Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Taste and See...

It always amazes me to witness how the little minds of babies and toddlers work. Evy has hit the teething/taste every thing stage. She just crawling around the room, stops, sees something she like, and inserts it into her mouth. I swear it feels like I can just hear her thinking out loud. "Crawl, Crawl, Crawl....I see a toy. Yummy toy! Oh look, mommy's shoe. I bet this taste wonderful.....must taste before she takes away!" Even as I sit down to put these words to page, I had to pause and rescue my beach bag that Evy discovered at the front door. That sunscreen bottle didn't stand a chance! She found it, she liked it, she tried to eat it! All babies hit this "See, Feel, Taste" stage. It's part of their learning process; the way they discover the world.

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good!

We as believers go through a very similar learning process. 

           "Taste and see that the LORD is good! How blessed is the person who trusts in him!"                                                          -Psalm 34:8. 

God's words are always intentional. Why not just say, "See that the Lord is Good" or "Know that the Lord is Good." No, God knows how much more we learn by combining our senses. Just like a baby learns more by using their sense of taste and sight, so do we learn more as believers doing the same.


God not only wants us to see that He is good, He wants us to experience His goodness as well. If we only visited a five star restaurant, looked at the menu, and ordered a meal but never tasted it, we would miss out on the entire experience. How much more could we be witness to the amazing eatery if we licked our plates clean and experienced what all the fuss was about!

God's Word is our menu. His promises, our food selection. Taste and see for yourself the goodness of God! And don't forget to rave about your experience to others.

Till Next Time, 

Katrina



It's a Banana Bread kind of day

I love having a manic Monday. I woke up with the desire/need to clean the whole house, organize closets, and bake. Both of my girls love bananas, and we always have a good bundle in our house. This week we got down to the last 3 that had turned brown....so we do what we do best with brown bananas and made a big loaf of banana bread!

Rowell Banana Bread

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour @ 350 Degrees

Ingredients:
3-4 Bananas                         2 c. Flour
2 eggs                                1  1/2  c. brown sugar
2 tbs vanilla                        1/2 c. sugar
2 sticks butter                     2 tsp baking powder 
cinnamon               

Note: I didn't have 2 sticks of butter so I substituted about 1/2 cup of my mom's homemade applesauce. And the cinnamon I just always add enough to cover the mixture (see photo below). Its probably about 3-4 tablespoons. I know it's alot of cinnamon!


Mash the Bananas first

Then add all the liquid ingredients and mix some more

My Cinnamon to cover the entire mixture

Kara adding all the dry ingredients

Evy chillin with a Spatula

Mix it all up

Pour into a greased loaf pan

Yummy Deliciousness



Favorite Morning Food: Homemade Banana Bread & Mom's Applesauce with a hot cup of Joe with Cinnabon Creamer.


Monday, July 21, 2014

Riverbend Recap

 Riverbend Recap 2014 

The Rowell Family has been going on their annual family vacation to Riverbend for over 30 years. Any family gathering for holidays or events, there is always talk about something that happened at Riverbend. "Remember that time at Riverbend when...." or " How many weeks are left until the next Riverbend." "What are you cooking this year at Riverbend?" "How long are you staying this year at Riverbend."

Marrying into this family, I learned really quickly what an important time of year it is for all to gather& reconnect with relaxing, games, good food, good drinks, and good times. I have been going for ten years now, and it has now become a vacation that I look forward to every year. Coming from a "Disney Family" (cause that's where my parents took me every year, sometimes twice!), I knew all about what a vacation meant. But Riverbend is a mix between a vacation, a reunion, and a family tradition. I had to learn what "RB," "Silver Glenn," "Occlawaha Rides," "Picture by the Wall," and  "Generations 1-4" meant and they are all synonymous with happiness and fun.

If this trip, after only ten years, means so much to me, imagine how much it means to my husband and his family. Hunter got me up at 3 am this year just so that we could hit the road and be there by lunch time this year. That's how excited he gets...like a kid at Christmas! And it brings him (and myself) so much joy to impart that joy and excitement to our children. This is the first year Kara actually remembered where we were going. She knew that we were going to swim all week and see the "Tators" (Alligators) and fish and just have fun. She knew her cousins name this year and if I heard "I want to go see Levi and play" once, I probably heard it a thousand times! It was wonderful. I am so {Lucky} to be a part of this family and this great and memorial family tradition.




2014 Riverbend Family Photo
















That's the Boat from the Film Crew "Ax Men" in the background
Little Gator action on the Occlawaha
Evy's First Occlawaha Ride. She hates her life jacket, Can You Tell?





The Riverbend Gator that hangs out around the dock




An Afternoon Shower rolling in. 







Next Year's Riverbend is in June, so just 11 more months on the Countdown!

Till Next Time, 

Katrina