And So The Christmas Decorating Begins

Christmas Mantle 2011

All of my neighbors have already set up  their outdoor Christmas decorations.  My street looks like a lovely winter wonderland!

 They put me in the mood to get started with my Christmas 2012 decorating challenge! This year I decided to change the look of my mantle.  I have strayed from my Victorian Nativity Scene to a Whimsical "It's A Wonderful Life" with Santa theme.  

I purchased two strands of the garland from the Lakeside Collection Catalog, and it was very inexpensive. The print from "It's A Wonderful Life" with James Stewart was a gift from my daughter Jennifer last year.  Most of the Santas/Belsnickels were gifts or souvenirs from a trip. They all  hold a warm memory that floods back into my soul each time I unpack the tote that keeps them from  year to year. 

Today I am going to decorate the kitchen tree, and hopefully get to the sideboard in the dining room.  I am going to decorate that in a Victorian style using the Nativity and Lennox Nativity Plate(a gift from Pat and Charlie my daughter Jamiann's in-laws) that usually adorns the mantle each Christmas.

Christmas Mantle 2012

What The World Needs Now...

The Day My Mother Was Born

Today would have been my mother's 91st Birthday.  She passed away in her 70th year.  

My mother was always there for me. She was the most loving mother even though she never really knew her own mother.

She mothered everyone, even her own peers. She was one of those people who touched the hearts of all she met. She taught us to love unconditionally, to forgive completely, and to love God with all our heart and soul.

Once way back in 1990 when I managed Boardwalk Fries I had been up to my waist in work and almost that high in flooding water coming in through the back door, not to mention that I had overflowed the front sink too!

My assistant called off that day and the kids that worked the night before left a mess and did not do any of the prep work needed for an on time opening in the morning.

Just as I was ready for a nervous breakdown the door bell rang at the back door. I was so upset, as I had thought it was the bakery delivery man with the rolls...yet more work for me to do.

I answered the door and there she stood...my guardian angel...my mother. I did not call her that morning, and yet she knew I needed her. She told me that she had a feeling that I needed her. She spent that morning helping me prep and get ready to open on time.

I will never stop needing her. She is here for me in my sisters, my daughters, my cousins, and my friends, as she left her imprint on all who knew her.

She is so in my heart, she could never be gone.

Mother I Miss You

               John Tesh

Is it Me

Or have I decieved myself

I thought I heard you call my name

Out in the pouring rain

I really thought

I thought I saw your face

But after a second look

I saw I made a clear mistake

Chorus

Mother I miss you

At nights I just wish

You were here with me

So we can laugh and talk again

Mother I miss you

but I'll just kiss you

And send it on the wind

'Cause you know

I plan to see you again

Bridge:

So much I wanted to show you

So much I wanted to give

I thought our time would be much longer

Missin' my best friend

Recent Makayla Update:

Makayla Update:

On Saturday, they adjusted the shunt that is draining fluid from her brain to allow more drainage because her ventricles were still quite large. Since then, she has been more awake than she ever has since the accident. On Sunday, she attentively watched an almost 2 hour movie and then stayed awake for another hour or so.

On Monday, she had a very active day. She was awake for 4 hours in the morning and everyone and their cousin came to see her since it was the first non-weekend day since she came in. She was interacting with one of therapists in a neat way. The therapist would hold this hat just outside her field of view on KK's left side and then slowly bring it into her view. When Makayla would lock her eyes one the colorful hat, the therapist would tell her to grab the hat. 3 or 4 times Makayla actually grabbed the hat from her! She slept for a few hours in the afternoon, but was quite awake again in the afternoon.

Yesterday, she wasn't quite as alert, but was awake quite a bit, and did become a tad more alert as the day went on. Her eyes just seem brighter than ever over all! She still isn't squeezing or wiggling anything when someone tells her to, but we are still seeing small improvements here and there!

I will post a video of her playing with this hat she has. She would hold on to one of the fuzzy balls, lift it up as high as she could, then drop it and pick it up again. We laughed because it seemed like she was playing catch with herself. LOL

Medically, she is doing pretty good. It seems the CSF leaking from her incision has stopped in the past 2 days. That is truly an answer to prayer! Or else they would have to redo the shunt they put in her. The big thing right now is to get her weaned off of the pain med she is on currently. Once that is done, there will be nothing keeping her sedated at any level and we will be able to truly see how she is doing and the full effect of her brain injury. They decided yesterday that they will change her feeding tube from the one she has (which goes in her nose down to her stomach) to one that is surgically inserted into her belly and then her stomach. This will be a more secure and safer tube to have, especially if we do go home in the next couple of weeks.

Now that the CSF leakage has stopped, the only thing keeping her in the hospital is the pain med she is on. Once they take her off of that, there will be nothing keeping us here. However, her doctors are sort of dragging their feet, hoping that she will recover enough to be able to enter the in-patient rehab here. If she does not recover enough, we will more than likely have to go home until she is recovered enough. There may be other options, though, that we are exploring as well. Our prayer is that she will recover enough before it's time to make that decision so she can go straight into rehab. But the Lord is still in control and He does know what is best for her. We certainly wouldn't mind being able to come home. It's just that we would have to eventually come back here since there is no where in Montana for her to get that kind of rehab. Please pray with us that she will recover in time. God will hear our supplications and our cries!

Diane's Pineapple Caramel Topped Apple Cake

Diane's Pineapple Caramel Topped Apple Cake

Preheat Oven

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and ten minutes

Step One: 

In a sauce pan over low heat melt 3/4 stick of butter, add 3/4 C. Brown Sugar, stir until bubbly, add one C. well drained crushed pineapple.  Stir until thick. Set aside to cool.

Step Two:

Cream together 3/4 C. Canola Oil, 3 lg eggs, 1 C. Brown Sugar, 1 C. White Sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, and 1/2 C. applesauce.  On slow speed  add 1/2 teas. baking soda, 1/2 teas. baking powder then gradually adding  2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour. After well blended add 3 large peeled, cored, and diced Macintosh apples, mix lightly until stirred into batter. 

Step Three: 

Grease and flour your choice of pan, I used a Bundt pan.  Pour ingredients of Step One into bottom of pan spreading evenly. Now add batter from Step Two spreading evenly over ingredients of Step One.  Bake in 325 degree preheated oven for 1 hr. 10 mins. 

Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

♥ ENJOY! ♥

November 11th ~ Happy 8th Birthday To My Grandson Jacob!

Jacob is a very sweet and loving grandson!  He is super smart and very artistic.

Jacob and his older sister Abby are 23 months apart in age.

Ocean Grove ~ Before and After Hurricane Sandy

 In this video at approximately 6:13 you will see the auditorium in Ocean Grove with its severely damaged roof. Below is our slideshow of Ocean Grove from our visit there on September 22, 2012 the day after our niece's wedding on the beach in Sea Bright.

Another blog video and slide of Seaside Heights Damage Hurricane Sandy Before and After: http://bluemountainroad.blogspot.com/2012/11/press-coverage-video-of-devastation-of.html