This is nothing special, well to you anyway. I'm not a scrapbook type, or a baby book writer, or even a picture printer. I'm terrible at recording memories. This blog is my attempt at holding on to some of my life as a Christian, a wife, and a homeschooling Mom of 5. I am a country girl that lived in a big city for 14 years, and moved to the Deep South for quiet, quaint, small town living.
Troy wrote this for one of his published articles. It has been a very long week for the Stouffer family, but one with a very powerful, amazing ending that God provided. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 72 years of marriage, Leonard and Ray Ethelyn Stouffer simply refused to be apart. At 7:10 P.M., December 29 my grandmother passed away, followed shortly thereafter by my grandfather at 9:35 P.M.
Early last week, my grandmother was placed under hospice care and a hospital bed was moved into the living room of their apartment. I saw them both on the morning of Christmas Eve and they were happy and talkative. On Christmas night my grandfather had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital where a catheterization was performed and revealed that three arteries were completely blocked and a fourth had minimal blood flow. The cardiologist believed that he had less than a week to live. He was moved back to their apartment to be near the love of his life.
They were both awake enough last evening to realize that they were together again. When the nursing staff pushed their beds side by side, my grandfather reached out and took his bride’s hand and held it. He tried to talk to her but she was not awake enough to respond, so he tried to get into her bed with her to hold her. He eventually settled down and rested.
As his wife’s breathing became more labored, his breathing remained steady. At just after 7 we noticed that her breathing had changed. My father took her hand and she took her last breath. At just after 9 the funeral director left the room with my grandmother, and my sister, Lisa, noticed that there were tears in the corners of my grandfather’s eyes. We also noticed that now his breathing had changed from steady to labored. My father took his hand told him that he loved him and that his wife was waiting for him. A few minutes later he opened his eyes and looked at my father and took his last breath.
This has been a long hard week of emotions. It is painful to lose any loved ones, but it is also painful to watch loved ones suffer. It has been particularly difficult to watch my father suffer the loss of both of his parents in such a very short time. The grief will subside, but I want to remember the love that they shared and his strength and love for his wife. By all accounts, he probably should have gone first. His heart should have given out first. I believe that he held on and stayed conscious enough to know when she had passed away. He refused to leave his wife behind. Their love was their bond and he would have found a way to survive as long as his bride lived.
As I left the retirement home this evening, I was struck by the love and the love sacrifice that my grandparents displayed the last few days and their entire married lives. I also realized that they were just following the example of the love sacrifice of Jesus Christ. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The day that God sent his Son to earth to become a love sacrifice for all of us. He endured our rightful punishment so that we would have the opportunity to accept His sacrifice and receive eternal life in Heaven. Ray Ethelyn and Leonard Stouffer are together in Heaven. They have met their Savior face to face. My prayer tonight is to follow their example of love in my own marriage, but more importantly to follow my Savior’s example of love. Is He your Savior tonight?
Well, the focus is really about Cows, but that leads us to talk about milk, and what milk makes. So we made butter again, but today we went a step further. We made cheese! I used this recipe for the first time and I am excited about how it turned out!
This is after the cooking, curdling, and initial straining. I just hung it on my cabinet knob for the 3 hours.
It is a very plain tasting cheese with a texture in between spreadable chevre and mozzarella. It is firmer than chevre but holds its shape more like mozzarella, with a little crumbling when cut. We sprinkled some kosher salt and dill for a little extra flavor and it was good! Good enough to share with a friend tomorrow when we visit! (the half in the container is for my friend)
So, after 15 mins of bundling them up, L&G managed to stay outside in the snow for about 45 mins (a record for them!). Virginia is more like me. 1. Doesn't seem to like the snow, and 2. She is a baby- ha ha! 45 minutes is enough for a good childhood memory, right?
For the last 3 years I have made vanilla for Christmas gifts. I don't really know if people like or appreciate it (with a couple exceptions) but I make it anyway.
There are instructions all over the web, if you are interested. I start in Jan/Feb and split a lot of vanilla beans and let them soak in vodka for the year. You really only need 3 months, but the flavor and smell is waaaaay better the longer it sits. I order boston round bottles with screw top lids and make sure they are clean.
Then I use cheesecloth and strain the beans and pods (this year I had to do it twice because Safeway had flimsy cheesecloth- hear that Safeway! Flimsy!) When it is bean free, I fill the bottles, wipe them all down, and put on labels that say "Vanilla, homemade by the Stouffers." If you are nice enough to get a bottle, please don't tell me you don't know what to do with it, or can you drink it? It is pure vanilla, as in what you bake with!!! One neighbor likes to pour hers in coffee and confessed she used the bottle up in a week! At least it is used, I guess.
George was so proud to read his name on his presents!
Well, the focus is really about Cows, but that leads us to talk about milk, and what milk makes. So we made butter again, but today we went a step further. We made cheese! I used this recipe for the first time and I am excited about how it turned out! 
This is after the cooking, curdling, and initial straining. I just hung it on my cabinet knob for the 3 hours. 
Then I use cheesecloth and strain the beans and pods (this year I had to do it twice because Safeway had flimsy cheesecloth- hear that Safeway! Flimsy!)
When it is bean free, I fill the bottles, wipe them all down, and put on labels that say "Vanilla, homemade by the Stouffers." 
If you are nice enough to get a bottle, please don't tell me you don't know what to do with it, or can you drink it? It is pure vanilla, as in what you bake with!!! One neighbor likes to pour hers in coffee and confessed she used the bottle up in a week! At least it is used, I guess.
