Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 from the West Coast Wagners! We hope that you were able to welcome the new year with gusto. We are looking forward to 2010 and experiencing all that God has planned for our family.

In lieu of a traditional resolution, Yours Truly decided that I would try the suggestion to be mindful of a specific "word" or "theme" throughout the course of the year. Not able to decide on just one, I settled on two, seemingly very different, words: 1) joy and 2) discipline.

Joy because I've come to a place in my life where I can confidently say I have true joy. This joy is not based on the world's definition; it's not a never-ending happy feeling based on life's circumstances. The joy that I'm referring to is only given from Jesus and is the "ability to exceedingly rejoice" no matter what comes your way. I can honestly say that I have deep joy and peace, a contentedness in the Lord and all that He has given me. Throughout 2010, I want to be mindfully aware of the joy that God has given me, regardless of emotions, prosperity or trials.

Discipline has been the other word on my heart as of late. It's a characteristic that I need to give better attention. According to my dear friend Webster, discipline is "training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character". While I'm far from perfect in my mental faculties, the discipline to which I'm referring is more focused on my character. Throughout the year, I'd like to reflect on ways to be better disciplined:

• In the use and management of my time
• In my spiritual walk and study of the scriptures
• In physical activity and healthy eating habits
• In my approach to parenting

All that to say, in 2010, I will strive to be mindful of the joy that comes from the Lord and will do my best to encourage others to do the same. And, while I hope 2010 is not a year full of BEING disciplined, I personally hope to cultivate better spiritual discipline in my life.

Is there a word or theme that YOU want to focus on this coming year?

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

We hope your day is filled with the love of family and friends.

May we all remember the babe who humbled himself

and began his life in a lowly stable.

As our Little Miss likes to say, Happy Birthday Jesus!

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

Christmas Dress 2009

As mentioned last year, one of the joys of having a little girl is finding just the right Christmas dress. I have to take advantage of this time as there are only a couple more years before the Little Miss will likely get too independent to humor her mommy's fashion tastes.

I think the Little Miss looks adorable in her simple red velvet jumper dress. To top it off, the dress cost a mere $3.00 as a previously-worn bargain! I was tempted to buy a second holiday dress because this one was such a great deal. I had just enough will-power to hold off but I've already got my eyes on a new dress for next year! Just waiting for the post-Christmas sales...

(Sorry Mr. Wagner, it won't be quite the deal that this outfit was but think of the $$ we saved this year. A girl has to do what a girl has to do, you know!)

Slippin' Up

If you thought accidentally wearing my slippers to the Little Miss' gymnastics class (twice) was bad...

My slippers decided to repent as they attended church for the very first time today. Yep, just a mile out from the sanctuary I realized that I still had on my beloved Haflinger slippers. Mr. Wagner wasn't about to turn the car around and drive home just so I could retrieve more fashionable footwear. Slipper-clad and all, I strode [un]confidently into church. This could be a trend in the making. I'm certain college students who noticed were thinking, "I've got to get myself a pair of those shoes. That gal is just so cool!" Like, totally.

Christmas Goodies

Every year during the holidays we do like many of you, make (and ingest) a significant number of Christmas goodies. I'm certain that Jesus wants us to enjoy his birthday after all which means it's just fine to enjoy the sweetness of the month. Plus, if you give a lot of treats away, you're sharing the calories...umm, I mean...love of the season.

Who doesn't enjoy family traditions of special treats during the holidays? In our family's history there are thumbprint cookies, snowballs, peanut butter balls, Santa's buttons, fudge, sugar cookies...the list goes on and on. I baked many of the above last year to give away to neighbors and co-workers. This year, I decided to simplify and stuck to two tasty holiday treats.

My favorite of all favorites are Chocolate Peppermint Bars. This recipe comes from Mr. Wagner's late Grandma Lola. I remember a friend's mom in high school making similar treats and was ecstatic to find out that they are a Wagner family tradition.

