Phoebe and I carve the turkey
Joel, the master chief prepares a delicious treat
Monthly Archives: November 2008
Thanksgiving Pictures – Food preparation
Thanksgiving Happenings
Thanksgiving 2008 has come and gone, but what a blessed day it was! Here are some of the highlights; pictures coming soon… I hope. 
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The weather was perfect (praise the Lord), the food great and the fellowship wonderful!
Phoebe, Johanna, Dad, Joel, Caleb and I were in the kitchen from 8:30 until around 4:00 yesterday afternoon.
The meal consisted of: Italian vegetable casserole, risotto rice (pumpkin & apple), sweet potato surprise, German cabbage salad, turkey, pumpkin pies, garbanzo beans and rice, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing and later on ice-cream! It was quite a spread, and we were all stuffed pretty quickly.
We had invited our cousin Reece to drop by on his way back home to Roanoke, and he did! We had not seen him in several months, and it was great having a time of fellowship with him. He ate a late dinner with us and had dessert before heading out.
At the conclusion of our afternoon meal, we had a time where we shared what we’ve been blessed by and who / what we’re thankful for. Of course, we could spend all day everyday to say ‘thank you’ and still not even get to the bottom of it all. It was like having a worship service, and I am grateful to Dad for directing us in that time of thanksgiving and praise.
I hope that your day was blessed to the max! This Sunday (the 30th) is our church’s annual Blessing Count Sunday, I’m personally looking forward to participating and hearing all of the Providential ways He provides for our every need!
One of the reasons we made so much food, is because we were helping some long time friends who are currently going through some real difficulties, needing a helping hand. They were able to enjoy their own Thanksgiving meal as a family.
After the afternoon meal, we cleaned up and then gathered around to watch Amazing Grace with Dad and Joel (who’d as yet, not seen it), which we all thoroughly enjoyed (we still have about 30-40 minutes left).
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2008!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!
I hope that you all have a wonderful day with your family and friends, and tons of awesome food!
Blessings on your holiday!
Abby
Back to the blog :)
It is good to be back to the blogosphere after a weekend away! I will be posting a re-cap of the highlights of my trip to Dallas and my wonderful time with family.
Blessings on your Thanksgiving!
~Abby
Life of late
So here at the Kautt house all is quiet, not even the usual monotonous sound of the washer or dryer, nothing. That’s because Dad, Uncle Jimmy (Dad’s younger and only brother who lives in Tuebingen, Germany), Caleb, Phoebe, Johanna & Jaden are all in Tulsa attending the National Missionary Convention that runs through this Sunday.
Joel and I ate a delicious breakfast of rice pancakes with peanut butter, date syrup and chocolate sauce, along with brown rice with oil and an orange! We enjoyed the silence… well sorta. I’m so used to hearing everyone chattering on about what’s been happening to them, news and world events, where Dad’s work has taken him, Joel’s day at work, etc.
I love being a part of a large family, it kind of made me sad to wave goodbye to my other family members because I wouldn’t see them for a few days (Lord willing), and yet I am happy for them because they are making memories together that they’ll enjoy for the rest of their lives. :)
It turned colder on Wednesday night, and last night’s low was supposed to be in the upper 20s. I picked all of our remaining tomatoes and eggplant last evening before the cold really came. It was SO windy that at times you could literally feel it as it whipped around the house and shook the trees with such a fantastic force. The poor greenhouse was quite shaken, and although it was unharmed, at times it was dancing quite furiously in the wind.
The front lawn is full of leaves… again. Oh well, it’s Fall right? Our neighbor has a mighty and huge oak tree that always sheds tons of leaves, allot of which migrate to our front and side lawns!
Today Gammy and I did a lot of cleaning, mostly Gammy. The house looks nice, and I am so thankful for her help. Gammy is a long time family friend and she is graciously staying here with Mom and me during the next 2 days while Joel (he gets off work at 7:15 each evening) is at work, to help us during the absence of the others.
Joel and I are planning on going to Dallas on Sunday night to take Uncle Jimmy to his parent’s house (my grandparents) and we are hoping to spend the night and all of the next day with Uncle Jimmy, Grandma and Grandpa and our cousins. I am looking forward to getting to spend time with some of my family.
Right now I am reading through the books of Psalms, Proverbs and Philippians. The Psalms and Proverbs are so practical for everyday life and the struggles that present themselves. Philippians is one of my favorite books in the whole Bible for its recurring theme of being a thankful, joyful Christian no matter the circumstances of life. My life verse is Philippians 3:7-10, it is a challenge for me to live up to it, as a fallen, sinful human.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It is an encouragement to me that Paul could write these words considering what trials he was enduring for the sake of our dear Jesus. I am inspired each time I read the account of Paul, and how the Lord so mightily used this man for the furtherance of the Gospel. I long for my life to be exactly what Christ wants for it to be!
