I take a lot for granted. I sometimes complain about having to share a room with Amy, not having my favorite foods for supper, and being a little cold in the winter. But what do I really have to complain about. I have heat and AC in my home. I have my own bed that I don’t have to share. I get fed good food. I have running water and indoor plumbing. I really don’t have anything to complain about.

So I’ve set myself a challenge to not complain, and maybe even do without some things. Such as a soda when I’m out, or movies when I’m bored. Instead, I’ll put the money into missions and my time into praying for missionaries. It may not be much, but it’ll be a start, and it will do me a world of good. 

Bethany

Almost time to leave!

It is only 6 day’s until Jennifer, Bethany and I are going to be leaving for Chicago, Illinois!!! We are going to Journey to the Heart! Our brother went on the guy’s journey in October of last year, it was a great experience for him. It’s a time to get to know God and yourself personally. To see what is really deep down inside of you. So we signed up for the girls journey from March 16th through the 26th. We will actually be leaving on the 15th to drive up, and we’ll be coming back on the 26th. It is a 16 hour drive so it will be the perfect time for me to read all of my books that I’ve started but haven’t finished! =)

If you would like to read about Journey to the Heart to see what it’s all about go here.

Amy

Rain, rain and more rain = . . .

…Yard Lakes!!! We have been getting a lot of rain the past 4 days. It started on Saturday and rained all day long. Sunday it took a break but only till about 11 that night. It then continued to rain until just a couple of hours ago. The breaks it took don’t really even count for the amount of water we have received. Even though we have a flooded yard, I thank God for the rain. He did let it stop this morning for about an hour to let Phillip and I work, and then it continued.

So, being a photographer, I grabbed my camera and went down to the front of our property. King, Boss and Phillip came with me and I got some really neat pictures of King jumping over the stream. Here are a few.

Boss is not a water dog, so he didn’t do any jumping or much wading either. He tried to find the high ground or go around. At one spot, he the water was flowing pretty quickly and he tried to catch it. Other than that, there is loads of little water falls in the front two fields. There is the stream, but with that much water, the stream doesn’t hold it all and it winds up running through every other place. Bethany

Granola Bars

I am a huge fan of granola bars. They are the perfect snack! When you want something sweet, sour, chewy, soft, chocolate or fruity, you have… Granola!

Today, I did a little experimenting with my granola. We found this great new recipe and instead of adding the chocolate chips like it said, I used two different combinations of dried fruit. So, instead of one big pan I made two small pans to try the two different combos of fruit.

The first pan, (on the back of the plate) has mango’s and apricots.

The second, (on the left side of the plate) has a mix berry combo, with cranberries, blueberries and cherries. This is my favorite out of the two new ones.

And the third one, (on the right side of the plate) is the regular recipe with chocolate chips. 

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

3/4 cup (1 -1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
4 -1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium-size mixing bowl, cream together the butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. (I use an electric mixer for this step.)
2. Add flour, baking soda, and oats. Stir until well-mixed. Mixture will be a soft, fluffy, and somewhat crumbly. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Press mixture into a lightly-greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes, until edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and place dish on wire rack to cool.
4. After granola bars have cooled for 10 minutes, use a smooth-bottomed measuring cup or glass to press the bars flat. (Pressing while too hot will smear chocolate everywhere!) Allow to finish cooling and then cut.

From the family, they liked it. I’d say that this was a very successful experiment. =)

Bethany

Music To My Ears

If you’ve been here before, you know that I LOVE music. A couple of weeks ago, Phillip, Amy and I went to hear three of the greatest gospel groups sing. Phillip had bought Amy a ticket to get in for her Birthday because her favorite group was going to be there. The groups were: Greater Vision, Legacy Five, and the Booth Brothers.

Amy loves Legacy Five. She listens to them all the time. She has 10 Cd’s, and I have the solo CD of the pianist, Trey Ivey.

I told the head of the group about Amy being a big fan, and about the Birthday present and asked if she could get a picture with them. Of course, they said yes.

Left to Right: Gus Gaches, Matt Fouch, Scott Howard, Amy, Scott Fowler and Trey Ivey.
Anyways, the 3 groups sang together for the second have of the night; it was really neat. They all blended so well together.

The fact I’m trying to get to, is the CD of Gerald Wolfe. He used to play piano for the Dumpling Valley Boys, then on to the Cathedrals, and now he is head over Greater Vision. He plays some, but he has his own CD out called, Hymns You Asked For. A lot of people asked him for a CD and this is what they got. It’s a great Cd. It has a lot of the meaningful songs on it, like Great Is Thy Faithfulness and Come Thou Fount. I love this CD, it is now my favorite piano Cd that I have; and I have a lot. =)

Bethany