D-David Whitfield Snow

Another answer to prayers. As with Zach, when Ashley was born we began to pray for her mate and we still marvel at the way God brought David in to our lives! David moved in across the street from us when Ashley was in her senior year of college. He had graduated with A&M and had come to ACU to get his masters. Larry, Zach and David met, became friends, and would often stand out in the front yard and talk about hunting, fishing, etc. Larry once mentioned to Ashley, that she should meet the guy across the street! Little did we know, that a few months later they would meet, start hanging out, running together (yes, David even started running to be in her company!) and then went out on a date right before she graduated. She moved shortly after that to Fort Worth and began teaching, but that didn't stop David. He made LOTS of trips to Fort Worth to take her out and it wasn't long until we realized these two were falling in love. David is a wonderful husband to Ashley and a great addition to this crazy family! He is everything we prayed for in a spouse for Ashley and we couldn't ask for a better son-in-law! Owen and Clay think that Uncle Da-da is so cool! Thank you David for loving our daughter, for encouraging her as she teaches, for helping her in her walk with God, for making her laugh and for giving her such a great and loving second family. (Thank you for even giving Ashley the "jump of her life" when you surprised her with a sky-diving jump as an early wedding gift. Though I think you had two dads that were a little nervous, your bride-to-be was thrilled!)

E-Easter

I love Easter. One reason is after the house is decorated for Fall and then Christmas, it is fun to have another excuse to decorate and about the time Easter rolls around, I am ready to brighten things up! I love the colors of the eggs, sweet little bunnies and chicks but what really makes my heart sing is these three little blue-eyed boys! As you can see, it is also very hard to get three little guys under the age of three to look at the camera at the same time!

F-Fly-fishing

Fly-fishing! Yahoo! As I write this, we are in Colorado on a camping and fly-fishing trip. I am pretty new at this sport, I have one trip under my waders but Larry is my little "guide, pro and partner" in this adventure! How can you not enjoy a sport that plants you right in the middle of God's amazing country? With mountains, pine trees, aspens and the sound of rushing mountain streams...it has all my senses on overload! I am not sure what it is, but when I am in in this scenery I feel so close to God. He really is an amazing artist and I am loving it! Last year, in July, we came to this same spot and absolutely loved it, so we are back to veg, hike, fish and just have some time together! Except this time we are seeing this beautiful spot in the fall! Do we have to go home? My only wish is that the aspens had hit their prime. We are probably about one week early, so it is hard to leave before they burst into color but I guess we will just have to come back again next year and see if we can catch it! We drove up to Platoro Lake and saw some color, which was breathtaking. I love fall and I love this country. We had great fun today, Larry caught a beautiful brown trout! It was so much fun to watch him snag it. It was a perfect ending to a perfect trip!

G-Gingerbread Houses

Traditions are a big thing in our house, especially traditions relating to holidays. Some of our traditions are old, passed down from our grandparents and parents but others have been started by Larry and I for our kids. We started a new one this past Christmas and it was a big hit! We had a Gingerbread house contest between the three couples! I knew it would be fun, but I didn't think about how competitive it would be! Zach and Meg were a team, David and Ashley were a team then Larry and I had some very good help from our two grandsons to complete our team. Meg had found some really great gingerbread kits at Wal-Mart, which not only took a lot of the work out of it but also it started us all with the exact same "blueprint". But from that point on, everyone took it to a completely different level. I have never seen so much creativity at one table! There was a lot of laughter and whispers as we planned and built our houses. I am hearing there are already plans being drawn up in people's minds about their next years houses! Let the games begin!!!

H-Honey

Honey...that's me! That's what my grandkids call me. I actually LOVE it. It has been an easy word for them to pronounce. It pretty much melts my heart each time I hear Owen or Clay say it. Zach and Meg picked it out before Owen was born. My only desire was not to be "Granny, Grandmother or Grandma". Nothing wrong with those names, but they just didn't feel right. I like Honey...I love it when I hear a little guy enter our house and a sweet little "Honey, where are you???" Doesn't get much better than that. I love every part of being a grandmother, but reading to them is at the top of my list! Here we are enjoying a few books before bedtime a few weeks ago when we had the pleasure of keeping all three of the boys overnight! What fun!

 

I-Ice Cream

Ice cream and I go way back. I can't say it is my favorite dessert, but I will hardly ever resist a bowl when offered. But, my very favorite is HOMEMADE ICE CREAM. I don't know if it is the taste or all the memories attached. I can remember when I was a little girl, my dad making ice cream in our back yard and it was my job to sit on top of the towel which sat on top of the ice so Dad could crank the ice cream, yes, I am telling my age now! We didn't have an electric ice cream maker till I was much older. When Larry and I married, we registered for an ice cream maker, that is how much we love making the special cream! So, I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes. This was given to me by my sister-in-law, Pat, many many years ago. I have to admit through the years, I have tweaked it some but it is creamy and delicious so before it's winter, you might want to crank you out some!

French Vanilla Homemade Ice Cream

2 boxes of Vanilla Junket (usually located in the rock salt, ice cream supplies area)

1 cup sugar

1 carton half and half

1 carton french vanilla liquid Coffeemate creamer

1 pint of whipping cream

5 eggs

Milk

Mix eggs, sugar, Junket together and then add half and half, whipping cream and Coffeemate creamer. Pour into canister and then fill to line with milk. Freeze and eat!

(If I am making chocolate, I use the chocolate Junket and subsitute Coffeemate Cream with more 1/2 and 1/2 or Whip cream or use a different flavor coffeemate...be creative!)

Also, when making the vanilla recipe you can also add crushed Butterfinger candy bars, etc. 

J-Jesus

I am very blessed. I was blessed to not only be raised in a loving church but by parents who showed me Jesus in so many ways. Many of our family vacations involved us going to Colorado and holding a Mission VBS. I have some of the sweetest memories of those days. My mother always taught the 3rd graders at our church, for as long as I can remember. She was the teacher everyone wanted, because she did amazing things in her classroom.  She always let me "help" her get her lesson ready, make handwork, etc. It made me feel so big! I was blessed with so many good examples then and now. I have a wonderful husband, children and grandchildren that ALL love Jesus. My favorite thing right now is finding ways to talk about Jesus and God to Owen, Clay and Will. They have such a simple faith. Children really do remind us of all that is good in this world. Thanks to all who have shown me Jesus' love. I hope I can give to others the same gift I have so richly received!