Josi is one month old today! What a beautiful gift she is to our entire family. Carrie is such a great mama and Livie is a fantastic big sister! Josi is long and thin like her daddy. She LOVES outside walks and sleeps better on the days she gets outside. It would thrill Josiah to know she loves Alaska's outdoors.
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| Photo via Carrie |
Yes, she's discovered her thumb!
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| photo by Carrie |
Stacia and I have adjusted our one-on-one meeting time. We have done breakfasts for years. Michael watches GG while the girls and I meet. He meets with Alex on Friday afternoons. Michael's hard nights are making my 3 mornings a week out of the house (babysitting boys, each of the girls) difficult. We moved our breakfast studies to lunch...and the boys don't need me any longer. It's still a sacrifice for Michael but it's doable. Stacia has a Thursday morning class and I meet her at the cafe when she is done before her afternoon of study. LOL We aren't doing a prepared study in this season. We are simply looking at 3 verses of my choosing every week. LOL 
Ah - the bread routine. I was working on Brioche, something new to me, yesterday and today so the rhythm was a bit off. I was happy to see the dough really did rise over night. 
Stacia suggested I not try the braid until she was home to help. She's good at this stuff. The timing was off. I needed to punch this down, form the loaf and let it have a long second rise in order to bake it before our evening plans. I decided to attempt it alone. I started out well and then got lost in the cross overs. About 1/2 through I simply began tucking strands where I could fit them. ::snort:: 
Michael said it looked fine for a first try...and it tasted AMAZING. It's a rich dough with lots of butter, 4 eggs, couple tablespoons of sugar, and milk. It tasted very sweet to us - probably because our sourdough rounds have no sugar and that's been our only bread as it doesn't spike blood sugar levels quite like regular store-bought bread. I should experiment with monkfruit or swerve or something.
I could tell it was a hit as it looked like this in no time at all.... I'm thinking the dough without the braid could make a yummy slicing loaf - maybe decrease the sugar. 
I mixed up todays dough to make rolls for tomorrow. I hope they work as well. The Bosch is continuing to dance and leap all over the counter. I caught it mid-air today and decided to hug it for 5 min. Allie grabbed a photo as we laughed. We're brainstorming best ideas to contain the Bosch. YES, it's ALWAYS done this - since it was new in 2004. In times past there was always a child or two happy to watch it. 
ACF, Eagle River church, is hosting the women's If:2024 gathering in April. I registered today. I am excited to finally be able to participate in one of the IF gatherings. I've loved many of the speakers for years...Jenni Allie, Sadie Robertson, Christine Caine, Annie Downs, Toni Collier, Amy Bay, Jada Edwards, and the list continues.
We planned to meet Chase, Jamin, Jenni, Nolan and Alex at the movies at 5:45. This meant for an early dinner. I had brought Michael a Reuben home from the cafe. He insists these are the best in town - and he has tried them all. The sad reality is they are only on the menu in March. Dad ate the other 1/2 of my lunch sandwich and chips. The girls found leftovers and I settled for a piece of bread with a bit of all-fruit jam. Then we raced to the theater in Wasilla. On the way we found out Chase couldn't join us due to work. This was season 4, Episode 7 and 8 of The Chosen. It was excellent. They showed this season in three theater events before releasing it for free on the app. The first episode was emotionally devastating to a family in mourning. It was hard, but good. We missed the second episode. Tonight, we were prepared for the grief and joy surrounding Lazarus death and resurrection. It was well done. Going to the movies in a smallish town one always runs into people we know - which is an added bonus. It was fun to meet up. I was surprised when Jenni showed up to visit after the movie. Thursday is our Jenni night and movies just aren't conducive to visiting. Michael had invited her over while I was in the car. LOL
I leave you tonight with a photo of another grand blessing. This is Noah enjoying a post district convention treat - Chugiak/Eagle River's youngest Republican. Who says there aren't perks to campaigning?
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| Photo via Jared |
GRACE NOTES:
1. One-on-one time with Stacia.
2. Chance meetings around town at lunch and the theater.
3. Movies with the gang.
4. Thursday night visit with Jenni.
5. One month with Josi.
6. One more mile towards March's walking goal.
7. Having so many Gherkins in the area is blessing beyond measure.
