Joy

Hello all,
There's nothing like being sick in bed to make me realize how behind I am in the blog world. I am terribly sorry you had to look at that Oreo picture for so long Mrs. Victoria!
In the past few weeks I have been struggling with being joyful as I go about my day. Earlier this week I was talking with some dear friends, and discovered that they were struggling with the same thing! So we all purposed to look up scriptures about joy to encourage each other in the LORD. Here are a few that I found, I hope they encourage and bless you as much as they did me.

"But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful." Psalm 68:3

"yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:18

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Romans 12:12

^"being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves," Colossians 1:11-13

We have so much to be thankful for and joyful about, but sometimes with all that is going on in the world it is so easy to forget and get bogged down in the doom and gloom of things.  I sure don't feel joyful when I remember that 120,000 babies are killed through abortion every day, or when the cow tips over the milk bucket, or when the president annouces that he is in favor of gay marraige, or when I think of my precious grandfather struggling with cancer. And I certainly did not feel joyful yesterday when I spent the whole day in bed with a fever and headache, while Mom was down with a stomach virus. But the above verse is a great reminder of what I should really be joyful about.
The knowledge that God sent his son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross to rescue all of us from "the dominion of darkness", and that by beleiving in Him we will enter "into the kingdom of the Son", should have me singing all day long. What an incredible promise!
"Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man." Psalms 112:4
Anyway, this is what has been on my heart the last week. If you have a verse to share, I would love to hear it.

I, Angela, type this on my own keyboard. :)

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. Ephesians 6:24

Celebrating 100 years...

... of absolute yummyness.

This year is Oreo's 100th birthday... and of course they just couldn't celebrate without us. ;)

"Taste and see that the LORD is good"

Psalms 34:8

~Angelita

What it was really all about...

Hi y'all! So I guess you are all wondering what on earth Dad was talking about in his last, rather mysterious, post. Right? So here's the story:

At breakfast Friday morning, Dad informed us that we would be leaving Sunday morning as soon as we got done with chores to drive down to Florida. He told us that he had a meeting in Orlando Sunday night, and that we would drive over to Daytona Monday morning to have lunch with Grandma. "Pack something Church-like," he says. So we head out after milking and feeding-up, and get to Orlando in time for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes. Oh, it was so yummy! After that we went to the hotel to check in and get ready for the meeting. So after we all crashed on something comfortable, Dad says he needs to give us something for the meeting tonight. When he pulls out a yellow envelope marked "very important information", it suddenly dawned on me, this is a joke! So Dad pulls out tickets to...

A Tim Hawkins concert!

Needless to say we were really surprised... and I didn't wear what I had packed to wear to the meeting! We all enjoyed the show, I think he's funnier in person than on the DVD's. Anyway, he had us rolling. We ended the evening at Chipotles, my first time ever!

Monday morning found us heading out to Daytona early, trying to beat the traffic (the Daytona 500 had been postponed to Monday). We had a wonderful visit with Grandma, and a delicious lunch at Red Robin. We all agreed that the group of guys sitting behind us must have been the pit-crew for the M&M car- they all were wearing matching M&M "uniforms".

Any-hoo we had a wonderful "surprise" trip with Dad, it is such a blessing to have such a wonderful father.

On with the pictures!

Self explanatory

First stop: Sweet Tomatoes

Surprise, surprise

Waiting for the concert to begin.... in case you

hadn't already figured that one out.

The Jonas Brothers... 25 years from now

"double sleeve- no cup"

Next stop: Chipole's!

"Please, no paparatzzi; I'm tryin' to eat here!"

Coin collecting is a genetic trait in our family :)

Grandma and yours truely

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Haawi ke aloha,

Angelita

The adventure begins...

This morning, we are off on a mini-vacation adventure. Dad has this mysterious meeting planned for us to attend tonight...I wonder what it is? We will then be traveling to Daytona to visit his mom. Stay tuned for details as the story unravels...

For me?

How sweet! My friend Keni, over at Keni's Kranium, gave me this award. Thanks dearie!

