Cattle on a Thousand Hills

Okay, so we don't exactly have a thousand hills ... well, not even one ... but we do have some cattle!

Here is our sweet little Molly:

She's definitely a whole lot bigger than when we first got her!

And sometime last week week we got two bull calves to raise for organic beef. Unfortunately, they're SO cute and we just couldn't help but take lots of pictures! :) We weren't supposed to give them names but we just couldn't help ourselves...

Here is Meatloaf!

And precious little Hamburger!
(Sister #1 came up with their names.)

Aren't they some of the cutest things you've ever seen?!

We LOVED taking Meatoaf's picture! He seemed to be very photogenic...

Unlike Hamburger, lol!

Also, Meatloaf would let us pet and rub all over him while Hamburger was a little more timid and shy!

So cute and soft!

We decided we should bottle feed them because they had the scours pretty bad and they needed a lot of nutrients. Mom looked up a recipe online to help them with that. Here is Sister #1 trying to get Hamburger to take a bottle.

And this is me feeding Meatloaf!

Now it's Sister #3's turn!

And now, Sister #2!

"...For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10

I hope you liked the pictures. Have a blessed weekend, everyone!

A Great Giveaway

I just wanted to be sure and let everyone know that Livvy is holding a special giveaway in honor of her 100th post! You can enter for a chance to win this beautiful bag she made by clicking HERE. May the Lord bless you!

* A Delicious Autumn Dinner *

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Chicken with Honey-Orange Sauce


Ingredients:

2 navel oranges

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 1 1/4 lbs.), trimmed and tenders removed

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 cup white cooking wine

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons honey

1 3-inch cinnamon stick

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. Zest and juice one orange. Remove the skin and white pith from the other orange, then halve and slice. Reserve zest and juice separately from the orange slices.

2. Combine flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in shallow dish. Dredge chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess. Transfer the remaining flour to a small bowl, add broth and whisk to combine.

3. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Add wine to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour-broth mixture, the reserved orange zest and juice, raisins, honey, cinnamon stick and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan and cook, turning the chicken once or twice, until an instant-red thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 165 degrees F and the sauce has thickened--10-12 minutes.

4. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Discard the cinnamon stick. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with the reserved orange slices and almonds. ENJOY!

(As you can see, we didn't use any almonds.)

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Sides

Sweet potatoes just wrapped in foil and baked in the oven. Afterward we melted some butter and added some honey and brown sugar with it to glaze over the potatoes. Yum!

Squash and zucchini sauteed together with some chopped onion and seasoning.

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We cooked this meal a couple of weeks ago. We all liked the chicken, but we accidently didn't cook the sweet potatoes long enough... so we weren't too crazy about them! They weren't very soft. We really enjoyed the squash, though!

Anyway, I thought this was an interesting dinner meal. Hope you all are enjoying your autumn suppers! :)

Lord, I Believe.

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

John 6:29-33

Psalm 106:12

Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.

Proverbs 14:15

A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.

Isaiah 43:10

"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me."


Isaiah 53:1
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?



Matthew 21:22
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Mark 5:36
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."


Mark 9:23
" 'If you can?' " said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.' "

Luke 1:45

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

~ John 10:25 ~

Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me..."

DO YOU BELIEVE? :)

First two pictures: Sis #3

Second two pictures: Sis #2

Third two pictures: Sis #1

Fourth two pictures: Me

Last picture: (L to R) Me, Sis #1, Sis #2, & Sis #3 (in age order!) :)

As you can see, we had fun with our own little "photo shoot" this afternoon! Yes, we took mostly face pictures (close to 300 to be exact!) but we just had to get a few especially for the blog... I hope you enjoyed them! GOD BLESS!

Long Time, No Post!

Wow, sorry for not posting anything lately... we are very busy this week! I don't even have much time to write a lot right now (busy day ahead of me!), but I just wanted to let everyone know I'm still here! LOL! I plan to post more soon... but for now I'll just have to leave you with a great Bible verse! :)

"How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!"

Psalm 47:1-3

I hope you all are having a very blessed and wonderfully productive week!

The Name of the Lord Be Praised!

Psalm 50:1

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets."

Hello, everyone!

We have had one of the busiest and craziest weeks. As many of you may know, we found out that Dad now has a third lesion on his brainstem. (Directly between the last two.) It was Sunday a couple of weeks ago that his symptoms started coming back. Each day they continued to progress and get worse. We called his doctor and they scheduled an MRI for that Thursday, which is when the third lesion was revealed. They quickly decided to schedule another kind of MRI for that same day hoping it might give a conclusive answer as to if this is Lymphoma or MS we're dealing with. Of course, it didn't. They decided to put off giving him steroids so they could get some testing done without having to worry about the steroids affecting any results. The soonest they could schedule anything was that Monday. Therefore, he had to endure all of his symptoms through the weekend, until Monday got here. When Monday FINALLY arrived, he had his fourth lumbar puncture (the first w/o steroids), lots of blood work, and chest, abdomen, & pelvic x-rays. By the time all the tests were done it was too late for him to go to the doctor's office for any steroids. He had to wait another day. Then we got a call that a nurse would be coming to our house the next day to give him the IV and steroids. PRAISE GOD! We could not wait. On Tuesday it happened to be raining non-stop and the streets and our driveway were flooded. Me and Mom were so anxious that the nurse wouldn't be able to make it. Then Mom turned around to me and said, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6, 7) Soon, the nurse did arrive (the rain still pouring!) and we were all so thankful! Wednesday he woke up feeling a little better, (his headaches were gone) and another nurse came to give him more steroids that afternoon. (The doctor ordered him 5 days worth.) He was able to go to church (only using a cane) that evening. By yesterday (Thursday) he was actually not doing very well. His walking appeared to be a little worse but that was because he was feeling really dizzy. (Mom said that maybe that could be caused by the swelling going down around the lesion. So we didn't worry too much about that.) In the afternoon they had to leave for some more tests. (I honestly don't remember what all he had done!) And now, today the nurse has already come and he is feeling quite a bit better. Tomorrow will be his last day for steroids. We haven't heard from the doctor about any test results yet.

