Come on over, stay a while... just steer clear of the puking girl on the couch

We had a house-full tonight.  We sent out an invitation this morning for grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles to come hang out with us tonight.  It was very short notice but we actually had some that were able to make it.  We had an Aunt from Las Vegas, an Uncle and a Grandma from Toquerville (southern Utah), A great grandma from Wyoming, A great grandma from Whittier,California, An Aunt from Yucca Valley, California and A grandma from Sky Valley,California. 

Jacob is working on his bear trail in cub scouts and his faith in God requirements.  One of the Faith in God req. is to say opening and closing prayers and share his feelings on prayer.  A separate requirement he needs is to share a family story.   We decided to kill 2 birds with one stone.  

We sent out an email this morning requesting family stories about their experiences with prayer.  We were so grateful for those that had the time to reply.  I printed up their stories, gathered their pictures and we gathered for Family night.

After the song and opening prayer I told everyone that we had special visitors coming to visit tonight.  I had 3 candles lit on the entertainment center, a headlamp and a flashlight.  I turned out all the lights and asked for volunteers to come read stories.  The volunteer would wear the headlamp and read the family story while I shone a flashlight on a photo of the author of the story.  

We read stories about prayer that took a long time to answer.  We read stories about prayers that have not been answered yet but the prayers continue to be offered in faith while the individual looks for opportunities for growth while continuing to endure.  We read stories of prayers that were not answered in the way the individual hoped yet the individual was given special experiences to understand it was in the hands of their Father and Heaven and he would help them through their disappointments and support them in their pain. We also read stories of answered prayers that were immediate and miraculous and exactly what the individual asked for.  It's good to understand the many ways our prayers may be answered and it's vital to know that they will be answered.  

Jacob concluded by sharing his testimony of prayer and we ate treacle scones with whipped cream for dessert that were made by Jacob (another bear requirement!)

I loved hearing everyone's stories and feeling close to them and bringing their testimonies into our living room.  Thanks for coming!

It was a great evening........

Except of course for Rachel who is seriously puking up her guts tonight.  For her, it was terrible.  She was just sick 11 days ago over New years eve/day.  WHY? WHY? WHY?  We just paused our stories for the puking and then resumed after I washed out the bowl and wiped her face and sterilized my hands.  It is now 10:18 and she's been puking since about 6pm every 2o minutes or so.  If you feel so inclined we wouldn't mind if you said a prayer for her.  

Treacle Scones (England)

8 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

  2 and 1/2 Tablespoons butter (cut into in small cubes)

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoon treacle (molasses)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees,

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Cut in the butter - work it in with a pastry blender til it resembles small crumbs.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, blend the milk, sugar and treacle. Cook and stir until sugar and treacle are completely dissolved.

Remove from heat and slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir til all is combined.  knead the dough a couple times til dough is smooth.  Pat out on a greased cookie sheet into a 1/2 inch thick circle.  Cut in 8ths.

Bake for 11-13 minutes in the center of the oven. Check them at 11 minutes - if the bottoms are golden brown, take them out of the oven to prevent scorching.

Allow scones to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

We like them with whipped cream. yum!