Knitting Project Finished!

This is the camouflage neck warmer

that I made for Fletcher!

What do you think?

Amy...Gone with the wind

We said "Goodbye" to Amy today.

She is beginning her journey to live and work in Atlanta, GA.

That's a long way from Houston, and we'll miss having her nearby.

We love you very much, Amy, and we wish you all the best!

Philippians 1:27

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.

Family Night

Tonight we got together one last time

as a family before Amy goes away

to begin her new career.

We had a fun time together eating out at

Chuy's Mexican Restaurant,

then we came home and had cake and coffee

while we visited and watched the LSU Tigers

win the College World Series.

Since we are native Louisianians and Texas Aggies

we were all in agreement that the best team won.

Geaux Tigers! (LSU 11, TU 4)

Amy, we go with you in spirit as you begin your journey into the world.

You will never be alone because God has promised

that He will never leave you or forsake you,

and wherever you go you will always take

a part of us along with you.

Remember we are always just a phone call away

if you ever need us for anything.

We love you and we'll miss you, but we also

wish you success as you follow your dreams.

An Irish Blessing
(A Blessing from St. Patrick)

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rains fall soft upon your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

(Traditional Irish Blessing; origin unknown, although some attribute it to St. Patrick.)

Father's Day

Gullatt Family photo - June 21, 2009

Rhonda, Daddy, Mother, and me.

http://www.babeschicken.com/Babes-Chicken-Dinner-House-Frisco.html

This year we went to my sister's house to celebrate Father's Day. We had a Saturday night dinner at Babe's Chicken House Restaurant in Frisco, TX. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun. We all ordered different things and the food was served "family style." Since I'm on a "diet" I had the smoked chicken. Other choices were fried chicken, fried catfish, pot roast, chicken fried steak, and fried chicken tenders. All of the food was what you would call "home cookin." We were sooooo full, but happy when we left there. Thank you to my brother-in-law for paying for everyone's dinner. And, we took home lots of leftovers. While you are there sometimes the wait staff will stop everything and do the Hokey Pokey! But, we didn't get to see it. We did get to see one of the waitresses sing a solo. She sounded really good too. Very entertaining.

Saturday night we watched the movie Taken. It was pretty scary and a little disturbing. We all enjoyed watching it together.

Tommy (our dog) went with us and we all got to meet my sister's new puppy, Tess. She is sooo cute! She is a little Havapom. That is half Pomeranian and half something else that I can't remember. Tommy was not very friendly to the puppy. He didn't try to hurt her, he just avoided her and ran from her. I guess he is too old to play with a puppy.

On Sunday morning we all attended Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX. The Father's Day Message was from Psalm 23. The pastor used this passage from the Bible to show how our earthly fathers are our shepherds who guide us and protect us as we grow, like our heavenly father. The position of the father in the family is God-given and not to be taken lightly.

**Tonight as I watched the TV show Jon and Kate Plus Eight, It made me think about how the world's view of family and fatherhood compares to what God's view of the family and fatherhood. I wish Jon and Kate would realize that their lives are not just a TV show for our entertainment, but the choices they are making are real and will have eternal consequences. I will pray for them to reconcile and that they will ask God to heal their marriage because I know that He can do it if they will seek Him first and His will and not their own.

We enjoyed spending time with our earthly father this weekend and it all ended too soon.

A Father's Day Tribute to my Daddy

I am thankful for my Daddy and for his guidance in my life.

Daddy loves and cares about other people.One thing that is most unique about my Daddy is that he not only gave fatherly attention and guidance to me and my sister as we were growing up, but he also had a fatherly influence on many other children during his 30 year career as a Teacher, Coach, School Principal, and School Supervisor. He was always showing love and concern for other people in our community.

I had never really thought much about this until later as an adult. At my 10 year high school class reunion, a former classmate told me how much he appreciated the way my Daddy had treated him and what my Daddy had meant to him while he was a Junior High student, and that his life had been positively impacted by the kind words and influence of my Daddy as his Principal.

Daddy honored his parents.

My Daddy is a peron of integrity. I watched as he cared for his aging parents.He always took the time to make sure they had everything they needed. He also cared for his older sister when she got older and was sick and alone.

Daddy was born in 1930 during the Great Depression.

His daddy was a cotton farmer in north Louisiana who lost almost everything during the depression years. There were eight children in Daddy's family plus one grandchild raised by his parents. I guess they were poor, but they didn't know it. All eight children and the grandchild went on to get an education and live successful lives. Daddy respected his parents and made sure that we spent time with them at their house as we were growing up.

My Daddy honors God.

He always made sure that we went to church every Sunday, and we didn't just attend church, we were involved in what was going on at church. Our church family was an extension of our own family. Daddy sang in a men's quartet that went around singing in other churches in the area. I remember as a family going with him to practices or to hear him sing. Daddy even led the music at our church on Sundays even though he has never had a formal music lesson. I remember the Sunday when he and my sister sang a song together in front of the church.

Daddy honors my mother and their marriage.

