"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

What are you thankful for on this Thanksgiving Eve?

I truly believe that Thanksgiving is a day that should be spent in complete praise of our Heavenly Father for all He has done and will do for us. Although i enjoy the food and family on this day, i think the day should be centered in Christ Jesus and what He has done for us. I hate the fact that we get so swept up in food and traditions, that people think it's silly to go around the table and say what we are thankful for. It's not silly and we should be doing it everyday.

Well since November 1st Daniel, Sienna and I have been writing down what we are thankful for each night at dinner time. We talk about what God has blessed us with and make a point to say it out loud and praise Him for His blessings. We have been keeping a thankful tree and today i wrote down all the things we have been thankful for over the past 25 days. The one rule about the tree is we can't repeat any of the things we are thankful for, this has really helped us to see all that the Lord as given us.

Daniel is thankful for: My Job, My parents, Tickle attacks with Sienna, A creative wife, Saturday's with family, My beautiful wife, computers, A Christ centered church, laughter, Jesus, Being able to have multiple translations of the bible, cell phones that work in our home, Rides to and from work, Our family, warm blankets, 24 hour convenant stores, Eli being healthy, Our Armed Forces, and Encouragement from friends.

Laura is thankful for: Living close to family, Sienna, My camera, being able to have a home birth, my friends, God taking care of us, Our youth group kids both past and present, All that we have been given for Eli, Eli, Baby showers, God protecting us, my sisters, long walks as a family, Daniel being home on weekends, Our Home, ears to hear, massages, God letting me be a mom, and a healthy family.

Sienna is thankful for: Singing & Dancing, school, animals, church, toys, Cubbies, Slides & swings, my lion, Grandma's, Discovery Kids, Papa, Candy, cousins, My mommy, food, grapes, playing, band aids, bread, Daddy, chicken nuggets, not being afraid of monsters and her very special Bear.

So take some time tomorrow and think about what you are thankful for and make a list. You'll surprised what you come up with.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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French Apple Pie

A Slice

Just in time for Thanksgiving here is a perfectly yummy dessert that will impress your friends and family. Try it and let me know what you think of this little twist on a traditional apple pie.

Sienna and I were in a baking mood again, you know what that means, right? Reading cook books and coming up with our own recipes. Sienna loved helping me. As i made the pie dough I made sure to make extra so she could play with some. She loved it and spent hours playing with her special "real" dough. Too Cute. The pie is delicious and was pretty easy to make. I was able to bring it over to my in laws who loved it as well. So all around a keeper of a recipe.

Filling
6c. sliced, peeled Granny Smith apples (about 6 apples)
1/2 c. packed  brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Crumble Topping
1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make pie dough in food processor. Combine flour, salt and butter until butter is the size of peas. Then slowly at ice water, until the dough makes a ball. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  In large bowl, combine sugar and  flour. Mix together with apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Roll out pie dough and place in pie pan. Trim edges and crimp. Take left over dough and put back in food processor and add one tablespoon of flour and mix. You should have small crumbs, sprinkle crumbs on the bottom of pie crust, do NOT press them into the crust. This will help keep your crust from getting soggy. I saw this on food network and it really works.

layer in apple mixture into pie. I think you get a much better result when you layer the apples in the pie, you get less air pockets and more apples. It might take you an extra minute put it really does make a difference. Make French Crumb Topping by mixing 1/3 cup butter and sugars together. Cut in 3/4 cup flour. Sprinkle topping over apples in pie plate. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until topping is golden and apples are tender.

Let cool for at least an hour. Serve warm with ice cream or whip topping.
 

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My Little Indian

This morning Sienna's preschool class had their Thanksgiving feast. Last week all the kids painted Indian vests and made turkey place mates. Today they each made a turkey had and got to get all dressed up to celebrate Thanksgiving. Teach Chris taught all about the first Thanksgiving and how everyone came together to share a meal. Just like we were doing in our class. Everyone brought food to share and we spent the late morning and really afternoon eating and talking. The kids had a ball and the parents enjoyed some adult conversation. Sienna loves school and I do to, we just always get to do the funnest things.

