Holiday Hiatus

Our lives have suddenly become very busy....in a very good way. I just don't get much time for the computer right now, so I've decided to take a Holiday Hiatus.

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I'll get back as soon as I can.

Auntie Anne's Free Pretzel Day

WE'RE OPEN!!!
I want to first give God the honor and glory for opening the doors and allowing this to happen. I really didn't think it was possible when D.S. and I talked about this last January. Here we are, 10 months later in our very own store. Thank you Lord!!

Our trainer who was with us this week told us about another franchisee who always rolled the first tray of pretzels at each of his stores. Here is D.S. rolling out our first tray.

It has been so much fun having my dad with us. He is now an official A.A. employee!! It's a family thing.

Our first tray of pretzels ready for the oven.

Our first customers!! These are good friends of ours who stopped by...and were going to be the first customers, but they let this little boy go ahead of them. So, this little tyke was our first customer.

Lots of happy customers who have been waiting for us to open!

I took some pretzels to Spicy Girl's class as a surprise for snack time.

I think Mrs. "N" enjoyed her cinnamon sugar pretzel as well.

Making Progress

How about a little store update???















My dad is ready for work!!


















We've spent a lot of time at the store this week. It's hard to imagine that next week we open. Training begins on Tuesday, and by Thursday, we're open for business. We're having our Grand Opening in the beginning of December. This is all so surreal.

Jesus Calling

D.S. and I have been doing this devotion since January. It's a year long daily devotion that has spoken to our hearts profoundly since the beginning of the year. I know that many people have been blessed by this devotion, but I am amazed at how it has applied to every step we've taken. It's spoken to our hearts during the hardest times of this year, with scripture that lined right up with our current circumstance. It has encouraged us to keep going in faith, trust and complete dependence on God. And we have. We are just days away from opening our store. The store we've been working towards, even unknowingly for almost a year. Here's today's devotion:

This is a time of abundance in your life. Your cup runneth over with blessings. After plodding uphill for many weeks (months), you are now traipsing through lush meadows drenched in warm sunshine. I want you to enjoy to the full this time of ease and refreshment. I delight in providing it for you.

Sometimes My children hesitate to receive My good gifts with open hands. Feelings of false guilt creep in, telling them they don't deserve to be so richly blessed. This is nonsense thinking, because no one deserves anything from Me. My kingdom is not about earning and deserving; it's about believing and receiving.

When a child of Mine balks at accepting My gifts, I am deeply grieved. When you receive My abundant blessings with a grateful heart, I rejoice. My pleasure in giving and your pleasure in receiving flow together in joyous harmony.

Psalm 23:5
John 3:16
Luke 11:9-11
Romans 8:32

Reflections Award

Remember when I posted Spicy Girl's "Reflections" project? Well, she got the Award of Excellence and is moving on to the next level. Yeah Spicy Girl!!

Author Study

When we lived in North Texas, before the whole episodes of January, which took our life in a whole new direction, I had Spicy Girl's Kindergarten year all planned out. I knew where she was going to school. I even had a job opportunity there. I put a lot of time and prayer into preparing for her first year of school. Well, you know how that goes. Sometimes things don't turn out exactly how you have them planned. So, when we knew we would be moving, my first concern was S.G.'s Kindergarten year. Not knowing where we were going to live or where she would be starting school was a hard pill to swallow. So, we did all we knew to do. We prayed. I started praying for S.G.'s Kindergarten teacher and class back in January. Let me just say, we are happy. God placed S.G. with a teacher who is very patient, firm yet sweet with her. She has a small class with absolutely precious classmates. Spicy Girl loves her school and teacher. God knew what she needed.....and what we needed too. Here is one of S.G.'s publishing wall pages. This is what she wants to be when she grows up. She has told us this many times. Of course, she has also mentioned being a veterinarian or a donut maker.

One of my joys is getting to spend time in the classroom when her class is doing something special. Mrs. "N" does an author study with the kids each week. After about 8 weeks of author studies, she decided to do a culminating activity where the students got in "author" groups to make a poster about their stories. I got to come help a group with one of my favorite authors, Kevin Henkes. After making their posters, each group got up and shared about their author. S.G. is telling the class about Kevin Henkes, and what she liked best about his stories.

Gotcha Day # 5

Changsha, Hunan Province, People's Republic of China
November 3, 2003

"Good morning Spicy Girl. Today is our 5 year Gotcha Day!! I thought I'd surprise you with a new Panda LPS that came with a fortune cookie. You want your other pandas to join you for breakfast??? No problem."

"What would you like to do today?? Gattiland. Sure, no problem. I'll pick you up from school at lunchtime."

"I don't suppose you'd like to play some games after pizza. Yes?? Ok. Hey look, Nana's here. Can she play too??"

"What's that? You usually get to pick out a new toy? Well, it's time to go to Toys R Us then. Oh yes, you can get ANOTHER Littlest Pet Shop dog. Hmmmm, the pooper scooper one?? Ok. Yep, you can get the baby panda too if you promise to take good care of him."

"Are you ready to go to the mall to get a new charm on your charm bracelet? Do you remember what you got last year? It was a leopard I think, for your preschool leopard class. You want a letter "L" this year? Sure thing. I bet we can find one.... A cookie?? Are you ready for a snack already? Ok, but you have to get the great big one with M&M's. Yummmm!"

"You mean we're not done yet?? You want to watch a movie? Well, ok, only if we can pop some popcorn too."

"Do you know how much I love you sweet girl? Do you know that you're a dream come true? Do you know that you make my heart smile every single day?? Happy Gotcha Day!!"