Well, Dh came up today and said he liked my haircut this way.  This is not like him at all.  He rarely takes notice of any outward appearances of mine, so for him to mention my haircut twice... I'm thinking it must really be something he likes.  I tried blowdrying it one day as it was cold and when I dry it, my curls go to frizz, so I just try to brush it straight, and he didn't like that, said it was still tooo poooofy.  My hair straight is poofy, and I laughed at the sight of it.  My kids thought it was funny that my hair would poof so much... I hadn't blow dried my hair in a long time so they probably don't recall seeing what that does to my hair!   Dh just said, please don't blow dry your hair... I like your curls.  LOL

~~~~~~~~~anyways...

We had a nice potluck after church.  Two soups to choose from.  I choose the vegan creamy tomato soup.  I had that before and I enjoyed it.  I like a bowl of it from time to time.  I made the recipe myself, once, and it is too much for me to eat it all week long.  I was happy it was at potluck so I could enjoy a bowl again.   We had sandwiches to go with and some side dishes as well.  We enjoyed some good conversation.  My daughter's friend from college had come to church to visit.  We enjoyed getting to know her.  She is a nice girl, quiet, much like my daughter. 

This afternoon we taught a couple girls at church "Silent Night" in sign language.  They enjoyed learning and singing.  We took some time for them to also learn singing harmony as a group.  We plan to present this to the adult SS around Christmas time.   The girls are all excited as well. 

I enjoyed a quiet evening tonight at home as well.  My older girls went to vespers with some others from church and then planned to go bowling with a friend from church who's grandchildren were visiting for the weekend.  Because of that, I was able to have a quiet house.  I made fried potatoes (with a few thrown in veggies) for supper for Dh and me.  Not much else to say... I just really enjoy the quiet some days! 

Our sermon today was about faith.  Well sort of.  LOL.  The sermon itself had a different route than where my thoughts were taking me.  I ended up getting the faith message from the texts shared today.  That has been on my heart today as I've enjoyed the quiet.... Faith. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

When all the leaves are off the boughs,
And nuts and apples gathered in,
And cornstalks waiting for the cows,
And pumpkins safe in barn and bin,
Then Mother says, "My children dear,
The fields are brown, and autumn flies;
Thanksgiving Day is very near,
And we must make thanksgiving pies!"

It's almost that time, isn't it? Time to make the pies. I can't believe that yet another Thanksgiving is just days away. I have been thinking about my Gram's stories of her childhood and Thanksgiving with her grandparents. She recalled the buggy ride through snow to their log home, the menu, and her cousins. I also think of the beautiful Thanksgiving dinners she prepared for us all of those years. I sure miss her!

We've been finalizing the plans for our Thanksgiving day feast. There have been some changes, though. My sister is hosting the gathering, but she is also still recovering from having a c-section as well, so I had planned to do the cooking. As it turns out, my surgery (biopsy) is scheduled for early Tuesday morning. I won't be able to bear weight on that leg for two days! I didn't realize that it would be this way or else I would have waited until after Thanksgiving to have it. Perhaps it won't be as bad after all. We'll see. I am still planning to cook, even if it's done from a chair. I will have to wait a week for the results, as they have to be sent to another city to be tested. I'm sure I will have plenty to keep my mind busy this week so that I am not thinking about it.

I would also like to share this time saving Thanksgiving tip with you. I mash my potatoes ahead of time and put them into a crock pot until we are ready to serve them. I always have perfectly seasoned, hot mashed potatoes with no last minute mashing and mess! You might consider it this year. :-)

We are going to go see Shannon's (my hubby) grandmother in the morning.  We went to see her about 2 weeks ago.  We did not think she would make it this long but she has.

Grandma will be 82 years old on Monday.  She has been going down hill for the last year.  Only 5 % of her heart is working.

I am going to miss her.  I love to hear her tell of the good old days.  She talks of the times when her and her hubby grew food to feed the family because they could not afford to other wise.

To hear of how the went from town to town picking veggies and fruit. To the lessons her mother taught her. How they survived all this hardship and still helped other out.

We all feel blessed to have her as long as we do/did.  The start of this year the Dr.'s told us to see her because she will not last much longer.   Grandma is still here.  We are even more blessed because we got a picture with grandma and 5 generations!!  Our grand babies made the 5th generation.

Mom called us to tell us she is much worse and passing out today.  So we will go see her. Mom says grandma will be here for a few more days, she thinks.

The world is a much sadder place when we lose people with such history that they can and do share with us.  When the world was a nicer place, people cared and helped each other out even when they had nothing them selves. 

I miss my grandparents.  My grandfather went home almost 14 years ago and my grandma went home 6 years ago.  I loved to sit a listen to them tell me about the good old days.

God Bless, mj

I am in need of prayer for the grand-babies.   Michelle went to Vegas to pick up the grand-babies.  She took Gill and his parents.   They were to meet my father but he is the hospital  because his liver is not working. 

What we need prayer is because  Michelle's father is coming to Vegas to see the babies.  Michelle's father molested her and more.  We were in court for 14 years with him.  He was found guilty but, nothing happened to him , no jail , nothing.  His mother kidnapped Michelle 5 times too.  Again nothing happened

Michelle has never told Gill or his parents about that.  So in the morning Michelle father is going to meet them and be around the grand-babies.   I would not mind so much if Michelle told Gill and his parents the truth about him.  Not here is my dad.

To me I see then meeting just Michelle's father.  Not the man who took her childhood away.  The man we were in court for almost 14 years with trying to keep her safe.

