Great day!

Today was such a great day! Even though all Cornerstone worship services were cancelled this weekend due to blowing snow drifts and way below zeros temperatures, Roger Wheeler invited us (and the Gibsons and Ehresmans) to their house for breakfast and "church" this morning. After we ate an awesome breakfast, we sang Christmas songs and Roger shared about Christmas and how it relates to the work he is doing in Rosebud. Then we prayed for the Wheeler's trip to Rosebud this week at Christmas.

Another reason why we LOVE the Wheelers!

Afterward, I did a little more Christmas baking (well, if you can call covering cookies with almond bark "baking") at my sister's house with Brady and Mya.

Here is what we made . . . so cute!

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies

A friend asked for this recipe, so I thought I'd post it. I'll admit it is a little more high maintenance than some, but that's my style!

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, softened

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

2 (1 oz ea) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled slightly

1 1/2 cups all-pupose flour

1 1/2 cup semisweet mini-chocolate chips

1 tbsp milk

1 drop green food color

1/2 tsp canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine butter, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp of the peppermint extract and melted chocolate in large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat until creamy. Add flour, beat until mixture forms a dough. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips by hand.

2. Shape dough into 1-in balls. Place 2 in. apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball to 1 1/2 in. circle with bottom of glass dipped in flour.

3. Bake 5-7 minutes or until set. Let stand 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets onto wire racks. Cool completely.

4. Combine remaining powdered sugar, remaining peppermint extract, milk and food color in small bowl. Beat at low speed until smooth. (Add additional milk, one tsp at a time, for desired frosting consistency.) Frost cooled cookies. Place on waxed paper.

5. Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips and shortening in 1-qt saucepan over low heat, stirring occassionally until smooth. (I used the microwave.) Drizzle thin lines over frosting. Let stand until chocolate is set (at least 30 minutes).

Christmas Cookies

This past Thursday night I did some Christmas baking with some of my favorite girls! Qing, from our family group, Mya and Sydney.

Chocolate mint cookies, mini snowball cookies (my favorite) and thumbprint cookies (Jason's favorite)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent Thanksgiving Day in southwest Iowa with my family and then went with the Wheelers and Mike & Emily Mogard to the Rosebud Indian Reservation Friday-Sunday. Rosebud is located in the poorest county in the nation. It is filled with poverty, alcoholism, suicide and hopelessness. I could go on and on. The Wheelers have been going there a lot and after much labor, Roger led the first Bible Study (or "Stories along the Trail of Hope" as we referred to it with the Indians) on Sunday. 50 men, women & children came. Please pray that God would provide a few people to go there to live to help start a church. The room full of Indians we served Thanksgiving dinner to.

The kids love their Uncle Mitch
My beautiful Grandma, who we visited in the nursing home for the first time. We moved my Grandpa out of their house on Christmas day to live closer to Grandma. It is all very sad.

We don't have many mom & daughters shots