December is a happening month!!!

This month we've been doing a lot of different things.  It's a busy month as always, but of course lots of fun.  First off we had our 2nd annual youth conference that our church here in Singapore (Victory Family Centre) hosted and organized.  It was a huge success in every way.  The youth were touched and changed, leaders and youth pastors were encouraged and inspired, the speakers had fun and imparted so much to the young people, and we as organizers were excited to see God use us once again and move in this generation.

We had groups come from different countries (Sri Lanka, Malaysia, East Timor, Cambodia) as well as over 20 churches here from Singapore were represented.  Some of the young people from our new church plant that Jeremy and I started in Johor Bahru, Malaysia came as well.  That was exciting for us to have these new believers come and encounter God in an amazing way!!

We love "TheEDGE Conference" and we can't wait for it again next year in Dec 2011...come and join us if you can!!!

The kids and I have also been having fun doing various activities.  One thing that they have here in Singapore during the month of Dec is they have these short 20 minute shows in some of the malls with various characters followed by meet & greet photography sessions right after.  So, Caleb especially loves going to these...so far we've seen the Power Rangers, Yo Gabba Gabba and Diego.  Today we're headed to see Strawberry Shortcake for Megan to enjoy!!

The week after TheEDGE Conference, Jeremy took a few days off work since it had been so crazy, so we could have soem time as a familiy.  We had a great time and one day went to the zoo...which is where these pictures were from...they have a great water splash park there as well which is a huge highlight!!!

I've also been having fun doing christmasy sorts of things and one of those things is a little baking...I don't have much time to do it, but a little and I like to do soemthing special especially when I have gatherings at my house.  A couple nights ago I had a leaders meeting with all the main female leaders in the youth ministry.  We had our normal meeing where we go through a lesson and talked about various youth ministry needs, and then we broke out some cupcakes I made and had a gift exchange!!  We all had a great time talking and laughing together...

The last bit of news I have I heard about just 2 weeks ago.  I had been talking with my parents about coming here to Singapore for Christmas this year.  They had thought about it, but tickets were expensive and my dad was planning on going to a conference in the area in February, so thought of combining the two.  So, they had planned to do that, and I was disappointed.  I really wanted them to come as they haven't been here at Christmas time ever since we moved here over 9 years ago.  Well, 2 weeks ago I got an email from them that was a flight itinerary that said "See you for Christmas" and I looked and they had booked tickets to come here for christmas.  I was shocked and so excited at the same time.  They had decided they didn't really need to be at the conferece in Feb and upon looking at ticket prices, they had come down $200 less than the lowest my dad had seen them for, for this time of the year.  So, he booked them!!!

They had some trouble getting out of Seattle, they had engine trouble and so the flight was delayed by just short of 24 hours and were then waitlisted on the 2nd leg of the flight from tokyo here, but just now as I am typing this, my dad called and said that they got on the flight, so they will be arriving tonight!!! =)  God is so good.  He gives us the desires of our hearts and amazes me by doing it. =) Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's Looking a lot like Christmas...

Well, we decorated for Christmas awhile ago now, but I'm just getting this up...sorry it's taken so long.  We actually put the tree and all the decorations up even before Thanksgiving!!! GASP!!!!! I know, I know, you're supposed to wait until at least the day after...but I was too excited...so you gotta give me a break!!! =)

The kids were super excited to get all the tree up so we went ahead and did it and we've been enjoying it for a couple weeks already...=) So, here's some pics of the decorating process and the rest of the house in all it's Christmas cheer!!! 

They also each had a tree of their own to decorate and we put them in each of their rooms.  They were pretty excited about that!!!

Caleb's tree

Megan's tree

 And here are some pictures from around the house, keeping up with the festive theme...

Centerpiece on my table

Just inside the front door, around the corner

Entryway table

I hope you all have had fun decorating your homes for Christmas and are enjoying the season...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all...a little late...but I hope you all had a great one!!! We had a fun one.  It's very different celebrating it here since no one else does...but we still had fun.  Caleb made a 'thankful list' and we had previously made a turkey that we put feathers on to complete the look...

After Megan woke up from her nap, the kids and I took the train up to my in-laws place to help my mother in law with dinner preparations.  Then Jeremy and his dad showed up about dinner time for the meal after work...

We had a fun time being together...

So, happy Thanksgiving everyone...hope you had a great day with family and friends.  One thing I know is that I am very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.  God's blessed us so very much and I am so thankful for that. One of my favorite songs has a line in it that says, "Where would we be without you Jesus, where would we be without You Lord..."  That pretty much sums up my thoughts...it's so very true...i wouldn't be where I am without Him...He's the one that makes the difference...

