Happy New Year

Don't have much to say in this post. I just wanted to wish everybody a very Happy New Year! We are staying in this evening and just enjoying time together as a family. Have a great night in whatever you are doing. Rebekah

THE FOUR KIDS

I got them to all laugh here the next picture down is the more serious one. Wesley would not smile so I had to make them laugh to get a smiling photo . Then Anthony closed his eyes owell so much for the perfect photo.

Here they are trying to take the perfect picture our four children from left to right Wesley 17, Avery13, Anthony 20 and in the front my little princess Kassandra 10. They were all here under one roof for the day today. Seemed nice to have them all home again. It is a rare event anymore to have them all home at once. As you can see from the picture my Avery is going to be very tall since he is only 13 and as tall almost as his brother who is 20.

Cheddar and Garlic Bread

My middle son is home from Tennessee visiting for Christmas so his request was for me to make Cheese bread that is what the kids call it. So I thought I would share the recipe. It is an awesome tasting bread and my family loves it. Left to Right Avery, my niece Mayce and my son Wesley

Bread rising in the bowl.

Getting ready to rise in the pans.

All done 6 beautiful loaves of cheese bread.

Cheddar & Garlic Bread

4c. warm water 2 Tbsp. yeast 1/3c. sugar
Combine and let set for 10 minutes. In a large bowl combine the following:

1/3c. sugar 2.tsp salt 3/4c. oil

Combine the two mixtures and add the following according to directions below:

10c. all-purpose white flour (divided) 2tsp. garlic powder 1c. cheddar cheese powder

Add 5c. of flour, garlic powder and cheddar cheese powder; blend well. Add the other 5c. of flour, one at a time, and blend well. If dough seems too sticky add 1 more cup of flour.Put in bowl with lid cover dough with lid and let rise 10 minutes; knead down. Repeat 3 times every 10 minutes. Let rise until lid bulges. Then separate in to 6 1 pound pieces. Put in greased bread pans let rise to top of pans. Bake at 350% for 20 minutes then down to 325% for 10 minutes.

Cheddar cheese powder can be found at Amish bulk food stores.

CHRISTMAS AT MY HUSBANDS DADS

Ralph, Matt's dad, my husband Matt and son Avery.

From left to right Matt's brother Wyatt, His brother Mark, My husband Matt, Our son Avery and in the front is their Dad Ralph. It is neat to see them all together. Just can't get over how much they all look alike.

Playing cards the favorite thing to do when they go to Dads house. The lady in the red sweatshirt is Matt's step mom Carmel. She makes the most wonderful meal and deserts when we go always look forward to it.

In the meal line getting ready to say grace and eat. This is some of his family.

Here is some more family. The girl in the gray sweatshirt is my niece Tiffany which would be my oldest brothers daughter. Well that was our day. A fun day to spend with the family and fellowship. Now I'am so tired and ready for bed. Have a great night Rebekah.

GOOD MORNING ALL

Well good morning, today we head off to my in-laws for Christmas. My hubby is working only half a day today so we can attend. My son comes from Tennessee tomorrow to visit for Christmas. Then I think all the Christmas celebrating should be winding down. Me and the kids are soooo ready to get the Christmas decorations down. It is so funny how all year long we shop plan and prepare for Christmas then in just one day it is gone.

The kids have been riding the new pony and are so enjoying it. Now my son wants a horse of his own. So I think on the 1st we are going down to Shipshewana to the horse auction. We also need to get my daughter a saddle for hers. A friend is letting us borrow one for now.

Yesterday My husbands aunt and uncle came to visit yesterday for his moms birthday. My Amish friendship bread starter was ready to bake. I decided to put fruitcake fruit and nuts in it to see how it would taste. I love fruitcake and have tried a few recipes and they were not good. Now the stuff I made yesterday from the Amish friendship bread was great. Taste like real fruitcake just needed a little more fruit.

On Christmas eve my brother taught my kids how to play rummy. So they have been all about playing rummy. They have even got my Dad to play which is good because all he does is sit in his chair and watch t.v.

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND GOD BLESS YOU REBEKAH.

Christmas 2009

Avery and his new gun for hunting next year.

Kassandra and her new Christmas pony.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my blog friends, friends and family. Things are buzzing here this morning. Got my cheese ball made and egg casserole in the oven baking for breakfast. Got my chores all done which is always a relief to have them done before everybody gets up. Now we are just waiting for Grandma to get up so the kids can open their presents. Later my husbands brother, wife and their daughter will be here. Then pretty much it is just a day to relax, spend time together and eat food we usually don't. Have a great day Everybody and God bless Rebekah.

THE MEANING OF THE CANDY CANE

MARY DID YOU KNOW?

