More of the cookie exchange

snow removal

Here are some slides of Jim and my dad removing snow from my Dad's driveway. This snow accumulated in about 3 hours. They cleaned the driveway 3 times during this snow storm on the 23rd of December.

Christmas 2006

Here are some slides of "some" of the activities at the cookie exchange!

Christmas cookies again

I can't believe this but I forgot to take a photo of the cookies that I took to the cookie exchange. They are called "Chocolate Thumbprints". If you like chocolate and need a chocolate FIX, these will do it. These look festive and are delicious. The recipe is from Tast of Home magazine.

Chocolate Thumbprints
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, separated
1/3 cup baking cocoa
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/4 vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon butter
26 milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped

In mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg yolk, milk and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and chill 1hour or until firm enough to rool into balls. Mewnwhile, in a small bown, lightlly beat egg white. Shape dough into 1 inch balls; dip in egg white, then roll in nuts. Place on greased baking sheets. Make an indentation with thumb in center in each cookie. Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until center is set. Combine the first four filling ingredients in a small bowl; mix until smooth. Spoon 1/4 teaspoon into ech warm cookie; gently press a chocolate kiss in the center. Carefully remove from baking sheet to wire racks to cool.

2006 Christmas Cookie Exchange

Here is a slide show:

These are the cookies brought by all those who attended the cookie exchange hosted by my sister Shirlee. My cousin Glennora was in charge of the entertainment!! Needless to say, we had a blast!!!! We had some delicious food to eat, gifts brought to us by beautiful "Santa's helpers", and a gift exchange.

2006 Christmas cookies

Here is a sample of the Christmas cookies my son Jordan and I decorated for Christmas. I was totally surprised at his talent. He is 20 years old and he has been decorating cookies since he was 3 years old. I have to say that there is a vast improvement since the first time. :) With only decorating cookies only once a year, I've got to say that he is a natural.

My grandbaby Mackenzie

Here is the latest photo of our precious grandbaby. She just turned 4 months old. The mucklucks look big cause they are and also they are close to the camera.

testing

testing to see if my photos will show up

8 weeks old baby

Here is a new photo of my first grandbaby. She is now 9 weeks old today. This photo was taken over a week ago. I will be flying to Seattle to see her this weekend-I can hardly wait!!! I will be with her and her parents for a week. I will keep you posted as to our time together. :)

Fall weekend

My hubby and I went out shooting this past weekend. It was a lovely day for taking photos. I was very successful in shooting down the targets with my 22 pistol, at least for the first couple of rounds. My shooting finger got tired after the first couple rounds then it was hard to pull the trigger! ! I'm glad we got out when we did because we have been having a LOT of rain and wind and the leaves are flying off the tree limbs like a snow storm. Seeing the fall colors just makes me stop and thank God for the beauty he has created in the colors and foliage, it is just amazing.

sunflowers

These are the sunflowers I planted this summer. I was thinking that they would be 3 feet high but surprise!!---they are only like 18 inches tall. I'm just happy that they bloomed. Usually, I plant the seeds late and so the flowers show up just a day or two before the first frost. Needless to say, I'm thrilled about these cute little things. I planted the kale and I really like how they look. The tulips were bought at Michaels early in the spring and they looked real good all summer and will last all winter! :)

Fabulous arrival

Our precious little grandbaby arrived August 15th at 10 in the evening. She weighed in at 7 lbs and 8 0z, and 20 inches long. I don't know how to express my feelings of how blessed we are to have this beautiful little grand daughter. God is soooo good! Mom and Dad are adjusting to the demands of a new life. Grandpa is so proud. Grandma is beyond hope with love and adoration!

floral photos

Here are a couple of photos of some plant life around here. I love the photo of the raindrop in delicate leaves. Eyesight is such a blessing. I'm not sure of what kind of berries these are.

