Apple Squares

My friend Alyssa shared this wonderful recipe with me. Her daughter goes to Covenant and she was so sweet to make it for the teachers there. It was the best apple cake I have ever put in my mouth!! I had to share it with you all!


Appple Squares

3 cups diced apples
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 cup nuts (any kind you like, I use pecans)
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 baking dish. Mix all ingredients except apples with mixer, the mix will be very thick. Stir in apples with spoon. Once mixed, pour into 9x13 dish. Cook for 1 hour. Poke holes in the cake with fork and pour glaze over dish wihile still warm.

Glaze:
1 stick butter
4 oz evaported milk
1 cup brown sugar
Bring to a boil in sauce pan.

ENJOY!

Ashlyn

This morning as I was getting ready, Ashlyn came in and told me that she wanted to pray and ask Jesus into her heart. I expected her to tell me that soon because she has been talking a lot about becoming a Christian lately BUT I was still taken back this morning when she told me. I didn't know if I should grin from ear to ear or cry....so I did both!! We sat down on my bed and talked for a good while about what it means to become a Christian. I asked her a lot of questions and she gave me "adult answers" for all of them. I couldn't believe how grown up she sounded. When I asked her why she wanted to pray and ask Jesus in her heart she said, "because He died on the cross for my sins and I want to follow Him for the rest of my life". Wow!! My little girl was really understanding! I prayed a prayer with Ashlyn and she repeated it. I could tell she was grinning from ear to ear the whole time! After some hugs and "I'm proud of you's" we left the house. On the way down the road Ashlyn said, "Mommy, I didn't know I could be this good". It cracked me up. She was obviously telling herself that she needs to try her best to live a life pleasing to God and part of that was by being a good girl! I told her she just needs to get up every morning and tell God that she wants to do things that will please Him each day. I found out later on today that she had a long conversation with her cousin Avery yesterday about all of this. I would have loved to have heard everything....they are both 6 years old!! :-)

I pray that Ashlyn continues to grow each day in her relationship with Christ and that she loves Him more and more. I pray that she will continue to be excited about letting everyone know about this decision she has made and that she will want to share of His love with others.

We love you, Ashlyn!!

Madyson turns 12!!

On August 27th, we celebrated Madyson's 12th birthday. I can't believe I'm just now writing about it. Have I been that busy??? This year I told Madyson that we weren't doing a big birthday party but I let her invite a few of her friends from church over for a sleepover. Boy did they have fun!! We started out with pizza, then cake, and then presents. Her friends were very generous to her and put a huge smile on her face!! Then we moved on to facials and nails. I think that must be right up every girl's alley. They loved it. After a few movies and another snack the girls FINALLY went to bed at 1:30. Glad they had fun!!

Madyson is such a special girl. She has a great personality that people love. She is shy when you first meet her but when you get to know her she is a true friend. She loves you for who you are. This year Madyson is a cheerleader at her middle school and I have seen a part of her that I didn't know was there. She is doing such a great job and really gets into the cheers and sure knows how to shake her tail on the little dance they are doing. :-) I'm so proud of Madyson!

A few words I'd use to describle Madyson are kind, happy, warm-hearted, fun, and energetic. The thing that pleases me the most about her though is that she loves God with all her heart! She is so involved in her youth group at church and is just finishing up a Bible study that she's been a part of for the last few months. I can see that she is growing more and more each day and her love for the Lord is getting deeper and deeper!

We love you so much, Madyson and we hope this year is wonderful for you!!