Awsome Lunch

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Behind these doors is culinary delight! The church staff was treated to lunch at FOGO DE CHAO Brizilian steakhouse. All I can say is that it was sooooooo good and the service was outstanding.

It is hard to explain how it works. You have a round disc. One side is red the other is green. They have a salad bar unlike any I have seen before. Then you flip your disc to green and you are swarmed by waiters offering you every kind of meat sliced right at the table. When your plate is full flip your card to red and they stop offering it to you. Plus endles side dishes. The service was super! My water glass was never empty and my chair was pulled out and in when ever I got up.

I snapped a few pictures to share. If you ever want a special place to go, I highly recommend this resturant.

Have a blessed day.

A Bit of Scrapping!

Last Friday I took out the pages I had planned back in August. I haven't really been in the mood to scrap. I am so far behind in my scrapping. But I wanted get back into the swing of things. So I quickly put these pages together and I wanted to share.

My friend KT has her scrapbooking site back up and running. The link is on the right side of the page. So I am going to join in and try to get my mojo back. Go check out her site. She is have in a 40% off sale on tons of stuff. It is a great group of ladies to get insperation from too!!

Have a marvelous Monday!

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. --John 14:21

Cookie Chaos

Our church bakes 800 dozen cookies each year to be given out to inmates at local prisons. The youth also take cookies to rest homes to share some Christmas cheer. So this morning I baked around 12 dozen cookies to help them out.

Now I have to get busy with our families cookies. The kids are asking for them early this year.

Have a fantastic FRIDAY!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." Isaiah 9:6

Tropical Flora

While in San Diego I was in awe of all the beatiful flowers and trees. I was snapping pictures like crazy. I love my MACRO setting on my camera. It really grabs the details. Enjoy.

Have a blessed day.

Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him we can do everything He wants us to do.

Rainy Day

Since it is such a rainy day here in Maryland, I thought would share some of our pictures from San Diego. In Novemeber we went on a business trip with Michael to California. We spent three day soaking up the sun. We went to the beach, Sea World, visited lighthouses, explored tide pools, played mini golf and did a lot of window shopping. We crammed a lot into those days, but had great fun. Enjoy the pictures!

Stay dry and have a great day.

Collections

Over the years I have collected 10 nativity scenes. I guess it began when I wanted to take the focus of Christmas away from the commercialism (Santa, toys, candy...)and put the focus on the real reason for the season.

Like most families, mine knew the real reason for Christmas, but got caught up in presents and Santa. We never led the kids to believe that Santa was real. They were always told he is a fictional character from stories. But with all their friends and outside commercialism, they grew up relating Christmas with Santa and presents.

So now one of the first things I put up every year is our Nativity scenes. So take time during the rush of this Christmas season to remember the REAL reason for the season. The birth of Jesus Christ!

I Forgot .....

IT IS SNOWING!!!!!!!!

Another Before and After

Friday I put up our Christmas tree. Now we have a artifical tree. Live trees cost on average 15 dollars a FOOT! So this tree has paid for its self already. I love how it pops open and all I have to do is fluff the branches.

It is also real big and ALL our ornaments fit on it. No more having to choose which ornaments to put on the tree. We have 25 years of ornaments from all of our world travels.

Have a blessed day.

The star shines forth in its glory bright
To lighten the gloom of earth’s darkest night;
And Calvary’s Christ will still impart
His comfort and love to the needy heart. —Richey


This Christmas, be alert for the work and presence of Jesus.

Before & After

It's time to put up the Christmas decorations. We put up the outside lights on Saturday. Today I put up candles in my windows and then I decorated our mantle with my Christmas Houses. Here is before and after picture of my mantle.

"With a busy calendar of school and church programs, and family obligations, we can still carve out time to "wait on the Lord" and to concentrate on the true meaning of this season. We can determine to make the most of our times of daily Bible reading and prayer, and to give people priority over things."

"Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).

Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We will be busy tomorrow cooking, eating and watching all the ball games.

These are quotes from Our Daily Bread.

True thankfulness is more than being grateful for what we possess. It’s an attitude that permeates our relationship with the Lord so that we may serve Him with gladness and joy. — David C. McCasland

Then let us adore and give Him His right,
All glory and power, all wisdom and might,
All honor and blessing, with angels above,
And thanks never ceasing for infinite love. —Wesley


For the Christian, thanksgiving is not just a day but a way of life.

I have a JOB!

Yesterday, I began my new job at our church. I am a ministry assistant or better know as a receptionist. I work just three times a week. This works out perfect because I can still be home for my daughter after school. Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day.

Snow and Cupcakes

It's cold here in Maryland. While walking Blue it began to flurry. So exciting to see snow this early in the season. So I had to grab my camera and snap a picture. Yes that is all it snowed but hey I can't be picky.

Most of you know I don't buy books. I either find it at the library or garage sales. But this one spoke to me! It is called 500 Cupcakes. The pictures alone just make your mouth water. Yes, there are 500 different varieties of cupcakes in this tiny book. So it is my goal to try out as many as I can.

My first creation was Cookies and Cream cupcakes. Yes, OREO cupcakes! I must say they were yummy. The best part of making these is that you just dump all the ingredients into the mixer and blend. Then add crushed cookies. So simple! Here is the recipe.

For the Cupcakes:
-1 cup sweet butter softened
-1 cup superfine sugar
-2 cups self rising flour
-1 tsp. baking powder
-4 eggs
-1 tsp. vanilla
-10 crushed Oreos

For the frosting:
-3 sups powdered sugar
-1 cup sweet butter
- pinch of salt
10 cruched Oreos

Oven 350. Combine all the cupcake ingredients, except cookies in bowl. Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in cookies. Spoon into lined cupcake pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
Make frosting and sprinkle cookies on top. ENJOY!

Have a great weekend.

VA Beach

Earlier this month we took our family down to VA Beach for the weekend. This has become a yearly tradition. We have a great time togther. This time we spent time at the aquarium and beach. This is my favorite photo. My boys couldn't just stand in the shark for their picture. O'no, the shark had to eat them. Did I mention they are both in their 20's. My boys are such a great joy to be around.

Have a blessed day.

Operation Christmas Child

Our church filled 150 boxes for this ministry. I am volunteering at the drop off point this week. We take the donated boxes and transfer them into larger boxes. They are then put on a semitruck and shipped to the ditribution center in NC. We have boxed up around 3000 boxes so far this week. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to pack through next Monday.

"Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ."


Most importantly pray for all the children who will recieve these boxes. That they will know the love Jesus through these gifts.

Have a blessed day!

Checking Back In!

Well, my friends have missed my random ramblings. So I am going to give this blogging thing a try again.

I have had a little hiccup in our family life. Things have calmed down, so I will be writing more know.

So today I leave you with some of my favorite fall pictures from a recent kayaking trip. We have three local lakes that we like to paddle around. I enjoy taking pictures of the wildlife and plants and my hubby trys to catch the "big one."

Have a blessed day and be a blessing!