A Night With Friends

Last night we had the opportunity to meet up with some great friends-Kevin and Katie Williams and Shannon and Kurt Baker! It's really amazing how the Lord has used friendships to keep us connected to one another. Here is the connection:

-Kevin and Katie were Guy and Shannon's YL leaders at Boone back in the day

-Guy and Shannon were like BFF in high school!

-Shannon and I played bball and soccer against each other in high school

-I met Kevin and Katie when they were just dating when I first started doing YL in college

whew........Kurt and Shannon met a few years ago-his a fireman and super cool. Anyways. We had the best evening! We met at Abeulo's at 5:30pm and seriously didn't leave until 8:30! A 3 hour dinner! Good thing we have the most flexible child in the world (knock on wood-he did manage to pour a 1/2 empty glass of water onto his shirt and my jeans. chilly.). Guess we need to reconnect with them more often! Kevin is the area director for Urban YL in Cincinnati and Shannon and Kurt do YL at Holmes high school. They have such amazing (and funny) stories of how the Lord is moving in their school communities. Katie and Kevin are going to Ethiopia in 2 weeks to adopt twin baby boys! The boys are so sweet and adorable and have NO idea how loved they are going to be. We are so thrilled for them! Wow. The Williams and the Bakers continue to live by faith alone and it is a blessing to be their friends.

I have finally remembered to post my recipe for homemade granola. I never thought I would like something like this but I LOVE it and try to make it once a month! It's a good, healthy alternative to cereal. It is from my friend Kerri who made it for a leader retreat this past summer.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

2 cups regular rolled oats

1 cup chopped or sliced almonds

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (or honey roasted)

1/2 cup honey or maple flavored syrup

2 tablespoons veg oil

Dried fruit

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

1) In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds and wheat germ. Stir together honey

and cooking oil; stir into oat mixture. Spread evenly onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned; stirring after 20 minutes.

2) Spread evenly on large piece of foil to cool. Break into clumps. Stir in 1 cup of desired

dried fruit (I use cranberries-but you can use raisins, apricots, cherries,

fruit bits, banana slices). Store in airtight container for up to 1 week or store in

freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months.

*I like to eat mine as cereal but the boys eat it with strawberry yogurt!