Caleb and his creativity..

Caleb is a VERY creative and imaginative kid...which is great, and very entertaining a lot of the time..so I thought I'd show you a little of what I'm talking about..










And he of course is "Dinosaur Man"!! Who else would he be?? :)

He loves to make things up and imagine. I'm so glad he can do this even in an 'entertain me' world.

Caleb... the dinosaur man, batman, alien man, cute little doggy, or whatever he is in any given day..he's my little man and I love him like crazy!!


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Fall fun...

The kids and I have been having fun doing various activities in the "fall" theme...We've been cutting out colored leaves and pumpkins...playing in the few leaves we have outside...

...took them trick or treating on Halloween...

...and made pumpkin cookies.

I've gotten inspired also and made a little Thanksgiving decor with my new Making Memories Slice machine...This is right in the entry way of our apartment...I think it gives a nice festive welcome to our place...and yes, we do need a new family picture, that was was taken was Megan was 5 months old and she's now 2...

Caleb and I started making a turkey too to put on his door for the month of November...We'll be adding a feather every day until thanksgiving...

I hope all of you are having fun in this fall season...and as we prepare for the winter season...Christmas!!! =)  I'm so excited...all the Christmas decorations are up here in Singapore...but I'm trying hard not to do anything yet until after Thanksgiving...we'll see how that goes.. =)  Well, have a great fall day!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Megan!!!

Sleepy birthday girl...

Today was Megan's 2nd birthday.  She woke up today early, as always!!!  She came out of her room and found her presents right away.  She quickly grabbed the Cinderella balloon and wanted to open the presents.  So we had to go wake up Jeremy and Caleb as well.  Both were happy to wake up since it was Megan's birthday and we were all excited to have her open her presents.  We got her a tricycle and some bubbles...Caleb got her Lemon Meringue doll (one of Strawberry Shortcake's friends).  She also got to open a couple more presents, one from my sister and her family as well as one from Jeremy's grandmother.  The rest of her gifts are on their way here...=) So, she'll have an extended birthday!!!

All day we were asking her how old she is...and she's finally started answering us by saying "2" in the cutest way...I'll to try and video it one of these days...

This evening we went on a picnic dinner at the park.  I wasn't sure what to do for dinner with her since she doesn't really care about restaurants and doesn't really have a favorite meal at home or anything.  So, since she loves being outside...I thought it would be nice to take a picnic dinner to the park where they have a pond with turtles in it.  It was a hit.  She loved it and so did her brother...of course Jeremy and I enjoyed it as well.  It was nice and peaceful and just nice to be there without anyone else around.

We came back to our house and had cake and sang to her.  She loved every second of that as well...and tried singing along with us!!  She was excited that she actually got to blow the candles out too...since I'm normally telling her not to!!! =)  We had a fun day with our special birthday girl.

It's hard to imagine that it's already been 2 years...yet at the same time it seems like so long ago she was a little baby.  I can't imagine life without her...she's such a joy to us all...makes us laugh, smile, and keeps me on my toes!!! =) She's an adventurous little one.  There are no more babies in my house...part of me is sad...but the other part of me loves it...We have so much fun with both her and Caleb and now that they are 2 and 5, there's actually a lot of stuff we can do...We are very thankful for both our kids and are so blessed that God has given them to us.

Yes, she is eating her cake, well the frosting at least..

Happy Birthday, Megan!! We ALL love you!!

Cranberry Scone Recipe

Last week I made cranberry scones from a recipe I got from my college roommate!!!  I had tasted hers and loved them...so I decided to make them for my girl's leaders meeting last week.  They were a hit for the meeting as well as my family.  Caleb said they were the best thing he had ever tasted!!! haha...

So, some had asked for the recipe...so here it is...I take no credit for this...it was passed to my friend from someone at her church...so just enjoy it!!

* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup butter
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup raisins/craisins (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
3.Cream the butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat the egg with vanilla and add to the sugar/butter mixture.
4.Mix the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Add to the butter/sugar mixture – do not overmix.
5. Stir the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened.
6. Mix in any toppings – for orange/cranberry scones 1 C dried cranberries and the zest from one orange. For chocolate chip scones, 1 C mini chocolate chips.
7. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into 4 3/4 inch thick rounds. Cut each into 6 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
8. Bake 14 to 18 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.
9. Allow to cool completely on wire racks. Glaze or top as desired. For orange glaze – orange juice, zest and powdered sugar until desired consistency.


I was really worried that they wouldn't turn out...for some reason making scones has always scared me...but they turned out great...I'll definatly make them again...so enjoy!!!!