College/Singles Winter Retreat 2009

Over the holiday weekend, the college/singles ministry in our church went on a retreat in Tennessee. It was incredible! We had an amazing time of praise and worship, several different speakers (including Jeff!) and lots of fun. As tradition wonderfully requires, we made a visit to The Old Mill for lunch one day.

Riding go-karts in Pigeon Forge.


Getting ready for Praise and Worship in one of the cabins.


Tara singing while Adam and Eli accompanied on guitar. She blew us away!


This is a view from the tram while ascending the mountain. The little town down there is Gatlinburg. We were on our way up to go ice skating.


Yay! We got snow! Naturally, only on our way home. But it was beautiful anyway.

New Spectacles

The Eye Doctor

Kaity is way overdue for an eye exam, so we walked up to the eye doctor's office today. That's one of the joys of living near downtown -- everything is so close! It's an easy walk, too, maybe 1/4 of a mile. The dentist is just over a mile away, and I don't think I would have attempted that today, it was so windy and chilly. Joe, the child who can't sit still for longer than five seconds and who runs everywhere he goes, says, "But I can't WALK so FAR!" Then he proceeds to run half the way. *Sigh*

Anyway, Kaity's nearsightedness has gotten worse, no surprise! During her exam, the doctor asked her to identify the letters (you know the drill) and Joe started calling them out! I quickly stopped him, but I had no idea he knew his alphabet well enough to do that.

I'll be sure to post pictures next week after Kaity gets her new glasses -- she's so cute!

The Twelfth Day of Christmas -- Ha!

Really, this is the last Christmas post! But I had to put up the pictures from our visit to Mom and Berk's house. (Seriously, I HAD to. Mom used some distinctly threatening language.)

Here's a great example of family togetherness, 21st century style! Mom was on Facebook playing WordTwist against Aunt Cindy, Uncle Donnie, Uncle Michael and Stuart. Jeff was on Facebook, too ... sending instant messages to Mom in order to mess up her game!


Here's Jeff helping Mom get dinner on the table.


Berk had to work on Christmas Day, so we waited until he got home to eat. Mom baked a ham and made lots of yummy sides.




I wish I had a better picture of Kaity! She's due for new glasses -- these keep sliding down her nose, making her look like a little old lady. She had just gotten out of the tub and I hadn't combed her hair yet. But she's still adorable, and Mom and Joe are too cute!

Christmas at Nannie and Papa's

I love being able to celebrate Christmas more than once! There's always a family gathering to look forward to the next week, the next day, whenever. Christmas Eve, we spent the day over at Ken and Cheryl's house. Jason, Paige, and their kids, and Joe's wife Jennifer were all there. We really had a good time eating too much and laughing and catching up on the goings on in everyone's lives. (To Joe: We missed you and we pray for you often!)

A fairly recent picture of Jeff's twin brother Joe, currently serving our country in Iraq.


Little Joe bonding with his cousin, Joel, and his sister. Yes, Kaity's under there somewhere!


Cheryl, Jennifer, and Jeff looking at pictures on Jenn's laptop.


Kaity, Joe, and Joel in the playroom.


Sarah Elizabeth -- look at all that cuteness!


Jacob, playing footsies with Aunt Jeni!


Jeff's older brother, Jason, terrorizing Joseph.

Ralston Get-Together

I'm woefully behind in my posting -- as my mother is quick to remind me! You'd think she's anxious to see pictures of her grandchildren. Well, for her and for you, I have a special bonus -- not just Kaity and Joe, but several adorable children! Last week, we had a rare get-together with the Ralston side of my family. My cousin Marc, his wife Shelley, and their children, Quinn and Alexis along with Mom, Berk, me and my kids, and Stuart with his youngest son, McKinney all met at Grandma Ralston's house in Thomson. (Rali was sick and stayed with his other grandmother for the day.) So, without further ado, here are some pictures of one good-lookin' family!

College Christmas Party

Sunday night, we celebrated Christmas with our College and Singles Sunday School class. We played several games, one involving attempting to unwrap a heavily wrapped gift while wearing fuzzy gloves. That one was pretty funny! We exchanged gifts -- Secret Santa -- and ate lots of food, of course! I think the highlight of the evening for all of us was when they gave us our Christmas present. They had been planning it since last year. When Jeff unwrapped the box, I saw what it was and said, "Is that really a Wii in there?!" Yeah, they got together and bought us a Nintendo Wii! The kids were at Mom and Berk's, so I called Kaity on speaker phone to tell her the news. The college people got a kick out of hearing her reaction.

The Race That Knows Joseph

The story of Anne of Green Gables has a strong emphasis on friendship, especially in Anne's younger days. She calls her friends "kindred spirits". In a later book, Anne meets an older woman who uses the term, "race that knows Joseph". That thought always intrigued me and several years after reading that for the first time, I came across the biblical reference where she got the phrase. Exodus 1:8 gives the moment in time that Israel ceased its period of comfort in Egypt, while under Joseph's rule with the Pharaoh. "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." So, the reverse being that those who were believers in God, who followed Him, were of the group that "know Joseph".

All that to say this -- One of the most amazing earthly gifts that God has given us is fellowship with other believers. What joy they bring with their "kindred spirits" -- we're one in the body of Christ! Our fellowship with believers at its best encourages us, strengthens us, and shows love to us. Of course, it's the Holy Spirit living within us as believers that gives us the ability to do all of those things. When we accept Christ as the living Savior of our lives, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within our hearts, and we begin to show fruit of that -- love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. What better qualities could you ask for in a friend?

Home School Christmas Party!

We had our Christmas party today, and it was a lot of fun! The moms all brought brunch dishes to share -- talk about yummy! We had doughnuts and breads and breakfast casseroles, fruit, and muffins. The children made two different ornaments and the kids and the moms both had book exchanges.

I took some pictures of the kids before we left home, too. Enjoy!




Those are our advent stockings hanging on the mantle. The large stockings are, from left to right, Joe's, Mommy's, Daddy's, and Kaity's.


We had twelve families participate today, with about thirty children.






This is our pastor, Brian, reading to his son Andrew and Joe. (The boys are 5 months apart.)

Jeni's Pumpkin Bread

Okay, so a while back I hinted at pumpkin recipes to come ... Here's my recipe for Jeni's Pumpkin Bread.


1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 cup chopped pecans

Remove the butter and the eggs from the refrigerator to allow them to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350̊F and coat two 9" loaf pans with nonstick spray.

Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is pale yellow and very fluffy.

On low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the pumpkin puree and mix again.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together.

Fold in half of the flour mixture. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla. Fold in the rest of the flour mixture and pecans. Be careful to not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake until the loaves are golden brown and set in the center, about 40 to 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a paring knife into the center of each loaf; if the blade comes out dry, the bread is done. YIELD: 2 loaves

***
This is wonderful with Orange Pecan Butter – soften ½ cup butter, stir in 1 tablespoon grated orange peel, and ½ cup finely chopped pecans.