November Blog

Let’s Get to Know Some of our 2/4 Moms

(Thanks Holly Gillespie for sharing your table with us.)

 

Front row from left to right: Brianne Minturn, Jill Garton, Lindsey Schneider

Back Row: Susan Williams, Holly Gillespie, Meredith Ehrenberg, Kari College, Emily Born

Not shown- Courtney Hunsberger

 

 

Taking a Plunge:

By Holly Gillespie

 

Plunging! When I was asked to write this article about "plunging into adoption" I thought, how am I ever going to be able to put into a few short paragraphs the joy, adventure, learning and love that adoption has brought to our lives? I would love to take credit for bringing adoption into our lives but that honor would go to my husband. Adoption to me had always been something that I thought was very cool and a very loving thing to do but honestly beyond that I never gave it much thought. My husband on the other hand had fallen in love with the idea of adoption ever since meeting a family who had an adopted daughter from China when he was 10 years old. When my husband and I started dating seriously and began to talk about marriage he explained to me that adoption was something he felt very strongly about and really wanted to make part of his family. He not only wanted to adopt but wanted to adopt after having a biological child (if we were able) before we had a second biological child.

We attended our first adoption information meeting after being married only a couple of years. At that time we found that not only were we too young to adopt from almost every country but we hadn't even been married long enough to do so. We kept in contact with the Holt International social worker and soon after having our biological son we contacted her to tell her we were ready to start the adoption process! Little did we know that less than a year later we would be boarding a plane heading to Seoul, South Korea to adopt our beautiful 7 month baby girl whom we had named Eve.

The process had gone extremely quickly as we had opted to take the route of adopting a child with minor special needs. This "title" scared us at first but our social worker assured us that these special needs could be as minor as jaundice or a birthmark. Our daughter, Ji-Hye was born a month early and had a slight heart murmur that had repaired itself before we even brought her home. We had only seen one picture of Eve before going to Korea so we had NO idea what she would look like except for the fact that she was tiny! We learned later that her wonderful foster family had called her Thumbelina for just that reason. After being in Korea for a few days were finally able to meet our beautiful daughter! We sat nervously in this tiny little room waiting for the social worker and foster family to walk in with Eve. Everything is kept very warm in Korea, even the floors are heated, so to say we were sweating just a little bit is quite an understatement, hee! OH MY GOODNESS was she beautiful! This tiny little beauty with almond shaped eyes was being handed over to US! How could we ever be worthy of this? We had prayed during this entire adventure that God would give us the child that was meant to be with our family and whom we would be the best parents for. Knowing that, I had no doubt that this beautiful little girl was meant to be ours.

 

What I didn't expect however was the feelings of sadness we would feel in taking Eve from her only family she had ever known. Eve's foster family was the most loving, amazing family and we knew that they had loved Eve from the moment they had gotten her at three days old. Eve's foster family did not speak much English and we spoke even less Korean however I really feel that through looks and hugs and we all knew that we were grateful for one another. After taking Eve with us and after three NON-STOP hours of her screaming, she finally calmed down enough to fall asleep. She awoke a couple hours after that with an attitude that seemed to say 'ok, as long as you hold me mom, I am good' and she was! We boarded the plane the next morning and after a fifteen hour flight, of which she was angel, we finally landed at the Kansas City airport, greeted by forty-five friends and family members! Our almost two-year old son stood there with a dozen roses to give to his new baby sister although I am not quite sure he was really aware of what was actually happening! From the moment everyone met Eve, she was been welcomed and so very loved! We know that God truly meant for our beautiful daughter Eve to be OUR daughter and I will be forever grateful to my husband for feeling so passionate about adoption!

Adoption has been such an amazing blessing to us that now, five years after our adoption journey began; we are in the middle of the journey again! We now also have a two year old biological daughter so for us of course the most obvious next step was to adopt a SON! We are now in the midst of adopting a boy from China and are anxiously awaiting the phone call from our adoption agency that tells us that have found a little boy for us! Our children our so excited to have a little brother and we can't wait to see his picture and board that plane to China to finally bring him home!

We are truly blessed!
 

