Monday, December 31, 2007

We had lots of great food to eat and wonderful company...






















But then it always is wonderful for our family to get together. Who knows how long we all have together?

And Grandma Ann really enjoyed it... we had burgers, and salads and sweets and chocolate.... and sweets.. haha... Phil, Tammy and Austyn dropped by, Great Grandma Moffat drove her buggy over, MK stopped in, and Paul, Heather, Madison and Andrew made it. Paul had been with the guys hunting ducks from the wee hours of the am and he was pooped...

Glad we have birthdays.. haha... Next one I think belongs to a young lady on Fairgrounds Road I believe...

Andrew and Austyn played with Jake's new Guitar Man 3 I think it's called.. quite a game...

All for now.. thanks to everyone for making Ann's Birthday so special...
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Sunday was the official day we had family birthday for Ann, so all could come... almost all anyway.

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Miss Madison dropped by Sunday for Grandma's Birthday and decided to do a pole dance.... sans blouse... haha...

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Birthday time on the Pondarosa.... or however you spell it.. haha...






















Yelp, little miss muffet set on a tuffit.... haha.. ok... about sunup this am, our front door flew open and Miss Missy came thru it in her nightgown.... and I in my ... haha.. ok...

and her and Ann celebrated Ann's 61st birthday...... and for a few days... she is older than me... hehe... but that soon too will change...

I should have gotten photos of Missy... hehe.. and Ann at that hour... but hey... mind was still sleeping... hehe...
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Sunday, December 30, 2007

elk 2 on our land today

elk

Penny for Austyn's thoughts??? taken by Phillip

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Tammy with her Grandfather Edmondson on his 84th Birthday.

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Austyn with his Great Grandfather and Grandmother Edmondson.

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Austyn with his first personal appearance at Lost Creek Church, a Rock Star is born...

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photo by Phillip

Air Moffat taken by Phillip

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Great Aunt Marilyn K, Rock Star Austyn and Great Grandmother Moffat

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Photo by Phillip

sun trying to shine after weeks of clouds....

Breaking thru...
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Ann took this one.....

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The kind deeds we do each day matter.....

Man leaves $50,000, car to waitress

Fri Dec 28, 8:22 PM ET

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - For nearly seven years Melina Salazar did her best to put on a smile and tend to the every need of her most loyal and cantankerous customer.

She made sure his food was as hot as he wanted, even if it meant he burned his mouth. And she smiled through his demands and curses. The 89-year-old Walter "Buck" Swords obviously appreciated it, leaving the waitress $50,000 and a 2000 Buick when he died.

"I still can't believe it," the Luby's cafeteria employee told Harlingen television station KGBT-TV in an interview during which she described Swords as "kind of mean."

Swords, a World War II veteran, died in July. But Salazar learned just a few days before Christmas that he had left her the money and car.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Next time you or a friend travels to Washington DC.... Here is something to do when you are boared!!

The Christmas Truce

December 25, 1914 : The Christmas Truce

Just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous
singing.

At the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of
soccer.

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. In 1915, the bloody conflict of World War I erupted in all its technological fury, and the concept of another Christmas Truce became unthinkable.

Friday, December 21, 2007

"My Wish"


Rascal Flatts


I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big

Thursday, December 20, 2007

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Day Four

Kourabiedes (Greece): Walnut Sugar Cookies
From Food Network Kitchens
Kourabiedes (Greece): Walnut Sugar Cookies

These are a Greek celebration cookie — while they're most popular at Christmas, you also see them at weddings, Easter and other holidays as well. They're almost always served with a powdered sugar topping; at Christmas, it's traditional to stick a whole clove in the top to represent the gift of spices that the Three Wise Men brought to Bethlehem.
3/4 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons orange flower water
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toast the walnuts until golden brown and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Let cool, then chop about half of the nuts (you should have about 1/2 cup chopped). Pulse the remaining nuts in the food processor until finely ground (about 1/4 cup ground).

Stir the flour, baking powder, salt and nuts together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar, egg yolk, brandy and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture gets light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.

At low speed, stir in the nut mixture to make a crumbly dough. Cover the bowl and set dough aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or coat with nonstick spray.

With a tablespoon, scoop out 1-inch pieces of dough and roll into balls between the palms of your hands. Pinch the ends of the balls to make a football shape. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies set and start to brown, about 18 minutes.

Remove cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle them lightly with the orange water. (If you don't have a brush, simply dip your fingers into the water and flick it over the cookies a few times.) Take care not to douse them, just enough for them to carry the scent of flowers.

