~My french bread recipe, and other happenings.~

~For a long time I've wanted/NEEDED a piece of kitchen furniture to go in between my stove and refrigerator, but as you can see I didn't have a lot of room, so we couldn't seem to find one that was narrow enough to fit that space. So, last Aug. I used these wooden crates to store things until I could find something else.~
~My parents last day here in Colombia, Moma and I were in a store and I had measured to see how wide a piece of furniture would need to be to fit in my kitchen, and had the measurements with me. We went around measuring piece of furniture after piece of furniture and everything was too wide, and quite spendy! So we decided that we couldn't find anything in that store and went to the front to check out, and there sat this piece of furniture near the info desk and I measured it and knew that it would just fit, and it was a good price too. So, I bought it, and we came home with it. Little did I know that after trying to work in my small kitchen (with little counter space) for 2 1/2 weeks my Moma was convinced I NEEDED another piece of furniture too, and she and Daddy had planned to buy that piece of furniture if we could find the right thing. When we got home with it, Daddy gave Phillip the money to pay for that furniture....THANKS Daddy and Moma, I LOVE it! Where the LARGE Papaya is sitting, I have just enough room to mix up a recipe using my mixer, so that makes me HAPPY!~
~This past Monday we started school. Our girls are working HARD, doing 2 days of school each day, for we only have a few weeks left before we head back to the USA to have our baby. =) During our school day we took a picnic lunch to the park near our home and had a nice little break from PACES, PACES, PACES! =D~
~Our kids eating their picnic, and then afterward they had a fun time playing on the playground there too.~
~Several weeks ago, I posted a pic of my French bread that I had made, and had several requests for me to post my French Bread recipe, so here it is, better late than never. =D~

~Heather's French Bread~
I have used this recipe for about 20 years now (Whew! That makes me sound old, but it helps to know that I started making my own bread when I was 11. =) using this recipe for my bread business too. It's easy, light and YUMMY! I love this recipe because it makes 4 (20 oz.) loaves, so I can give one or two away, serve one for supper, and freeze another one for later! =)
Microwave for 2 mins:
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons salt
4 Tablespoons marg. or butter (half of stick)
2 cups water
After pulling bowl out of microwave, stir to make sure butter melted, then add:
2 cups warm water
(CORRECTION) 2 packages of yeast, or 1 HEAPING Tab. or 2 Tablespoons of yeast.
6-8 cups flour
Mix up and you will need to knead in the last cup or so of flour, and cover and let rise for 45 mins. then divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll out each on a floured surface and into a rectangle and then roll from side to side into a jelly roll and place seam down on a greased pan (cookie sheet) tucking the 2 ends under. Slice about 5 slices diagonally half way through the loaf with a serrated knife, and brush with oil, and let rise for 45 mins. Repeat with the other 3 sections of dough. Bake at 350 for 25 mins. or so, (maybe more) until the tops are golden, and when you tap on the loaves they sound hollow. After you take the bread out put them on cooling racks and brush tops with butter. It's hard to explain bread recipes by writing them out, so if you have any questions, just leave a comment, and I'll try to answer your questions. I serve this just room temp on a cutting board, with soft butter, and everyone slices their own, like you would get at a restaurant, or buttered and then heated in aluminum foil, or buttered and laid on a pan and toasted in the grill part of my oven for breakfast. YUM! YUM!
Also, here is a fun Sunday night snack using this French bread.
~French Bread with bacon, tomatoes, and cheese~
Cut a loaf of baked French bread in half longways and place on a cookie sheet, cut sides up.
Butter each half of the bread.
Mix together:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 teasp. mustard
1 teasp. Worchestershire sauce
and spread on top of the 2 halfs.
Top with crumbled pre-fried bacon, grated cheese, and diced tomatoes
Bake until cheese melts at 350, then bring out and slice in 2 " pieces and serve.
Mix up a batch of French bread today, set the table, smell the wonderful aroma of homemade bread, call your family around and Enjoy! =)

~Happy Belated Anniversary Dad and Mom D.~

My in-laws just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary on Jan. 20th, but that is when my parents were here, and I was running to fast to be able to post anything for them. CONGRATULATIONS Dad and Mom D. on 35 happy years together. We love y'all TONS and are so happy that you are our parents! We trust that y'all have many more happy years! We appreciate y'all's godly example to we kids. We love and miss y'all, and hope to see y'all soon!

