~A Yummy Recipe & a few pics from our House~

Thank you to whoever was the anonymous person who put that recipe for pumpkin muffins on my blog comments. It looks yummy and I look forward to trying it. (But it would be more fun knowing who's name to put with the recipe. Hint...Hint. =)
~THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR BRO. JIMMY'S SURGERY ON HIS RIGHT EYE. AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL THE LORD BROUGHT HIM THROUGH IT AND HIS EYE SEEMS TO BE HEALING SLOWLY BUT SURELY.~
~This is a YUMMY dessert!! I made it here and Colombians don't usually have desserts nor do they like really rich things, but they loved this dessert.~

Chocolate Brownie Trifle

This delicious dessert will definitely disappear right before your eyes. A favorite at parties and super easy to make.

Ingredients
Batch of Brownies ( Boxed mixes are fine )
Chocolate Pudding ( 2 batches ) (since I haven't found choc. pudding here in Colombia, I used vanilla and it was yummy too.)
Large container of Whipped Topping
Toffee Chips

Make a batch of brownies and let cool. Then make 2 batches of chocolate pudding and refrigerate. In a bowl, break up 1/3 of your brownies and lay them on the bottom of the bowl. Next, a layer of chocolate pudding. Then a layer of Whipped topping. On top of the whipped topping a thin layer of toffee chips. Repeat 2 times. Top with extra toffee chips. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Kids and adults will love this dessert.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Kimberly and Sarah's violin teacher had a birthday in July, but I was still in the USA. When I got back, she told me that she missed her piece of birthday cake like I made for her last year. So, I gave her a piece of the above dessert and I had a candle stuck down in it that was a question mark (since I didn't know how old she was) and we sang Happy Birthday to her, which made her happy. Sarah is happy for she is out-growing her violin that Michelle and Nate Jewett gave her back in 2005...so she gets to get another one soon. (But she wants to keep this one too!! My Sarah is VERY sentimental with her things!!!)~
~With a big brother like Noah who puts his toy hard hat on Elijah...Elijah raises his hand for SPECIAL prayer that he'll survive life. =)~
~My dear friend Marisol came over Friday night. She wanted me to show her again how to make my french bread. We also had a yummy dinner together and a great visit. I always love it when she comes over.~
~Our supper with Marisol.~~One of our 4 loaves of French bread that Marisol and I made together.~
~Sarah had been reading a book and fell asleep while reading it. Noah had been sleeping in the living room chair and had fallen out of the chair onto the floor. Phillip snapped this picture before he carried them upstairs and put them both in their beds.~
~On Saturday we went over to visit Bro. Jimmy since he just had his eye surgery on Wednesday. We had a nice visit with their family and Farly made us a Delicious meal. Our girls always enjoy being with Jimmy and Farly's girls. Here Kimberly and Lady are on the top bunk and Sarah and Gaby below.~
~Brother Jimmy and Elijah on Saturday when we went to visit he and his family. They LOVE Elijah. (Jimmy and Farly lost their precious 6 month old boy 10 years ago. I have NO CLUE how they have lived with that grief...except for God's grace.)~
In a few days I'll post some pictures from our Sunday.

~Happy Fall~

I LOVE FALL! My birthday is in the fall (November), My sweetheart and I started dating in the Fall of 1992, and I love all the yummy treats and smells of Fall. I LOVE baking all the fun treats like pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bars, apple nut muffins, pumpkin pie, apple pie, caramel corn, caramel to dip apples in, etc. Where we live in Colombia it is chilly and we have 2 rainy seasons a year, so it feels like fall all year long. I love to decorate with pumpkins too, but I have only seen 3 small ones in the 2 1/2 years that we have been here. I have lots of fun memories of Falls in the past...and plan to make a lot more this Fall with my precious family.
~Elijah all dressed up in his orange and brown
says, "Thanks for coming around.
We love hearing from y'all,
And to you and yours, Happy Fall."~

~Elijah sucking on his hand...trying to help his 2 bottom teeth to come in.~
~We took lots of pictures trying to get one of Elijah's 2 bottom teeth that are coming in. I got so close to his face that he almost looks like a fish. =)~
~I love this yummy smelling "apple cider" candle that my dear sis-in-law Beth gave me, and the pretty keys that Janet gave me, and I love the pic of my kids' feet in this frame.~
~I like it that you can see Kimberly and Elijah through this mirror. Aunt Libby gave me these dried fresh leaves 2 years ago and they still have the WONDERFUL smell of Fall! YEA!~~Some more of the yummy smelling dried leaves from Aunt Libby.~
~The china cabinet all "dressed up" for FAll!~
~My Moma wrote me an email and told me that I could take the tea light candles OUT OF THE ALUMINUM and that makes the apple candles look a whole lot cuter. (I posted about these apple candles on our Fri. and Sat. post below.) I love these fall leave salt and pepper shakers that Roseanne got me a couple years ago.~