So to earn this award I have to:

1) Link back to the person who gave you the award

2) Complete the form below

3) Award other blogs, and let them know in a comment/email that they have been awarded

4) Share seven random things about yourself

So here goes:

FORM
1) Name your favorite song:

Hmm...That's a tough one, it changes all the time. But my favorite instrumental song is probably "The Truth Will Set You Free" from the Mysterious Islands soundtrack.
2) Name your favorite dessert:

And I though the first one was tough! Well I love anything with mint. For my birthday last year I made a cake with layers of Giridelli brownie and mint ice cream, and then topped it with melted chocolate mints. Heavenly. (Yes, I do make my own birthday cake... so I can make sure I get to lick the bowl! I'm kinda selfish that way)

3) What makes you angry:

The absolute cluelessness of all the people out there who think that they can just do whatever they want to do, regardless of how it affects others. Course I do this too, so then I get really angry. Oh! and smacking, that one really gets me.;)
4) When you're upset:

I cry my eyes out. Why? Because I'm a sappy, emotional person and I just can't help myself. Oh but then I do feel sooo much better.

5) What's your favorite pet?

Well we have a cat, and I do really like cats, but... I kinda always thought a fish would be pretty cool. They just swim around in the bowl and you throw food to them right? Probably not that simple. I wouldn't know, I've never had one.
6) Black or white?

Well if we're talking about clothes I don't look good in either. But I would probably choose white. My dream is to go for a walk on the beach in a white dress, I always thought that looked so...beachy. *sigh*

7) Biggest fear?

No idea. Probably cars. I know that sounds lame; and don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for them. I just don't like driving them.
8) Everyday attitude?

Some dear friends of mine nick-named me 'Birdie', a name which makes everyone laugh and question me "why do they call you that?". But Mom got to thinking about it, and she said it apptly describes my 'everyday attitude'. In her words I "flitter around the house leaving a whirl of feathers behind me".
9) What is perfection?

Christ! Son of the living, perfect, God.

And maybe chocolate...kidding!

10) Guilty pleasure?

No question there: Sweet tea! I am from the South, you know. Movies would probably be next, I am a sucker for a cozy blanket and a good movie.

Now for seven random things about me:

1) I LOVE flowers! I love to wear them, pick them, take pictures of them, and just stand there looking at them. What an awesome Creator we have, to have made them all so different.

2) I love cuddling babies, they are so precious! And to think that there are people out there who knowingly murder them everyday (of course we don't call it that, we just call it abortion because that's the correct thing to say).

3) I really do make my own birthday meal and cake...to me that's the fun part!

4) I am 5'11". Not proud of it, but it is what it is... I just don't wear heels very often.

5) I love airplanes! I have had the opportunity to fly as the co-pilot a couple of times, which was pretty cool.

6) I love dancing! 'Tis one of my favorite things to do.

7) Okay, I'm running out of things here, didn't realize what a boring person I really am. I'm from Florida, and I'm proud of it! Actually my brother and I are the eighth generation (on my mom's side of the family) that was born in Florida. How cool is that!

Last but not least I get to tag someone (or someones). Ha, this could be kind of dangerous.

So I am going to tag Sarah at knudsonfun.blogspot.com and Lauren at acornerpillar.com.

Thanks Keni for thinking of me, I rather enjoyed this.

Until next time my friends.

Haawi ke aloha,

Angelita

Mom and Dad on the road...

Mom and I are on the road...I had a meeting in Clearwater, and then we moved across the bay to Tampa. Today we visited an organic market farm that does a CSA. Here is the beautiful lady in the garden:
At the market, we picked up some fresh lettuce for a salad, and we had stopped earlier at the store and bought some charcoal and steaks to have a picnic cookout. Here is the lovely lady with the fabulous lunch that we enjoyed:

After lunch, we took a brief swing on the swingset in the park where we were having our quiet little picnic:

Then it was back to the hotel, where...if you can believe it...we went for a swim...in JANUARY!!!

posted by Mr. Larry

The Twelve Days of Homeschool...