Oreo Cookie Truffles were a first for me this year but will be part of our ongoing family tradition. These are pretty, tasty, and even better...super easy! Happy baking!

Chocolate Peppermint Bars

Brownie Crust:
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
16 oz can of Hersey's syrup
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbs milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
green food coloring

Ganache topping:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter

Mix together the brownie ingredients and bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a greased 9x13 pan. Allow to completely cool. Beat the frosting ingredients together, adding several drops of green food coloring to reach the desired light green color. Frost the cooled brownies. Melt together the chocolate chips and butter, stir until smooth, and then spread over the frosting layer.

Oreo Cookie Truffles

1 lbs of Oreo cookies
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 lbs white chocolate chips

Crush cookies until they are fine crumbs (I ground them using a food processor). Mix crumbs with cream cheese until well combined and a stiff dough forms. Roll into small balls and refrigerate or freeze until firm. Melt white chocolate chips over low heat or in the microwave. Dip Oreo balls into the chocolate and place on waxed paper to dry. These can be sprinkled with chocolate jimmies or melted milk chocolate for decoration.


What are YOUR favorite holiday recipes?

Midwest Part 2: Grandpa's John Deere Girl

While a few weeks have now gone by since our trip to visit the Wagner side of our family, we couldn't resist a post about our little "John Deere Girl". First, we must explain that an assumed trait of all Wagner grandchildren is a love for farm equipment. Second, all Wagner grandchildren are required to learn to drive a tractor with their Grandpa.

Little Miss got her first experience driving the old John Deere "B" putt-putt tractor with her Grandpa at Thanksgiving. Based on her reaction, suffice it to say this tractor ride was the highlight of our girl's vacation.

Grandpa got the tractor ready and the trailer hooked up for our "hay ride". With Grandpa and our girl in the driver's seat, the rest of us climbed into the trailer for the ride (side note: the trailer is actually a manure spreader but they promised me they use it to haul logs rather than manure...good thing!).

Grandpa even let Little Miss take the wheel. She loved driving and did a great job. Our girl made both her Grandpa and her Daddy so proud.

Yes, a love for John Deere runs deep in the Wagner family. We don't even mind the green and yellow colors, as long as they stay on tractors or the Packers. We did have to counter-act the colors though with our fashionable and well-coordinated orange outfits.

(OK, so really we're dressed that way because it was hunting season and we didn't want to be targets for the local hunters. We still think the orange looks nice and must say, Go Beavs!).

Midwest Part 1: A "Good" Little Mishap

We woke early the morning we left for our Midwest family vacation in order to catch the airport shuttle from our hotel. Being the careful, meticulous people that we are, we had our girl set to go and our luggage ready to load just as the driver arrived. Mr. Wagner then rushed back to our hotel room to lug the car seat down while Yours Truly gave our excessive luggage to the driver to load. We all settled into the full shuttle and minutes later, were unloaded like a herd of cattle at the terminal. It was only during the commotion of unloading that we realized that we'd left our sole carry-on bag in the lobby of the hotel (OK, I admit...it was actually me who left the bag). Mr. Wagner was kind enough to keep the blame to a minimum as he jumped back into the shuttle to retrieve the bag while the Little Miss and I stayed to check into the flight.

Little did we know at the time that God had a plan all along. As Mr. Wagner was profusely apologizing to the driver on their way back to the hotel, the driver replied something to the effect of "Oh, don't worry about it. You can only imagine the things that people leave. I've had to go back to the hotel to retrieve wedding rings...you name it!".

Wedding rings? Really? Ummmm...Mr. Wagner looked down suddenly realizing that he'd taken his off in the hotel room and it was not on his finger. Yesiree, I like to think that God allowed my bag-forgetting-mishap just so my dear hubby would have the opportunity to go back and retrieve his symbol of wedded bliss. It was a good thing because Mr. Wagner couldn't exactly hold a grudge when he got back to the airport...

Don't you just love when God shows His sense of humor?

(As for the flight, yes indeed, we all still made it on time).