Pretty Much The Best Gingersnap Ever...

Grandma's Gingersnap Cookies-- Allrecipes.com


Ingredients
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup cinnamon sugar

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl.

3.Place the shortening into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg, and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the shortening mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

4.Bake in preheated oven until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Store in an air tight container.

Made these for the out-of-towners. They raved about these cookies! You MUST sift twice, it makes all the difference in the texture. Oh, and I added cloves and extra cinnamon; I like mine spicy. These are delish!

Thanksgiving...

Was spent with Katheryn and her family. They sweetly asked us to join them again this year. Elon especially enjoyed the fun of swing sets, fire pits, and a trampoline. We ate our share of turkey, stuffing and caramel pecan pie with whipping cream (made by Katheryn-- and yes, it is as good as it sounds!) Katheryn lives in a beautiful house with panoramic views of the mountains-- it's very peaceful.

After relaxing for awhile, we returned home to our out of town guests. They had been dining with family, and we all spent the next few days chatting and cooking delicious meals. Nathan made a delicious maple sesame glazed trout for his friends. The 24" trout was hooked by his dad at a Colorado mountain lake. Then yesterday at the Christmas party (which went great btw, I actually got everything done! Totally worth the extra work :) I ate FIVE chocolate chip scones! I think I may have gained a couple of pounds over this holiday!

The $2 Dress...

I got this dress from the yardsale of a lady who works for Cache. She was exactly my size-- score!!!


Here's a little better angle:

A Par-tay!

Just a minute to spare while I'm boiling eggs and decking the halls for our MOPS Christmas Party. I always volunteer to host and then I always get majorly stressed and question "why in the world did I sign up for this?" Trying to refocus my energy and my heart reminding myself of the emphasis that the Scripture places on hospitality and the knowledge that "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!"

Fall Fun... Pumpkin Spice Play-Dough

Elon had so much fun making this recipe I found on Jolanthe's blog. It smells delicious too!

New Diet...

I have been trying to put Elon on a new diet of no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial food coloring. I wish we could afford for all of us to go completely organic but that is just not an option right now. Imagine my delight when I came across this at the 99 Cent Store:

Quaker All Natural Oatmeal

Back to Nature Vanilla Wafers individually bagged

Back to Nature Mini Chocolate Chunk Cookies individually bagged

Colby Cheese Wheat Thins (Not necessarily healthy, but better than chips! These are for Nathan and I.)

I was so happy to be able to have this quick snack food to put in Elon's "munch-box" when we don't have homemade available. And all for 99 cents each! These are things that I wouldn't normally buy simply because of the cost. At 99 cents I bought several of each. I later went back and bought several boxes of Back to Nature Sesame Tarragon Crackers. Back to Nature doesn't put any artificial coloring or sweeteners and they don't use hydrogenated oils. Gotta love that, even if you aren't particularly health-conscious (I'm not).

Accessorizing The Dollar Dress...

Before:

After:

Colorado Shoot...

This past week was spent in Colorado visiting Nathan's family. His parents sent for us in exchange for taking Ola's senior portraits. A beneficial arrangement for all! We had so much fun crafting, 4-wheeling, and gazing at the beautiful mountains-- we weren't ready to leave. Elon had his first memorable experience with "ice" (a.k.a. snow) and fell in love with his grandpa's workshop, including a real, working back-hoe ;) He is definitely a country-boy!

Nathan took the pictures, and I helped find the backgrounds, applied the make-up, coached the poses (why can I do it for everyone but myself?), and acted as court jester to gain some smiles. (hmmm... sounds like I 'm trying to steal a little of his reflcected glory;p) Anyway, I think they turned out beautifully...

My Fave!

Feelings of Rejection-- A Valuable Lesson

Last night I learned a very valuable lesson. Nathan came home from work and began to get ready for the next work day, as he always does. We had planned to watch Survivor, but the garbage disposal wasn't working properly and it took about 20 minutes for him to check that, so we didn't have time to watch the show. Nathan usually has about an hour and fifteen minutes at home before he needs to go to bed. He divides up this time between getting ready for the next day and spending time with Elon and myself, and sometimes Asher if he's awake.

Well, yesterday was a particularly stressful day for Nathan, and after he found out about the disposal, he was irritated and just wanted to let his mind veg on a videogame. {He did spend some time with Elon.} As he's sitting playing the game, all I could think about was "what about me?" So I asked Nathan, "If you have thirty minutes, and you choose to use them to play a game, how does that make me feel loved?" He chose the game. So I went outside to spend time with God and talk to Him about my hurt. And do you know what God showed me? Nothing to do with Nathan and myself, but something very significant about my relationship with God.

How many times have I done the exact same thing to God and never apologized, asked forgiveness, repented??? Too many to count. Feelings of rejection are nothing new to Him, His own Son was despised and rejected by the very ones that He loved and came to save. And now, I continue to do the same thing, daily choosing to make time for the things that I enjoy, when God is wanting me to just spend time with Him. As I sat pondering ways that I can reject Nathan as payback, I realized the irony. My Great and Mighty Father allows me to come back to Him, time and time again, after one of my self-engrossed periods. He doesn't snub His nose at me, rejecting me in return for rejecting Him. Instead He opens His arms wide and listens as I pour out my heart to Him. God help me to have this same attitude with my husband, whom I know loves me, occassionally despite his actions.
What a revelation. As I began to apologize to God, I asked Him to really write this lesson on my heart so that I never forget what it means to forsake spending time with Him.

*Thanks to Allposters for the Monet