Some School Pictures...

Here are a few pictures from things we've been doing in school....

Teddy Boy, showing off  one of his Art projects.

Getting ready to work on Spanish

Just a happy boy!

Our princess practicing the piano.

Dinosaur robot, he built on his own.

We worked on an Art project as a family the other night.  It was lots of fun!

The eyes light up!! :-)

Cream de Menthe Brownies

This recipe was shared with me by a very special lady I knew from my days of teaching at the Alliance Academy in Quito.  Wanetta Groenewig was Mandie's 4th grade teacher, Ashley's 5th grade teacher, not sure if Lex had her for any classes.  She was also my friend.  These have been a favorite in our family for a very long time.

Brownies:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 tablespoons cocoa

Combine in a mixer bowl

In a saucepan combine 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, and pour over dry ingredients.  Start mixing.  To this add:

1/2 cup buttermilk, (I've used plain yogurt or milk mixed with 1 tablespoon vinegar, too)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs

Mix all well, then pour into a high sided cookie sheet which has been greased well.  (I usually use a 10x15 jelly roll pan.)

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.  Cool completely.

Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons mint flavoring
10 drops green food coloring, (optional, but it sure makes them look yummy!)

Mix well, and spread on cooled brownies.

Topping:
Melt together 1 cup chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons butter.  Drizzle over top of frosting.  Let set.

Enjoy!!

Food in Every Country

Found this site on the Sonlight Forums.  Great info and recipes!

Food in Every Country:

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The Alabaster Box « The Journey of Waiting

This is a post I made on my WordPress Blog.

The Alabaster Box « The Journey of Waiting:

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We have had an incredible day!  God is moving and blessing the work here in Manta.  It is a joy to be a part of  his ministry and see Him working.  

This morning  I had 30 ladies in my Sunday School class.  We had one first time visitor and have several new ladies that have been very faithful.  Many of these ladies are facing difficult situations and I appreciate your prayers for them.  Several have unsaved husbands.  One lady today requested prayer for her mother, a believer and faithful member in a sister church in Portoviejo.  She is awaiting the results of some medical tests, but at this time it doesn't look good.   Thank you for praying for Giaconda and for her family.

137 attended the Worship Service this morning.  We have been having attendances between 130 and 150 consistently and are excited to see how the church is growing.  Over 15 people are presently working through our discipleship program!  It is always exciting to see people growing and learning in their walk with Christ.

Thank you for your prayers and support of the ministry and our family!
Blessings to you and yours,
Joy

Heart to Heart

Storms are going to come. That’s
certainly encouraging isn’t it? What a
great way to start a blog post! But
this is what the Lord has been teaching
me lately. Storms are going to
come, and they are to mold me and
make me into the image of Christ.
Romans 8:28, is still true. God is still
in control and his ways are not our
ways nor are his thoughts our
thoughts. You know everything God
does is at the precise time! This
week in our Sunday School class we
were studying Galatians 4. A phrase
in verse 4 stuck out to me, “But when
the fullness of time was come, God
sent forth his Son…” You know there
was no accident or chance involved
in the time that Christ was born. It
was all exactly at the moment that
God had planned from the beginning
of time. Wiersbe says that it refers to
that time when the world was providentially
ready for the birth of a Savior.
Besides the fact that the world
was religiously bankrupt and there
was a spiritual hunger everywhere,
the Roman empire itself helped in the
preparation…there were roads leading
everywhere, and there was a
common language. So many things
that come into play. Everything was
planned to the smallest detail. The
really neat thing about this, is that the
same God is still in control today. He
is still working and moving. He is
never early or late, but always right
on time! He is right there in the
middle of the storm. He has promised
never to leave us, and his timing
is always absolutely perfect! So
whatever you are facing in your life.
I pray that you find hope and peace in
knowing that God does all things well.
That he has a reason and a purpose.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Hi Friends!  I hope that you had wonderful Mother's Day.  My family did an extra special job of making sure I knew how much the loved me!  It started out with breakfast in bed, and just got better from there! :-)

At church this morning, we had 52 ladies attend our ladies breakfast at 9:30.  It was great to see how many people made the effort to get out just a little bit early.  We also had several visitors, and we are thankful for the opportunity to share the gospel with them.  Everyone had a great time, and I am so thankful for the effort made by the leader's wives.  Without their help, this would have never happened!

