Dear 2010...here is what we will remember about you

Dear 2010,

You have been a very short and eventful year, with lots packed into your only 365 days.  Today you will leave us forever and we will welcome in your friend 2011.  We look so differently and act so differently and even think so differently than we did when you first arrived.  I hardly can recognize who I was when I spent my first day with you.

As we say goodbye to you, please know that we will remember so much about you.

2010

The year I decided to say goodbye to my real estate career and come back home to take care of my family full time.


The year my baby girl lost both of her front teeth and turned 7 years old.

The year I broke out of my mold of curly hair and went straight!!  And I have never looked back!!!


The year I took my first weekend trip away from my family and ventured with my girlfriends to Dallas for the Sally Clarkson "Mom Heart Conference".  Such a blast!!!

The year we decided to get chickens.  And boy how they have grown.  And who knew we would love them so much...

Its the year that will forever be imprinted on my arm where my brutal burn scar will always remind me that I really should use a bamboo steamer when cooking Chinese dumplings.  {side note...my friend Elizabeth got me one for Christmas so I am now good with that}.

It is the year that I turned 31 and my big daddy boy 32 and the year we have been married for 12 years!! Wow!  How time flies!!  This man still melts my heart and I am so lucky to be his wife!!

The year that my beautiful sister married the guy of her dreams in the wedding of her dreams in Cabo San Lucas!!  The wedding we will always remember because we couldn't go resulting in the first time my sister and I have ever "not spoken."  We have really overcome though and are closer now than ever before.  Praise be to God!!!!  I love her so much and am so happy for her.

Its the year that we started homeschooling and said goodbye to everything we knew and hello to a world that we barely knew existed!!!  It is a huge blessing to be able to learn alongside my girls and I don't take a single second for granted {not that I don't wonder what I was thinking from time to time..LOL}.

Its the year my beautiful Kami turned the big 2 digits!!!  She is now 10...half way to adulthood...I can hardly believe it!!!

And as I look back at where we were just a short 365 days ago, it is hard to even recognize us.  The Lord has grown us so much this year.  We are blessed beyond measure!!  2010, you were so good to us. I pray that we will grow and learn even more when 2011 arrives.

And His name shall be Jesus because He has come to save His people from their sins...

A Savior.

God as Man.

Born on this day in the city of David.

To save His people from their Sins.


Glory to God in the Highest!!!



May all the joy of the Christmas season fill your home and your heart today!!!

When there were 12 days till Christmas, my little girls and me...

Make caramel apples with red and green sprinkles of course!!!

We had one of my dearest friends over and our 3 kids made caramel apples until our hands felt like they would break!  It was so much fun and the apples looked so festive!!

Here are the finished products... easy and gorgeous!!

When you have dipped and rolled all of your apples, you put them the freezer for about 10 minutes.  When they come out they are super easy to cut and they are just beautiful on the plate.

Of course I wouldn't tell you about all this holiday goodness without leaving you the recipe...Here it is, now go make you some apples!!

.......................................................

First you need to make your caramel, and let me just say that you should NEVER EVER buy the candies and melt them.  Who knew that this version took less time, tasted a million times better, and doesn't break any teeth?

Here is what you'll need...

1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of corn syrup (we used light but you can use either light or dark)
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 heavy cream
1/2 cup of condensed milk (drink the rest of the can...or is that just me??)
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

And here is how you do it...

Add all of the ingredients to a heavy sauce pan except for the vanilla extract and cook over medium high heat.  While the candy cooks, boil water in a second pot to create a double boiler.  Stir the caramel constantly until it reached 236 degrees.  This is probably the only tricky part.  Caramel is very finicky and will literally burn and turn black and ruin your pan at 237.  Watch it like a hawk and use a candy thermometer.  When its the right temperature, place the pot with the caramel in the pot of boiling water and turn the fire off.  The boiling water in the second pot will keep your caramel nice and soft for you to dip your apples in.  Now you will stir in the vanilla and go to town with your apples.

We poked skewers into our apples so that they would be nice and long for flexibility, and it worked wonderfully.  After we dipped them in the caramel, we let them sit for a few seconds before we coated them.  When you are ready to coat them, use paper plates and every single possible ingredient you have on hand.  We used M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, pecans, and red and green sprinkles.  Roll away and then remember to put them into the freezer for just a few minutes to make them easy to cut.  Then you just slice them around the core!!  DELICIOUS!!!  


So, what have yall been doing to make this holiday season enjoyable??

Do you remember me???

In case you are trying to remember who I am and why you decided to stop by here anyway, let me just say that I am your blog friend {I really am} and while I have been away since OCTOBER 21st {I really couldn't believe that} I have really not been away. I have been faithfully stalking you daily and reading every post, but I have been unable to find the time to write about what has been going on in our lives.

I guess partially because your lives seem so much more eventful, productive, and interesting than anything over here has been.  Why does it always seem that way??

We have been doing great and I am pleased to report that all my shopping is done and my halls are decked!! I will wrap presents this afternoon and then just enjoy the season!!!

I hope that your home is warm and that the holiday spirit has completely taken over!! It is so wonderful to have the girls home with me all day and we very often look out the windows when the frost is on the ground and count our blessings. We have so many of them.

We have been experiencing lots of pondering over here and really having to rely on God for things that we don't understand lately, which is something I don't think we ever want to have to do. A dear friend of ours husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 rectal, colon, and liver cancer as well as bone cancer in his shoulder and arm last week and that has turned our world upside down. He has begun chemo and will be receiving the strongest treatment available until further notice.

He is 34.

She is 31.

They have a six year old baby boy.

He told the doctors he didn't want to know how long he had to live.

It's Christmas.

My heart is so heavy, and so I am doing lots of praying and thinking of how I can help. Please be in prayer for this family. His name is Jamie Navarre. I really have no words to tell you how much things become so irrelevant and how family becomes so much more important than ever before. I have never seen a more strong wife and husband team, and that in and of itself is so glorifying to the Lord who created this very universe. I beg you to pray for this man and for his doctors and for their entire family and support circle.

And I will leave you today with this wonderful song by Casting Crowns called "The Christmas Offering." Enjoy!! And hug your babies extra tight!!