Our parents loved to take photos of their four daughters, especially at Christmastime. The traditional Christmas photo in front of the tree is scattered in our old picture collections.
In this one, I got to hold the new baby, our youngest sister. I remember feeling so special that I was the one to hold her for this picture. You can see a much bigger smile on my face than usual. Normally I just stared at the camera with big eyes as though to say, “Huh? Really?” Continue reading
Homemade thick, rich whole milk Greek yogurt
I am addicted to full-fat Greek yogurt, but it’s not available in my location. And even if it were, it’d probably cost a small fortune. The fat-free Greek yogurt is expensive enough, at about $6.00 a container at Costco. Fat-free is good but doesn’t satisfy that dessert craving for me like the Greek yogurt made from whole milk. Continue reading
Yesterday Bruce crossed over the Mexican border with our son in law JC, driving a loaded truck and trailer filled with equipment– tools, mountain bikes, paddle surf boards– for JC’s tourist hotel on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
I knew traveling in Mexico would be tricky. As recently as July, 2013, the U.S. issued a traveler safety alert for Mexico; not even U.S. officials and their families drive in certain areas. So there’s Bruce and JC, having to cross at a different border station than originally planned due to complications at the Brownsville, Texas crossing. And then to get to the safest Mexican toll road they had to travel 90 miles on an off road. Continue reading
One of my daughters-in-law said something cute to me the other day. She said, “I like how you call your trials ‘adventures.'”
When I was young I wanted to have adventures. I read lots of books and envied all the 
excitement experienced by the main characters, especially considering how humdrum and boring my small town routine was.
Then as an adult, I learned there wouldn’t be adventures after all. Instead I’d have “trials” and “difficulties” and “struggles.” Continue reading
Recently someone asked me how I dealt with economic pressures through the years of raising a large family on not a large income. I consulted Money Horse, and we came up with twelve tips to help one cope with financial challenges: Continue reading
Last week my husband suggested an idea. He said, “How about every day we talk about God’s tender mercies that come to us.” So we began. And we couldn’t think of anything. It was a stressful day at work and neither of us felt particularly good or energetic or joyful. Tender mercies? Couldn’t name a single one. Continue reading
Mom died on New Year’s Day. She had a severe stroke in October from which she never fully recovered, hanging in there through the holidays, just long enough to welcome in another year but not long enough to see her 94th birthday. She would be 96 today if she were still alive. Continue reading
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| And yes, they are all ours! Our highest and best achievement. |
From our home to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I’ll see you all back here in 2013!
My mom used to say it. “You’re only as young as you feel.” She lived it, too. At
age 90, she went with me on a book tour to Nebraska for the book about her youth, Farm Girl.
At age 91, she was driving younger women in their seventies and eighties to their doctor appointments. Continue reading
I finally made the big move. After utilizing Blogger for the past four years as my author blog, Coming Down the Mountain (where I have over 1000 followers and 4000 views a month), I’ll now blog here (where I have 29 followers and about 100 views a month).
Probably not a smart move. But I have my reasons– Continue reading
karenjonesgowen 