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Now that I’m a mom, I am THANKFUL for…

·       Time together as a family. I love the times my husband and I are both home and can snuggle and play with our boys. (Courtney Hunsberger)

·       Other mom’s. I am thankful for other mom’s advice, stories and just a chance to learn from other mom’s. Before becoming a mother I never truly admired mothers, now mothers are truly an inspiration to me and there is always something new to be learned within us all coming together and sharing our experiences. (Lindsey Schneider)

·       An extra hour of sleep in the morning, quiet moments to myself, and sweet coos and smiles from my little one. (Emily Born)

·       Endless opportunities to fall more deeply in love with my Beloved in all kinds of situations and roles, including our new one of being IN-LAWS! (Susan Williams)

·       For my mom, I didn't realize the things she was sacrificing for me as a child and now that I am an adult I understand a lot of things. (Brianne Minturn)

·       Extended family in a new way and the opportunity to be mostly at home with the girls. (Jill Garton)

·      The hugs and kisses I get from my boys and sweet conversations when putting them to bed.  (Kari College)

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How We Share our Thankfulness on Thanksgiving…

·       We usually take the time for everyone to mention the top 3 things we are thankful for in that year. Last year, my husband and I started to write down in a notebook the things we are thankful for in the past year. (Courtney Hunsberger)

·       We go around the table and share what we are thankful for.  (Lindsey Schneider)

·       Last year, everybody drew names. We went around the table, and you had to say what you thought the family member whose name you drew was thankful for. It showed how well we knew each other, or not (!) and made for some lively discussions! (Susan Williams)

·       We go around the table at thanksgiving to share what we are thankful for. (Emily Born)

·       It is always tradition to go around the table and say what we are thankful for. It is nice to talk and think about the simple things that we take for granted that we should be more grateful for. One year we had a 15 minute discussion about running water and how great it was while our food was sitting right in front of us getting cold and no one even complained when we finally started eating. It's nice to think about and put things into perspective. (Brianne Minturn)

·       We are going to make a Thankful Tree this year.  We’re going to put it up on a door or wall near our kitchen.  Then we will write things that we are thankful on the leaves and put them on the tree.  (Kari College)

·       We haven't in the past, but I pinned the idea of a thankful tree and plan to implement that this year! (Jill Garton)

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Ways we Serve as a Family…

·       My husband and I have been involved in a number of ministries at the church. With our boys being so young, I look forward to them being old enough to teach them to love and serve others. (Courtney Hunsberger)

·       We love going down to The Mission Church in South Omaha to help serve to the homeless community that attend that church. We help by teaching Sunday school classes to the small children and teaching them the word. (Lindsey Schneider)

·       Journey group leaders...as Rachel gets older and our family grows we look forward to serving in the community and at church more. (Emily Born)

·       We also donate as much as we can to the open door mission. We clean out all of our outgrown or gently used items several times a year. It is always nice to help others as we have been in need ourselves at one time. (Brianne Minturn)

·       One year we got a family’s Christmas wish list from Boys Town , went to Wal-Mart together, and shopped ‘til we dropped. For every gift we selected, we reduced our own gift budget correspondingly. It was a great lesson about giving for our four girls. (Susan Williams)

·       Worked with Abide through our small group - we've helped renovate some houses, cleaned up their church property, and served Thanksgiving to the neighborhood last year. (Jill Garton)

·       We love to put shoe boxes together for Operation Christmas Child.  It is fun to go to the Dollar Store with the kids and let them pick out gifts to put in. 

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Favorite Family Games…

·       Having a 2 year old and 10 month old boys, our favorite games tend to focus on trucks and balls. (Courtney Hunsberger)

·       Apples to Apples and The Game of Things (Lindsey Schneider)

·       Ticket to Ride (Emily Born)

·       We love to sit at the table and blab for at least an hour after Thanksgiving dinner is over. Last year, a new boyfriend and a new fiancé were in the mix and we wanted to break the ice for them. So one family member was assigned the task of thinking up wacky phrases, like “The wet moose walks backwards tonight” (well, maybe not THAT wacky). She wrote them on slips of paper, and put one under everybody’s plate. At the beginning of the feast, everybody secretly read and memorized their phrase. Then we went ahead with dinner and rollicking conversation. The object of the game was for you to try to slickly work your phrase into the general conversation without getting caught. It really makes you listen! You also try to “catch” others trying to insert their phrases. If you accuse someone of using their phrase and are right, you get a point. If you are wrong, you lose a point. When it was all over, only two or three of us successfully got their phrases “in” without detection, and Maddy, who was 11, got the most points. (Susan Williams)

·       Catch Phrase and Triple Charades (Jill Garton)

·       We love to play Spot It and Pass the Kitty.  (Kari College)

·       I have to say Candyland. I think I have the colored spots memorized in order and all the rules including the ones Makenna (3 years old) has made up. We also like to wrestle in the living room with the whole family we could dogpile on daddy for hours. (Brianne Minturn)

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Let’s Eat…

First You Take a Leek" Tomato Soup by Susan Williams

2 T. unsalted butter

1 T. olive oil

1 large leek (white and tender green, coarsely chopped)

3 T. flour

1 can (13¾ oz.) chicken broth

1 can (35 oz.) Italian peeled tomatoes, with liquid

¾ tsp. basil

1 to 1½ tsp. sugar

1½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Several dashes cayenne

½ C. heavy cream

Melt butter in the olive oil in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Add the leek. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add chicken broth, tomatoes and liquid, basil, sugar, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

Remove soup from heat. Let it cool slightly. Puree in batches in a blender or food processor. Return soup to saucepan and reheat. Add cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve.

