Month: April 2014

4 week pictures, My they are growing.

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Ready for Pictures!
Ready for Pictures!

Well we are close to 4 weeks now. They will officially by 4 weeks on Thursday, but I am calling it close enough.  They are starting to get more rambunctious and energetic. Taking pictures was definitely more of a challenge.

I am down to only 2 boys left. I can’t believe they will be leaving me in around 3-4 weeks. We have been working on going potty on the puppy pads and so far only a couple are still going outside the pad.

Puppy List

  1. Aaron – Female
  2. Moriah-Female
  3. Sharon-Female
  4. Natasha and Keith-Male
  5. Nick and Gloria – Male
  6. Pat-Male
  7. Pat-Female
  8. JMooney-Male
  9. Becca-Male
Jynx - Female
Jynx – Female She is the runt of the bunch, but is growing quickly.
Dru-Male
Dru-Male
Tip-Male
Tip-Male
Zeke-Male
Zeke-Male
Hank - Male He was my last born. He is one of the bigger pups.
Hank – Male
He was my last born. He is one of the bigger pups.

 

Zac
Zac-Male
Zip
Zip-Female
Nell
Nell-Female

 

Duke
Duke-Male

 

Meg-Sold
Meg-Sold
Red-Sold
Red-Male-Sold

The best and easiest bread I have ever made!

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The best and easiest bread I have ever made!

This recipe was so easy and most is completed in the mixer. Recipe to follow.

I was watching Barefoot Contessa from my DVR and she made this bread. It looked so easy, almost the entire process was made in the mixer. I am so game for that! I adapted it to fit my purposes and what I had on hand.

One note that she made that totally made the most difference was that when she mixed the water and the yeast, she stirred it with her fingers until it was all dissolved and activated.  I think this made a change in my bread.  I followed her recipe for the most part so I am just going to put it here. I would add a little more honey because it is a little bland.

Enjoy!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/honey-white-bread-recipe.html

Honey Bread

  • Servings: 2-4 loaves
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Print



1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups warm whole milk (110 degrees)
1 stick of butter
3 tablespoons honey
2 extra-large egg yolks
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Directions
In a mixer bowl add the water and yeast. Stir until it is dissolved. Let it stand until bubbly. 

In a small saucepan, heat up the milk, butter, and honey. Stir until everything is warm and the butter and honey are melted. Let cool.

Turn the mixer on medium speed and add the milk mixture. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Then add 4 cups of flour and the salt. Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low speed, add up to 2 more cups of flour. Raise the speed to medium and slowly add just enough of the remaining flour so the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl.  Knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Make sure you lock your mixer. If it starts getting stiff remove.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until it is  smooth and elastic about 1 minute. Grease a bowl with melted butter, put the dough in the bowl and turn buttered side up. Cover the bowl and allow it to rise for one hour, until doubled in volume.

Separate the dough into loafs. It will make 2 loaf pans or you can roll it into 3 or 4 smaller loafs on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until double.

Brush the tops with the beaten egg whites. Put pan into a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped and are a wonderful golden brown.

Goulash, Oh Yeah!

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Goulash, Oh Yeah!

There is nothing like a bowl of old fashioned goulash on a snowy day.  This past Saturday brought 3 plus inches of snow to our area. It was awesome. Well for me anyways. I was at a conference that whole day and by the time I got home all the work was completed. My hubby ran all the cows in and put the heavies into the shed.  We were ready for winter to show it’s head one more time.

I of course was SOOO excited. I love winter, I love snow, and I love cold weather. But not so much for newborn calves and cows that need to calve.  But it came anyway.

On Sunday we fed the cows and got everyone taken care of.  That night things were pretty cold and I whipped up my husband’s favorite, Goulash.  His grandmother Bobbi made this and it is fabulous. I made it for the first time about 2 years ago. I don’t know why I didn’t want to make it before or why I didn’t even want to taste it, but I didn’t. JJ finally talked me into it and I have loved it ever since. It is slightly sweet and just has the best flavor. To be honest I have actually made tomato soup from scratch just so that I could make Goulash.  Now that is dedication.

When the power went out last October and I had a house full of hunters. I made this soup and it was devoured. It is one of those recipes that everyone enjoys.  I like mine plain. My husband eats it with a slice of bread with jelly. The kids use butter crackers. Anyway you eat it, it is delicious!

Go make it now! You won’t be disapointed.

