1-31-15 Happy Birthday Joshua

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance . . . he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. Proverbs 15:13 & 15

********We love you Joshua Daniel!********

1-30-15 Friday Already

Thursday -

Today -

Have a great weekend!

The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Psalm 145:17-21

1-29-15 New Carpet

This week has been good and busy and that’s about all I have time for right now.

And this is how life looked the day the carpet was laid!

1-28-14 Thick & Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

If this recipe looks somewhat like Creamy Wild Rice Soup, it’s because I took my same ol’ plain ol’ Chicken Noodle Soup recipe and tweaked it a bit in the style of the rice soup, thickening the broth and being a bit more specific with instructions so my assistants could help or make it without me. 

So… for your winter soup fix, here is another of our favorite meals.

And it has kind of caused a problem, as some of the residents here still prefer the original Chicken Noodle Soup which is a thin broth as opposed to a thick broth. Oh well. Can’t please everyone, right?!

Thick & Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Sauté until tender in 12 quart kettle:

1½ sticks butter

9 chicken bouillon cubes

3 cups diced onion

3 cups diced celery

3 cups shredded carrots

Whisk into 1 quart water or broth:

1½ cups flour

3 teaspoons salt

1½ teaspoon pepper

Add to vegetables; whisk until smooth. Will be thick.

Add:

6 quarts chicken broth

6 cups diced cooked chicken

Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer.

Add:

1 envelope Lipton noodle soup

1# spaghetti noodles, broken into 1½ inch pieces

Simmer until noodles are tender, about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!

1-26-15 Little Red Caboose

*ocarina flute*

Thanks Herrmanns for a wonderful evening!

1-24-15 Ice Skating

by Tori

Last night (Friday), we were invited by some good friends to go skating at the Pekin rink. We all a wonderful time (as usual), & I think everyone else did also, as evidenced by all the smiles in the pictures below. Thanks Sauders for inviting us!

The boys split part of the rink off for hockey some of time, making the rest of the rink a little less hazardous for everyone else. On our side, we had a tenacious game of tag (which is really fun on skates) & skated in circles. Big kids helped little kids, although a lot of the little kids are turning into pretty good little skaters.

This is the only picture from today.

1-23-15 CatchUp

by Kate

This week has been pretty slow so don’t ask me why we haven’t been posting very much. The last few days have been upper 30s-40s with no sun and sometimes misting so it sure didn’t feel very warm. We have missed ice skating a lot but the rink was almost froze solid so it still has tons of ice on it. It’s hard to spend hours outside when it’s so muddy.

We sadly ate the last of of our apples from our trees

Ben and I have been trying to play music a little more often.

Today was the first time we’ve seen the sun in a couple of days, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Levi spring-cleaned his car…

…while the littles played on the trampoline.  They had so much fun in the sun.

[editor’s 2c: this last picture was on the kids’ camera and was taken last week sometime]

                                                                                   THE END.