This underground home is on route from Crockett to Palestine, TX.

flood plain compliant

You can ride horses anywhere.

Princess Kara showing how to keep the house clean.

He really can play the part. See the post on the Christmas play from 2009.

Ethan realized heavy equipment is necessary when it rains around here.

This is not a swamp, no it is not a creek bed, it is right out our front door back in 2006. My godson, Tyler, is being rescued by his sister, Krissy as he had sank up to mid chest in our mud/quicksand. He was being threatened by her that we were about to call the fire dept. for help. Ethan is seconds from needing some assistance as well.

Our land after just purchasing it. It was so fun to go there and attempt to brushhog it with a push mower. We so enjoyed our time there we found reasons to go visit.

One of my all time favorites!

Baby Kara with her ears pierced. They had to be removed because her skin was too sensitive.

This was taken in front of our last home (which is 55o feet from our house now) during Easter celebrations in 2005.

Albert had just returned from deployment in 2000. This is aboard his ship the Frederick in Pearl Harbor.

old pics

The Pedersen's inspired me to post some old family photos.

This was taken from our hotel days before we left HI to come back to TX. Christian is standing at the window, amazing huh. He had strawberry blonde hair when he was little too.

great, easy recipe Sticky Pecan Pie Bars

Back when we went to Cypress Top, I picked up a recipe they had available. It is sooooo good. It is a great dessert for the last minute. I can't wait to bring it for church. Here it is:

Sticky Pecan Pie Bars

1 box yellow cake mix (do not follow directions on the box)
1 stick melted butter
1 egg
combine, press into 13x9 pan (I used glass) and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until light golden brown

Filling:
3/4 cup dark corn syrup ( I only had light corn syrup so I used 1/2 of it and added 1/4 of molasses)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Pour into browned crust; bake at 350 for another 22-25 minutes until filling is set. Cool completely (we ate them warm)

(We ate ours with a can of whipped cream)

staining

Mr. Huffman stained our master bath cabinets today. I'll get some pics tomorrow of the progress. Thanks so much David.

Father's Day shopping and joyful news

After doing some schooling this morning, we headed off to get gifts for Albert and my dad. We ran into our friend and neighbor, Denise and were so happy to hear her good news. Brittany is engaged!! I hadn't seen them in awhile so I had to find out the details. FYI, Brittany is an amazing young woman who loves the Lord. She is a missionary having traveled to many places worldwide proclaiming the Gospel. She met her fiance at the Honor Academy http://www.honoracademy.com/ while she attended there being trained for missions. He is now on staff with them and Brittany will be joining him in Lindale, TX, after the wedding. Praise the Lord for their courtship and faithfulness to Him and each other. They are to wed before Christmas. Brittany's brother, Marcus, will be attending the Honor Academy in August. Denise said something that I want to share. She said she wished everyone she knew experienced a Christ centered life and the blessedness of His goodness. Amen.
We got an Aussie Walk A Bout portable grill for Albert from Home Depot. Then we headed to the Army Surplus Store in Spring for a special gift. We also got Grandaddy a gift as well.

Book of the Month

Our church has the men reading "What Did you Expect?" by Paul Tripp. It is a marriage book that prepares the unwed for the realities of marriage and convicts the rest of us. I am not sure I will finish this book. Too much responsibility! No really, it is great showing how grace given by Christ is what we desperately need to love our spouse as ourselves.

ENT update

Ethan went to Dr. Newland's office today for follow up after having his ear tube removed. He passed the hearing test with flying colors. The doctor said both ears were perfect. Praise the Lord.

money well spent

Ethan has been saving his money for quite some time. He had asked Santa for a game gun at Christmas and since he didn't get one, he's been saving up. Just to let you know, Ethan is a very practical person. He is also a law abiding citizen. He reminds me constantly to use my signal. Anyway, I matter-of-factly told him that even if he did purchase the gun from Gander Mountain, we had no big game trips planned and the State of TX will not issue him a license to use it at age 7. Well, that did it. No more talk of moose hunting in Alaska. Now forward to yesterday. He, on a trip to Home Depot with his dad and brother, found his next purchase. He decided to spend his hard earned and saved money on a grinder. He plans to make guns out of our fallen trees and sell them. He was very happy to explain to me how it worked in detail. He has to be patient with me because he knows I am girl.