Hope Continually -- Psalm 71:14

  Happy New Year to all my friends and family!  May you draw closer to the Lord in this new year. I don't always choose a word to focus on in the new year.  This year, my word is CONTROL .  Last year, life seemed very out of control for many.   This year, I want to focus on my Savior being in CONTROL of my life.  Not me. God bless you all.

 A beautiful start to Sunday! I love the fog and the beginning of the sunrise. We hope to get back to services next week but due to Covid - we are still at home online.  Boo. I also had to take Addie for a Covid test so that she will be allowed to return to work.  Thankfully we got it all taken care of that day. I also got everything ready to head out for Reno Monday.  We decided to take my father-in-law back to his home.  That is his wish and we asked him to at least come for the holidays and we could go from there for the future.  It was his wish to go home and we were granting it. We got started a little after 7:30am Monday morning.  The sunrise was beautiful over the mountains in the distance. This was the Willamette Pass in the Cascade Mountain range.  It was just gorgeous with the snow and the evergreens and the blue skies! The roads were a little crazy as we got to the top but we just took it slow and carefully. What a beautiful view of thi...

Can you believe it is Christmas week already? Our weekend was pretty low key.  My husband is still in a lot of discomfort and pain.  Bad colds are running through the house.  We did online church this week - they are not holding services for a few weeks at our church.  After the service, I grilled some cheeseburgers along with ranch pasta salad and baked beans . I promised the girls I would take them to a few places to do their Christmas shopping in the afternoon.   It is always pretty to see some sun shine through - especially on a Monday morning. And even a rainbow for a minute! We are not doing school this week.  Autumn and I went to finish up a little more Christmas shopping.  It really took a lot out of us physically - anything does these days being sick.   I made ham and bean soup with cornbread muffins for dinner.  A good soup for a rainy day!  After cleaning up, I had to hit the bed early - headache, body aches were ba...

Chex Muddy Buddies or Puppy Chow A perfect Christmas time treat!  INGREDIENTS: 9 cups Rice Chex, Corn Chex or Chocolate Chex cereal (or combination-I usually use Rice) 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup butter or margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar PREPARATION: Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Growing up, we called this Chocolate Surprise.  I would also call this Chocolate Delight.  It is one of my favorite desserts and I like to have it around Christmas time. Chocolate Delight Ingredients: FOR THE CRUST: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup butter, melted 1 cup pecans, finely chopped FOR THE FIRST LAYER: 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature for easier mixing 1 cup confectioners' powdered sugar 1 cup Cool Whip FOR THE SECOND LAYER: 1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla instant pudding 1 (3.4 oz) package chocolate instant pudding 3 cups whole milk FOR THE TOP: remainder of Cool Whip Optional: grated chocolate sprinkled over the top Instructions: Crust layer : Mix flour, butter and pecans and press into the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch dish or pan. Bake at 325°F for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. For the bottom layer over crust, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 cup Cool Whip. This is easiest to mix with an electric mixer. Spread over crust. Chill ...

Sunday, our church did not have in person services due to Covid concerns in the church.  So we watched their service online.  For lunch, I made jambalaya .  Sunday was my sister, Rachel's, birthday.  We had plans to get together but again, due to Covid concerns, we had to cancel.  What a bummer. We already had plans to have nachos for her party so we swapped food so we could each enjoy nachos at our own homes. We watched Santa Claus 3, enjoyed our nachos and then some tres leches cake. We then watched the program for my sister, Rhoda's, church in AZ. Ran a few errands around town in the afternoon.  Dropped off some things at my sister's, took some cardboard to the recycling center, got gas in my SUV, water jug refill and a few items at Fred Meyer, new headlight bulbs at Auto Zone for my husband's car, dropped off some packages at the post office and returned books to the library. The low lying fog was so pretty! For dinner, I made Kung Pao chicken with ric...