A Celebration

...in honor of one of my favorite people: my mom. She is the most wonderful, beautiful, awesome, incredible, amazing (and so on and so forth), mother in the whole world! Well, at least that's my opinion. ;) So cheers to you Mom, I love you so much.


Anyhoo, we all know that birthdays are really all about food, and since I am somewhat grown up (at least I think I am), and can take charge of the kitchen, I wanted to do something really special.


To start off her special day I made orange and cinnamon cream cheese rolls. I love experimenting with different kinds of rolls, using my basic bread recipe and rolling it out with different toppings. I think these are my favorite so far!

The special lady with aforementioned rolls

I wanted to go all out with the decorating:


Totally the classic winter look

Dearest Mom

.....

The Menu

Garlic Parmesan Rolls with homemade Butter

Fresh Salad with Blackberry Vinaigrette

Steak Gorgonzola with Spinach and dried Tomatoes

Pasta Alfredo

.....

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
.....

I carved the butter in the shape of a rose

Everyone doing their best to smile at me despite the fact that I made them dress up for the occasion... No pajamas at this party.

My awesome parents

My brother and I.

T.J. here, is sporting the deer-in-the-headlights look; and as for me *gasp* can it be? Is she really wearing a Black Dress. Yes, I really am.

I think I hear sirens in the distance... could it be the FASHION POLICE. Only one thing comes to mind in a situation like this...

RUN.
OK, I'm back y'all. And for those of you who are wondering what planet I'm from, let me explain. Back in June, the dear Mortons hosted a Style Show and my mom taught a session on what colors are best for you. I am a Spring and so therefore am not supposed to wear black. Mom however, is a Winter so black is one of her best colors. So I was wearing it for her. Really.
Okay, back to the party

Ambiance

OhYah! How's that for a caption. As I was taking this picture T.J. said sort of quizzically, "your taking a picture of the candle?" To which Mom promptly replied "it's 'Art'...at least that's how it will end up on the blog ".

My dad is getting ready to open his online specialty wrapping business. Contact him for more information at Larry@WrapnRap.com. He charges more for the hand-drawn curly bow.

Oh! and as for the cow in the picture, that's my cousin LeAnn's cow. His name is Bo.

In case you were wondering.

White chocolate raspberry cheesecake

And I really didn't intend for it to look like a target. It just sort of happened.

Now this is definitely 'Art'

All kidding aside, I had so much fun making a special party for Mom.

My mother is a wonderful example of a Proverbs 31 woman, and I would like to take this opportunity to do what the children of a virtuous woman are supposed to do:

Bless you Mom, for all that you do and all that you are.

I love you,

Angela Marie

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies... Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her. Many women do noble things but you surpass them all... Give her the reward she has earned, and let her own works praise her in the city gates.

Proverbs 31:10,28,29,&31

Check out this great video...

Courageous

Hi Everyone,
I'm back! Yeah, yeah I know, long time no post. Sorry 'bout that.
But any-hoo, we had the most wonderful time this evening! (or should I say last evening as it is now just after midnight!) The last few weeks have been busy, emotional, and just a leeettle bit stressful. So it felt so nice to just kick back and take it easy. Most of our CSA customers are out of town, so we had a pretty easy delivery day which was a blessing. Dad has been in Tampa this week, but when he got home he was so sweet (of course he always is) and took us out to eat (Chick-fil-A, YUM) and then to see Sherwood's newest film Courageous. When we walked into the theater we saw the Davis family just going in; at least most of the Davis family (we missed you Auntie Laura).
If you haven't seen Courageous yet you need to! It was a very powerful film about fathers turning their hearts to their families and families turning their hearts to the father (both earthly and heavenly). I think one of my favorite parts in the movie is when one of the fathers gives his daughter a purity ring after she gives him her heart. You don't see this talked about much today, even in the Church. I remember the first time I ever heard of keeping your heart pure, I didn't know quite what to think! I wish that someone had told me about this when I was much younger, but fortunately I am blessed with a very gracious and understanding father who cherishes my heart. ~I love you Dad!~ But anyway, back to the movie. As Mom always says, "I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob." It was so funny! I think it was the best Sherwood film yet, though they are all good. Oh, and did I mention that Dad took us to Marble Slab Creamery for dessert? Can life get any better than this?! And just think, eternal life is uncomprehendingly better!