This June Mother and Daddy celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. The way they chose to celebrate was by spending the day helping their brother-in-law who was going to have surgery the next day, and then they stayed with them for a week to help out. This is the way they show love for one another.

Daddy honors his country.

He served for four years in the U.S. Air Force as a Staff Seargent. One of those years was spent in South Korea. He told me about the little Korean boy who worked in the office there cleaning and sweeping the floors and how he would come every day and ask them questions about God. Daddy and the other men answered his questions and told him about the love of Jesus.

Daddy loves his family.

Daddy's way of teaching us at home was mostly by encouraging us and living as an example.I remember watching him study his Sunday School lesson in the green recliner chair, helping mother with the household chores and with getting dinner ready and helping to clean up the kitchen after the meals. He raised a garden for many years out behind our house in the country, so we got to help with picking the vegetables and we all helped mother with the shelling and freezing and canning each summer.

Our Uncle (Daddy's brother) lived next door. He was a World War II hero, but they never really talked about it too much. The memories were too painful. Daddy always wanted to live near his family so they would see each other often and be there to help each other.

So, I have been blessed by God to have such a wonderful Daddy.

Thank you Daddy for all you do!

I love you and appreciate you!

Knitting Projects

Here's Tommy!

He's guarding the blue slippers.

Just try to take one and you'll see.

He likes to think that he's helping me.

This is my current knitting project.
It's going to be a camouflage neck warmer for Fletcher
to wear when he goes hunting this year.
I know he's looking forward to it!


This is a pair of blue slippers!
This was the second pair of slippers that I made by myself.
(These turned out much better than my first pair.)




This is a pair of tan colored slippers.
This is the third pair of slippers that I have made.
(I was practicing the knit stitch and the purl stitch.)

I
This is a blue and white plaid dishcloth.
On this project I was practicing using two
different colors of yarn and this
one is also made of all cotton yarn.
On this project I had to read and follow the pattern
and I had to learn how to bind off the stitches at the end.


*************************************************************

When I'm knitting I like to recall this Bible verse:

Psalm 139:13-14
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."


And I know that when I am knitting I will make mistakes,
but God doesn't make any mistakes when He knits!


*************************************************************

Pastries from Paris!

Amy returned from her trip tonight and brought back these beautiful French Pastries for us!

They are very colorful and delicious. What a treat to eat these beautiful petite pastries!

Thank you Amy for thinking of us while you were in Paris!

Sunday Afternoon and Snickerdoodles

There's nothing better than a Sunday afternoon and Snickerdoodles!

I've got a batch in the oven right now!

*See the recipe at the end of this post.

While waiting for the cookies to bake, I was inspired to share with you what's been happening this week. On Tuesday we went back to our "hometown" where our parents still live. We love going home and have missed living there for the last 17 years. It's hard to believe it has been that long! We enjoyed visiting with our parents and being back at "home" for a few days. Thanks Mom and Dad for the delicious meals and for taking such good care of us. We returned to Houston on Friday afternoon, and our oldest daughter came here to see us! She spent the night with us, and then we all went to our niece's High School Graduation. At the graduation we enjoyed seeing family and friends, and following the graduation we were treated to a real Texas barbeque at the home of the graduate. Last night after we got home, we enjoyed a boiled shrimp dinner which was delicious. Now the oven is beeping and the snickerdoodles are ready!

I wonder what surprises this new week will bring?

Snickerdoodles

From: The Cotton Country Collection (1972)
The Junior Charity League of Monroe, Louisiana
(p. 455)

2 sticks of butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Tblsp. sugar
2 Tblsp. cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well.

Sift all dry ingredients except cinnamon and sugar; add to mixture.

Mix thoroughly and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Roll into balls the size of a walnut;

roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Let stand a minute before removing from cookie sheet.

Makes 5 to 6 dozen.

Amy's Graduation Trip

Amy left Sunday afternoon for her trip to Europe! We miss her!

I hope she's having fun.

Giving Thanks

I was recently reminded that I am to give thanks in all circumstances and not necessarily for the circumstances. (1 Thess. 5:16) The Lord speaks to us through his word the Bible, and through the Holy Spirit, and he will use other people in our lives and in our circumstances if we stay close to him through prayer and Bible study and pay attention to what he is doing in our life and in the lives of others around us. So, when it's hard to be thankful for what I consider to be the bad things happening in my life, I can still continue to pray, and be joyful and thankful to God for what he is doing through our circumstances because this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus.

Yesterday the message from our new pastor was from Philippians 1:12-18, and to briefly sum it up, he said that God can use even the bad circumstances in my life to advance the gospel just like he did with Paul.
Paul said: Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Now when we look around us we see only the fear and sadness in our difficult circumstances, but God sees opportunities to use our circumstances to encourage others and to advance the gospel of Christ. When circumstances don't seem to be what we planned and hope for, that is the time when we should be thankful for what God is doing in our life and in the lives of others around us, because he is at work and can use us and our circumstances to advance the gospel of Christ.

From now on we will consider it a blessing when we are experiencing difficult circumstances because we can know that God is at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us for his glory!

Philippians 1:4-6
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.