Can you believe that it’s already less than one week until Thanksgiving?! Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday, because it’s not just a day to eat good food, get together with family and make memories. It is SO much more than that. Next week, I am hoping to touch on the real reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday… it’s a time to reflect and see if I have been thanks-living.
Blessings on your weekend and Sabbath! Soli deo gloria!
Amazing Grace~
Last evening I was privileged to watch the DVD version of Amazing Grace a wonderful film about the life and work of social activist William Wilberforce.
Wilberforce is played by Ioan Gruffudd and he does a masterful job in my opinion, portraying the deep emotions Wilberforce must have felt at certain points in his battle to abolish the slave trade in England along with his own personal struggles both spiritual and physical. His very attractive wife Barbara Spooner Wilberforce is played by Romola Garai, and she brings a sparkle to her “Wilbie’s” life after their marriage. Veteran actor Albert Finney portrays John Newton, and does a wonderful job I think, along with the chorus of other’s whose roles are ”less significant” to the story.
The musical score is beautiful, the story haunting in some ways, and sad but yet hopeful as the film draws to a close and finallyvictory is secured for the abolitionists only 3 days before Wilberforce dies.
There is some “mild” language, but I found it hard to hear the language due to the accents and whatnot. There is at least one scene that might be disturbing for younger audiences related to the slave trade, but other than that I would have to say that the makers of this film did an exceptional job! No sex scenes (except one brief kiss), no inappropriate content in my judgement (and I am picky about what I allow myself to watch) The scenery is beautiful (of course, it’s England!) and the houses and other buildings gorgeous and stately.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with this film, and even though it’s been out for over a year now, I would heartily commend it to you. I’m planning on watching it at least 6 mores times while I’ve got it!
Special Offer from Trivium Pursuit & Christian Logic
Hello Imprimis readers,
Here is a special offer from the Bluedorns over at Trivuim Pursuit & Christian Logic. Make sure and head on over and take advantage of these great deals, just in time for the holidays!
Special Offer from Trivium Pursuit and Christian Logic
Our readers have the opportunity to receive two free ebooks from Trivium Pursuit.
1.The 73 page ebook of the entire text of Chapter Twelve: Ten Things to Do With Children Ages Ten Through Twelve from the book Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Styleby Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn
2.The new 94 page ebook Ancient Literature: Significant Excerpts from the Books of Classical Authors Which You Can Use to Supplement Your History Curriculum – Volume Two: Alexander the Great.
You will receive both of these ebooks when you subscribe to the Homeschooling with the Trivium newsletter. This offer is only for new subscribers to Homeschooling with the Trivium and is good only through November 30. Go here to subscribe.
http://www.triviumpursuit.com/list/
In addition, if you subscribe to Christian Logic’s Fallacy Detective News you will receive two lessons from the logic textbook The Thinking Toolboxby Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn (Lessons 12 and 13, along with exercises and answer key). This offer is only for new subscribers to The Fallacy Detective News and is good only through November 30. Go here to subscribe.
How low?
Here in McKinney, gas prices are currently $1.75. Can you believe that just a couple of months ago we were paying $4.00+ a gallon! Whew! How could we afford that?
So my question is: how much is gas in your area? Leave your comment and I’ll post the cheapest price I see!
CC3
If you are not familiar with Answers In Genesis, then you’re probably wondering, “what in the world does CC3 stand for?” Well, the answer is: Creation College 3. This will be a large event sponsored by AiG and held near Cinncinati and the Creation Museum.
We have benefited from AiG’s outstanding biblical apologetics materials. This will be AiG’s third Creation College (per the 3) and right now they are offering a special for people who register before February 28, 2009.
I would strongly encourage you to go check out the information they have provided and then see if you’re schedule is clear during the week of July 20-24. It would be well invested time and money, and you would come away better equipped to have answers ready for those who ask.
Because Christ’s the Creator,
Abby
If you haven’t been blessed today…
I enjoy listening to several radio preachers, those who I’ve found firmly grounded in the Word of God, and who teach only from the Word.
Recently, I’ve begun listening to James MacDonald Senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Illinois. He is engaging, funny and a wonderful expositor of Scripture.
I would encourage you to go take a look at his site, and think about downloading some of his recent broadcasts. I have been blessed and challenged, and I think that you will too!
~Abby
