Twelve more days until Christmas!

Christmas is coming
...and that puts a smile on my face too!

I am still here in San Diego, temporarily living in a 
little camper which is parked in my brother's 
backyard. My brother, his wife and their four 
children live a very simple life, but they are 
very generous people! They have made difficult 
choices through out their lives which means 
doing without some of the luxuries we as 
American have come to expect. Instead they 
have purposed to invested in their children. 

It's fun to see their kids fully enjoying the 
freedom of being CHILDREN...running from 
one end of the yard to the other chasing lizards 
or butterflies, romping through the mud, laughing, 
or curling up with their parents for a bedtime story, 
a song and prayers before bed. 

It's such a different life than hundreds of the 
children who live on the streets of Bangkok

Christiana’s Mud Pie is the BEST EVER!

May not be the most flattering photo, but I didn't want to run and grab my camera (leave my slice unattended) for fear someone else would devour my delicious piece heaven!

Crust

2 cups crushed Oreo cookies

5 T. butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ gallon Dryers Coffee ice cream

Chocolate sauce:

2 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 can (12oz.) evaporated milk

½ cup butter

1 t. vanilla extract

Topping:

1 carton (8oz) Cool Whip topping

½ cup crushes Oreo cookies

Combine cookie crumbs for crust with butter and sugar, press in bottom of ungreased 8” spring form pan. Make sure to line the sides of the spring form pan with wax paper (so sides don’t stick later) Freeze for 15 minutes.

Spread softened ice cream over the crust. Freeze until firm. (approx. 3 hours)

Mean while combine the first four ingredients for chocolate sauce, bring to a rolling boil for appr. 8 minutes. Remove fro heat, stir in vanilla and let cool to room temperature. After cool, pour sauce over ice cream. Freeze until firm. Spread Cool Whip over the chocolate sauce; sprinkle Oreo cookie crumbs on top. Freeze before serving. Enjoy!

Version Update Completed!

Birthdays are great fun...growing older is not! No women likes having people blurt out her age at gatherings, or have someone pile so many "teeny tiny" candles on her birthday cake that she can't tell what color the frosting is! So I decided to begin referring to my Birthdays differently, in a new way that sounds more interesting, something with finesse, less ancient,more fun, edgy! How about this....

Today I was updated to the new 5.5 version!

(There, I believe that will work just fine.
If all goes well, next year I'll get the 5.6 version. AWESOME!)

Can't imagine why my family felt I needed a new pair of shoes for my Birthday, after all these have taken me literally around the world! Okay...maybe it is time to replace my old shoes for new ones. Now I'm really ready. Bring on the new adventures!

Today I will celebrate another birthday and rejoicing over God's goodness to me! He has blessed me with so many wonderful gifts; family, beautiful grandchildren and amazing friends, for these I am very grateful. He has also given me the best gift of all ages....Jesus!

Jesus came to set me free, to release me from my fears. In Him I find my rest. He is the hope of the Nations, our Deliverer and King forever. He is the JOY of every longing heart!

Memphis for Thanksgiving

Fun with the twins.

Christmas decorations are everywhere....I love the Holidays!

I don't love the prices! Yep, that's a 13 foot Christmas tree for $375.....ouch! We won't be purchasing this one.

Codie decides to try and get a closer look at baby Jesus!

Yummy!! Pumpkin and Apple Butter

When you're little.... "meal time" is more about investigating your food or how far you can throw it!

Codie Rae snuggled up with "Robo" Grandma after a long day of playing. Even though I was there for a short visit, I still had to bring (and wear) my arm splint. Hopefully my arm will be strong enough to handle surgery in a few weeks.

Thanksgiving in Tennessee with Wade, Heidi and their family! I forgot how delicious turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes are and how expensive a "live" Christmas tree can be. What a treat to hang out with the family over the Holiday. Raising three busy young children is a challenging full time job (and exhausting) but Heidi and Wade are very good parents! We cooked and baked and even squeezed in a few visits to the park, zoo and shopping malls with the kids. ...well we had to do something to burn off those extra calories! Hopefully next stop is up to Washington to see Micah, Eva and the grandkids kids before Christmas.