Here are a few pictures from our day.  I hope you enjoy them!

Blessings to you!

Joy                      
                                                                   


These first 3 pictures were taken at the start of our breakfast. By the end all those empty chairs were filled!  We had fresh fruit, rolls, and little pastry shells with something kind of like chicken salad... might not sound like "breakfast food" to you, but the ladies loved it!!

                              Joselyn and Crisnal, sang a song for the offertory.  They did a great job!

              Here's some of the crowd this morning...Yes, that's Tony and our 3 kids on the front row.

                                              Tony cooked dinner for us!  It was wonderful!!!

Feeling Blessed!!

I am so thankful for my sweet girls and their husbands, who made an effort today, to make sure I knew that even though we were miles apart that they loved me!  I'm thankful for the 5 precious grand babies that the Lord has given us and the baby that is on it's way.  I'm also thankful for the 2 others that are waiting for us all in heaven!!  Sometimes I remember how much I longed to be a part of "big family" when I was a little girl, and I know that God has given me the desires of my heart!!  Then as if that wasn't enough, he blessed us with the opportunity to do it all over again!!  Some days I will admit, is can be a little overwhelming.  Sometimes doubts rise up in my heart.  Yet as I've mentioned before, we KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God did this!  There really is no other way that it could have happened.  I know that God only gives good and perfect gifts to his children!  I know that his plans for us are the very best.  So when I think I don't have the energy to finish the day...I just stop and remind myself that he doesn't call us to do anything that he doesn't equip us to do.   Then he always sends those special moments our way, to lift us up and remind us that his ways really are perfect!!  My sweet daughter praying and thanking God for "this family!"  Matthew, saying, "I love you,  Mom!"  I got 3 very special hand made cards this morning.  Both,  Matthew and Carla worked very hard to make me beautiful, Mother's day cards, with pictures of our family.   

Then there is Teddy, who wasn't too much into drawing pictures, but wrote me this letter. He really blew me away when I opened his card, and saw the time he had taken to write this out!  Especially considering how much he hates to write! Here it is exactly has he wrote it...

"Happy Mother's Day, I'm so glad that you decided to adopt me.  So that you could be my Mom.  If you hadn't adopted me I wouldn't have met you and dad. Or my sisters or any of my family!  And I wouldn't have got to do any of the fun fun things you do for me like going to the USA or playing games and everything.  I'm glad your my mother and I'm your son.  And it's good to know that I'll be your son forever and you'll love me for ever, no matter what.  You are a great mother.

Love, Teddy"

I am so blessed! 

Night and Day Kit « A Taylor Design Scrappacks

My daughter, Alexis, has been working on some digital scrap booking kits.  I think she is doing a great job, of course I'm her mother, so I'm suppose to think this! :-)  She is offering all of them, free.  Here's a link to her latest kit.

Blessings to you!
Joy


Night and Day Kit « A Taylor Design Scrappacks:

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Sunday Update

Well, it is quiet...the kids are all sleeping and Tony is heading that way.  I just wanted to post a quick update before I head to bed, too.

We have had a busy week-end, but it has been really good.  The wedding Saturday evening was beautiful.  We had a great turnout from our church family, with at least 100 people there.  Everyone did a great job pitching in.  There were about 10 ladies that showed up Saturday morning to help decorate the church, and others that provided finger foods for the reception.

This morning God blessed our services.  We had very good attendances in both our Men's and Lady's Classes.
The children's classes were down a little bit, so our overall attendance was 138.  We did have 5 first time visitors and that was encouraging.

