2008 IS HERE!! Happy New Year

I can't believe we're moving on into January now. We've finally got most of Christmas put away and I've started spending more time scrapbooking again. I did want to share these ornaments that I made for my grandchildren (well, actually for their mom!). Maybe it is something you'll want to keep in mind for next year. They're really easy and once you get 'one' made, the rest are easy!!


I used the large clear balls, chose a picture and converted it to black and white. Print it onto 'non smear' transparency film. After printing it and letting it dry, I had to cut it into a circle the approximate size of the diameter of the ball. I just used a circle cutter to do this. This is the trial and error part. Roll it up really tight and slip it into the glass ball. It should open up and stand up. If it didn't fit, I pulled it back out with long tweezers. This may or may not scratch the pic. If it does, I just had to reprint it. But you can go ahead and use this one to adjust the size. When you get it to fit right, then put the final picture in, add some snow or whatever you want in the bottom. I tried glitter mixed in with the snow, but the static made it cling to the ball and to the picture and I didn't like the way it looked. You could use sequins or confetti - whatever you want! I put some rub-ons on the outside of the ball. I used rub-ons to put the year and just a little saying like "Little Princess" or "100% Boy". These pics were taken before I added the ribbon to the top. They really turned out cute and I would highly recommend giving them a try! Here are a couple more pics.

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes and gravy
have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize.
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!!

We're leaving today to go camping for a few days then we'll join our 'Denton daughter' Teri and her extended family for Thanksgiving. We'll enjoy playing with the kids, visiting with Marcia (Darren's mom) and seeing Tim, Teri's brother and eating lots of yummy food.

God bless you and your family as you enjoy this day of thankfulness. I'm thankful for my family and friends who minister to us in so many ways!

New Turkey Recipe!

This recipe is sure to bring smiles to your guests' faces!!
1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.
2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully (see pic below for details) .
3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.
4. Watch your guests' faces...

Life Gone Crazy!!

I started working 'almost' full-time back in July and life has been crazy ever since! Sadly enough, it is this blog that has suffered the most! So I thought I'd stick my head in and just say 'hi' to everyone! I am working 30 hours a week in the music office of our church, First Baptist in Denton. I do the ordering, hiring of musicians, payroll, coordinating sound and music for funerals and weddings, rehearsal schedules, contacting praise team, quartet, adult choir, orchestra, and anyone else who needs contacting (!!), and the biggest part of my job right now is making sure that all the contracted agreements for our upcoming David Phelps concert are being met. There's never a dull moment, that's for sure!

I'm still a Discussion Leader in Bible Study Fellowship and thoroughly enjoying the study of Matthew this year. I have 12 wonderful women in my group and contact them each week.

I scrapbook anytime I get a chance. A friend came over last night and I worked on making these really cute Christmas trees out of scrapbook paper. They were so much fun to make and I thought they turned out really cute. I used double-sided Christmas paper and coordinating cardstock. The paper is mounted with straight pins into a styrofoam cone. As you can see, I tried three different styles. Which one do you like best?? The one with the paper curled up doesn't have a topper on it yet. I can't decide what I want to use.

I've also been trying to get my England album finished. I'm well on my way.

Looks like we're going to go camping at Thanksgiving. Tori and Greg are too far away to be with and Todd and Elisa will be with Elisa's parents. We'll leave Wed. afternoon and wouldn't you know...they're forecasting our first hard freeze for Wed. night!! Just our luck. But we'll still have fun and I have no doubts that we'll stay warm. It'll be great weather for a campfire!

I'm really going to make it a priority to keep up with posting to this blog!

I hope that your Thanksgiving is filled with thankfulness, fun, and love!!

Here's a great recipe to go with that turkey and dressing!

Baked Pineapple

Layer in order:
2 cans pineapple chunks, drained, and heated with 1 c. sugar and 5 T. flour
1 1/2 c. grated cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick melted butter

Bake at 350^ for 30 min.

We served this at Tori's bridal brunch and it was very popular! It has remained a family favorite.

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Blueberries and Blackberries-My Oh My!!

In one week, we got to pick both blueberries and blackberries. Wed. morning, 4th of July, our alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. We walked out of the house at 5:20 with everything we needed to go on a blueberry-picking adventure! We drove about 45 minutes to the north to Bailey's Berry Farm outside of Sadler, TX. We arrived there at 6:20 (we bought gas on the way) and, believe it or not, we weren't the first ones there! Two families were already in the field picking. We got our buckets and off we went. We were lucky because the weather was cloudy and very comfortable. It did rain on us a little, but that didn't slow us down one bit! We were instructed to pick the berries that were dark blue with a dusty look to them.

The blueberries were beautiful and it only took us about 2 1/2 hours to fill three gallon buckets. By this time, there were cars streaming in and parking up and down the dirt road. We had a lot of fun and are looking forward to doing this again next year. We have several ziplock bags of blueberries in our freezer to enjoy for as long as they last! They're good in cobbler, bread, in cereal, or just straight out of the freezer with milk poured over them! This makes a yummy slushy!















Several days later our friends Becky and Al Camp called and asked if we wanted to go pick blackberries! Of course we jumped at the chance, but this time we would be picking in the late afternoon. The following Monday we left at 5:15 to head north only about 15 miles to a blackberry farm outside of Sanger. It didn't take us nearly as long to get our gall0n of blackberries as many of them were quite large!
















Blackberry cobbler is sounding pretty good right now!!
The last pic shows Al, Becky, and myself...with full buckets, hot and ready to go home!! What a fun time we had.