Love, a totally happy daughter of the risen King!

Also daughter of a courageous father, and wonderful and beautiful mother...

oh and did I mention I have a pretty awesome brother too?!

Just in case you didn't get it, I am totally blessed, and I am,

Angela

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9VT_NBIVfs

Corny Times

Okay so if cheesy wasn't bad enough wait until you read corny!

Sorry folks, we just couldn't resist.

For those of you (like myself) that don't understand this because it was before your time, this is from the movie Casablanca.

Ear's lookin' at you kid

~Countryblanket

Yeah I know, worse than cheesy, but that's just how we think 'round here.

Y'all come back now (if you can stand anymore)!

~Angelita

So cheesy...

...but I just couldn't resist!

Warning #1 This is a very cheesy post, so if you don't like cheesy stop here.
Warning #2 If you have never had the privilege of seeing "Finding Nemo" you probably will not get this.


So we have this really neat variety of squash in our garden that goes by a lot of different names around here: patty-pan squash, scalloped squash, flower squash, flying-saucer squash, and my grandparents just call it "that strange squash". But to me it looks kinda like a jelly fish, without the tentacles of course! And then it came to me....


"You will be my squashy, and I will name you squashy. Here squashy, here squashy-squashy."

I know, I know, so cheesy...But after all, they really do taste best with cheese sauce. :)

Over n' out,
Angelita

Our new secretary

Life

Hello all,
I hope everyone is having a great day. I am! It is a gorgeous sunny day here(rather hot though). Everyone is busy; Mom, T.J., and Zach and Benjamin K. are outside planting sweet potatoes (yum), poor Dad is struggling with computer problems, and I am here, of course, blogging. Lunch is simmering in the crock pot (pizza fondue), and my bread is rising in the oven, as soft piano music fills the house. This picture aptly describes how I feel right now...

Peaceful
The knowledge that we serve an awesome God who watches over and takes care of us should always fill me with peace, but sometimes I forget. But God is faithful no matter what. We all had a fresh reminder of this a couple weeks ago when a tornado came through our area. A big oak tree in our back yard fell right next to my Dad's office, on top of the lean-to and one of our green houses. If it had fallen a few more feet to the left it would have smashed right through Dad's office. The storm did not do too much damage to the house and we are so thankful to the Lord for protecting us and our animals and crops. So anyways, what follows is a collage of pictures of the cleanup!

This is the corner of Dad's office and of course the tree. Uncle Monroe came out one day (or rather two days) to take the tree down.

My wonderful parents found a good spot to observe

Uncle Monroe brought his family with him to help! Michelle here, is laughing at her son who was so facinated with the cows.

The roots stickin' up. There was a big 'fox hole' back there, and Joel thought it was supposed to be his new play house.

No, we are not child-abusers, the fence really is off. Joel was so cute though. They thought that the fence was on and so they told him not to touch because it was hot and so he started to blow on it to "cool" it off. LOL.

Uncle Monroe and Marcus takin' down the tree.

Joel loved Scrappy

If life gives you a tree, make firewood.

Literally

A totally over-used caption, but still apropriate...ART.

On Saturday some friends of ours came over to help with the clean-up. Thank y'all so much Deckers and Knudsons for all the work y'all did.

Dad, Dakota, and T.J. with the chipper.

It was such a gorgeous day outside! Keni and I took a walk around the lake before lunch.

Keni. You are awesome! I had so much fun with you and Sarah.

"Sniff" You may now view the remains. (Isn't that such a tragic word)

The impaled smoker lid

More firewood

Our most faithful servant...or what's left of it.

What's left of the greenhouse

Only the corner of Dad's office was damaged, but there was no damage done to the inside. God is so good!

Our poor grill, every time Dad would try to move it out of the way something else would fall off.

Any-hoo that's what has been going on around here. Sorry I havn't posted in a while, guess I'm not much good at this bloggn' thing.

I'll be back,

Angela

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. ~Isaiah 40:31