First dinner guests

So last night Lew and I were able to have our first dinner guests. It was a memorable night full of lots of laughing. Check out a few pictures of our evening...we'll start with the normal and then work our way to the funny.

Here are the last remaining of the original Ellis household: Grandma K, Mom, Dad, and Charissa

Mom and Dad Ellis who just celebrated their 31st anniversary ;)

There are not too many words to describe the following pictures....see for yourself

Mom and Lew performing a rendition of "you are always with me" from the Awesome God Cd...My Mom is in the process of teaching this to her preschool classes

More performing...same song

and more...

Here they are saying "where can I hide" ;) My Mom and Lew are so alike...both children at heart

Lew and Grandma K. having a jam session..

My grandma having her own unique jam session

This ones priceless...the Ellis family true colors...this shows just how much fun they are to be around! Thank you guys for coming over ;) We love you so much!

Cutie Pies

Here are a few photo updates of my favorite niece and nephew! They are so precious. I spent some time with Isaiah on Wednesday and he is getting so big. We took him to the library and got him some books then spent some time at home playing. He has a new toy that he stands up and pushes around, but hasn't quite mastered how to turn it so he walks really fast with it then crashes into something (anything in the way: the wall, the couch, the vacuum) and then he turns around and starts huffing like come on help me out! Its so cute. Then I was able to spend some time with Gianna today and she is getting big too. She is so curious and is starting to talk....in a very loud voice! It sounds like she's yelling....obviously trying to get a point across ;)

Keys in one hand moose in the other

Hat on ready to brave the cold

She was all sprawled out on the couch making all kinds of noises and funny facial expressions

This is a picture of her face when she is talking....very expressive! She's a big talker and very loud...I wonder which parent she got that from?? ;)

This is Isaiah takin a lil nap on the way home from the library

Showing off his new toy...he's actually waiting for one of us to turn the scooter so he can go on his merry old way.

Eating lunch by himself like a big boy. Fork in one hand and using the other hand to scoop up the mac and cheese :)

Sitting on his truck taking a break after a several laps with his new toy

He is enough...

A picture of the sunrise this morning on the farm ;) That's definitely one of the benefits of living in the wide open, I feel like we really get to see God's majesty displayed through his creation.



I have been so inspired by our married care group leaders wife (Megan you are truly one of the godliest woman I know!) who even in the busy season as a mother of three young children, wife, and discipler of other women, makes it her utmost priority to be still before God and glean from his truth. Many times she has encouraged me from what she has read in Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, so I began reading it myself and have found my soul met by todays reading especially in this New Year and new season (for me). I hope it encourages you as well!

“I will be their God.”

Jeremiah 31:33

Christian! here is all thou canst require. To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and is not this enough? If thou canst pour this promise into thy cup, wilt thou not say, with David, “My cup runneth over; I have more than heart can wish”? When this is fulfilled, “I am thy God”, art thou not possessor of all things? Desire is insatiable as death, but he who filleth all in all can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can measure? but the immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. I ask thee if thou art not complete when God is thine? Dost thou want anything but God? Is not his all-sufficiency enough to satisfy thee if all else should fail? But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for heaven in this thy portion, for God is the Maker of Heaven. Not all the music blown from sweet instruments, or drawn from living strings, can yield such melody as this sweet promise, “I will be their God.” Here is a deep sea of bliss, a shoreless ocean of delight; come, bathe thy spirit in it; swim an age, and thou shalt find no shore; dive throughout eternity, and thou shalt find no bottom. “I will be their God.” If this do not make thine eyes sparkle, and thy heart beat high with bliss, then assuredly thy soul is not in a healthy state. But thou wantest more than present delights—thou cravest something concerning which thou mayest exercise hope; and what more canst thou hope for than the fulfilment of this great promise, “I will be their God”? This is the masterpiece of all the promises; its enjoyment makes a heaven below, and will make a heaven above. Dwell in the light of thy Lord, and let thy soul be always ravished with his love. Get out the marrow and fatness which this portion yields thee. Live up to thy privileges, and rejoice with unspeakable joy.

Sweet Bread

Today I had the pleasure of spending most of my day with my sister Charissa who is currently on her break from college. We had so much fun catching up....and then decided to try to make bread. Now neither of us had really tried to make bread before. I had made bread that didn't require rising like pumpkin bread, but never had been brave enough to try all the kneading and watch it rise type of thing. So we decided it would be fun to try it together. It was an adventure.

After a few minor mistakes we thought we were pretty good to go, but at first it seemed the dough wouldn't rise. We continued to pray for it and within an hour it began to rise, yay! So we braided it and topped it with egg wash, sugar, and crushed almonds and popped it in the oven not knowing what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised and the bread turned out so yummy! So we decided to post the recipe:

Finnish Yeast-Raised Sweet Bread (Braided Bread)
2 1/2 cups milk
2 envelopes dry yeast
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 stick butter
3 1/2 pounds (14 cups) sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
almonds sliced (or crushed)

Stir yeast into lukewarm milk until thoroughly dissolved. Add 3 eggs, sugar, salt, and softened butter. Blend well using whisk beater. Add flour little by little and cardamom blending well. When dough is firm enough to handle knead until blended and elastic. Place in warm place and cover with towel. Let rise until double in bulk. Turn onto light floured board. Punch dough down. Pinch off 3 medium size balls of dough. Roll into rectangular shape and braid into flat loaf about 12" x 4 " continue until all dough is braided (6 loaves). Place on greased baking sheet, cover with tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Brush tops with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and almonds. Bake in 400 degree oven until done and golden (about 20 minutes)