Happy Fall...maybe next time you stop by...I'll have a yummy fall treat to share with you, like fresh baked pumpkin cookies. ;D

~Our family day on Monday~

~Last week was "friendship day" here in Colombia. While at church last Sunday a lady from church gave me a sun flower and her daughter gave Kimberly a rose. However, my Sarah (WHO LOVES GIFTS) was very SAD that she didn't get a flower. So, I told her that she and I could share mine...which made her heart happy.~
~My Phillip, (who arises Very early in the mornings) sat down to read his Bible and hold a fussy Elijah, while I ran to prepare Elijah's bath water. When I came back, this is what I found...2 sleeping men.~
~For our family day last Monday we went to McDonalds for lunch and to let the kids play. We try to take a family day on Mondays to help relieve the stress that we live in being in a different culture and ministering nearly every other day of the week...and just to spend time together.~
~Kimberly, Noah, and Sarah in the playground at McDonalds.~
~Kimberly and Elijah on the playground at McDonalds.~
~We went to a park and the kids enjoyed playing for a few minutes.~
~My sweetheart holding his sweetheart (me=) and our baby Elijah.~
~A picture of Elijah and his Daddy. I finally was able to capture a picture of the 3 balls on top of Elijah's warm handmade hat from Ecuador. Our family loves Elijah in his hat.~
~I was holding Elijah and didn't know that his hat was over his face until Phillip said, "Stay right there...I want to take a picture of Elijah...his hat is over his eyes." Poor baby! =)~
~Elijah in his bib overalls says, "No, I have not been farming long. HA!~
~The other day we had ice cream cones and Elijah surely was watching us with LOTS of interest...but we didn't give him any licks yet...we'll wait until he's older.~
Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your prayers for us here.

~Sweet Onion Muffins~

My sister Laura gave me this recipe for these muffins. They are very easy to make and they are YUMMY!!! With fall coming on I thought that y'all would like this recipe to serve with hot soup and a salad.

~These are sooo delicious.~

Preheat oven to 375 or 400
~Sweet Onion Muffins~
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
(Note this may be very stiff batter...so you might need to add 1/4 cup milk or so to finish it.)
Bake these muffins in muffin cups or a greased muffin pan for 10-12 minutes.
Yields: 12 large muffins or 3 doz. mini muffins. Enjoy!

~Please pray for Jimmy...he is having eye surgery today!~

We just learned that our dear Christian brother Jimmy (who is a pastor and principal of the ACE school here) who's glasses got hit by a basketball and got shoved into his eye....HAS TO HAVE VERY SERIOUS EYE SURGERY TODAY...WEDNESDAY, SEP. 24th, 2008!!! MUCH PRAYER IS NEEDED FOR THIS SURGERY, HIS FAMILY, AND THOSE WHO HAVE TO TRY TO FILL IN FOR HIM AS HE RECOVERS. HE HAS BEEN TOLD THAT HE WILL HAVE TO TAKE IT EASY FOR A WHOLE YEAR WHILE HIS EYE HEALS!!! THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!

