This morning Dave took Jordan hunting down yonder in West Chester. Jordan loves to be in the woods and I'm hoping they get some action in the woods today!
Jordan has also been so busy with his "Plate Business"...:) It's so good for him to have something to do as a side job even in the winter. The garden garage is where he is set up and with it being cold we might need to get him a blow heater but for now he just bundles up and spends an hour at a time working on his plates. A shipment is due to go out today and he loves shipment days because this also means he gets paid...:) Justin goes down to help him every now and then if he asks him to or rather if he wants to share his income...:)
Last evening was our first Christmas Banquet. Horizon employees are a huge part of Dave's horse barn business and we so appreciate every one on that team! It's always a good time to take them all out together for a Christmas meal! This year we went to Fireside Tavern. The food is awesome there!
I made up baskets again this year for each of them. Canned goods and homemade cookies and chocolate covered peanut butter crackers is what goes into the baskets. They seem to enjoy the homemade goodies and it's fun to arrange these baskets every year...:)
Yesterday Rachel Ann was here to clean. She reminded me sweet Baby Ava has a birthday next week!! Can hardly believe she is already going to be one!! I need an updated picture of her but here is my latest one... Is she not absolutely precious!?? Happy birthday sweet baby!! I love to have another little one that refers to me as "Aunt Suz"!
My grandparents go to Florida every winter. They have done this for many years now! This year grandma was not sure they were going to go with Grandpa Dienner's health really declining. He pretty much lays around and sleeps. He is easy to care for for the most part but it still can be a bit much for my also aging grandma at times! She depends on the children around here to be there for her when she needs help caring for grandpa but she didn't want to miss Florida time this year so she is going to brave it again this year. I want to go see them today before they are off for the winter. My dad plans to go down for a few days to settle them in. Join me in prayer for them as they travel and settle into the Florida routine for another winter.
My grandma Beiler has Alzheimer's. It's progressing bad. She even forgot it was her birthday as we all gathered for her birthday party. She kept saying "What!?? It's not my birthday today!" She kept asking who's birthday it was?! She is still healthy otherwise and seems fairly young yet. It takes a huge toll on the caretakers, which are her three children. Join in prayer for wisdom for them. It seems life can get dangerous for those with this nasty disease! It takes 24/7 care and it's almost more then these three children can do. I want to stop and see her today to.
A bit on Jordan...
Jordan is gaining weight. He gained four pounds in the past few weeks. I'm not alarmed because he feels good and seems to be doing well. I do notice that he eats more in between meals. He eats more from the Little's unfinished plates if they are eating "Jordan Friendly" food which they many times do. He eats more fruit then ever. He eats more often throughout the day. He drinks more juices then water some days. He eats less greens and more bread. (his bread but still bread) He likes desserts again and they have come to be part of his daily diet. Not many but still some. I figured he'd be gaining weight. We plan to give him till the new year then see Doc again and see how his healing has progressed. We will do blood tests again and go from there. He can read his body and I love this!
He knows when he ate things that were not okay and this is a blessing! He has endless energy and this is a blessing to!! Him and Justin have found a connection that I didn't even think was there! These two brothers have a blast together now. The past year has been a huge leap for us as a family simply because these two are not constantly bickering at each other! They used to tattle all day long and we had so many family meetings to address the attitudes they seemed to have towards each other! They had many fun times to if they wanted to but often they had attitude issues towards each other. This has gotten 100% better and we are so thankful!! They are now more like the brothers I had hoped they would become!
A bit on disciplined effort... Favorite quote by Jim Rohn "For every disciplined effort there are multiple rewards" I think of this often and I believe in it.
One of my lunches this week... Disciplined effort turned out pretty AMAZING!
What is it?? I many times gather things that I have around the kitchen, I feel like I need, then see what comes out of it...:) This was really so yummy yet I never would have dreamt of eating a dish like this years back before I was on this rewarding food journey...:)
It is Beets, sweet potato and cabbage diced, sprinkle of salt and then stir fried in coconut oil. I added garbanzo beans the last few minutes of sauté then dumped the whole hot mixture on top of organic greens, avocado and a sprinkle of chia seeds. Aw yea I added a drizzle of organic Agave to the top...:)
I love to mix and match and see what it turns out to be...:) Dave says if he were a cow he might like this dish...:) I have some work to do on him but for lunch it's often just me and it can be anything I want to create since they all have packed lunches already...:)
A run yesterday afternoon in the damp rain was also something that took disciplined effort. Dave and I ran around Atglen one cold rainy morning this week. Running is just not real pleasant this time of year. I feel tight from the dampness many days. I feel like a hot bubble bath instead of a run would be just what I need! My brain can be a tricky thing yet when my heart wins it's like a Tee-Tee to the brain!...:) I feel like we need the runs to bad to just stop when we don't feel like it. If we only ran when the weather was perfect it would take way to much effort to work back up the mileage again. We try to grind it out and most days we thank each other for being in it together...:) I'm sure Dave don't feel like being pulled from the office on a cold, dreary rainy morning to run with me but he often thanks me... Just not until we get done with the run...:)
Make a disciplined effort to do something out of the ordinary today. See if it not be rewarding. This is the time of year where we can get so busy with our own things that we forget to see the needs around us! Let's make a disciplined effort to be the hands and feet of Jesus this Christmas season.
I'm off to get a Christmas tree for the Little's to have fun with. We are looking forward to supper at Nelson and Martha tonight!! They have a new male dog (same breed as Sasha) and because my husband wanted to see it so bad we got a supper invite!! Curry chicken!! Yay!! I'm taking dessert and since I seem to have lost some of my touch I'm getting it from the cheesecake expert...!!www.thekitchencookie.blogspot.com Thanks Martha!! I plan to put my own topping on it but the credits will not be mine this time...:) Love having such close neighbors that make great cheesecakes!...:) Yes I do plan to have a slice of cheesecake...:) It's the most wonderful time of the year... Marilyn took the Little's along up to Kitchen Kettle this morning where they pass out goodies at the shops! My Little's were so excited to be going with there favorite Zook cousins hopping from shop to shop gathering free goodies!! Thanks Marilyn for inviting them with!!
Be a BLESSING Today!!
Loved taking a peek into your lives...the food is of special interest to me since I am cooking healthy because of Jonathan. So wish I could be there for the food meetings.Would love to see that black bean bread recipe but VA is to far away.I don't think we have ever met but our men know each other.
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