These Are A Few of My Favorite Things - My Cousin Diane


Earlier this spring, my cousin Diane did all of the frosting on this fabulous cake that we had for my kids' 6th birthday.

My cousin Diane is so special to me.  I'm the youngest cousin by almost 20 years on my Mom's side of the family.  I am an only child, Diane has two brothers and we had 2 other male cousins.  So, Diane and I are the only girls. 

Never mind that Diane is literally old enough to be my mother and her son is only 5 years younger than me.  Never mind that her two step-sons are my age and she has grandchildren.  Once I hit my teenage years, we've always been very close.

Diane lives about 3 hours away and it has never stopped her from being here for our kids birthdays, recitals and programs.  She comes a few times a year for the weekend - just to visit and spend time with us.  She and her husband, Bo, live on a very limited income and are so generous with their time and energy and what they do have.  She always shares apples, grapes and raspberries from their garden and yard.  They always share the "fruit" of Bo's hunting trips - bear and dear mostly, though we've also been blessed with antelope, fish, elk and moose also.  They always have a free bed if we need it and provide very generous hospitality.  They are true friends and their love of the Lord shines through everything they do.

I am so very blessed to have Diane in my life.
And I am blessed that God has given me my extended family.

Truly, my relationship with Diane is one of my favorite things.
I am so very blessed.

Popular posts from this blog

Frugal Friday - The End of 2016

Image
Another spectacular sunrise - we were so very spoiled by these this year!  I enjoyed every one of them! Nothing like completely forgetting I had a blog for month, right?  I didn't forget about everyone - I promise.   December ended up being ridiculously busy and very spare moment was spent with family and friends and on grading, as the term ended not that long ago.    My parents were visiting for 3 weeks (they returned home to sunny and slightly warmer Texas yesterday) and the children had their Sunday school program, their school Christmas program, and a school fun-day to end the term and John had 3 funerals and two graveside burials.  Then there's always the rush of Christmas and all the services that comes with being a Pastor's family.  I am very, very ready for a quiet start to the new year! I have some New Year's posts already planned and partially written, so look for those next week.  In the meantime, here are som...
Read more

Menu Plan Monday - Week of January 17, 2021

Image
Peas from my garden last summer.  We are cold and snowy with a lot of ice right now!  Not my favorite weather.  So, to cheer myself up I am starting to plan my garden for next summer!  I am hoping that I will be able to grow at least enough tomatoes and cutting flowers for both my parents (who are moving 1 1/2 blocks away from us in about 2 months - hurray!) and our house as well.   I am so grateful that we have 1/5 acre lot for our home that we can grow vegetables flowers and (currently) a single tree.  It makes me so happy and provides some very fresh produce for our family.  I love the physical act of gardening, both flowers and vegetables, and I love the taste of vegetables fresh from the garden.  A win-win in my book for sure! The name of the game this week is to eat up as much of the fresh stuff as we can so it's easy to move the refrigerator downstairs for our remodel.  They start knocking out walls and cutting holes in the outsid...
Read more

Menu Plan Monday and a Little Shopping

Image
Our CSA boxes have looked pretty much like this the last two weeks - though in varying amounts and this last week we got green onions too.  Here we have in the front row: Broccoli, raspberries, green & purple beans, and peas.  Back Row: Lettuce, cucumbers, cauliflower, a mutant cross between a zucchini and a patty pan squash, green and purple kohlrabi and a clove of garlic.  We'll see what we get this week!  I blanched and froze the peas since we have a ton of those and we can't seem to eat through them fast enough.  I have a whole head of cabbage leftover from a few weeks ago in the crisper drawer too.  Two weeks ago we got 5lbs of cherries - they're all gone now (I was hoping to freeze some) having been eaten by my parents and my children!  I can't eat cherries so I was okay with that! I went to the store this weekend with a gift card and spend $22 on milk, peaches, apples, carrots (those aren't ready yet in the garden) and some fr...
Read more