Homer Spit

Here is a photo of the Homer Spit: http://www.etravelphotos.com/alaska/2002na-031-06s.html

Boardwalk Fish and Chips

This is a restaurant in Homer, AK. It is located on the spit. We visited on July 28th and the weather was perfect for walking the spit. OOOPS, I didn't realize the photo would pop up 3 times. :)

Kenai River Seafoods

This is a photo of my son and his wife taken during the evening about 9pm at the Kenai River Seafoods dock. This dock is the home of a resturant and gift shops, it is a fun place to visit.

Little Susitna River

My oldest son, James and his lovely wife, Cynthia came to visit us in July 22nd to August 1st from Florida. We did a LOT of sight seeing with them and had a blast. Our Son, Jordan, who is in college is home for the summer so he enjoyed having his oldest brother at home and hanging out with him. He is an adventurer and loves the outdoors. These photos were taken at the Little Susitna River. It is a spectactular sight.

funky quilt

Just wanted to share a photo of the funky quilt I made for my son and his wife. (I made it in June) It was a blast to make and I did some fun quilting on it. They were here for about 10 days and I surprised them with the quilt. They also took the valances. I found the poster bed at a 2nd hand store and refinished it with white paint. It was a fun project.

OOOOPS!

OOOOOOPS! I forgot that I was going to post photos of the ferns. It is raining today so I can't go out and get all the ferns out front of the house. I know that it has been the cooler days and rainy days that have helped make my ferns look so healthy this summer. I will have to post my sunflowers after I get a photo of them. They will make you laugh!! I grow them in the same spot every year and this year I got the shorter "brand". (and boy are they short) They are just about ready to bloom though. Actually, you can see where they are in the photo with the ferns you can see the fake tulips----(sh sh sh don't tell anyone :) ) Those are the sunflowers and kale!

Alaskan Brown Bear

What do you think of this brown bear? It took us a long time to find this one and a lot of money!! Actually, it is at the zoo in Seattle! There were two bears there and they were sooooo intertaining. I've been around brown bears all of my life and was afraid to enjoy them. At the zoo, I was completely at ease and was totally facinated with them. They put on a show that was well worth every penny spent to see them. The boring link gives more information on the bear in Alaska.

Back from Phoenix and Seattle

My hubby and I went to Phoenix to spend time with our son Jonathan and his lovely wife, Jami. We enjoyed our visit with them and had a lot of fun. The temperature got above 100 degrees everyday, so we got up REAL early(early for vacationers) 6:15am, to go and play tennis!! Don't I look like I might be looking at a pro tennis career?!!! (actually, this was the first time I ever played tennis and loved it) We had a blast but by 8 am it was pretty hot so we had to call it a day in the sun. It was so invigorating to me to walk out in the heat for the few minutes it takes from the car to indoors-just taking in all the heat my body could handle!! Needless to say, it was a lot cooler in Seattle. We had a blast there-I just love Seattle. As you can tell from the photo my daughter, Julie is expecting soooooon!! I'm so excited to be a "GRANDMA". It is going to be a girl.

Rain-Ba Hum bug!!

Rain, rain go away! Well, we get rain today. Hopefully, it empties the clouds while they are overhead and move on to soak out the fires in the north of the state. I must say that the rain has been good for my ferns this year. They look the best they have ever been. Good day to catch up on unfinished indoor things.

rhubarb cake

This is a fabulous recipe and everyone who eats it absolutely loves it so I have to share it. It is bestest if served warm!!!! :)
1 pkg chocolate cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
4 cups sliced fresh rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1 pint (2 cups) whipping cream

Heat over in 350. Grease and flour 13x9 pan. IN large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Pour into greased and floured pan. Top with rhubarb. Sprinkle with sugar. Pour cream over top. Take at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm. ENJOY

rhubarb

I'm pretty proud of how my rhubarb looks. It actually has nothing to do with my green thumb-cause it isn't green!!! The good Lord has mercy on me and that's a good thing all around!! I think we are going to have another summer day today. My garden is starting to look pretty good. The perennials are doing super but the annuals are having a hard time. The flowers in my pots are doing great.

sandals in the snow

This photo was taken at Turnagain Pass on Memorial Day 2006. We were dressed for the hot weather at ground level but up in the pass there was a lot of snow yet, although, there was a warm breeze.