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She's so Cute in her Hat

The Group

This evening we met up with a few friends at the Simi Valley Train Station to see the Christmas Train. Daniel and I used to take our nieces every year, however they have out grown it in resent years. So we thought Sienna was old enough to enjoy and love the experience. It's a free event all you do is show up at the station at the right time and a train covered in lights and decorations pulls into the station. The kids cheer and a cast of Christmas characters preform on a stage on top of the train. At the end Santa comes out and snow shoots off the train. It's fun and free!

Santa Clause

Snow

Sienna LOVED it, pointing to everything and waving to all the characters on the train. She was a little bumbed that people were aloud on the train but she got over that when she got to say hi to Frosty the snow man and Rudolf the red nose reindeer. It was a super fun time and i can't wait to take Sienna and Eli next year.

After the train pulled out of the station to make other boys and girls happy in city's up and down the coast we had friends over for dinner. It was a chilly night so i thought a big bowl of hot chili was in order. We spent the evening chatting and eating, just the way i like it. Thank you to Dan, Kristin, Bella, Addison, and Nebraska for spending the evening with us. We love you so much!

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Our Small Group!

Watching the Movie "Up"

Tonight my co-small group leader Laurie and I hosted a "Girl's Night In" for our small group girls. We had the girls over to my house for a super yummy pasta dinner and to watch the movie "Up". We had 6 out of 10 of our girls show up and we had so much fun together. We are all still getting to know each other and this event was prefect to talk and just hang out. Dinner was great and the movie was so funny, i really enjoyed it! These girls are so awesome and willing to love and care for Laurie and I. It's so sweet!

I really believe in nights like tonight. It's the time we spend with youth group kids outside of youth group that counts. Showing them they are special enough for adults to make time for them. Special enough to have someone take notice of who they are and want to know them better. I really am getting my footing in this group and I feel like i have come leaps and bounds over the past few months in getting to know the kids and making sure i spend time with them outside of youth group.

I really feel the Lord has put me in this church, with this youth group and with these girls for a real and powerful purpose. And tonight i saw a glimpse of what God wants to do. I keep having to remind myself that this isn't the same group of kids i used to have, and that they will never be the girls i had before. And that things will be different and that's ok. God has a plan and I am learning with each Wednesday night and each youth event that everything is new and i need to not dwell on the past or wish for things to be the same. Because i am learning that staying the same is boring. I am so thankful for the Lord pushing me into a new world with new teens. He knew better then i did, and this is where i am needed and where God needs me to be. Here i am Lord use me in any way you wish to love these girls and to show them the love of your Son! I'm ready and I know these girls are ready to be used by you too!

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Snow

Last night at youth group I led a game that used lots of confetti. Well i decided to bring some home for Sienna to play with today. Now i know a lot of you mom's out there are thinking, "What a Mess!". But i thought that hey what's cleaning up some confetti if Sienna can have one of the most fun afternoons ever. Now don't get me wrong, i like having a clean house, but this wasn't that big of a deal.

Sienna LOVED playing with the "snow". She spent three hours filling cups, throwing it and making snow angels. We had so much fun together at one point Sienna runs to me and wraps her arms around my neck and said, "Momma, you are so much fun!". I almost cried. She was delighted to just be playing with paper and me. No expensive toys or high tech gagets, just confetti.

You only get to be little once, so why not let them have some fun. Try this and I promise your kids will think you are a rock star. Just make sure you have a good vacuum! hehe :)

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Our Thankful Tree

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:18

This year I decided to do a Thankful tree for the month of November. I've done this in years past with my youth group, but never as a family. So just useing a little construction paper i put up a tree and cut out leaves. Each night at dinner time we each say what we thank God for and write it on a leaf and stick it to the tree. We have also had guests over who particapated. This has been a great way to talk to Sienna about praising the Lord in all things. At first she really didn't understand, but now she gets it and can't wait to tell us what she is thankful for. Also many nights Sienna wants to do more then one leaf, because she can't wait until tomorrow.

