Special Delivery

Katie was born March 28 th at 11: 22 pm. It was a frantic birth, yet peaceful. She is 6lbs 6oz, healthy and absolutely beautiful.

More New Home Pics

Our new home.

Moving Week!!

This weekend won't be much blogging as we are moving. We have taken several loads over, however, there is still more to do. Thursday is the official day and we will be sleeping in the house Thursday.

Today I have been ordered to rest by my husband, and though there is much to do, I am appreciative. But tomorrow back to work and getting ready. Next week, pictures of our new home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My husband is truly the greatest man on the face of this earth. God was way too good to me to bless me with such an incredible man. He serves the Lord, seeks the Lord, loves his family, has a sparkle in his eyes, a smile that lights up the moon, and still (after 10 years of being together) gives me butterflies in my stomach. I am not deserving of such a wonderful man.

So, a special birthday dinner is being prepared this evening:

Chicken Enchiladas with refried beans
Coconut Cake

Happy Birthday my Love, I cherish you more and more each day!

Bread

This is why I love making my own bread. I really would like to purchase wheat berries and grind with a grinder, but unfortunately, it is way too expensive for us right now. But I do buy my wheat flour organic from a co-op. So, today was a yummy day and the house smells so delicious. 2 loaves of wheat for sandwiches, 2 cinnamon loaves for breakfast toast or french toast and sticky buns...for my husband who loves them.

THE BREAD BECKERS BREAD & ROLLS


1-1/2 cups hot water
1 cup cold milk
(The resulting temperature will be lukewarm so as not to kill the yeast)
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
3 eggs

4-1/2 tsp. instant yeast
6 to 7 1/4 cups freshly milled flour
1 Tbs. salt

Combine water, milk, oil, honey and eggs in the bowl of the Electrolux Assistent. Add yeast and about 5 cups of the flour. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Add the salt. Continue to mix adding the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Bring the Assistent's arm into the center and out a few times between each addition of four. When the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl enough flour has been added. Lock the roller about 1/2" from the side of the bowl (or more if you double or triple the recipe). Turn the speed to high and allow to knead 8-10 minutes, or until the dough, forms a smooth ball . Let rise until double. With a single or double batch, you may let the dough rise in the bowl. With a triple recipe, turn the dough out onto a floured surface to let rise.

After rising, form into loaves or other shapes using any of the variations that follow.

I like to braid my loaves. To braid, divide the dough for one loaf into three pieces and roll into ropes. Braid, tucking the ends under. Place in greased loaf pan. Let rise until at least double in size. Bake loaves at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Recipe makes 3 medium size loaves or about 30 dinner rolls. (this is from the recipe itself, not something I do.)


*Note: One package of yeast is about 2-1/2 tsp. of yeast. With instant yeast you do not need to sprinkle the yeast over the liquids. You may add it with the flour.

**Now with this recipe I do add about 1/2 cup of gluten as well. To make all that I did today, I doubled the recipe. The bread freezes really well too. I just wrap it up in a plastic bag. I also do it all by hand and no mixers. It is great exercise. :)

I hope this helps encourage you to make your own and enjoy every single bite, it really does taste so much better.

God bless and enjoy!!

We are Moving!!!

Okay, so I have been busy. We have decided a long time ago that we wouldn't go into debt, so we are working on getting out of debt. With that has come the the decision to rent intstead of buy a home. In all honesty I hope to one day live in a small farm house and live out in the country, but until God provides that one, I will live where He has us.

We live in a ginormous house about 45 minutes outside of Tucson. Though it served its purpose (extremely low rent) the communte for my love is more than we can stand anymore. It takes him at least 45-65 min to get to work and home. So rather than wasting that precious time on the road we have decided to move closer to work so that his commute is less.

Living in the city has its challenges, especially in Tucson. There are a lot of older properties, smaller homes and no garages. I think we have spent the last 2 months on the weekends looking for homes. We did find one and we were all set, but then the landlord changed some money items on us and it just didn't feel right, so we had to cancel that one. I loved the house, it was small especially for a growing family, but the character and charm was so awesome...oh well. I will have one of my own one day. We saw ugly ones and nice ones and are really trying to stay on budget.

Then last night, the very last house that we decided to look at was at the highest end of our budget. I told Bret that we are doing a "House Hunters" and out of all the houses we saw over the weekend and yesterday we were to pick. Well, the last house was perfect for us. I fell in love with the floor plan, the bedrooms were a great size, there's a fireplace and the yard has a fenced pool (amazing how many people don't have fences around their pools and don't want to get one either...). There are huge Mesquite trees, the kitchen is nice and open, and the whole house has a great feel to it.

So, we are hoping to move in 2 weeks, so from an almost 3000 sq ft home to a nice 2400, I am excited to downsize and get rid of so much stuff. It is amazing how much stuff you really don't touch. :)

The pictures above are the backyard, can you see why I would fall in love. It is right across from a high school so we can take the kids over and kick and throw the ball on the football field, I can run the track and do the stadium. And it is at the base of the Catalina Mountains which are beautiful. I will keep you posted, but as of now we are moving March 10...I hope.

So, no more writing for now, time to load up some more boxes... :) God bless.