(This soup got its name after someone asked, “How do you make this soup?” and I found myself saying, “First, you take a leek. . . .”)

(p.s. Makes a great hot appetizer in a mug for tailgating or before the Thanksgiving feast)

Pumpkin Bars by Meredith Ehrenberg and Holly Gillespie

4 eggs

1 cup salad oil

2 cups sugar

1 can pumpkin
*mix the above ingredients

 Sift:

2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp.  ginger
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon

 Mix all well and pour into greased and floured pan (12x18x1 inch).  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Frost.

 Frosting:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
¾ stick margarine
1 T milk
1 t vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

 

Corn Casserole by Emily Born

1 can corn, drained

1 can creamed corn

2 eggs

1 stick melted margarine or butter

1 cup sour cream

4 tbls chopped green onion

1 box jiffy cornbread mix

Mix into buttered dish.  Bake 350 for 45 minutes

 

Apple Crisp by Courtney Hunsberger

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup water

Topping:

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).

Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.

Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Turnips by Brianne Minturn

6 turnips

1 cup of buttermilk

2 tablespoons of sugar

salt to taste.

 

Boil turnips until tender.  Then add rest of ingredients and mash.

Cranberry Harvest Relish by Jill Garton

1 ¼ cup water,

6 oz. strawberry jello,

1 cup sugar,

½ cup lemon juice,

16 oz. fresh cranberries,

1 unpeeled orange,

1 tart apple,

1 cup diced celery,

1 cup chopped pecans

Bring 1 cup water to a boil - add jello and sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 cup water and stir until dissolved. Chill while combining the remaining ingredients.  Chop all other ingredients very finely and combine everything

 

Hot Caramel Apple Cider by Kari College

1/2 gallon apple cider (64 oz or 8 C)

1/2 C orange juice, fresh squeezed or good quality bottled like Simply Orange

1 orange

8 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks (if yours are more than a year old- buy new ones!!)

1/4 t ground allspice

1/3 C jarred caramel sauce* more to taste if needed

Optional: caramel flavored syrup

Sweetened whipped cream (or from a can is fine!)

*For a delicious twist, substitute maple syrup for the caramel sauce in this recipe.

Pour 8 cups of apple cider into a large stock pot on the stove pot. Set heat to medium-high. Add orange juice, cinnamon sticks, and allspice.

Thoroughly wash your orange and then gently stab the whole cloves into it. If you find it hard to do that without destroying the cloves, use a toothpick to poke little hole first and then insert the cloves.  (If you are doubling the recipe, you can still just use one orange; just double the number of cloves you poke into it).

Gently drop the whole orange into the pot. Bring cider to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer on low for 60 minutes and longer if you wish. If you’re keeping the pot on the stove for an extended period, keep an eye on the orange. If at any time it splits open, remove it from the pot. If the white pith is exposed it will add a bitter taste to your cider. If you’re going to have the pot warming for hours on end, take out the orange. After you’ve simmered for an hour, add caramel sauce and stir to combine and dissolve. Add more caramel to taste if needed.

When ready to serve, ladle into mugs, top with whipped cream, and give it a drizzle of caramel and a sprinkle of cinnamon

 

Let’s Get to Know Some of our 1/3 Moms!

Thank you, Christa Cottam, for sharing your table with us!

Front row from left to right: Stacy Schieber, Melody Mike, Kelly Leeper, Christa Cottam

Back Row: Julie Richard, Kelly Bebee, Amanda Peters, Wendy Sewell, Margie Alford

Taking a Plunge…

By Kelly Leeper

My plunge into motherhood moment happened last winter. My husband and I were blessed to be parents to an adorable 20 month old little girl and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the birth of our second child. It was the day after thanksgiving, and it was the perfect day to spend outside decorating the house with Christmas lights. In a matter of seconds my world went dark as I discovered my husband broken and twisted lying on our driveway. He was stringing the lights on the highest point of our roof over the garage when the extension ladder gave way. He came crashing down 15 feet onto the unforgiving concrete. Our wonderful neighbors sprang into action by calling 911, sparing my daughter from the tragic scene by taking her inside to play with other neighborhood kids, followed the ambulance to UNMC to offer a shoulder for me to cry on and did their best to keep me calm and not go into labor. After 6 long days and 3 extensive surgeries my husband was able to return home before it was my turn to check into the hospital. Only 5 days after my husband’s last surgery I gave birth to our precious second daughter via C-section.

