Epiphany

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Recipe--Picante Omelet

We recently discovered a delicious new breakfast recipe in our “Homestead Blessings” cookbook! This recipe is easy to whip up, and very tasty. This is also a great breakfast-for-dinner dish. J

Picante Omelet

½ cup picante sauce

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

6-8 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the sauce into a lightly greased 10” pie plate or quiche dish. Sprinkle with cheese, set aside. Mix the eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper until smooth; pour over cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting. Serves 6.

Steel Wool Photography and Light Painting

~By Benjamin

Recently we enjoyed a movie night at our house with some friends from youth group. There were several photographers in the group so we decided afterwards to do some night steel wool photography.

The way you do this is to take some steel wool, stuff it in a kitchen whisk attached to a short rope or piece of leather, and set the steel wool on fire with a 9 volt battery. You then swing it around sending sparks into the air (have someone nearby to stomp out fires in the grass J). You need to have your camera set to ISO 100, 8-10 second exposure, and your aperture set at f/3.5. Here are some more steel wool pictures we took:

My attempt at the Olympic Symbol

My friend D and I thought it would be fun to both have our flaming steel wool and run in circles at the same time. The picture turned out a bit hectic but we thought it was kind of cool!

My dearly departed friend D getting zapped. J It’s amazing the things you can do when you start playing around with long exposure photography.

While we were out doing night photography we thought we might as well get some light painting in. Light painting is even simpler than steel wool. You simply set your camera to go until you stop it (we use a remote), ISO 400, and aperture at f/3.5. Then take a flashlight and outline a person or object.

My mom asked to be traced with her arms spread outward in the shape of a cross.

All in all it was a fun night with great people. Which picture is your favorite? Leave a comment and let us know!

Josiah's Birthday Celebration

Josiah’s actual birthday brought more celebration for us! That evening, he requested Chicken Kochensparger (recipe coming soon!) with peas and rolls. It was delicious!

For dessert, he picked a chocolate cake filled with cream, decorated with chocolate stars. It was a good choice. J

Probably the highlight of his dinner was the appearance of a coyote in our yard. That made the animal-lover in Josiah extremely happy. J

Then it was time to open his gifts! He got a toy gun he’s wanted from our grandparents, and some Toy Story action figures from the twins.

I think he was excited about Ben and my gift. J We bought a tank so that he can get a gecko! Needless to say, he’s VERY excited about that!

Mom and Dad gave him a knife-throwing set he’s wanted as well.

It’s hard to believe another year has gone by, and Josiah’s another year older. It’s so great watching him grow up!

Josiah's Birthday Trip

Awhile back, we celebrated Josiah’s birthday! His birthday had two parts; the day we took his birthday trip and then his actual birthday.

The day of his birthday trip, we celebrated at breakfast with a candle on a muffin!

Then we all piled into the car. A couple of hours later, we arrived in Wichita Falls. We were going to the theatre to see my College Plus friend J in “Tarzan” the Musical!

Standing outside the theatre.

The play was excellent! Of course, I may have been a bit biased since I knew several of the actors. J It was the first time a couple of my siblings have been to a theatre performance, and it was definitely a great one!

We were excited to see J afterwards and meet some of the other members of his family. Although our visit was brief, it was great to see him again!

About halfway home, we stopped for dinner at a little German restaurant. The weather was too nice to resist a picture outdoors.

Josiah at the restaurant.

The food was really good! This is Ben’s meal of wiener schnitzel, sausage, German potato salad, and sauerkraut.

It was such a fun day, and a great way to celebrate Josiah’s birthday! Tomorrow I’ll post about his actual birthday celebration.

Evening Photo Shoot

A couple of weeks ago, I needed to drive Ben to Dad’s office so they could both go to Boy Scouts. I had driven on the back roads around Dad’s office before, and I knew there were some great photo opportunities. It just so happened that the sunset that night was incredible and perfect for taking some shots!

This is off the road right by Dad’s office. I love the gentle slopes with the pond.

Barbed wire at sunset.

I have no idea what type of tree this was, but the berries on it were interesting.

Then I drove north a ways to another road that I knew was pretty. The sun was just setting, and made for some great shots!

Beautiful Texas sunset.

Yet another view.

This grass had to be close to 6 feet tall!

As I was driving home on the freeway, I absolutely had to stop and capture the color of the sunset. I love my state!

An Afternoon at the Ranch

Last Saturday, our family had the opportunity to tour a local ranch! A couple at our church owns a Quarter Horse ranch in our town. They breed and train Reigning Quarter Horses. The owner is actually the top reigner in the world!

The lady giving us a tour used to work at the ranch, her husband is one of the trainers at the ranch, and they also go to our church!

The ranch is fairly small at 28 acres. They have about 55 horses, but most of them are kept in stalls, not in a pasture (often at the request of their owners.) Most of the horses are very valuable, some of them being worth $400,000+!

We started off by going to see one of the mares and foals. This was actually a surrogate mother. In the world of Quarter Horse breeding, a lot of artificial insemination and embryo transfer occurs. It was interesting to learn about.

This little filly was quite curious about my camera. J

Then we toured the barns. They were quite large and nice! Next we went to saddle up Miss A’s horse. Shiner is a 9-year-old Quarter Horse that is just a pet for her, but still a great horse!

Some of us kids got to ride her in the outdoor arena. It had been several years since we had been on a horse, so it was different but lots of fun!

After spending the afternoon outside, ice cream sounded really good. So we stopped at DQ for a treat on our way home. J

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

Higher

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways My ways,’

declares the Lord.

‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9