The most amazing Christmas

In our family, we were all more or less dreading this Christmas because Grandma would not be there. We were so wrong. This is a Christmas that we will always remember. Grandma was there, we could feel her in everything, from the tree to the meal... She was there. When we were dividing the presents, there were seven under the tree addressed to us from Grandma, so we saved those and one other one for the last ones to be opened. I am so glad we didn't open those first. The first one, was a recipe book that she had typed up for all of her grandchildren to give us at our weddings, they had the family recipes, her favorite recipes and tons more for us. That was super emotional, BUT then, there were 5 little gifts for the girls from Grandpa. We each opened them one at a time. Kaylee got a precious moments Noah's Ark, Carlye got a music box from her, Abby got a necklace with the initials J.A., and her birthstone (They shared the same birth stone) =) Then it came to me, I was already a mess, but when I opened it, it was so beautiful. It was one of her favorite cross necklaces and it had turquoise on it. If you didn't know her, my grandma LOVED anything and everything turquoise. It is amazing. Then came my sister, she got the most amazing and most precious gift. They were earrings that my Grandpa had gotten for my Grandma to give her this Christmas. We call them the miracle earrings... They are stunning. So, this years Christmas at the grandparents house ended up being terrible, but amazing in one. =) And on Christmas morning... I got the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You will see in the picture later on... And we spent the day as a family. We went Geocaching, came home to relax, went geocaching again, home to watch A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey, and then yes, even more geocaching... It was wonderful! =) I hope you all had the most amazing Christmas' and you saw God's light truly shining!!

Grandpa (and helpers) did an amazing job! Grandma would be proud...

Family =)

All of the cousins

All of us with Grandpa

The recipe book

She typed up every recipe 7 times...

The cross necklace

It is so pretty!!

Also, this year, we didn't do a huge puzzle... We did a little 48 piecer. =)

All bundled for Geocaching

She is pretty great. =) haha

While we were geocaching, we had a sword fight. =) Of course!!

Charlie even participated!

And introducing...

My new toy!!!! I got a Canon Rebel xs EOS 1000D.

Aka. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I am seriously in love with it. =) =)

1 Chronicles 16:34:
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Anderson family! (Plus Charlie)

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Luke 2:11-14

Cupcakes!

]',9*"0About two weeks ago for my life group, I made these cupcakes... They are Oreo cheesecakes. I am not a huge fan of them, but I don't really like oreos, but my girls loved them! So, if you ever need a cheap, easy snack, here you go!

Here is what you will need:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees

First, line the liners with oreos

Chop about 12 oreos up and set them aside

You always need a little snack and some great music. =)

Follow the recipe and blend everything...

Then stir in the oreos

Scoop the batter into the cups on top of the oreos

Then, bake about 22 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through

This is what the finished product looks like!

Enjoy!!

Martha Stewart's Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes Recipe
Makes 30

Ingredients:
42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt


1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

So so Thankful

Today, my family and I buried my Grandma. My amazing Grandma that is such an influence to so many people. At her funeral, it was just so amazing to see everyone there and everyone had their own story about how amazing she was and how she touched their lives. Wow. She loved to cook, bake, make candy every Christmas, collecting precious moments, sunflowers and pigs. Yes, pigs. =) There will never be anyone like her and I just am so so so grateful that I had 20 years with her loving all of us unconditionally. So Grandma, thank you so much for everything you did for our family. You will be truly missed and we will love you forever and I cannot wait to see you again! =)

You can't see it, but here is a link to her obit. =) Just click under this text.

http://www.thekansan.com/obituaries/x1743707127/Janet-Lee-Anderson

57 years and still so much in love.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

John 14:1-4

Love.

Fall is my absolute favorite season! Spring is a close second, but the leaves that are changing are just breathtaking! I love pomegranates, pumpkin pie, the smell of rain, the heat coming on, Thanksgiving, baking delicious fall desserts, sweatshirts, and especially the orange, yellow and red leaves!! =D

Oh life...

Life is crazy. I don't know where my life is heading right now. God has really been putting a lot of stuff on my heart and mind, and with that, there have been a lot and lot of tests. Oy! I am really kind of over having so many questions! In my freshman bible study last week, we did something about our old selves and our new selves. It was definitely good for me. =) It was good to see who I used to be and who I have grown (still growing) to be the Christian woman I am today. I have also had a lot of time to think. Which, as dangerous as that is, it has been good. Everyday at lunch, I sit at the park, either doing quiet time, reading 'A Praying Life' or finishing homework. That time is usually about one and a half to two hours of just me time. God has really shown me a lot through those times also. I have been able to think about life, relationships, life, school, relationships, life, my prayer life, and a lot more stuff. Even though it sounds ridiculous and repetitive, it has been so good. In girl time, we are talking about the sin in our life and accountability. It really makes you think throughout the week. Holy cow! It has been great! Erika gave us a sheet of accountability questions that really is great to look at everyday and ask yourself how you are doing on certain things. =) Also, one of test God has been continuously putting me through is a test of relationships. Not necessarily just friend relationships, but boy relationships also. It is so hard to figure out what he is doing and I just wish that I could have answers, but I am starting to realize, that even though I don't like them at all at the time, they are really building me and making me grow in ways I didn't know that i could grow in. There have just been so many instances where I feel like a relationship is going really well, and then something happens and it is just all down the toilet and Satan gets in my head and starts listing off why I don't have a boyfriend right now, or why I am lonely. This whole exercise has really made my prayer life grow. It has been great. Also, we are doing song testimonies and I chose the song "Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon. This video. It is such an amazing song and when I feel down and not liking myself anymore, I just blast this song and it just fixes everything. =) Thank you Jesus for everything.

Psalm 13:5
"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation."

Fall! =)

Oh my goodness! Fall is my favorite season and it is also the time of my favorite fruit! Yep. You guessed it! Pomegranates! The only problem with these amazingly delicious fruits is having to cut them... What a pain! Well, here is a step by step way to help you cut into this fruit! Be careful though! They can stain anything! :)

First: Cut the 'crown' and the bottom off of the fruit
Then, take the knife and push it in to the pomegranate. Just enough to get through the skin to the white part.
Score it into 4 different sections
Then, in a bowl of cold water, pull the fruit into four sections

Then, trying to keep the fruit under the water (to contain the juice) remove the seeds from the skin. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the skin will float
Take the pieces of skin out the best you can
Then dump the seeds into a strainer then put them into whatever container you want!
Then, violà! You have successfully cut and de-seeded a pomegranate! Eat them with ice cream, pies, tarts or just by spoonfuls! =)

ENJOY!!