This project has also been a blessing for Daniel in I. In our fast paced busy world we don't stop and thank God enough. And it has really lead to some great conversations at dinner time and also made us truly thankful for all that we have.

So put up a thankful tree it's not too late! I promise you and your kids will be blessed by it.

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Little Hands Wreath

I love coming up with inexpensive fun projects for parents to do with their kids. This month Sienna and I made this super fun and super easy wreath, to decorate our home for Thanksgiving. I went through all my craft paper and pulled everything out that was fallish.

What you will need:

Sienna's Hands

Paper (any colors you wish)
Tape (like painters tape or masking tape)
Glue stick
ribbon

Sienna helped me trace her hands on the paper and I cut them all out. The we laid them out the way we liked them and taped the outer row together on the back side. Then we glued the inner layer of hands to the outer layer. Then i made a bow and glued it on, i needed to use a clothes pin to hold it until it dried. The placed on last hand in the middle of the bow.

It took us about two hours and we had a lot of fun doing it. Sienna is so proud to show people her Hand Wreath when ever they come over. So take the time to do this fun project with your kids!

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Snow Relay!

Confetti Angels?

Tonight all of us youth leaders were left to run Canvas as Pastor Dan had the night off. He works so hard and makes such a BIG difference in teens lives, that I am so glad he was able to have a night off. So of course since Dan wasn't their i planned a really big messy game! haha, Dan knew about it, but i'm not sure how he would have reacted if he was actually there. We played "Snow Relay". Living in southern California these teens don't get to play in the snow like teens on the east coast. So i thought i would bring a little snow fun to Canvas with a bucket of paper confetti. The teens sat in circles and were each given a cup. They had to pass confetti over there head to each other to fill a bucket. This made for great fun since the confetti did not want to stay in the cups, but rather flouted away every time they poured it. The teens had a blast! After the game was over they all enjoyed a little snow fight. It was awesome to see them play like little kids again and have so much fun at youth group. The mess was so worth it!

Worship

Pastor Scot Preaching

Pastor Scot gave a great lesson on Temptation tonight, he also showed a really hard hitting video. Check it out by clicking here. 

The Battle Within week 3
Bottom Line: We are tempted to believe we know how God works and how we think we can work Him.

In the boxing world, sometimes things aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes the winner is known before anyone walks into the ring. Sometimes the outcome is pre-determined by a person who has manipulated things behind the scene. Sometimes a fighter takes a dive. Sometimes a boxer throws the fight. And if each one of us were completely honest, sometimes we try to work things as well in our fight with temptation. And who or what we are manipulating isn’t the temptation, it’s God.

Scripture References: Matthew 4:5-7; Psalm 91:12; Exodus 17:2-3

Question for the week: Are you cooperating with God or are you manipulating him?

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Good Times!

Since having to say good bye to our old youth group, I haven't seen many of the kids. Most of them have moved away for school or work and go to school and lead very busy lives. However one of our old youth group kids attends youth group at Discovery with us now, and that has been a big blessing!

Today i got to have lunch with Kiersten, Matt, and Jessica. It was WONDERFUL. I have missed them so much and loved getting to hear all about their lives. So much has happened in just a few months and i so loved getting to catch up. I have had a few coffee dates one on one with several of the kids over the past few months. But it was so nice to go out with a group of them. I loved every moment of our time together and didn't want to leave In N Out. Just wished the time would last longer. However I know we will make time to get together soon. Hopefully more youth group alumni will be able to join us.

How do you know if you have touched teens lives? When they let you be apart of their lives even after they aren't in your youth group anymore. I love Youth Ministry!

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