~Our last week with Daddy and Moma~

Those of you who know the laid back Latin American culture where things are promised "tomorrow" but usually end up being days or WEEKS later...will enjoy this from our Noah. The night that my parents arrived here in Colombia Noah asked my Daddy when they were going to unpack their suitcases...for we had told them that "Gram and Gramp" would be bringing lots of nice gifts with them for he and his sisters. My exhausted Dad looked down at Noah and said, "We'll unpack those "Manaña"...and then he asked Noah if he knew what "Manaña" meant. Noah shook his head YES and said, "Manaña means LATER!!!" My Daddy HOWLED laughing...for he knew that Noah was RIGHT ON TARGET with his Latino definition!!
~After coming back from Medellin late Friday night (Jan. 18th) Moma and I worked hard on Saturday to unpack all of our suitcases, wash clothes, clean up the house and get ready for Sunday. Daddy had to get ready to teach the Bible class on Saturday, and Phillip had to get ready to interpret for Daddy. Here is a picture of the good group of students at that Bible class.~~After the Bible class, Jimmy and his dear family gave Phillip 2 birthday gifts to give to Kimberly and Noah. Our kids were very HAPPY with their gifts.
Muchisimas Gracias Hermano Jimmy y familia.~
~Sunday we all went to our morning service and Daddy preached and Phillip interpreted. Then we came home and had a yummy HAM dinner. You see we had seen ONE ham here and it cost 179.000 pesos = $90.00 for a small ham! So Daddy and Moma brought us a yummy ham from the USA and we surely enjoyed it and plan to have the leftovers tomorrow! =D After dinner my Moma and I were about to CRASH, so we took a nap and Phillip, Daddy and our kids went to our evening service where Daddy preached and Phillip interpreted. Moma and I watched some of Hobe Sound's evening service after we got up from our naps. After church Phillip called me and told me he was bringing a couple of our good friends home with him for a snack. (We had told him it was fine to invite them if they showed up.) So Moma and I quickly put a snack on the table from the leftovers of our dinner and we had a nice snack and visit with our friends. I stayed up late writing Thank you notes to our supporters while everyone else was visiting.

~On Monday we drove past this...Colombia's "White" house where the president lives.~
~This is a bust of Simon Bolivar who helped free Colombia...and his house is behind our family.~

~We took Daddy and Moma to see one of our favorite parks here in Bogota. Behind us is a neat concrete map of Bogota with raised mountains, etc.~
~We took Daddy and Moma up to see Monserate.~
~Daddy and Moma with Bogota in the background.~
~The restaurant we had wanted to take them to was closed so God led us to this one. They had good service and we really enjoyed the food too.~
Our silly Noah LOVES to "dip" his crackers, bread, chips, or whatever... in his juice or drink. Here he is dipping his bread in his papaya juice. UGH!~
~On Tuesday we just rested and got all of our pictures developed from the 2 1/2 weeks that Daddy and Moma were here so I could send some back with Daddy and Moma. On Wednesday Daddy was going to take us to McDonalds, but their playground was out-of-order, so we found a Domino's pizza and then after we ate we took the kids to this little park.~
~"Gramp", Phillip and our kids at the park.~
~On Wednesday night we went to Bro. Jimmy's church and Daddy preached and Phillip interpreted one more time. On the way to church Kimberly showed us how her tooth was soooooo loose it was about to fall out by itself, so when we got to Jimmy's church, Gramp (per Kimberly's request) pulled her tooth out, and then that night she got money from Gramp and Gram and from Daddy and Moma too. =)

