Winter Time

Well Winter is here in New York and its very pretty. Not really as cold as you might think. It finally snowed today after two weeks of warm weather, so maybe the snow is  here to stay.  I drove in the snow with no problems and while I was at work, it snowed big fat flakes.  It was cool.

Hal used our snow blower for the first time. He really got a work out!!!

The Missionary of my heart

This is the newest report from Elder Key:
Everything is going really well over here we have a baptism scheduled for the 20th of November after church and a family for the 25th of December. Yes on Christmas day and both are going to be after church. Right now the one for December doesn't look too solid but we will work with it to make it work and put a lot of fasting, prayer and faith into it.
I am sure I will get another letter soon with some good stories!  Come back and check often.

Update on Elder Austin Key

For those who wanted to know how Elder Key is doing. Sept 8th, 2011 will be one year out, Then one to go!
Excerpts from his last letter :
"One of the things that I have been doing in my scripture study is I've been marking all the Christ-like attributes throughout the scriptures. I also am only reading a chapter a day and if it is short enough, two then. I'm trying to find something significant in each chapter that I can use"
"There is so much less-active work here that needs to be done. Its crazy, I don't know if I told you this but the two wards we are over have about 20% activity rate and that is with a full roster. So there is some cases we need to do repair work and in other cases we just need to light the fire underneath them to get them started. This is the thing Pres Monson has started to focus on is that the rescue effort is more so than it has been. That is all me and my companion has concentrated on lately and that is and has shown so many blessings for the ward and missionary work. I heard it put this way one time that "why would the Lord bless us with people to teach if we can't take care of our own that we have right now."
"You know me, I'm not the one to talk to everyone that I see and to hold a conversation for a while.  But, I have gotten so much better at it. It's almost like I'm a new person. So I definitely gotten better socially. The dislike is still there, but I'm trying to be better at it"
And last: "But the work of the Lord is going great and I'm almost a year out. Can you believe how much time has flown by? I'll be on the downward slope soon and that will feel like crazy. This is a really short time and it sure didn't feel like that at the beginning of it."

So as you can see, Elder Key is taking his mission seriously and doing the best he can. I'm very proud of him that he can humble himself to see his weaknesses and turn them into strengths!  He is trying to be more Christ-like and that goal alone will help him learn to love the less active people and look at them the way Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ do, as his brothers & sisters!
I wish I had more pictures to share, but getting a letter from Austin is such a miracle in itself, I won't push it!
Please write him, he would love to hear from you.  Support his decision in the mission field and thank him for his sacrifice, he needs it from you ... his friends.
Love,
Danette

Leaflets three, let it be......

Well, my new house is really gorgeous, I love the spring here, everything grows crazy!  My sister came over and helped me clean up the yard and throw out and pull wild things we didn't want growing.  I was a lot of work, but the yard looks great now. Still much more work though.  So my sister breaks out on Sunday in this rash and as the day progresses, it starts to blister and spread.  She used calamine & Benedryl to help.  Monday she decides to see the doctor, she looked like she had a horrible disease! I felt so bad for her!  Does anyone know if this is Poison Ivy?  Two different plants under the same fir tree.  What do you think?
The last pic is my sage, its just now blooming!

Anyway, getting some painting done and window cleaning.  Today Hal and I saw a Cardinal and his mate near our backyard window eying the nuts we put out. The Chicadees arn't shy!!!
  They were beautiful!

Cancer Protection: More (Veggies & Fruits) Matters

Cancer Protection: More (Veggies & Fruits) Matters

Thank Heavens for Wood floors!

Wood Floors everywhere here in the Northeast!  I can't believe how beautiful they are!  Everywhere we looked at houses, they had beautiful wood floors and most of them were very old & had lots of character. Our new home has all wood floors. We refinished 5 of them for over $2,000.  But I love the way they look.  I am going to post a photo here on my blog.

They all look different, but they are the same Oak. The lighting changes the way they look.  BEAUTIFUL

Yummy Oatmeal Date Bars

1 1/2 cups chopped dates

3/4 cup water

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 stick margarine, softened (I used New Balance)

2/3 cup packed Br sugar (I used Splenda brown sugar, about 5 TBLS)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 cup Oats

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine dates, water and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 5 min or until thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat & set aside.
3. Cream margarine. Gradually add brown sugar, beating at med speed with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat well. Combine oats and next four ingredients; stir well. Add oat mixture to creamed mixture, stirring until mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. Press 2 cups oat mixture evenly in a 9-inch square (or improvise with what you have) coated with cooking spray; set remaining oat mixture aside. Bake at 375 for 5 min or until crust is puffy. 
5. Spread date mixture over prepared crust, and sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Cut into bars, Yields about 16 bars.  
6. Stores in an airtight container at room temp up to five days (but they didn't last that long at my house!)

159 calories.  Or 3 points if you are doing Weight Watchers.  (Count as 1 Fruit, 1 Starch, 1/2 fat.)