Just wanted to announce the winner of our family cookbook is Dave N Susi Weaver!!! Congratulations!!!! We hope you will enjoy it!!! We also want to thank everyone for participating. If you didn't win the cookbook and you'd like to buy one we do have some still available for sale. Have a blessed day!

Favorites from the Gingerich Dozen

This is a cookbook that my family put together! It has the recipes that we used when we owned the Gingerich Bakery. Which was our income after my father had a stroke which left him paralyzed on the right side. It also has many other favorites of our family!! My father passed away February 7th, 2010. This cookbook is dedicated or in memory of our dad! The money we make on these cookbooks go to help support our mother! Hope you enjoy this!! This is my first giveaway so well see how it goes! Enjoy!! These cookbooks are selling for $20 and Shipping and handling is $3.50!!

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Another Birthday...

Blowing out her 5 candles!!

I'm 5!!!  She was very happy & excitied!!

The Family all ready to celebrate!!

 Happy  5th Birthday!

It's hard to believe that my little girl is already 5!  Five years ago we had a beautiful baby girl and we named her Brenda Diane.  She is unique and very special!  The girl Rachel that we named our daughter Rachel after has a sister Brenda and Moine just liked that name. I decided that it would be ok but I wasn't sure that any of my middle names would go well with it. We ended up choosing Diane. Diane is after the oldest granddaughter  of the people I lived with in Mississippi. She was born handicap. She has always had a very special spot in my heart since I met her. Diane is also the middle name of  a dear friend!   

       Brenda is such a big helper! She loves to do dishes & fold laundry. She also loves to be a little helper. She likes to play doll and be a little mommy. And yes she loves to be life of the party too!     

       On October 4th, Moine even happened to have the day off and got to be home to share her birthday with her. Which was a                    

highlight!! So for supper that night we had her special birthday supper. If you know Brenda very well you know that her favorite main dish is spaghetti!  Yes,that was what we had for supper along with garlic bread, & pink lemonade and of course chocolate cake & ice cream. Yes, she loves her chocolate already!! 
The morning of her birthday 

Oinking like a piggy,,,,

She had to lick the bowl
clean ~ Little Choc. face!!

her little brother decided he wanted some cake for breakfast so he got it out of the fridge and took it to the table while Brenda walked in right after he took the lid off and quickly snatched up the cake with the lid  loosely set on top. I'm not sure what happened but as I came around the corner she dropped the cake. She claimed her brother was chasing here. Anyway the pan slipped out of her hand and there lay her birthday cake as you will see in the photos below. I had to take the pan off then and thankfully the cake had been in the fridge cause of the cream cheese icing and so I was able to pick up the whole cake with my hands and put it back in the pan. She had requested a heart and peanut butter & sprinkles on her cake and so I just made a heart out of peanut butter on top. and let her put sprinkles on it. It still looked fairly decent after it was spilled but we did have to pull some dirt and etc... off of the cake. Other then that she had a wonderful birthday and loved all the phone calls and text messages and facebook messages she got!! Sad to say she handled the whole cake issue better then I would of :( . 
Brenda also requested that we each have a candle at our place setting so we did just that too!!  I love this girl! Although she always keeps me guessing!  Another favorite of hers is Ketchup and she eats it on almost everything. I told Moine I almost filled the heart in with ketchup. I think she actually would of liked it. lol...She is very special!!!  And another year older.....
           The last photo Michael told Brenda that he wanted to give her a present but didn't have anything to give her that would be special. So if it was ok with her he would just go ahead and comb her hair for her for her birthday present! And he 

did just that!!! I'm not sure she was totally thrilled but I think it did make her feel special!  Rather Interesting!!

opps the cake got dropped...

And we made it!! The cake is back
in the pan!

And now well see if I can pick it up
and keep it all together.

Michael combing Brenda's hair!        

The Gingerbread Man...

~The Gingerbread Man~

The book I read to the children this morning!

      I decided this morning I was going to read my children a story before we started school! Just for something new, different, and fun!!  Yes, The children just loved it!  It was a highlight. 

       I was rather intrigued with my children and their thought pattern as I read this book to them. I found it really interesting so I decided to share!  It really blessed my heart! 

       As the little boy is suppose to watch the oven and when the gingerbread man starts to smell done he is to call for his Grandma who is working in the garden but instead he opens the oven door to take a peek! In that moment the gingerbread man runs out of the stove and outside. My youngest looks at me with the biggest eyes and says, "O no, Mom did he run away for good? That little boy was so bad. He disobeyed his Grandma!" 

      They thought it was funny how the gingerbread man kept chanting, "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!" 

      As we got to the fox and the gingerbread man had to keep getting closer to the fox my children said, "Mom, that fox is lying he can hear that gingerbread man! And God don't like when we lie." 

      I told them, "They are so right and that Satan does that to us. He lies, and tries to deceive us until he has got us totally wound up and under his control just like the fox he lured, lied and deceived the gingerbread man so that he could have him all to himself. And thats what Satan wants to do with us."

The children looked at me with big eyes and said, "But mom, we don't like Satan we want to always be with God and in His control!"  

       I told them that, that makes me happy and if they always remember this story and always keep God first in their life and always let God have full control then although Satan still lies, deceives, and lures them (us) that all they have to do is talk to God about it and ask God to take care of Satan for them! And to tell Satan that God is in control and there is no room for him in their life!"

       I was amazed how I was just going to read a fun little book  and how it turned out to be such a big lesson to not only my children but to me as well.

A Special Island

   ~ God Romancing Me~

    I want to share something that was really impressed upon me this weekend. Any body that knows me really well knows that I'm not an early riser and I love to sleep in any chance I get. So it was rather a shock to me as I'm sure it will be to many of you.
      Sat. morning at ladies retreat I decided to get up at 6:30 A.M. and shower. I had thought I'd lay back down till breakfast. But I had a very strong pull to go down the waters edge and sit on the dock and talk with God! So, I gathered my Bible & devotional book (Jesus Calling) and headed out the door of the building where we were sleeping. 
      As I got to the end of the dock the sun started to rise. In the middle of the lake was an island with a house. With the sun starting to come up and the way it started to shine on the water it was just breath taking. 
       On Friday one of the speakers had talked about God romancing us. While I was out their praying and just enjoying God's beautiful Creation a swan came between me and the island. It started honking or whatever they do.  It's beauty was so breathe taking. While it wasn't much longer  and I seen off in the distance 2 more swans and they started honking or making whatever sound they make. And as I was watching the 2 swans that were together slowly swam towards the one swan. All of a sudden out of no where these 2 swans made a straight line through the water as they flew to the other swan. I set there and watched the 3 swans until they swam away. There beauty was amazing. 
      I had to think of the ugly duckling story and how he turned into a beautiful, delicate swan. And then how God took My life even though I was a terrible sinner and with God in my life how He has made me BEAUTIFUL!!!  Maybe not outwardly but with God in my heart He has made me beautiful!!! 
      If you have or will except Christ as your personal Savior You too will be BEAUTIFUL no matter on what your outwards appearance!  
       I too had to just think how God was romancing me!  The beautiful picture God showed me, the island & the swans and just how Awesome Our God is. I truly can not express that time out on the dock. It was truly an experience and an awesome encounter with God that words cannot explain. 
        I pray you will feel God's presence in a real way and that you will feel him romancing you in some way!! 
         If you have never had such an experience then ask God for one!!  God says, "Ask, and the door will be opened unto you!" And I pray God will give you one of these special moments. And you feel like He is romancing you!!

One of the Glorious sites I beheld
that morning!

You can barely see it but their is a
house on the island in the middle
of the picture!