We broke the recipe down to only make 2 loaves by dividing all of the ingredients by 3. I also used my kitchen aid mixer to prepare the dough instead of doing all the work of whisking and kneading....seemed to work out well ;)

Recipe and more photo updates

So obviously I have much more time to blog now...as I have 2 more weeks off from school! I wanted to share a few more photos and a little update of the last few weeks for the Lewis'

Having my own kitchen has been great! I have promised myself that I would try a new recipe each day (I know who ever thought I would have this much time on my hands) at least until school starts again. So last night I made Spicy Pork Parmesan Cutlets and Lew gave it two thumbs up so I figured I would post it ;)

Ingredients: 1 lb pork chops (about 4), 2 Tbs. flour, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp. olive oil divided, cooking spray, 1 cup vertically sliced onion (about 1 medium), 3 garlic cloves minced, 1 cup tomato and basil pasta sauce, 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper, 3 tbs. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tbs dried), 2 tbs grated parmesan cheese.

Directions: Preheat oven 450 degrees. Place pork chops between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4 " thickness with meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Combine flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, and black pepper in shallow dish and dredge pork chops through mixture. Heat 1 tsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes on each side until browned (you may only be able to do 2 pork chops at a time). Remove from pan. Coat same pan with cooking spray. Add onion and remaining 1/4 tsp salt, saute 2 minutes. Add garlic saute 5 minutes. Stir in sauce and red pepper and cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in basil. Place pork in jelly role pan coated with cooking spray. Top each with about 1-2 tbs pasta sauce mixture and 1/2 teaspoon of cheese. Bake at 450 degrees for about 5 minutes or until pork is done and cheese is melted.

I served it with whole wheat pasta and salad and it turned out to be very yummy.

(this recipe was taken from cooking light, so it's calorie friendly)

Here are a few pictures of our humble home. It's definitely still a work in progress, but has come a long way! We still have boxes to unpack (as you'll see in some of the pictures) but other than that it's feeling more like a home now without all the clutter of boxes.

We bought all of our bedroom furniture on New Years day and felt confident that we would have no problem putting it together (granted neither of us had really done this before) and it literally took us ALL day! Talk about bonding time.

Our living room: Its not a huge room but just the right size that it doesn't require too much cleaning ;) It fit all of our furniture perfectly....our biggest problem has been figuring out where to store all of our books!

Our kitchen: no problem with storage here! The cabinets are huge and have shelves that slide out. It has been great because I have had no problem finding places for all of our kitchen stuff....we actually have shelves that are empty that I am trying to figure out what I can put on them.

So, we had the pleasure of being in Indiana with Lew's family the weekend after Christmas. It was so much fun to be with his family and they had a great open house for us where we got to meet a lot of their family friends. Here are a few pictures of the table that his Mom set up with wedding photos so people who couldn't make it to our wedding could still see pictures.






Here are a few pictures of Christmas day at the Ellis home:

Great Grandma Kouneski with Gianna on her first Christmas

Sam opening his presents

Isaiah with Aunt Laura and Mommy

The newest Ellis Family on their second Christmas together as a married couple

Uncle Lew happily holding baby Gianna

Isaiah with Dada looking at one of his presents

Grandpa Ellis holding Gianna

Man and Wife

Well the day felt like it would never come, but it sure did come and was so special! The weather was unusually warm for December and pretty much everything went according to plan. And best of all I get to be married to my best friend! I am still trying to get used to the adjustment of a new home, new things, and a new roommate ;) but overall I feel so blessed and the adjustment has been fun.

We haven't been able to post because we have been so busy since the big day. After the wedding we left for the Dominican republic where we stayed until Christmas Eve. Then we flew home and stayed home with my family for Christmas. Then 3 days later we left for Indiana to be with Lew's family for 4 days. Then finally on New Years Eve we came home exhausted and sick with colds. Gratefully we got sick after the wedding and not before like everyone else!

So here we are finally married. Lew had to go back to work yesterday and I have just been trying to get myself organized and unpacked. Our place is looking good but I still have a lot of boxes to empty and get organized (not my best or favorite task) but I am just taking it a little at a time. As soon as I get settled I will take some pictures of our little home and post them.
We haven't gotten our professional photos yet, but here are some that people have sent us:

My sister (matron of honor) gave a toast that made me cry. Thank you Hannah, this was so meaningful to me!

The happy couple

First dance

Introduction as man and wife

The stage with all 22 people in our wedding party

Best man's (my brother Jeremy) toast. Jer thanks for all that you did for us, even with very little sleep due to working night shift you were still the best best man ever!

and honeymoon pictures:

This is us in the lobby at the resort. They were all decorated for Christmas

This is us on Paradise Island. We went snorkeling there and the water was beautiful, but the weather was not, it rained off and on all day.

What a good reader! Lew read 1 1/2 books while we were away ;)

This is Lew on our balcony. We had the most amazing view. You can see the Ocean to the left and we could see most of the resort from our room.

We were able to go horseback riding through a mountain trail. It was so much fun, it took me a while to get over the fear of going fast because I thought I would fall off! But once I got the hang of it I didn't want to get off.

A few friends we met on our trip

Yup, another friend we met. We're weird, I know.

Us on the balcony after a long day in the sun (note the sunburn)

Feet in the sand

Us after a long morning of horseback riding.

Well we will soon be back to our regular posting. We will also plan to post some more pictures when we get them.