A Most Important Birth

"There has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder." -Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah prophesied about Jesus' birth nearly 700 years in advance.
Jesus' birth and his role in God's purpose would be important,
something for people to look forward to.
Why? Jesus was to be called, "Prince of Peace." Isaiah next says:

"To the abundance of princely rule and to peace there will be no end,
upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom
in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it
by means of justice and by means of righteousness,
from now on and to time indefinite.
The very zeal of Jehovah of armies will do this."
-Isaiah 9:7

Isaiah points to the fact that Jesus would become a mighty ruler and his rulership would be sustained by means of justice and by means of righteousness. What good news for mankind!

The angel Gabriel echoed Isaiah's prophecy
when he announced Jesus' coming birth to Mary. He states:

"This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High;
and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father,
and will be king over the house of Jacob forever,
and there will be no end to his kingdom" -Luke 1:32, 33.

Clearly, the importance of Jesus' birth is in the work Christ would do
as the appointed King of God's Kingdom.
Christ's rule can benefit each and every one of us.
No wonder the angels broke out in joyful song praising God.
The lowly shepherds heard their song,
and it gave them a firm hope that this birth would bring
"peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."
-Luke 2:14 Today's English Version

To enjoy the peace that Christ's rule will bring,
we need to please God and have a good relationship with him.
Jesus taught that we are to take in knowledge of God and Christ Jesus.
(John 17:3)
The best way we remember Jesus's birth
and please God is to apply Jesus teachings in our everyday life.

"He that has my commandments and observes them,
that one is he who loves me.
In turn, he who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him." -John 14:21

May we all continue to dig into God's word the Bible, as if digging for treasure,
with the purpose, yes the desire to learn "the deep things of God."
(Proverbs 2:1-5; 1 Corinth. 2:10, 16; Ephesians 3:18, 19)

Where's Lily Now?

Lily!

Grandpa's Home Sweet Home.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Gluten Free!

AND IT'S DELICIOUS!!!

Maybe, a little tooo sweet if that is possible.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake:

4 eggs separated
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 can pineapple slices, drained
10 maraschino cherries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
1 cup sifted gluten free all purpose flour mix *
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract, or vanilla extract (Look for gluten free in health food stores)
3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F. In large bowl of electric mixer, let egg whites warm to room temperature -about an hour.

In 10-inch cast iron skillet with a heat-resistant handle, melt 1/2 cup butter over very low heat. (you may use a round cake pan, being careful not to burn your self) Remove from heat.

Sprinkle brown sugar over butter. Arrange pineapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. Distribute pecans and cherries around pineapple; set aside

Sift Gluten free all purpose flour mix with baking powder and salt.

At high speed, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form when beater is slowly raised. Add granulated sugar gradually; beat well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form.

In small bowl of electrice mixer, at high speed, beat egg yolks untill very thick and yellow.

With a wire whisk or rubber scrapper, using an under-and-over motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until combined. Fold in 1 tablespoon melted butter and gluten-free almond or vanilla extract.

Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet; bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.

Loosen edge of cake; let stand 5 minutes. Invert on serving plate. Serve warm, with whipped cream.

* Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix:
3 parts brown rice flour ( Bob's Red Mill)
3 parts corn starch
2 parts Soy Flour
1 part Masa Harina (corn flour)

I usually make a 1 cup measure. But you can use any measure you prefer.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and MIX THOUROGHLY.
(If you are new to mixing flours, then you want to make sure that you don't see any clumps or streaks of individual flours. By the time you're done, it should be one homogeneous bowl of flour.) Transfer the flour to a canister or other storage container.

I am new at using this mix. But boldly experimenting with this gluten free mix. Not all flours act the same with liquids. Next time I make the upside down cake I will add a little less brown sugar, as I found this very sweet. And I may experiment with the flour mixture. I'm thinking of adding Chestnut flour (hard to find) or Almond meal. If I find something good I will let you know. I also, used this flour mix to make sugar cookies, though the rolling and cutting shapes, didn't turn out as well as I would like. So.... back to the drawing board! For those of you who don't need gluten free flours, please substitute, cake flour in place of gluten free mix. You will be happy you did!

P.S. in the picture I used individual 4-inch cake pans, if you choose to do individual cakes you will need 8 pans for this recipe. It's easier to do one large cake. But at my house the large cake is made with wheat, and the individual cakes are gluten-free, that way no one gets confused or sick. I make the gluten free first to avoid cross contamination.

Playing at Grandmama's

How many monkeys do you see?

Leaf Carving ?

Such a beautiful Art.

I took time out yesterday and walked around town, noticing all the fall colors, different shapes and colors of leaves. I enjoy nature, but time flies by so I made the effort to slow down, for just one day. I'm glad I did, it refreshed me in a way only observing God's creation can.