The situation I spoke of last week, seems to be working itself out.  It was a blessing to see the one lady who has been struggling with attitude problems talking to some people to make things right, and then this afternoon, when Tony returned to the church for a leaders meeting, one young couple who had been offended by this woman, multiple times over the last couple years and had been struggling to forgive, were there talking with her and her husband, and called Tony over, and wanted him to know that the Lord had used his sermon this morning to convict their hearts and that they were getting things reconciled!  Praise the Lord for this answer to prayer, for both families involved AND for the church as a whole.  

The other situation with the couple that left, has had very little if any "fall-out".  We are praising God for his timing and work.  It should not amaze me that when we leave things in God's hands He always does them well.

This coming Sunday we are having a breakfast at the church for the ladies in honor of Mother's Day.  I would really appreciate your prayers as we make the preparations for this.  Mother's Day is always a special day here.   It is an opportunity for people to get their unsaved family members to visit the church.  Please pray with us that God would touch hearts and that souls would be saved next week.

We have some new people starting our discipleship lessons.  Please be praying for them as they are taking their first steps in their Christian walk.

The kids and I are steadily working through our school material.  We have about 8 weeks left.  Pray that we would not grow weary and would finish strong.   Also would appreciate your prayers for a church group that will be visiting us in July.  Please pray as we make the preparations for their visit.  Pray that God would use them to bless his work here, and use us to bless them.

I pray you will be encouraged this week.  That you will bring honor and glory to the name of Christ.  That God would bless you in the place of service where he has put you.

Thank you for praying for our family and the ministry here in Manta, Ecuador!
Blessings,
Joy

From the Kitchen...

I'm going to share 2 recipes I've gotten from friends recently and really love!!

First is Homemade flavored coffee creamer...I just LOVE the liquid coffee creamers you can get in the US, but alas, they are no where to found here in my neck of the woods.  So I was so excited to get this recipe.  Now, I don't know if it is a lot more economical to make than to buy...but if you live in the States and are interested you can check that out.  If you live in another part of the world like me, and they don't have it, here's and easy way to make your own!!!  This was shared with me by my friend Sarah. Thanks Sarah, I make it ALL the time!

Flavored Coffee Creamer
Pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, (not evaporated) into your blender.  Add 1 1/2 cups of milk, and the flavorings of your choice.  If you like the "French Vanilla" flavor, just add 1 tablespoon of vanilla to the blender...blend will and then pour into a container and store in the fridge.  You can experiment with different flavors.  I've added almond and Cocoa, and made a great "Swiss Chocolate Almond"...another of my favorites is to add 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon flavoring and 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla.  In the fall I mixed up some adding pumpkin pie spice.  If you use cocoa or powdered spices, you just need to be sure you shake it will before you use it, because they tend to settle on the bottom.  :-)

This 2nd recipe I just got a week ago, from my new friend, Deanne.  It's for Chai Tea Latte, there is a version for "instant", and if you can't get all the stuff for that, there's another mix to just add to a regular cup of tea. :-)  Thanks, Deanne, I'm really enjoying this!!

Instant Chai Tea Latte


2 Cups dry non-dairy creamer
1 1/2 Cup unsweetened tea mix
1 to 1 1/2 Cups brown sugar
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves

Mix till smooth and store in an airtight container.  Use approximately 3 tablespoons to a cup of hot water and/or milk.

Chai Tea Mix
1 to 1 1/2 Cups brown sugar
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon each of of cloves and ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon.

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

To make tea, steep 1 tea bag in about a half a cup(mug) of hot water.  Fill the rest of the way with hot milk, and add 1 tablespoon of mix.

I even did this with ice tea to make a cold drink and it was very good!!!  Just filled the glass half way with tea, then added cold milk and the mix.  Almost as good as my favorite Chai Tea Frappe that I love to get at Perks in Crossville, TN.!!!!