grace and peace

today is the funeral for John's uncle,

a time of remembering his earthly life and celebrating his heavenly life.

a family day.

a day of sorrow and joy.

a day of sadness and a day of hope.

may God give us (the whole ifam) abundant grace.

God's grace.

and peace.

go

I still can't stop thinking about the weekend to remember.

If you are married, if you want Christ to strengthen your marriage,

then high tail it to a spring conference near you.

I will even watch your kids for you, or your dog or both.

Really I mean it.

It was that good...really.

seasons

isn't it about time to start thinking about Christmas?

technically, I think about it all year and buy gifts way in advance,

but this year I really want to savor the season,

enjoy the giving, make new traditions, dispense with the junk, hold on to the truth of the season.

I want to be motivated by love and hope and peace.

it's time to get the Christmas things down, make merry, pick a tree and start baking...

soon...

I am still savoring.

still hoping.

still wishing.

...

roasted cauliflower

am I the last person in the world to learn about roasted cauliflower?

am I the last to make it?

inspired by chowmama

if I am not, then hightail it to the market, pick a nice big head of cauliflower, bring it home, wash it, slice the cauliflower in thick slices, place slices in roasting pan, generously douse with olive oil and salt, roast at 350 until soft and roasty.

eat, enjoy and repeat.

super salty, super tasty and super easy.

roasted cauliflower is now in the winter veggie rotation.

yes, the kids liked it too!

...

served with a super easy chicken dish called bobsie chicken, which is melted butter poured over chicken then sprinkled with paprika & salt and then baked.

EDIT:

john wants you to know that i used a lot of olive oil and salt...anything with that much oil is tasty!

a drive in the country & in the city

The Friday after Thanksgiving is not a shopping day for us,

in fact with the exception of 2 gifts my holiday shopping is complete.

Don't worry there are still cookies to bake, photos to be printed and cards to create.

Instead of shopping we headed north and east to the state capitol,

with the kids and my folks.

A gorgeous autumn day.

After Sacramento, we headed to Apple Hill.

We missed apple season but the colors and sights were amazingly beautiful.

See...look at those colors.

The photo below is my future farm.

if wishes were horses...

We tried picking apples but it was a sad venture...

perhaps next October.

People visiting up and about at Apple Hill were picking up Christmas trees,

a common American tradition for the day after thanksgiving...

not for our family.

I prefer to wait until a week or so into December before hauling out the Christmas madness.

We continued on up to highway 49 to Sutter's Mill.

The location of the first gold rush in California.

Jude panned for gold and found 4 flecks.

We met the Consul General to Japan.

Toured the mill and parts of the state park.

When the chilly fall weather set in we piled in our car, headed home but not before Nan & Papoo treated us all to dinner.

A memory making day.

A family day.