When I came home I was looking for an art project to work on. I found this above! Never heard of Leave Carvings before, thought you might enjoy them too.
(No, this is not what I will be working on)
For more info see the link below.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/the-incredible-art-of-carved-leaves.php

http://chinaiscool.com/

Sicky and Tired...

of being sick!

Dennis and I have been under the weather tooo long! With coughing and headaches! But we are getting better, but it is a slow process. I hope none of you get this.

Random pictures of Daniel and Pam

On their trip to Swizterland.
Daniel said, these dogs were trained to be photographed with tourists.
As soon as the picture was taken, they layed back down
until the next tourist came along.

Pam at one of the many fountains in Rome.
The water is the best. It is brought in from the ancient aquaducts.
None of the fountains have pumps. Interesting!

The friends that Daniel and Pam met in Swizterland.
They actually opened their home to Daniel and Pam.

Now here's an old fashioned picture!

Don't You Hate Good byes?

So Long! See ya later! Ciao!

And my Favorite:
"Until we meet again!"

So Daniel and Pam made it home to Rome safe and sound,
and our household goes back to normal.

This picture by Koen

Best Breakfast!

Our in house chef treated us to a special morning

Just hanging out with our morning coffee.

What is it?

a lot of technique

Eggs Benedict!

Delicious!

Making New Friends

Daniel and Pam, shared their friends with us. Let me introduce you:

This is Giacamo, he was raised in Florence, Italy.
Now he lives in Rome and is learning the Tagalog langauge,
(He says it is very hard to learn)
he is serving with the Phillippino Congregation in Rome.

He has helped Daniel and Pam, settle into life in Rome.
And has been such a good friend to them.
We are so happy to have the opportunity to get to know him.

These lovely girls are: Nikolette and Shaden,
they live in Rancho Cucamonga,
about an hour and a half drive from us.
They are in the Spanish Congregation.

Their family is hosting Giacomo's stay.
What a privilege they share in being hospitable and kind.

Of course you know Thing 1
behind him are the girls' mother, Ruby
and their little sister, Giana.
Ruby's husband was at an elder's meeting, so we missed him.
but there will always be another time!

Mike and Loren, have served in Ecuador and Peru,
at the moment they are serving with the Spanish congregation in Fallbrook.
They are learning Chinese. And planning a trip to the East Orient.

Here's the happy group.
Thanks to Daniel and Pam we now have some new friends!

A Wonderful Visit

With our own "need greaters" As always there are games!

Daniel is the banker.

Have you played "Settlers of Catan"?

I believe the "Banker" won!
Or, maybe it was Falcone, I don't remember.
What I do remember was a relaxing time with my boys and Sheena!

Autumn in Temecula

Seed pods turn color!

Liquid Amber turns beautiful red!

Not like back east, but beautiful still.

Autumn means "Chili Time" to Dennis!

Enjoying One Another!

Good Morning!

Lots of Creativity

Painting Bobble Heads

Desy painting in background.

And of course another bug found.

Walking Stick

Mexican Meatball Soup

Truth and Untruth...

A Fundamental Rivalry

At the start of mankind's history, everything was based on truth. There was no twisting of facts, no manipulation or misrepresentation of the truth. Jehovah, the Creator, is "the God of truth." His word is truth; he cannot lie, and he condemns lying and liars.-Psalm 31:5; John 17:17; Titus 1:2

That being the case, how did untruth come to be? Jesus Christ provided the authoritive answer when he told his religious opposers, who were seeking to kill him: "You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie." (John 8:44) Jesus, of course, was referring to the event in the garden of Eden when Satan induced the first human pair to disobey God and thus fall victim to sin and death. -Genesis 3:1-5; Romans 5:12.

Jesus' words clearly identify Satan as "the father of the lie," the originator of lying and untruth. Satan continues to be the chief proponent of untruth and, in fact, is "misleading the entire inhabited earth." He bears a heavy responsibility for the damage that widespread lying has done to humans today. -Revelation 12:9.

The fundamental rivalry between truth and untruth, started by Satan the Devil, still rages today. It permeates all levels of human society and affects every individual. The way a person lives puts him on one side of the issue or the other. Those on God's side base their life course on the truth of God's Word, the Bible. Anyone who does not follow the way of the truth falls, knowingly or unknowingly, into the hands of Satan because "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." -John 5:19; Matthew 7:13, 14.

W. 2/1/07

As a Fine Shepherd, Jesus is setting a practical and safe path for us. When we take a stand for his way of ruling we are no longer a part of the world. If, as obedient sheep we are determined to listen to Jesus' words, we will be guided and protected.
(Please compare: John 10:11, 27; John 17:15-17; Colossians 1:13, 18)

Visting the Duck Pond

Duck Face!