~Our Sunday~

The Lord gave us a good Sunday. Sunday evening we were to meet our friend John and his children for they were going to go to church with us. So our family walked the mile to where we were supposed to meet them, and they weren't there. About 10 mins. later they called and told us where they were and we understood that they were going to come to meet us where we were. However, we understood wrong...and they didn't show up. So, Phillip knowing that he needed to get to church on time to get the doors opened told me that he was going to have to go ahead and take a taxi the 45 mins. to our church. So, I told him that he could take Sarah and Noah and leave Kimberly with Elijah and I and we would wait for our friend John and his children and come in a taxi with them. So, they left and we were waiting for our friend John, when 10 mins. later my phone rang and Phillip told me that he had just met up with John and his kids on his way to our church and that they were all headed to church together...and that that meant that Kimberly, Elijah and I needed to get a taxi and come alone. UGH!! I HATE trying to get taxis to take us to the areas of our churches for most taxi drivers don't want to go and complain the whole way, drop us off half way up the mountain, charge us more, etc. But...Phillip was praying and God gave us a nice taxi driver who took us up there without complaining and didn't try to overcharge us either. Praise the Lord!
~Our Sunday night crowd. Thank the Lord there were 37 there.~
~Part of the 37 that were in church Sunday night. (That brown part on the wall was fixed while we were in the States and now we plan to re-paint the inside of the church.)~
~Paula, (John's daughter) Kimberly, Sarah and Noah nearly home from walking the mile we walk from where the bus drops us off.~
~Part of the children in the class.~
~These 2 ladies are teaching the younger children so that the adults (mostly parents of these children) can hear the message and learn more about God without having to try to keep their children quiet.~
~Our friend John and his son Phillip holding Elijah on the way home from our Sunday night service. They have been such an encouragement in coming and helping us in our churches some.~
~On the bus coming home from our Sunday night service.~
John and his family came in for a snack and while we ate we watched the inspiring life of John Huss...a martyr for Jesus.
~For over a year we have been saving the offerings from both of our churches and just this past weekend the Lord helped us to buy chairs for both churches using their own offerings.~
Now I leave you with a Prayer request!! It's not easy taking our baby Elijah to the poor areas where our churches are (fleas, lice, sicknesses, disease, etc.)...but I am trying to go as often as I can. I DO NOT want the people touching his hands or his face for most of them have NO RUNNING WATER in their houses and who knows when is the last time they have washed their hands. I DO NOT want Elijah getting sick, and his bottom 2 teeth are coming in so he ALWAYS has his hand in his mouth now! I know that our church people want to greet Elijah (and I want them too)...I just try to ALWAYS hide his hands in his blanket so they cannot touch his hands...but babies always are moving so it's hard to keep them covered. Well, on Sunday night...a lady walked up to Elijah and I heard another lady tell this lady (a mother of 10 children) that I DID NOT want people touching Elijah's face and hands....and she said something like, "I don't care, I'm going to touch them anyways" and before I could stop her she was kissing and touching Elijah's hand. GRRRR!! I quickly turned Elijah away from her and told her that she couldn't touch his hands for he was teething and ALWAYS put his hands in his mouth. I did my best to clean off his hands...but still get frustrated when I think of the incident! It's a fine line...I don't want to offend any of our church people, but neither can I risk my little baby's health. Just please help me pray that God will protect Elijah from sickness, or diseases. I think that you mothers will understand my heart and will help me pray. Thanks!

~Our Friday and Saturday~

~"Uncle" Jimmy let Noah ride with him in his car on our street. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR JIMMY! HIS EYE IS WORSE AND IT APPEARS THAT HE MAY HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY. BOTH HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIS EYE. HE JUST CAME BY OUR HOUSE AND WE HAD SPECIAL PRAYER FOR HIS EYE. GOD IS ABLE TO HEAL HIM! THANKS FOR HELPING US PRAY!~
~Little Elijah all dressed up to meet the girl's violin teacher Adriana on Friday. We were excited to find out that she is going to have a baby. Felicitaciones Adriana!~
~Look at Elijah's double chin.~
~Kimberly doing schoolwork keeping Elijah happy while Mommy got ready for company.~
~Sarah (who was trying to help Mommy while I got ready for company)...laid Elijah in his walker side-ways and rolled him around until he fell asleep.~
~Kimberly took this cute picture of Elijah's feet.~~Kimberly took this picture of her hand holding Elijah's hand.~
~Little smiling Elijah.~~On Saturday we had Jimmy, Farly, their 2 girls, and their parents, and another couple over for dinner. Here is our table. In the middle are 3 apples that Phillip cut out to put tea light candles in...the tea light candles here are much taller, but in the States we normally hide the metal part down in the apple for a cute fall centerpiece idea. We also put sugar on the tops of the glasses which is a fun thing to do. (Just put some water in one bowl, and some sugar in the other...then dip the very top edge of your glass in some water, shake it, then dip it in sugar, then fill it with whatever drink you were planning on using. The sugar goes great with tea and juices.~~We used apples as our "place cards" and wrote each persons' name on an apple and then they took the apple home. Apples are very special to Colombians, so they were happy to get an apple.~
~We had a nice visit and Thank the Lord they enjoyed my food too. Farly brought the juice and it was yummy.~
~The kids' table.~
~Visiting after our meal~
~Elijah...All worn out from all of the hugs and kisses he received from our company and his family.=D~
~After having company...we cleaned up and were sitting around visiting as a family...and it was 9:00 on Saturday night and I was headed to bed...when the door bell rang and our friend John and his 2 kids came in for a visit. I fed them and we visited and I finally got to bed at nearly 11:00 and then Elijah who had already slept for 2 hours woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep...so I put him in bed with me and tried to sleep, but it's not easy sleeping with him in my bed so I didn't sleep well Saturday night. Here Paula, (John's daughter) Kimberly, and Sarah are jumping rope together Saturday night.~
I have several pictures from Sunday...but since this post was so long, I'll post them in a few days.