My parents left on Thursday morning, Jan. 24th, and God gave them a safe trip home. We had such a WONDERFUL time with Daddy and Moma and surely Thank the Lord that He allowed them to come and visit us. =D All of their grandkids call my parents "Gram and Gramp"...but somehow our Noah cannot hear the difference in those 2 names so he calls my Dad "Gramp the man" and my Moma "Gram the lady!" =)
THANK YOU AGAIN TO THOSE OF YOU WHO SENT GIFTS WITH DADDY AND MOMA TO GIVE TO US. MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS Y'ALL!!!!
Like I already mentioned God gave my girls and I the strength to take down all of our Christmas decorations and clean up the house on Thursday.
On Friday evening I started scrapbooking all of the 153 pictures from when Daddy and Moma were here (there were a few from before they came) and I finished scrapbooking them this afternoon. (Saturday). I'm happy for I got 30 pages scrapbooked, and then I got my house straightened up and my ironing done. I wanted to get those pics scrapbooked for I don't have too many more weeks before we go to the USA and our baby will be coming. YEA! =) Kimberly started school today (for 2nd semester) and Lord willing I'll start Sarah on Monday.
Now, we have a busy Sunday ahead of us, trying to touch lives for Christ here in Colombia. Thanks for your prayers...and Have a WONDERFUL Lord's day!

~All good things usually have to come to an end...=( ~

Just wanted to let you know that my parents left today (Thursday) to go back home to the Great USA! We had a BLAST having them here and made a TON of wonderful memories! They just called to let me know that they arrived home safely, Praise the Lord!
As for us, we had a sad and lonely day today after they left, but it really helps us to know that we are going to see them again when we go back to the USA soon to have our baby there. I was soooo exhausted that I slept most of the morning and afternoon today, but this evening God and my girls helped me take all of our Christmas decorations down and we packed them up and then Phillip put them away in the closet for us. That was an overwhelming job facing me, and I thank the Lord for HIS help getting all of that done. Since our girls just received some more PACES for this year, we need to start school again right away. Thanks for your prayers for my parents while they were here. God protected them and they weren't sick one time... God is awesome!! However, they did sort of get worn out with ALL OF THE WALKING that we have to do here!! =D
It's too late at night to post a long post with pics, but I'll try to do that as soon as I can.

~Our days in Medellin~

Our family and Daddy and Mommy went to Medellin (the 2nd largest city in Colombia) last Monday and came home Friday night. It is a 9-11 hour CURVY bus ride, but God helped us and we had safe trips both ways and we weren't too sick. YEA! We had a blast while we were there. I'm going to be posting a lot of pics, so I'll keep this short. Hope you enjoy this story in pictures of our trip!~The bus only stops one time in the 9-11 hour ride. So this was our lunch when we stopped.~
~At the bus stop.~
~The Lord guided us to a nice apartment to stay in in Medellin with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen, living room and dinning room all for a GREAT price. And this pool, playground and nice mountain to walk and climb was behind our apartment.~
~Our family at a little old town up on the mountain in Medellin.~
~Daddy and Moma and our family with Medellin in the background.~
~Our 3 treasures.~
~One of our yummy Medellin lunches.~
~We found these HUGE concrete slides and our kids had a blast sliding down them...AND EVEN MY DADDY AND MOMA SURPRISED ME AND SLID DOWN THEM!!~
~Our family with a TALL cacti behind us!~
~That night we snuck our kids into that nice pool and let them swim. Our kids enjoyed their swim.~
~Waiting for the metro rail (train).~
~We rode up the mountain in the gandolas, and here are Daddy and Moma, and our children with the gandolas behind them.~
~Our friends Frank and Gloria had us over for a nice meal.~
~Then we went up the mountain to have a service in this humble shack of a dear older couple. Noah and Sarah sat on this bed during the service and Noah fell sound asleep. Daddy preached and Phillip translated into Spanish.~
~Daddy and Moma on the pretty mountain behind our apartment in Medellin.~
~Some of the more popular buildings in Medellin...3 libraries that were donated by Spain to Medellin.~
~~Our kids playing in a park.~
~Another yummy Medellin supper.~
~On our bus ride back to Bogota, when we stopped, Noah slid down a slide, and landed in mud. These were the only pants we had for him (in the bus with us),...
~So thankfully he had some red shorts on under his pants, and that is how he had to come home. I plan to pack some extra clothes in the bus with us...the next time we take a long trip. =D ~
~Moma and I on the ride home to Bogota.~
~Daddy and Phillip in the bus coming home.~
~Our 3 kids listening to "Gram" (My Moma) tell a story...trying to pass the LONG 9-11 hour trip back to Bogota.~