Yes, I know she is an adult, she can make her own choices.  But when it comes to the babies that is different.  She wants to send the babies to stay with him for 2 weeks.  The babies are 2 & 3 years old. They can not protect themselves from him.

I asked Michelle if they know the truth and she gets mad.  I feel that they need to know the truth and then decide for themselves.

Please pray for the grand-babies to be safe and that Michelle does not let him see them alone.

God Bless, mj

I love the movie It's a wonderful life.  How a bout you?   I love the love story, faith, how people help one another out.   What made me and my best friend Janet laugh was how much the price of a home was.  In the movie they talked about a home costing $5000.00 !!  For some people that is just a monthly payment not the total price of a new home!!

What happened to those days??  When a neighbor cared and help out a neighbor??  When you broke down (cars) people would help.  Where you would share you blessing more, like the extra in your garden.  Where people really respected each other.  When it was safer for children to be children.  What do we have for the kids today?  On t.v we have sex, drugs, drinking violence , porn.  Do you know that some underwear adds would have been porn back then??  What happened???  We need to go back to stronger values , to what is really important.  God , family , friends, others.

Bring back the good old days......

God Bless, mj

Where has this past week gone?  Time flies when you are having fun, right??  Well, I guess I have been having fun then.

The auction I talked about going to on Saturday was very cold!!  We got a truck load of stuff for a total of $12.  A large cooler we can use for Farmers Market, several boxes of canning jars, a table, and the best of all..........an arch way that I have been wanting for a long time.  This one had been used for wedding decorations, it has roses, tulle and lights on it, however those will come off and I will put it over the gate into the poulty yard and I will plant honeysuckle on it!  It cost a dollar!  Since it was so cold things went very cheap.

We stopped and got Kaylan and she came home with us to spend the night.  Then on Sunday there was a surprise party planned for Ryan celebrating him finishing his college class.  He still has some elective classes to finish up hours before he will actually graduate.  But he completed an 18 month business class and a huge paper.....so he deserved a party.  However, he was not particularly happy with the idea at first, I guess he doesn't like surprises, he was happy by the end.  Part of the problem was it was a beautiful day and he had plans to spend it outdoors.  Anyway, happy or not, we are very proud of you Ryan!

While in the area, Mom and I picked up pears.  I had wanted to get some and was afraid they may all be gone by then, but there were a lot of nice ones on the ground.  So, they are waiting on me to make something of them now.  I want to make pear honey for sure, maybe can some, not sure what all.

Monday I took Mom to see a very close friend that had a stroke about 3 months ago.  It was really hard to see her, but at the same time, she looked good and responded to some conversation.  She has come a long way and with therapy, and continued prayer she will improve.

Tuesday evening we attended a meeting in Emporia for local food providers.  I think they called it Growing Local Foods. Anyway, gardeners, livestock producers, etc. came together to talk about marketing ideas in our area.  It was a good meeting and we made a new acquaintance that lives near us and has many similar interests. 

Wednesday was the most perfect fall day, Thursday was winter!  Today not quite as cold.  We made a shopping trip today.  Stocked up on baking supplies mostly.  Sutherlands had their fruit sale today, so I got 15 pounds of Granny Smith apples, they were 69 cents a pound.

Speaking of bargains...........gas today in town was $1.65.......how about that!

Sunday we will celebrate Thanksgiving with a dinner following the service at church.  We are making a big pan of dressing, and I don't know for sure what else yet.  I suppose I should make deviled eggs as we have plenty right now. 

Well that about brings us up to date around the homestead.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Finally I am back with the cinnamon roll recipe I mentioned.  I have made it 3 times now and it has turned out well.   They seem to stay soft for several days.  I am making them for the  same resturant that I make the pies for, so I wanted them to be really good!  Apparently they do like them as they have ordered them twice this week.   Thanks to LaJuan in Colorado for sending this to me and allowing me to share it here with you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This came from "Favorite Family Recipes - The Martin Family". They are a conservative (horse and buggy) Mennonite family out of Barnett, Missouri.

(Note: I baked them at 375 for 20 minutes)

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Hubby and I talked last night about the girls and how spoiled they are.  How it came about was we had the roof repair man come over to look at the leak.  He asked why we wanted to build a large house at our ranch.  I told him the home that is there  is only 1082 square feet and this house we live in is feeling smaller to us because we would like the grand babies to have a room just for them.  How many square feet is this house he asked?  1500 square feet.  He said his family of 4 live in a 865 square foot home.  ( I feel bad for looking at a 4200 square foot home). 

Then our daughter Shayna drove up, he asked if that was her truck? I looked at him and said yes.  He just looked at me.  He then asked if Kristi will be getting her own car?  I said yes ,as soon as we can find the truck we are looking for.  Then the girls started talking about what kind of 2 horse trailer they want because our 4 horse is to much from them to  haul just 2 horse or pigs.  The man asked me if we were going to buy them a 2 horse trailer?  I said yes.  He then had a look on his face that said they are spoiled.

It really open my eyes!!  They are really spoiled!!  Most children in a family do not each get their own trucks or a horse trailer.  They would use mom and dads.  They will share a horse trailer though. We do need a two horse trailer, it is not just for them.  When we go to horse shows it is a waste of gas to haul a huge 4 horse trailer with just an Arabian and a pony.

So last night we talked and it was really an eye opener for us both to see that our children have never wanted for anything.  My husband has worked very hard to give us what we need and more.  But we realize we need to change some things.  To see it through some ones else's eyes was the opener.   We are going to change some things.    I am not bragging or anything like that just sharing my growing some more.  It was just a real eye opener.  I mean a real eye opener !! 

God Bless, mj