So, I modified a recipe that I came across and made some delicious blueberry muffins tonight.  Here it is.

1. 2 cups    All Purpose Whole Wheat Flour
2. 1 & 1/2 tsp.   Baking Soda
3. 1/2 tsp.  Salt
4. Zest of one orange or one lemon
5. 1/2 to 3/4 cup   Honey
6. 1 cup  Almond or soy milk
7. 1/3 cup  Olive or canola oil
8. 1 tsp.   Maple extract (may substitute other variety)
9. 1 tbsp. White vinegar (can use apple vinegar)
10. 1 cup  Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
11. Optional 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I put nuts in mine- Yum!)

1 Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease a muffin tin or use paper liners.

2 In a medium bowl, combine together flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.

3 In a large bowl, combine the sugar, milk, oil, extract, and vinegar. Mix well.

4 Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stir until just combined. Don’t over stir.

5 Gently fold in the berries and walnuts using a rubber spatula.

6 Fill the muffin tins about 2/3rds full.

7 Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15-17 minutes.

8 Remove from the oven and let  cool for 5 minutes. After that remove the muffins from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!!

• Two big trees were removed from our front yard.
• The sidewalk was removed...new one coming soon.
• Rylee started walking!

Rylee Lyric Printy--our one and only granddaughter!

• Don and Abbye, kids and dogs...frogs too...all moved to their new house.
• Reagan painted two really cool pictures to hang in the new house.
• Bryan, Jen and the boys went to Williamsburg last week...narrowly missed being hit by falling trees.
• Jennifer and the boys are in Dallas visiting Jen's family this week.
• I almost feel caught up with my pile of "things to do" at work.
• Working on our next JOY Fellowship event and getting the word out.  This picture is from our last event--a picnic by the intercoastal waterway.

JOY Picnic at Snow's Cut Park

• My birthday is Saturday.  This will be my last year before hitting the big "6-O"....Oh my!
• So enjoying what is happening at Rock Church.
• Also, enjoying seeing all the dance students coming in to register for the next semester at GAFA.

These are just a few of the "happenings" in my life.  The best one I think is that I am finding more and more Joy, Peace and Love.   Thank you, Yahweh, for pouring these blessings into my life!

  Who would have thought it?

I hope Maw Maw doesn't disown him.....

How wonderful it is when a family is blessed with the gift of a child.  This gift comes with great responsibilities and parents need the direction, guidance and wisdom of Almighty God...and the strength that only He can give.  It is the wise parent that asks for His help!!

Here are a few pictures from the service.  The Kid's Rock children added some entertainment to the program.  Reagan was not happy to be on the stage and he told me later that "there were too many people"!!

    

Rylee and Abigail

A big group of families were also dedicating their children. 

Don,Abigail,Reagan,Rylee

After the service we put Rylee and her friend William West on the steps for a photo op....what hams!!

  These life events are often accompanied by a lot of work to prepare all the details, but almost always worth it.  This event required a lot of work by many people....I believe it was well worth it!!!

Over 40 years ago my mother made a beautiful wedding gown for my wedding.  Mother was pregnant with my baby sister and struggling with morning sickness.  But, she did not tell anyone about the baby until after the wedding!  I cannot imagine making a wedding gown while pregnant at 42 years old...!

Now, 40 years later, I tackled the task of taking the gown apart to make a dedication gown for my grand daughter, Rylee Lyric Printy.  Thankfully, I for sure am not pregnant!!!!

This was a huge undertaking for me since I have not been sewing for over 30 years.  Remembering how to lay out the pattern (I combined three patterns) and knowing that I had to get it right the first time was a scary undertaking for me.  These are pictures of the pattern layout/cutting day:

This is my 40 year old sewing machine.  I had to get reacquainted with it.....

Finally, I was finishing the hemming and hand stitching....

And, here is our beautiful Rylee Lyric Printy in her vintage wedding dress turned dedication dress.

On a day when I didn't want anyone to see my awful looking face, the owner of our lawn maintenance crew knocked on the door to leave his bill.  Then, the repairman came again to work on my stove.  Man, did they get an eye full.  I even scare myself when I pass the mirror!

Oh, well...I'll be better tomorrow....sniff, cough, moan....

This has been a truly historic day that was long overdue.  While I do not agree with several of President Obama's political views, I rejoice that our nation has finally ended the legacy of only white presidents.  I can only imagine what millions of African Americans felt today when Mr. Obama raised his hand, recited the pledge that previously had only been made by white men and became the first African American president.  

I have watched several presidents take the oath of office, but this is the first time that I stood when the crowd was instructed to do so.  It was a small expression but I needed to do something.....

It snowed today in Wilmington.  Our daughter came to our house with two of our grandchildren.  Reagan is three and he asked so many questions about what was happening as we watched the inauguration.  When the canons fired after the oath was taken, Reagan was so concerned.  "Why are they doing that?" he asked.  We explained that it was part of the celebration.  He said, "bullets flying are not a celebration!"

Here are some pictures that Abbye took of the snow play.

Me and Reagan playing in the snow.

Reagan making a snow angel

Tasting the snow!

It is so fun to experience something through a child's eyes!

This is Helen's favorite thing to do...cooking for family, friends or for competition.  She has won many 1st place ribbons at the Bay County Fair, several 1st place awards for the annual newspaper competition and many accolades from all of us!!!

Don't you wish you were here to enjoy this lunch with us?

Our family is so important to me and our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is a special family event.  We have great food--lamp chops, roasted potatoes, rich desserts and more--and then gift giving.  It is so much fun to watch everyone discovering their new treasures.  We had a smaller Christmas, but everyone was very blessed.

Abbye took these pictures and I "borrowed" them from her blog.

This is Rylee Lyric Printy, my first granddaughter.  Isn't she beautiful?  I do not have the words to express the joy of watching Rylee discover something new.  I have always loved watching my children and now my grandchildren discover even the smallest new thing...their fingers, Nana's wrinkled hand, a toy rattle, a Christmas ornament....the list is endless!

     Reagan loved his presents but after opening the first two he asked,        "Can I be done now?"  

     This little fellow is a natural born leader.  He "lead" us all around the      mall marching ahead announcing every couple of minutes that he was the    leader and we should follow him--so we did!!

Our three oldest grandsons, Gabriel, Noah and Adam also were here bringing joy to us.  When their parents post some Christmas pictures, I will "borrow" them and post them too.

    

Helping Reagan decorate the tree.

Grandchildren have a unique way of decorating--a Bible next to the Santa suit!!

                Our grandchildren help us decorate our tree every year.  When our first grandchild, Gabriel, was two years old we started this tradition.  Each grandchild joined the fun when they were about that age.  Noah then Adam then Reagan and in a year or two Rylee will join us.  

                It is always so interesting to see where they put the ornaments.  Sometimes they want to put all the bells together, sometimes all the angels together or all the red balls.  And, they know if we move them!

               I love family traditions.  I love the wonder in a child's eyes as they see the tree become beautiful with the "special" ornaments.  They remember year to year the ornaments and take care not to break them.

              This year Papa and I have a present for each grandchild that is our way of "giving" to our community.  I think they will really like our special gift.  Maybe it will be a new tradition.

              More later.......