Homer, Alaska

Here I am in the red with my niece, Shonna,in the blue and my sister, Shirlee, in the black coat on the beach in Homer. We drove down there on Saturday and had a fun time shopping in the little sidewalk shops and walking on the beach. We had a mission while on the beach. We collected flat rocks to put into a rock walkway I'm planning on making. I'm so excited about it. I probably should go to Home Depot to get information on how to construct this thing. :) We enjoyed God's beautiful creation the whole way down to Homer. We were able to see a fabulous sight of the mountains and the active volcano, Augustine, while there. I posted a photo of the Augustine volcano, it usually is a beautiful cone shape but with the way the atmosphere was on Saturday it looked like a mound instead of a cone. All the mountains on the other side of the inlet looked like a sight you would see in the Grand Canyon area. Our niece had a fun time getting all the attention from us aunts and her uncle Jim.

bridal shower cake

This is a bridal shower cake I did yesterday I had a plan in my head but wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

mayor's marathon

My son Jordan ran the mayor's marathon in Anchorage on Saturday, June 17,06. This photo was taken at 7 am before the race. There was a lot of excitement in the air! About 1800 people participated in the race that day. This was his first marathon he ever ran in. He finished in the middle of the pack! It was a pretty exciting event for the racers and the spectators. I don't know how to remove one of these photos so you get to view 2 of them. :)

Peaceful Religion

I think it is fasinating that Bush and many others, after 9-11, were quick to blare out the fact that Islam was such a peaceful religion!!! Who do these people think we all are: brain dead? These were Islamic barbarians who smashed into and destroyed the towers and people's lives on 9-11. It is very ironic that these same "peaceful people" have been so destructive after seeing a cartoon depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. I read that Islam widely holds that representations of Muhammad are banned for fear that they could lead to idolatry. What do you think of that? They apparently are pretty righteous folks, but actually, I don't believe that. Seeing is believing and peaceful isn't what I've been seeing or reading about.
Another observation on this whole cartoon thing is that our freedom of the press seems to be supressed!! Isn't that interesting that we of all people in the world are "free" and they are not printing this cartoon in the media in our country? Maybe, we are afraid that these people aren't as peaceful as we were being forced to believe!!
There is only PEACE through Jesus Christ. In all my years of believing in the Bible I've come to the conclusion that living life the way Jesus taught in the Word of God, the Bible, is the only way to have a peaceful life. Jesus says in John 14:27, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.... This is what I call peaceful!

Valentine Party!!!

The much awaited valentine party came and went with a lot of excitement!! I had a fun time planning it and getting ready for it. I have a whole story as to the origin of my own valentine party for my friends. I will blog that later. The ladies brought fabulous salads to share. The chocolate shaped hearts filled with a fluffy dessert were delicious! I made a cheesecake that turned out great-a FIRST for me! I got help from a friend of mine who is a fabulous chef!!!!! She just made it sound so simple and actually, I took her word for it and it was a pretty simple dessert to make. I didn't get a photo of the food so you won't be seeing it.
The craft we made was a placemat. I was pretty pleased with the creativity of each friend's choice of fabric and cut outs!
We ran out of time to do the pampering part of the party which was ok with me. I had an absolutely fun pampering activity planned that I wasn't able to do anyway because I wasn't able to get the item to make it happen. (I'm planning on getting it soon so I will be prepared for it next year) The last minute change was going to be ok and the friends who were here it would of made the last minute activity fun anyway.
Needless to say, I had a super fun time and I think the ladies did also.

snowman succums to the elements

Well, our snowman finally succumed on Sunday. We had warm weather with rain for a couple of days and the poor man couldn't stoop over any longer and just fell apart!!

results of our projects

Here are the photos of the projects we completed these 3 days. The cookies are the cookies she will take home to her family. We are pretty happy with the results of our sewing project. I'm going to be getting ready for my valentine's party this weekend, so I might not be blogging until after my party on the 14th. I'm so excited!!