Free Movie From ParentalRights.com & Up-Coming Offer

A new docudrama on the state of Parental Rights in America premiered online this past Thursday!  You can watch it online at http://www.overruledmovie.com/.  It is very well done and only 35 minutes long.  I hope everyone gets a chance to see it!

For anyone interested in the Teach Them Diligently conference this coming March, they are going to be offering their best deal of the year to everybody subscribed to their newsletter!  The admission is already amazingly low ($40 for the whole family), and they had a $25 deal earlier this year.  All you need to do is sign up for their newsletter here before November 22!

In Christ,
Tiffany

Cranberry Sauce

    I love to try new things!  Every so often I'll see something and ask myself if I can make it cheaper or better.  Sometimes it's just fun to try something new.  I was flipping through a Ball canning book and somehow decided I would can cranberry sauce this year.  I don't know why as it is not cheaper and I don't usually care to have much of it.  Everyone else in my family loves it on turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving.
    I found out that making cranberry sauce is SO EASY and tastes MUCH BETTER than store bought.  The recipe had an option to spice it up with cinnamon and cloves in a cheese cloth bag.  I tried it and it came out so good; though this recipe was a little too sweet for me.  Next time I want to use Splenda or a little less sugar.  This recipe is from the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving" 

                                     Jellied Cranberry Sauce

             - 4 1/4 cups of cranberries                
             - 1 3/4 cups of water                                  
             - 2 cups of sugar                                         

             - (Opt.) 1 cinnamon stick broken into pieces and

               1 tsp. whole cloves tied in cheese cloth bag
              ( dispose of spice bag when cooking is complete)



1. Prepare canner, jars and lids (if canning).
2. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine cranberries, water and optional spice bag if using.  Bring to boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until skins burst (about 5 minutes). 
3. Working in batches, transfer cranberry mixture to a food mill or a food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree until smooth. 
4. Return cranberry puree to saucepan.  Add sugar and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to high and boil hard until mixture begins to "sheet" from a metal spoon.  Remove from heat and test gel.  If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam. 

If Canning:
5. Ladle hot sauce into jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar.  Screw band down until resistance is met then increase to finger tight.
6. Place jars in canner, insuring they are completely covered in water.  Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes.  Remove canner lid.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Tips from the book:
1. Fresh or frozen cranberries can be used in this recipe.  If using frozen, be sure to partially thaw cranberries in the refrigerator before getting started.
2.  To serve jellied sauce as a mold, pack sauce in straight sided canning jars.  To serve, hold jar under warm running water.  With a plastic spatula, loosen edges and tip jellied sauce on a serving plate.

    There is a lot of information online and many different recipes.  It is very easy, especially if you are not canning it.  If  not canning, you can refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks or freeze 12 -18 months.  Fresh cranberries can be frozen for 12 months.  Some recipes use orange juice and other spices such as ginger, allspice, cardamom and nutmeg.  You can substitute different sweeteners and sweeten to taste.  I can't wait to experiment some more! 

                                            Blessings,
                                               Lisa

Back from the Conference

Hello All!
    The "Gospel Centered Marriages for A Glorious Church" Conference was great!!  The only problem was that we could not attend all of the wonderful sessions that were going on at once! My favorite, and I think the pivotal message of the entire conference was Paul Washer's "The Center of All Things- The Gospel".  Now that we are home we've begun listening to the sessions we missed on CDs (which you can order here).  We met a family who lives in our area while we were there, as well as a family from Alabama and some friends of the Holston family! 

    We will need to get more wood in before snow flies, Mommy and I are hoping to do a bit more canning and Thanksgiving is right around the corner!  In addition to all of that, Christmas is coming, secrets are developing and the new Vision Forum catalog seldom lies idle!  Hope all is well with all of you in blog-land!

In Christ,
For the rest of us,
Tiffany

3 Great Conferences!

Hello Everyone!
     Things have been quite busy around here!  We've canned Grape Jelly, Peach Butter and Tomato Sauce recently; as well as made a quick visit to the Henry Ford Museum to see the National Archives' Civil War Exhibit (Family Day = Free Admission!!)!  We know of three wonderful conferences coming up that we thought we'd spread the word about:

1.  The "Gospel Centered Marriages for a Glorious Church" conference hosted by the NCFIC, October 27-29, 2011 in Asheville, NC!  You can get more info here.  We're registered to go, we just aren't sure how!  The trailer roof is pretty much complete, but we still need to check out other things that could potentially be a problem.  One way or another we're going!