Mary Did You Know"[Originally written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene]
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you knowthat your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you knowthat your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand? Did you knowthat your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod? When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God? Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo The blind will see. The deaf will hear. The dead will live again Thelame will leap. The deaf will speak The praises of The Lamb. Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation? Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations? Did you knowthat your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb? The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

SNOW

Hello Everybody, hope everyone is doing great. We are doing good here at the farm. Yesterday we got snow and oh it is so pretty. I hope we get some more and it stays for Christmas. Christmas just does not seem like Christmas to me without snow. Yesterday we did our annual round to all the neighbors houses with our gifts. We decided to make cookies or I should say my husband did. He wanted us to bake cookies so that is what we did. I think mostly so he could eat them. We still have to decide and make gifts for my family. I did some Christmas shopping but still have quite a bit to do. My husband said last week you better get the shopping done. So I think he is kinda getting worried not me. I'm a last minute person and I do good under pressure. I have until next Thursday no hurry.

Recently it was brought to my attention about a girl who has a blog and has cancer. Her name is Hope and I believe she is 14. You should go and check it out. It is her diary on going through cancer. It is www.hopescancerdiary.blogspot.com. She is such a brave young woman. To top it all off her Dad died last year. Now it is just Mom and Hope.

Well that is all I have for today not to interesting but just thought I would check in. Leave a comment and let me know how your Christmas shopping is going. I will leave you with a verse that in my marriage is so useful. I don't think me and my husband ever go to bed angry. It is very important to us not to. You think because you are sleeping you are not thinking about it or by morning you both will have forgot. Not usually the case. You are more angry by morning because you have been awake all night thinking about it then you are a total grouch in the morning unable to deal with anything. The point is it is just a snowball effect it will not end up good to go to bed angry about anything or mad at anyone.
Ephesians 4:26,27
"In you anger do not sin" Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY EVERYONE AND GOD BLESS YOU REBEKAH.

THE HAIR STORY

My hair before and it was a little longer than this.

My hair after so short. Well here is the story one day before Thanksgiving I decided to get my hair cut. The lady who usually does my hair was booked so I decided to go to the local beauty school bad move. By time I got done I had no hair and it was butchered bad. So I go home my husband about fainted when I walked in because he did not know. There was all these scraggly long hairs I thought I could cut a couple it would help no. It was way worse than that I went to beauty school and no what a good haircut should look like I did not have one. So my sister-in-law
came to get my niece and I had her call her sister who does hair. Off to her house I go to get it fixed.No fix without re-cutting it so then as you guessed it got shorter. I also ended up paying for two haircuts instead of one. Was not a good day and that is probally what I get for not asking my husband if I could go get it cut. Needless to say I will never go to the beauty school with my hair again. They can practice on somebody else. Now you know the story behind the hair that was not meant to be. Have a great day Rebekah.

COOKIE BAKING

Here is our cookie baking day. I did not get many pictures but here are the few I got of the families who were part of it. We did lots of great cookies which you guessed it I forgot to get pictures. The caroling went great we were able to carol to 10 families. Of course I forgot the camera for caroling we had I believe around 30 people was a great time for all. Promise I will try to get it together when blogging. Have a great night Rebekah.

WOOD CUTTING

Here is some random pictures of our wood cutting day. Enjoy Rebekah. I think you all know but for those of you who don't this is my handsome husband Matt who I love very much.

My kids had to take this they said it is only fair since I'am always taking pictures of them. So as you will see there is three pictures altogether. I told them that was plenty.

His smile which I love so much to see.

The kids working so hard at helping load wood.

This was a three trees that got uprooted could not get over how big the base was and in the next picture the mass of the root system. Gods creation is so amazing.

One of Matts tree stands where he hunts in the woods.

DAY AT THE NURSING HOME

Once a month me, my daughter and another family go to our local nurshing home to visit with the patients. They just love it and look so foward to us coming. They are all so sweet and it just makes my day to see them happy. Alot of people just think that they are old and don't know anything. But that is not always the case. We need to remember they are people just like us who have a life and story they want to share. So my point is take some time and go voulnteer at your local nurshing home you will be blessed. Have a great day Rebekah.In this picture left to right is Ben, Abigail, Bethany, Mary, Kassandra and Elizabeth.

Here are all the same people except the two moms me of course you know and the other mom is Sandy.

12 Days Of Christmas Song

Got this from Diane over at Black Bird Singing. Thanks for sharing. Any one who wants to use this on their blog is welcome to take it and use it.
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SONG
Ever wonder why a partridge in a pear tree? Or how about 8 maids a milking and so on?
As Paul Harvey would say…”Here is the Rest of the Story.”
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Mat the w, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation..
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

TEA AT THE GOVERNoRS MANSION

Here is some random pictures from our outing today. Every year in Marshall Mi they have tea at the Governors Mansion. My Mom and motherinlaw used to go every year. So now that my mother has passed on me and my daughter are taking on the tradition. It is called the Governors Mansion because I guess Marshall was being considered as a place for the capital so they bought a house in case the city was chosen. Now The Daughters Of The American Revolution group keep it up.

I do not know who this man is I was getting ready to take and picture of the house he was there. He said to me oh you don't want me in the picture and I said oh that is fine. So off his hat came and he posed for me. I think we made his day that always makes you feel so good when you make someone else feel good.

This is me and as you can see my hair is all gone. A long story which I will post soon.

My motherinlaw.