It is cloudy, cold, and damp outside today.  But inside, it is bright, cheerful, and warm.             

The fireplace is roaring, taking the cold and dampness out of the air.  There is contentment within our family, although going nowhere today, and just staying inside.

We started our morning with my usual Sabbath breakfast recipe – a dozen eggs, some whole wheat bread, a cup or two of cheese, and about four turkey patties (pre-cooked) crumbled. I mix all of this together and then sprinkle the egg dish with more cheese, and then bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  This gives us a protein rich egg dish to start our day, without all the usual mess and hassle of an egg, sausage, and toast breakfast. We had bought cinnamon rolls the day before to have as our breakfast dessert.

So far today, we have read a chapter in Psalms, Proverbs, and a portion in I Samuel 13, 14, 15 and I Chronicles 5 and 9 -this is the story of the reign of Saul.  Besides having generous portions of Bible reading as a family, we have played a game of Scrabble, watched the movie, Toy Story, a board game of Monopoly, and read from our  historical novel   ( a   G..A. Henty book) while many of the children colored pictures with fine art- grade precision pencils.

My niece was with us this weekend.  She arrived Friday evening, as we were preparing our pizzas and breadsticks.  We sat at the table together, and before eating, we had prayer, and sought forgiveness from one another for any transgressions against each other in the past week.  We remembered as a family how Jesus died and paid the penalty for our sins against Him.  His blood was poured out and His body was given up for us.  After pizza, we read a portion in the Bible, played a game of Scrabble, and hung out in the family room around the cozy and warm fireplace.

I am still having an internet connection problem – therefore – my lack of posts.  I have a lot to share and find myself seriously behind in things I’d like to share, such as –

Our trip to Biltmore Estate and our tea time with Grandma in August

Our first visit to Ruth’s farm in Tennessee in August

Our Family Camp here at Ranch Shekinah in October

Our second visit to Ruth’s farm in Tennessee in October

Our week of celebrating the Biblical Holiday, Tabernacle of Booths, in Tennessee with Ruth and her fellowship group

Ruthie’s 11^th birthday party – A Victorian Tea party that we hosted 17 little girls and some of the mom’s

Add to all of that, I still haven’t posted on the foaling of Hot Shot and Willow!

Although I am way behind in posting, I have been enjoying my family thoroughly.  As I mentioned above, we took another trip to Tennessee just a few weeks ago.  Just as soon as we got home from that (we were away nine days) it was Ruthie’s birthday – we took all week getting ready for her Victorian Tea Party.

There have been a lot of changes within our family since our summer trip to the Bill Gothard Institute of Basic Life Principles seminar, followed up with two inspirational visits to Ruth’s wonderful family in Tennessee.   I'm looking forward to sharing what's new with our family, and also to visit with you.  See you soon (I hope!)

Antoinette