Over the next three months I plunged head first into motherhood by tending to all the needs of the toddler and newborn in addition to caring for my husband. Regardless of how challenging things became I knew my family needed me and I needed them. The whole experience has had its ups and downs but we have become a stronger and more loving family today.

 

Before I was a mother I never thought I would…

·       Be accompanied to the bathroom by someone who sings the "Potty Song" to cheer me on for going. (Wendy Sewell)

·       Hold out my hand for my child to give me a booger because no tissues were in sight. (Kelly Leeper)

·       Would own a minivan! (Christa Cottam)

·       Be okay with the fact that I would have to walk around for the entire rest of the day with spit up completely down the front side of my clothes. (Kelly Bebee)

·       Have to "borrow" a linen napkin from a restaurant to use as a diaper since we were all out and we were in the middle of dinner! (Julie Richard)

 

Let’s Eat…
 

Monster Bars (by Christa Cottam)

1/2 c. butter

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking soda

4 1/2 c. oatmeal

2 c. chocolate chips

2 c. M & M’s

Preheat oven to 350º F. Cream the butter and sugars together. Add eggs and peanut butter and mix. Stir in vanilla, baking soda and oatmeal. Stir in chocolate chips and M & M’s. Put in an ungreased jellyroll pan (12 1/2" x 17 1/2"). Bake for 15 minutes. Do not over bake. Enjoy!

Suzi's sloppy Joes (by Julie Richard)

1 lb. ground beef

1 can of chicken gumbo

3 squeezes of mustard

5 queezes of ketchup

Brown the ground beef, drain, then add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet and simmer for 15 minutes.

 

Pumpkin Pie Squares (by Kelly Bebee)

Crust:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

Filling:

2 eggs

1 can pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

1 cup reserved cake mix

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

Grease 9x13 inch pan. Empty cake mix into bowl and measure out 1 cup and put aside. Add melted butter and beaten egg to cake mix in bowl. Press into pan.

Prepare filling by beating 2 eggs, add milk and remaining ingredients and pour over crust.

Prepare topping by cutting together the ingredients, and then sprinkle over filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min. or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Broccoli-Cheese Soup (by Wendy Sewell)

5 Tbsp. margarine

2/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup flour

3 cups milk,

3 cups chicken broth,

1 bag frozen broccoli (cooked and chopped),

1 tsp. salt,

Pepper to taste,

About 6 oz. Velveeta cheese, sliced

Melt margarine in large saucepan, add onion, and cook until tender. Blend in flour until mixture is smooth. Add milk, broth, broccoli, cheese, and seasoning. Cook, stirring until all cheese is melted. Do not allow to boil.

Blueberry Banana Bread (by Kelly Leeper)

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. mashed bananas
1/2 c. quick cook oats
1 1/2 all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. fresh blueberries

Cream together the room temperature butter and sugar. Add eggs and bananas until well combined. Next add the dry ingredients to the batter. To prevent discoloring the batter, coat the fresh blueberries in a light dusting of flour before gentling folding into the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 65-70 minutes. Check the bread often to prevent over-browning near end of cooking time.

Allow to cool for at 10 minutes before turning out of the pan and cooling on a wire rack. Excellent bread to freeze or devour while warm!

 

Let’s Play…

·       Getting ice cream at Ted and Wally's downtown, for any of the categories! With kids, Children's Museum, story time at the library, hitting the park with sand toys in tow, working in the garden.

·       This time of year, we like to rake leaves into a huge pile and jump into them...or pile them up at the bottom of the slide. Afterwards, it's fun to come inside and warm up with hot apple cider!

·      Hiking at Hitchcock Nature Center in Council Bluffs, IA.

·       My son loooooves the park right now and we can hardly go on a walk and pass by without stopping. So that is our "thing" to do right now.

·       Fun thing to do with friends is have them over for coffee in the morning. The kids are all in good moods at this time, and it is a free fun time to hang out and enjoy a hot cup of coffee!

·       Pick up food from our favorite BBQ place in town and have an impromptu picnic in the park followed by bubble mania. My girls go absolutely wild over the bbq baked beans, corn bread, and bubbles the size of their head

·       Fun date idea is a “stay-cation” with just my hubby in downtown Omaha. Since we live out west we never seem to have the energy or desire to fight traffic to enjoy that part of town, so I keep an eye out for Groupon/Living Social hotel deals.