Put the confectioners' sugar in a bag, and add 5 to 6 of the warm cookies to it. Very gently toss the cookies to coat with sugar. Remove them from the bag and cool cookies on a rack. Repeat with remaining cookies. Serve.

Busy baker's tips: Dough can be frozen for up to 2 weeks. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Baked cookies can be wrapped in plastic, then aluminum foil, for up to 2 weeks. To serve, let cookies come to room temperature before dusting with confectioners' sugar.

Cook's Note: If you can't find orange flower water, try specialty stores or online.

Copyright (c) 2007 Television Food Network,

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Something to think about.. first we heard he created the internet, then he was the father of our space program, now... he is continuing his lies....

and winning prizes doing it... gosh... isn't this the exact thing that folks are screaming about .. baseball "heros" saying they aren't when they are... and we scream cuz it is not teaching kids the right and honorable way, yet no one is screaming over Al Gore and HIS LIES, sigh.... Slick Al can fool those who want to be fooled, but here in the heartland of America... one smart OKIE writes the following in the NY Times

Article published Dec 19, 2007

Year of global cooling

December 19, 2007 By David Deming -

Al Gore says global warming is a planetary emergency.

It is difficult to see how this can be so when record low temperatures are being set all over the world. In 2007, hundreds of people died, not from global warming, but from cold weather hazards. Since the mid-19th century, the mean global temperature has increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius. This slight warming is not unusual, and lies well within the range of natural variation. Carbon dioxide continues to build in the atmosphere, but the mean planetary temperature hasn't increased significantly for nearly nine years. Antarctica is getting colder. Neither the intensity nor the frequency of hurricanes has increased. The 2007 season was the third-quietest since 1966. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall in the U.S. South America this year experienced one of its coldest winters in decades. In Buenos Aires, snow fell for the first time since the year 1918. Dozens of homeless people died from exposure. In Peru, 200 people died from the cold and thousands more became infected with respiratory diseases. Crops failed, livestock perished, and the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency. Unexpected bitter cold swept the entire Southern Hemisphere in 2007. Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years. Australia experienced the coldest June ever. In northeastern Australia, the city of Townsville underwent the longest period of continuously cold weather since 1941. In New Zealand, the weather turned so cold that vineyards were endangered. Last January, $1.42 billion worth of California produce was lost to a devastating five-day freeze. Thousands of agricultural employees were thrown out of work. At the supermarket, citrus prices soared. In the wake of the freeze, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President Bush to issue a disaster declaration for affected counties. A few months earlier, Mr. Schwarzenegger had enthusiastically signed the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, a law designed to cool the climate. California Sen. Barbara Boxer continues to push for similar legislation in the U.S. Senate. In April, a killing freeze destroyed 95 percent of South Carolina's peach crop, and 90 percent of North Carolina's apple harvest. At Charlotte, N.C., a record low temperature of 21 degrees Fahrenheit on April 8 was the coldest ever recorded for April, breaking a record set in 1923. On June 8, Denver recorded a new low of 31 degrees Fahrenheit. Denver's temperature records extend back to 1872. Recent weeks have seen the return of unusually cold conditions to the Northern Hemisphere. On Dec. 7, St. Cloud, Minn., set a new record low of minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. On the same date, record low temperatures were also recorded in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Extreme cold weather is occurring worldwide. On Dec. 4, in Seoul, Korea, the temperature was a record minus 5 degrees Celsius. Nov. 24, in Meacham, Ore., the minimum temperature was 12 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the previous record low set in 1952. The Canadian government warns that this winter is likely to be the coldest in 15 years. Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri are just emerging from a destructive ice storm that left at least 36 people dead and a million without electric power. People worldwide are being reminded of what used to be common sense: Cold temperatures are inimical to human welfare and warm weather is beneficial. Left in the dark and cold, Oklahomans rushed out to buy electric generators powered by gasoline, not solar cells. No one seemed particularly concerned about the welfare of polar bears, penguins or walruses. Fossil fuels don't seem so awful when you're in the cold and dark. If you think any of the preceding facts can falsify global warming, you're hopelessly naive. Nothing creates cognitive dissonance in the mind of a true believer.

In 2005, a Canadian Greenpeace representative explained “global warming can mean colder, it can mean drier, it can mean wetter.” In other words, all weather variations are evidence for global warming.

I can't make this stuff up.

Global warming has long since passed from scientific hypothesis to the realm of pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo.

David Deming is a geophysicist, an adjunct scholar with the National Center for Policy Analysis, and associate professor of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma.

In the middle of a crisis, there is always something to make you smile... even in the midst of all the dead foilage, God give us .... color.. see the

bright red berries .....


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