He is Risen!

A blessed Easter Greeting to you!
As we reflect on what Jesus Christ did for us almost 2,000 years ago......the cross, the empty tomb, Our Risen Lord....Consider what God also did for us, because of His Steadfast Love.
If He would have not poured out His Wrath on His Son, Jesus-None of us would be here to celebrate the Power and Mercy of our God.

I recently got some things together for a "Love of GOD" photo shoot, using Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Here are a few to share! Happy Easter!

The New Year

Just look at that date above the title-2010 is here! Rang in with lots of cold weather and snow!! I think this week was the coldest of the winter! Sub-Zero Temperatures, we've had the fireplace going strong!!
Our family had a great holiday season-Christmas turned out to be better that we expected!
And this New Year's we were all in bed by 4:00 A.M. (Dad was glad-We did better than last year!
I've included some snapshots of our family Christmas! Enjoy!
Here's to more blogging in 2010!

Our parents and grandparents got us an amazing telescope!



My gift to Eric was cleverly disguised under
(okay, get ready!) wrapping paper, a brown paper sack,
box, under a bag of rocks (a decoy!) more wrapping paper,
a plastic sack, and finally inside an envelope, his present-guitar picks!
(They looked puny in the little bag-It needed some excitement!)



Susanna in her new kitty outfit!


Mom got a roaster pan!


Watch Out! Dad got a reciprocating saw (whatever that is!)


Caroline and I playing a Christmas duet!


Our stupendous Christmas dessert!
A Taste of Home exclusive!
"Layered Turtle Cheesecake"
Indescribable goodness! (Is your mouth watering?)

Happy Easter!

Christ has Risen! He has Risen indeed! Happy Easter!
May you have a spirit of thankfulness for all Christ has done for us!

Easter Blessings from our family to yours!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day to our loved ones and dear friends.
Be encouraged with this verse from 2 Thessalonians 1:3
"We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,
as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly,
and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing."

January-Christmas Pictures

Happy January 2009! It seems like not too long ago,
that we were celebrating 2008! Time flies by!

Here are a few photos from our Christmas Celebration
with Mom's side of the family and a few of our
Christmas Presents!

Mom's family


Sweet Susanna and cousin Precious Paige!


The kids with their 3 man sling shot


Susanna in her fun car!


This is a picture of the Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake I made for Christmas

Christmas Thoughts....

Poem
We are celebrating Christ's birth this day!
We remember those who can not be with us as we pray.
Thank you Lord for those we miss,
And for those we spend time with.
Merry, Merry Christmas!

Phunny (is that a word??)
~One of our favorite Christmas movies is "White Christmas"
Last year a friend of ours showed us this cute animated cartoon.....
If you have a few minutes check out,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooc5eJc5SHAalt

~Somebody emailed this to us this week....Something to
Ponder
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were
not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone
during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning
plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each
element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality
which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John .
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit- Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the
Apostles' Creed.


Picture
Merry Christmas!

December

I can't believe that Christmas is only 3 days away!
December has FLOWN by!
We have been quite busy, so I am sorry I haven't posted in awhile.
I've been collecting pictures though!

Over the past couple of weeks we have had some snow,
as well as freezing temperatures!
With the wind chill it has been in the -15 degrees. Brrrrr!

Our first snow! A light dusting...


Then a few days later we got 4-5 inches!


Beautiful snow covered evergreens!


Caroline and I were in a mulit-piano concert


A gorgeous sunset



We have been working for about 6 weeks on a Christmas Program.
We went to Inman, KS last Monday (15th), where our great-grandpa lives,
to do the program for him and the rest of the nursing home.

On Thursday (18th) we did another program at a retirement home
in Hutchinson, KS. We got there, set everything up, then had a
nice dinner! Mom was just saying that day she hadn't gone out
for a good dinner in a long time!

This is the picture of our table setting!


I didn't get a picture of our dinner; ham, mashed potatoes,
corn, rolls, and cranberry salad before it got eaten.
Trust me, it was amazing! I did get a picture of our dessert though!


Here are some pictures of us performing




The Beckman Children


Mom and Susanna

The Beckman Family with Grandparents Jim and Joanne
and Great-Grandpa Gilbert

The Beckman Family




Last Friday night we had the pleasure of spending an evening
with the Anson and Kroeker Families. T
hank you for having us Anson Family!
We began the evening with supper. Yummy!


Scott and Eric playing guitars as we sing

The couch singers~

Kelsey and Elizabeth


Lydia, Paul and Marcus enthusiastically doing the actions to
"Away in the Manger"


Kelsey, Elizabeth, Kyle and Eric


Scott and Kyle playing guitars


Mr. Kroeker with Miles and Kaleb


Eric, Miles and Kyle


Miles and Kaleb-Buddies!


Our church had the children's Sunday School Christmas Program.
Caroline, Miles and I were all in it!
Caroline was the angel


I got to accompany all the children's program songs!
It was great!


Miles was a townsperson!


Caroline and Miles



Well, hope you enjoyed the update! Sorry for our absence~
Have a blessed Christmas!

Thanksgiving-Peppernut Making

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone had a wonderful day
giving thanks to the Lord for His bountiful blessings.
We remember Psalm 100 today;it is certainly a thankful psalm!

PSALM 100
A Psalm for giving thanks.

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Susanna dressed up as a Pilgrim first



Then she dressed up as an Indian!


Pretty cute Indian!


Paradise Pumpkin Pie


Harvest Pie


This evening our Grandparents, affectionately called Memaw and Papa,
came over to enjoy a meal and then make an annual holiday treat.
Peppernuts!

What are peppernuts??
Peppernuts may taste like cookies, but they are smaller-much smaller-
about the size of a hazelnut or dime. Ladies used to take pride in how
small they could make them. Grandmothers rivaled the size of large peas.
Others painstakingly cut theirs in perfect little circle using a sewing
thimble for a cutter.
-Peppernuts, Plain and Fancy
A Christmas Tradition from Grandmother's Oven
by Norma Jost Voth

First we make the dough.....A total of 20 c. of flour,
as well as various spices such as cinnamon, allspice, ginger,
and real pepper! Our recipe also includes anise oil.
Other variations include gumdrops, nuts, coconut, dried fruit, etc.


Then we roll the dough out in to long ropes, "snakes!"




Susanna and Caroline helping


Our "snakes"



Dad enthusiastically cutting the peppernuts!


Papa is our best cutter!


Good thing we have a double oven...
We can get 6 pans in there at one time!


Precisely cut and uniform!


The finished product! Almost 3 gallons...Stop by and try one! (or two)


We also got to sing some hymns!