2.   The "Family Economics Conference" hosted by Kevin Swanson's "Generations with Vision", March 8-10, 2012 in Chicago, IL!  Not sure if we'll get to go to this one or not, but it looks great!  They're going to top off the event with Liberty Day (a re-enactment of Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!" speech)!  Info for the conference can be found here; and info on Liberty Day here.

3.  The "Teach them Diligently" convention, March 15-17, 2012 in Spartanburg, SC!  Many of you will remember the whole debacle surrounding the home school convention we attended earlier this year (our previous post is here).  This new convention stands in direct opposition to the failings and compromises of  GHC Inc..  Ken Ham, Voddie Baucham, and Doug Phillips are the keynote speakers along with other familiar names like Israel Wayne, the Mally Family and the Young family!  They are being very careful to screen their vendors, and have an awesome "About" page.  The price can't be beat either: $30.00 for the whole family if you register before the end of October!  Their website can be found here.

That's pretty much all I have to say for now; we're all really excited to see "Courageous" in just 10 days! Yippee!!  Hope all is well with our friends, from the east coast to the west coast!

In Christ,
For the rest of us,
Tiffany

Baptism and Blueberries

Hello Everyone!
I'm so sorry it's been so long; things have been crazy busy around here!  We started July off with a week long visit from Nana and Papa Cadle and Aunt Mary.  Smack-dab in the middle of the visit we had to take Hope (our golden retriever) to the vet and found out that her uterus was filled with puss and she had to have emergency surgery.  Normally a dog's uterus should weigh 2-3 oz.; her's was 4 lbs.!  The vet thought he would lose her twice during the surgery and the pain was so bad she was still fighting him at the highest dose of anesthetic.  That same week Mommy sprained her finger and we found out that one of the families from church's newborn baby had to be hospitalized (he has since been able to come home and is doing fine).  Mid to late July we picked cherries and 65 lbs. of blueberries.  The temperatures peaked to a roasting 105 degrees, with the heat index in the 120's.  A project our menfolk started in July and still have in progress is replacing the roof of our fifth wheel (Not an undertaking for the faint of heart!).  The month ended with the Tent Meetings our church sponsored in Camden, MI.  Tom Harmon and the Bates Family were our guest speakers.  Kaleb and a little girl from church were both baptized last Sunday:

First, Daddy gave a short address

Next, Kaleb read a short piece he had written

Ready...

Down he went...

And up he came; the last of us to be Baptized!!

Last Tuesday we went over to Nana and Papa Weber's house to help drag a dead Ash tree out of the creek and cut it up into firewood for us to burn this winter.  Wednesday, we saw Nana and Papa Cadle for the last time before they head south for the winter.  Our grapes are almost ready and our tomatoes and green peppers are starting to come on at a good pace.  I hope all is well with everyone in our small readership and thank you for still visiting our sleepy little Blogspot!!

In Christ,
For the Family,
Tiffany

P.S.  We've been having computer issues left and right.  The desktop will only work in safe mood and this laptop crashes intermittently, making it difficult to work online.  So if we can't update, you'll know why!!

Posting on Endurances blog about his last morning on earth

Heather said that she would post about Endurances last morning on earth at a later time. Well she posted it on wed. What a testimony to Gods enduring love and grace. I encourage everyone who looks at our blog to follow the "Run with endurance" blog short cut from the side bar and to read about how God used this little boy for his glory and honor. How the Holston family stood in the face of adversity and wouldn't give up. How God brought people close over long distances in His name. Truely an encouraging life story. I encourage everyone to read the blog from the beginning to its current post. What a testimony of strength and love, and the precious power of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Tim <><

The Trailer for Courageous!!

Water water every where but not a drop to drink!

