Colorado Family

When I was growing up, I had these little cousins in Colorado.  They were way younger than me and it was fun to visit them because they were such a close knit, fun family.  But they were my little cousins, you know, they were just kids.  

Well, a couple of decades later, our family found itself in a predicament.  I had just found out I was pregnant with Joseph and Graham had just turned four.  Asher was two and Samuel had just turned one.  The beginning of my pregnancies were very difficult and I wasn't sure how we would survive this one.  Amanda was my answer to prayer.  She was 21 and in a place in her life that she could come and help us for awhile.  I can't tell you how much it meant to me.  Her help was amazing, but even greater was the friendship we made.  She became more like a sister to Chris and me, and less like a cousin.

Well, now Amanda is all grown up and has a beautiful family of her own.  She came to visit us with her precious kiddos, Grace and Josiah.  My boys LOVE Grace and Josiah!  We had fun doing various things in Fort Worth.  The weather was perfect and it was lovely spending so much time outside.  Also, Amanda's brother, my other cousin Seth came and brought his girlfriend (now fiancé!) Kelsey.  They were amazing at playing with all of the kids, and I enjoyed knowing Seth as the adult (he has the facial hair to prove it!) that he is, not the little boy I remember playing with Thomas trains.  Kelsey is wonderful in every way, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for the two of them as a married couple.

They were also here over Halloween.  A special shout out to Asher for making Nathan and Grace homemade costumes.  

Thanks for the visit, Colorado family!  Melissa, Scott, Chris, Julie, and Greg, we expect you to come next time ;)

Putting Up Christmas 2014

Each year Christmas seems to come a little sooner.  And I seem to work myself out of a job.  They did the ornaments, put up the star, helped make the cookies, and poured their own hot cocoa.  

These ornaments are always the first one pulled out.  I wish I had done one for each of their Christmases.  Maybe I'll do that someday for them.  

We made one of our favorite cookies and ate lots of them.

These boys… such sweet friends.  Such good companions.  

I love that they love traditions and that even things that are very simple can be very joyful.  

I love them so very much, even that one hanging up a picture in the background :)

Just For Old Times Sake...

… a cookie recipe!

We made these cookies last night and everyone LOVED them, so I had to share with you.  I can't remember how I stumbled up on them.  I probably was craving almond that day.  Anything almond flavored is like plaid… never too much plaid, or stripes or too many colored Sharpies, or too much almond flavoring.  

Joseph requested that I make these for his birthday instead of birthday donuts.  That's how good they are.  They melt in our mouth, thus the name…

Almond Meltaway Cookies

the link to the recipe is here.

And just to give credit where credit is due, Asher made these :)

Also, if you want LOTS more cookie recipes you can check out my 25 days of cookies which is when I made a different cookie every day in December until we ate ourselves into a sugar coma and didn't even want to eat Christmas cookies anymore.  But it was fun.  The kids still remember it fondly.  I do too, and we still make lots of cookies in December, but not that many! :)