Thanks for stopping by and for all your nice comments. We have a busy Sunday tomorrow, filled with traveling to and from services and having a morning and evening service, with just a quick lunch hour in between. Daddy is to speak for both services and Phillip will interpret...Thank you for your prayers!

~Noah and Kimberly having a birthday~

~Today, our Noah turned 4!~~And today, Our Kimberly turned 10~
~Our children on Sunday.~
~On Saturday, we knew we would have a more enjoyable birthday celebration (due to not having much time on Sunday) so we went to a Rotisserie chicken restaurant that has a play ground and we all had an enjoyable meal and our kids had a BLAST!~
~Yummy chicken!~
~Daddy taught in Phillip's 3 hour Bible class, and Phillip interpreted into Spanish. They said that God helped them and Phillip was excited about how the class went!~
~Their Bible class students!~
~While they were gone, my Moma made 2 blackberry pies for our Sunday dinner and I decorated our table with snowmen and snowflakes, made a cake and made a snack for Kimberly and Noah's birthday. I did a fun centerpiece with REAL Colombian coffee beans that I had heard of, and then my sister reminded me of too (and I put snowmen in it for the party!) THANK YOU to my dear sister Laura for the yummy choc. cake mix, we are enjoying it, since we cannot get them here! After our men and Kimberly came home from class, we had a nice birthday snack, cake and ice cream, and our kids opened their birthday gifts.~
~I got these fun snowmen cloth napkins on sale last year!~
~The cake I threw together right before they came home from the Bible class!~
~Their birthday snack!~
~All 3 kids with their cake!~
~Ready to open gifts!~

~The Cassady family bought nice gifts for our children (and us) and they got to open them with their birthday gifts. THANK YOU CASSADYS for all of the wonderful gifts, we LOVE all of them!!~
~This Sunday morning Daddy taught Sunday school and Phillip interpreted into Spanish!~
~During church this Sunday morning! Daddy and Moma do a good job reading the Spansih hymns and singing the Spanish songs. Moma remembers well singing a lot in their Spanish classes at GBS many years ago.~
~In our church there are 5 of us pregnant ladies, here's 4 of us!~
~Our family after church this morning!~
~The 5th pregnant lady and me. She was having a baby shower today, but we couldn't stay for it, because of needing to eat lunch and then having another service Sunday night. So, we brought her a gift, and she gave us a cold drink, and we visited for a few minutes then we caught our bus, then walked the mile home. Moma and I hurried and got our "Christmas dinner" ready but by the time we got it ready, there was only 25 minutes for Phillip, Daddy, and our kids to eat and run to our evening service. Our "Christmas meal" was BEYOND DELICIOUS!!! Turkey, gravy, homemade dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green beans, then blackberry pie for dessert. After they left for church, Moma and I fell into bed and baby and I slept for 2 1/2 hours!! =D~
We had a good weekend. These next few days we will be busy running around with Daddy and Moma, so I may not be able to post. I'll post more pics and news as soon as I can! Thanks for your nice comments and prayers! We're having a blast together!