Storms, storms and more storms.  We got home from church today a little before 5:00 pm.  We had stopped by an older woman's home after church to visit with her since she had not been at church today.  Upon arriving home we came in the door to our weather radio going off with an alarm.  It was a tornado warning and the storm front was only minutes away.  We went to the family room for shelter when the high winds started.  A little while later we lost power.  Once the storm had passed, we were able to get things checked out.  The utility room had started to flood because the battery backup sump pump that we have wasn't able to keep up.  So we got out the generator and got it going.  While we were getting it ready the flood started into the family room and started across to the opposite wall, flooding half the family room by the time we got everything in place and started.  A little while later Lisa and I decided to take a drive up town.  We saw a few power poles down and snapped off just a couple roads over from us.  Our neighbors told us that there is a tree down across a road just north of us that also took out power lines.  So it looks like we will be without power for little while any way. Thank the Lord that we were home while this was taking place and not on the road.
In Christ,
       Tim <><

**Update**
Hello Everyone!  We got power back last night and are still trying to dry out and clean up.  This flood was worse than the one we had earlier this year.  But it is a little easier to clean up with how we rearranged the furniture!  Hope you all have better weather than us!
In Christ,
       Tiffany

Endurance is gone but he will not be forgotten!

If anyone were to tell you, that only one person could change the world you would probably disagree.  Well I know it to be true because I've seen it with my own eyes.  God has used a small boy to accomplish more in his 8 and a half months of life than most people accomplish in a lifetime.  This little boy was able to bring The Church together like I have never seen before.  People reaching out in friendship,  people being prayer warriors on others behalf.  People unselfishly giving of time and resources for others.  This is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak.  Through God this little boy taught people to be unselfish and to think of others more than yourself.  He strengthened every ones faith watching how God renewed his strength almost daily.  Watching his parents Mike and Heather and siblings give of themselves until they were totally reliant on God and his providence, living only by faith one day at a time.  Seeing bewildered faces on others wondering how can it be that a family from across the country would have SO MANY VISITORS.  His life though short was filled with purpose and resolve.  Though we may never know to the full extent of how his life changed others.  I can tell you this, mine has changed.  I have a renewed faith in the Church and trust that the Lord has great things ahead.  I have been encouraged by Mike and Heather's stand for Life when it wasn't easy and even down right hard at times.  I have been encouraged by their selflessness.  I truly felt like I was getting together with old friends when we met for the very first time.  I have been encouraged by their churches willingness to support them during this time of need.  I have been encouraged seeing brothers and sisters in Christ coming together on the Holstons behalf.  The Lord was able to make a way for our family to go and be with the Holstons during the surgery.  I was hoping to be an encouragement to them, but instead I was the one encouraged and strengthened by both Mike and Heather and the other families.  I praise God for his greatness and mercy, and his abundant grace.  Our love and prayers are going with the Holstons as they travel back to Seattle.  We will truly miss you!

In Christ <><
Tim

Families in need of help and prayer

Hello All,
    We thought we would pass on information regarding some families that are in need that we have been thinking about and praying for lately.  First off, the Lee, Crawford, and Boyd families were all devastated by the recent spat of tornadoes that ripped through the south.  Mr. Phillips posted about them on his blog here and here. Peter Bradrick is running a website were you can donate directly to these families via their local church.  The website is http://www.bradrick.org/helpalfamilies/ .  Also, Mrs.Crawford's website http://www.generationcedar.com/main/ has posted mailing addresses so you can send things (notes, gifts, etc.) directly to them here! 

     Secondly, we've been praying for the Holston family who we learned about on Daddy's SMM group.  (A group of men who all went through Mr. Botkin's Saturday Morning Mentoring last year.)  They have an adorable little baby boy named Endurance.  Endurance was born with heart problems last year and we've been following his progress on their blog http://www.run-with-endurance.blogspot.com/.  All this time they have been living in Seattle, Washington but they have just moved to Columbus, Ohio! You can get all the details at their blog, but please pray for a smooth settling in for the family and for Endurance to do well in the hospital down there.  

   We've been doing pretty well here.  Our sump pump failed and we got about an inch of water in part of our basement.  That was a fun mess to clean up!!  The perfect excuse to rearrange the Family room!  Our other appliances have been giving us a rough time as well.  Our laptop crashed with half of TJ's school work on it (we were thankfully able to recover the hard drive). We had to replace the dishwasher and a part on the dryer.  A burner on the stove went out and was replaced just in time for the bottom element in the oven to make a dramatic exit (It began to spark, flame and melt while we were making dinner)!  However... the leaves are on the trees, plants are going in the ground, seeds will soon be planted for the garden and hopefully everything will settle down soon.  We hope all is well with all of you!

In Christ,
   For the Family,
         Tiffany