Anyway... all that being said, we are very thankful to the Lord for getting us through this last week. It is His sustaining strength and amazing grace that helped us through it all, and we praise his glorious name for watching over us! We are also very grateful for the continued prayers! We still don't know what exactly is in Dad's brain, but God most definitely does! :) His plan is still perfect and He is still worthy! May the name of the Lord be praised!

Psalm 113:3

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised."

PRAISE THE LORD ALL THE EARTH! :)

"...Wild Animals and All Cattle..."

Psalm 104:33

"I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."

We recently got our very first calf, and we were so excited to bring her home! Also, we've been hatching some chicks lately... so I have lots of pictures to share. :) I hope you enjoy them!

Meet Molly...

"Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,..."

Doesn't she look so sweet?

"...lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,..."

Sister #2 feeding her

"...you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle,..."

Here are the darling little chicks! Aren't they just precious!

"...small creatures..."

Yes, some are black and some are yellow. I think it's just adorable! :)


"...and flying birds,..."

Now... Do you recognize these little guys?
Yes, they are the same baby guineas I posted pictures of a few weeks ago. They sure have grown!

And here is Daddy's tractor "Fergie". That is what he calls it! He's used this tractor from the time he was young.

"...kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children." Psalm 148:7-12

Psalm 30:4

"Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name."

Here's a picture of the moon in the sky that night. It looked really pretty.
Psalm 89:5: "The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones."


And, unfortunately, this is what they will grow up to look like! LOL! (Not so cute anymore!) We used to have seven adult guineas, but one was eaten... by... something. Poor guinea. So now we have six!

God's Amazing Grace

"...He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now am found

Was blind but now I see

T'was grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come

T'was grace that brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home

The Lord has promised good to me

His word my hope secures

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures

When we've been there thousand years

Bright shining as the sun

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun

AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND

THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME

I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND

WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE!

This is such a beautiful hymn with a whole lot of meaning. I just love to sing this song! Praise the Lord for His amazing grace. It truly is... amazing.

PRAISE THE LORD ALL THE EARTH! :)

Painting by Judy Gibson

Hymn by John Newton

A New Hairstyle

My sisters and I have always enjoyed playing with each other's hair. It's a lot of fun, especially now that all of our hair is so long! A few days ago Sister #1 decided to experiment trying different hairstyles with Sister #3. They had a lot of fun doing that together. When they showed us what they came up with we just had to get a picture!

Isn't that neat?! If you'd like to see previous posts on different hairstyles we've done, you can get to them by clicking HERE. I hope you all are having a very blessed week!!

His Thunder Announces the Coming Storm

Last Friday we had some pretty stormy weather! The temperatures had been pretty hot all day but after dinner we noticed the wind starting to pick up, the temperature dropping to 50 degrees, and the clouds gathering for what looked like a pretty scary storm coming! We quickly gathered on our porch to check it out and, of course, take some pictures. They actually didn't turn out very clearly, but I guess they get the point across! The next set of pictures give somewhat of a panoramic view from the left of the back of our house all the way to the right side.

It got dark really quickly (it was probably around 8 o' clockish.) :) I was able to get a fairly good video of what we were seeing outside. I'll show you a quick picture first so you understand what the wall of darkness you see on the right of the camera is. Here you go:

Yes, it's a wall of rain! It was still pretty light outside the time this picture was taken. You'll soon notice it was much darker when the video was shot. And here it is!

(Note: The first few seconds you can't see anything but black, but the camera moves over soon. So be patient!) Now, ENJOY! :)

Zechariah 10:1 "It is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men..."

Nahum 1:3 "His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet."

In the end the storm wasn't that bad. Once the rain reached us the wind had died down some and there was hardly any thunder or lightning. I just thought these pictures showed a glimpse of the great way the Lord chose to display his glory that evening! :) "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." Psalm 19:1 ...Okay, so maybe it was a great way the Lord chose to display knowledge... either way, it was a clear declaration of his mighty hand at work! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow! May the Lord bless you and keep you!

"His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach."

Job 33:36

A Young Maiden's Daybook--Entry #20

Today...
October 5, 2009


Outside my window...
It's looking pretty rainy!


I'm thinking...
I should have posted something sooner! It's been quite awhile!


I am thankful for...
The rain!


I am wearing...
A khaki skirt with a black shirt



I am reading...
The Bible, and a lot of different school books.



I am creating...
I can't think of anything at the moment!


One of my favorite things...
Playing games with my family! (We especially like "20 Questions: Bible Version"!)


For education this week...
Same as always: In-depth US history, physical science, algebra, literature, Bible, etc.


A keeper at home skill I am using/learning...
Cleaning, cooking & baking with organic foods, babysitting


A spiritual lesson I'm learning...
To pray, pray, pray continually... still! :)


A godly character trait I plan to work on...
Praying without ceasing.


Scripture I am memorizing...
Psalm 96 and Matthew 5:17-end of chapter (I can't remember what verse it ends with!)


I am praying for...
My Dad's healing, our church's upcoming Christmas program ministry, and for different friends and family!


For the rest of the week...
School, chores, church, and enjoying yet another week off from working (I get next week off too!!)


A picture I'd like to share...

Just a pretty flower Sister #1 took a picture of recently!

To find out more about participating in A Young Maiden's Daybook, click, HERE.