Grandma Bobbi's Goulash

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: 5 Stars
  • Print

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 lb. ground beef
  • 3 cans tomato soup
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1.5 cups elbow noodles, uncooked
  • 1 can water
1.In a large skillet or saucepan, brown the hamburger with the onion. Drain grease.
2.Add tomato soups and brown sugar. You may need to add 1 can of water if too thick.
3.Add the cooked elbow macaroni and let it simmer until the noodles are tender. Adjust seasonings as needed.
 Enjoy

Puppies at 2 weeks

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I thought the photos would get easier but I guessed wrong. Here are the two week photos for the pups. They are starting to show more personality and are getting quite active.  As soon as the top numbers pick their pups I will notify the lower numbers so that picking can be finalized.  Thank you

Hank-Male
Hank-Male
Zeke-Male
Zeke-Male
Dru-Male
Dru-Male
Zip-Female
Zip-Female
Jynx-Female
Jynx-Female
Duke-Male
Duke-Male
Nell-Female
Nell-Female
Tip-Male
Tip-Male
Zac-Male
Zac-Male
Red-Sold
Red-Sold
Meg- Sold
Meg- Sold

Puppy List

  1. Aaron – Female
  2. Moriah-Female
  3. Sharon-Female
  4. Natasha and Keith-Male
  5. Nick and Gloria – Male
  6. Kaitlyn-Male
  7. Pat – Male
  8. Pat – Female
  9. JMooney-Male

Lemonade $1.00

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IMG_00001527

 

Isn’t this the best drink dispenser ever. I found it at Sams club when I drove up to Casper a while back.

I finally got it out of the trunk of my car today. So in the middle of a snowstorm, I made a huge vat of lemonade. The kids decided they would charge us $1.00 per glass. Well at least they have a sense of humor about them.

Authentic Intimacy Conference

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authentic-intimacy

Yesterday I had the privilege of driving down to Cheyenne at a way to early of time in  the morning to attend an Authentic Intimacy Conference with speakers Dr. Juli Slattery and Linda Dillow. It was held by Women of Worship. Let me just say the conference had me a little worried and a little excited. I mean Intimacy within marriage and with God. What would these women talk about! More importantly what would I learn?

The issue of intimacy within marriage is pretty straight foreword right? Well apparently I’m wrong.  I had so much to learn.  It amazes me how the more I dive into learning God’s word the more that I find out that it is not about Sunday morning church service, but more about living with God in every part of our daily lives.  Yes, every part even sex.

The conference was absolutely amazing. I learned so much about myself as a Christian wife and as a follower of Christ.

According to Psalm 127:3-5 “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a nightly man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. ” Children are truly a gift from God. Therefore sex is also a true gift from God given to a man and woman who are married.  Ephesians 5:31-32 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ”  Sex is a gift from God that gives us pleasure. He speaks about this gift and how it is meant for married couples.  If this is a gift from God then withholding and being dominating with our use of sex within our marriage is something that he would not want.  How often do we hear of this in our society.  Many couples use sex as a way to control each other or to exhort a consequence for the others actions. However we are to be loving and grant this gift because God wants us to enjoy our spouse and enjoy this special part that is only for married couples.

The ladies that lead the conference asked Do you know God? Do you love God? Are you intimate with God? I asked myself, Well yes I know him (I think) and yes, I love him ( I think). I mean I know I do but how much? Do I love him with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind like he asks of me in Matthew 22:37-38? Do I truly devote that much love to him? I don’t think I do.  To truly love him with all mind, heart, and soul, is not a small task. This is big. This is momentous. This is loving him all day, every day. This is thinking of him and wanting to please him.

Well all know what it is like to be in love with someone of the opposite sex. We think of them constantly right? We try to do our very best to please them, to make them happy. We plan special times for just the two of us to enjoy each other and so on. We spend ours on the phone talking about our lives, our worries, our celebrations. We do countless things to demonstrate our love and our devotion to our spouse or loved one.  What about with God? I had never thought about it that way before. Do I devote time to just God? I pray, mostly at night, but I pray. Do I communicate with him?

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 47:10  I do not sit silent and still within my day and devote time to worshiping God. The ladies talked bout how many of us will do months of workouts to achieve change in our bodies, but what about using that same amount of time to devote to God. To learn to speak to him and love him with heart, mind, and soul. What a change that would be in our spiritual life. I know for me it would. To know God at that level would change so much about my life.  It is a journey that I can not wait to explore. I hope you too take time out of your day to sit quietly and truly worship our Lord.

These ladies also have a bible study called Pursuit of Passion that lasts for 10 weeks. My friend and I bought the DVD and workbooks. This is one study that I can’t wait to jump into.  Check out the link and dive into Authentic Intimacy

http://www.authenticintimacy.com

http://www.wow4him.org