Guess who was my very first best friend?  When I was 15 months old my parents presented me with my first playmate-my brother David.  All of my earliest childhood memories include him.  I’m still sort of bitter than I had to start going to school and grow up, causing some differences between us that hadn’t been there before!  Obviously, this is written with a smile on my face, because David and I will always have a special bond.  “Shanda and David”, our names were always linked like that as children and it still sounds so natural to me.

David and I walked the kids to the haybarn that my Grandfather built himself, using lumber that he sawed himself.  It’s a piece of family history, and the scene of other happy (and not so happy-think injuries and scratches all over) childhood memories.  When we moved next door to the farm, I gained another playmate-my aunt Colleen, and the 3 of us played in the hay whenever we could.

When my Dad was a little boy, one of the treats his Grandma used to make him was doughnuts.  She must’ve been a sweet Grandma, because my Dad was quite influenced by her, and his memories of her are very special to him.  He gets cravings for these doughnuts and while we were visiting for Thanksgiving, my Mom took the opportunity of “many mouths to feed” to mix up a batch.

I have a copy of the doughnut recipe in my kitchen, framed, because it is written in Grandma Wilcox’s own handwriting.  She passed away a long time ago and even though I don’t have my own personal memories of her, there is still a connection from her to me, her Great Grand-daughter.  I think part of what makes heaven sweet is knowing that loved ones are there.

I’m so sentimental about it all.  There is part of me that would give just about anything to have her sit on my porch with me and answer my questions about family and life.

Doughnuts (just as she wrote it):

3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teas. nutmeg
1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 cups sweet milk
3 tablespoons butter
4 teas. baking powder
2 teas. vanilla
Flour enough to make a dough, so you can handle-roll, cut and fry.

Put 1/4 cup of the sugar and butter in a dish, cream well, add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Mix 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and 1 1/2 cups of milk together in a bowl, stir as you use it, the vanilla can be put in with the sugar and milk.  After all mixed together, let stand about 1 hr before rolling out.  By doing this, you won’t have to use as much flour and they will be nicer.

Memories. . .we don’t know how much we can impact a life.  I’m sure Grandma didn’t realize that we would make an event out of her doughnut recipe, so many years after she made them for my little boy Father.  I’m sure she would smile to see her Grandson  flipping her doughnuts for his own Grandchildren.

When my Dad was a little boy, one of the treats his Grandma used to make him was doughnuts.  She must’ve been a sweet Grandma, because my Dad was quite influenced by her, and his memories of her are very special to him.  He gets cravings for these doughnuts and while we were visiting for Thanksgiving, my Mom took the opportunity of “many mouths to feed” to mix up a batch.

I have a copy of the doughnut recipe in my kitchen, framed, because it is written in Grandma Wilcox’s own handwriting.  She passed away a long time ago and even though I don’t have my own personal memories of her, there is still a connection from her to me, her Great Grand-daughter.  I think part of what makes heaven sweet is knowing that loved ones are there.

I’m so sentimental about it all.  There is part of me that would give just about anything to have her sit on my porch with me and answer my questions about family and life.

Doughnuts (just as she wrote it):

3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teas. nutmeg
1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 cups sweet milk
3 tablespoons butter
4 teas. baking powder
2 teas. vanilla
Flour enough to make a dough, so you can handle-roll, cut and fry.

Put 1/4 cup of the sugar and butter in a dish, cream well, add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Mix 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and 1 1/2 cups of milk together in a bowl, stir as you use it, the vanilla can be put in with the sugar and milk.  After all mixed together, let stand about 1 hr before rolling out.  By doing this, you won’t have to use as much flour and they will be nicer.

Memories. . .we don’t know how much we can impact a life.  I’m sure Grandma didn’t realize that we would make an event out of her doughnut recipe, so many years after she made them for my little boy Father.  I’m sure she would smile to see her Grandson  flipping her doughnuts for his own Grandchildren.

I hadn’t seen my family since August so it was exciting to get back home.  As soon as my Mom came to the door, I took this picture.  She was saying, “Happy Thanksgiving!!”

The day was a cozy one.  My dad peeled 10 pounds of potatoes for enough mashed potatoes to feed a small army.  We all had a good laugh about it later when I heeped the serving bowl sky high with fluffy white pototoes—and especially when we had all eaten our fill and there was plenty left over.  One of my brothers figured out that Mom had prepared enough for us all to have at least 1 pound of mashed potoatoes each.

My Dad played Stratego with the boys.  Here is a picture of my Dad waiting with patience and perhaps a grain of amusement as Ethan wonders where oh where to move next.

Ethan’s attire made me smile all day.  I tried to talk him out of the jeans with holes in the knees but he really did think he looked nice enough.  Here he is, with sparkling happy eyes, with his Uncle Isaac.

My mom made three homemade pies: apple, pumpkin and “razzleberry”. . . Dad says that no one makes a razzleberry pie like Mom.  It’s filled with raspberries and blueberries.

The turkey was wonderful.  And Mom’s homemade stuffing was perfect.

 I love this picture of my Mom’s food creations baking in the oven.  What a blessing to have such an abundance of food! 

After the meal was over Mom and I went outside and saw this gorgeous sunset:

I am thankful for my family.  By God’s grace all of us are born-again Christians and what a difference that makes as we interact with one another.  What a difference it makes in our spirits, as we know for sure that we are family now and family for eternity!  I love you all:  Mom, Dad, David, Maria, Nathan, Melissa, Makayla, Amanda, Jason, Naomi, Abbie, Isaac, Brittany, and my own crew:  Rich, Jacob, Ethan, Grace, David and Caleb.

Happy Thanksgiving!

a thankful heart is a happy heart

n November 24, 200She’s the new daughter of my brother Nathan and his dear wife, Mel

you are a marvel

“From your head to your toes
You’re not much, goodness knows
But you’re so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine”

“Where there had been no one just the day before, she said, now there was this small being, and their whole world was different.”  from The Road Home

A gift of baby sweetness to Nate and Melissa

Thankful hearts.  Really Really Thankful!

For the Beauty of the Earth 

For the Beauty of the Earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour,
of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r, 
sun and moon, and stars of light:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love, 
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above, 
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For THYSELF, best gift divine!
To our race so freely giv’n;
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heav’n:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Giving thanks always for all things unto God. 
Ephesians 5:20

“The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade.”  Anthony Trollope