Easy YUMMY Pumpkin Muffins. . .

Well, thanks to my good friend Kayla I got this REALLY simple YUMMY recipe. :) She is a Pampered Chef consultant so if you need anything you should visit her website. This happens to be a Pampered Chef recipe. These are going to be a Thanksgiving treat along with cream cheese spread to go along with them! :)

Ingredients:
1 can solid pack Pumpkin (small or large)
1 box of Spice Cake Mix, dry
Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture

Directions:
Mix the can of pumpkin and dry cake mix. If its still a little lumpy its okay. :) Place in desired baking dish, sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture on top and bake to the cake box directions.

Keehn Adoption. . .Big News!!. . .

A Letter from the Keehn's  :)

Well Friends & Family........

God has used 2 & 1/2 years of praying and working to move mountains and open blocked doors!! Today we got a phone call from our lawyer in South Africa to tell us that we were officially accepted for the 1st adoption by Americans of a South African child! YES, that is right... we have been "referred" to adopt Mfundo, a 2 & 1/2 yr boy from the Durban area!!

Yes, our heads are spinning! Yes, we still need your prayers as we get ready to travel to South Africa in a few weeks to pick up our new son!!! Yes, we are excited and anxious and overwhelmed! We believe Mfundo was born about the exact same time we began the adoption process... amazing to see God's hand in all of this!

We will tell you all soon the full story of Mfundo, but we wanted to get you a quick praise report and ask you to pray the adoption will be finalized in a smooth and orderly process. We will give you more specific prayer requests soon... but for now - please join us in praising our Amazing Heavenly Father!!

Thanks for all your prayers!

Dave & Debbie Keehn

Newest update on your prayers for the Keehns!! 10/2/09. . .

Hello friends and family…

We wanted to give you an update about the process … we have a couple of “Praise God” to pass along…

First, Praise God we have received our official extension from the US Immigration to allow us to continue this process for another 18 months. While we certainly don’t want the journey to take that long… it is a relief to know that today (which is our original deadline) is not the end of the road when we are so very close to making this a reality!

Second, many of you have been asking about how the meeting in South Africa went… let me pass on the Praise God from our lawyer in South Africa:
I cannot tell you how much I value and appreciate your prayers and those of your intercessors. I thank God for you. Realizing that it was literally walking into the lion’s den, Brad (my husband) joined me for physical protection and spiritual cover... and I don’t know what I would have done without him. Our meeting was extremely fraught and unpleasant, but fruitful, with the way forward looking bright, thanks to the miraculous intervention of our Abba Father.

So, we are still waiting for the official referral to a child – so your prayers are still very much needed to open doors and allow God’s grace to rain down on the officials in South Africa. As I passed on to you last time – since we are the 1st family seeking to adopt … we are “causing waves” in the legal circles of South Africa. Please pray for a calming of the waters and an open spirit to help the orphaned child of South Africa.

Debbie and I really believe God has lead us this far – but going this slowly - for specific reasons… so thank you all for your prayers and as soon as we know something … we will pass it along to you!!!

Love you all,

Dave and Debbie Keehn

28. . .

So, in celebration of my 28th year here on this earth Bryan and I figured that we would go to San Diego for the weekend. Well, really it all started because my friend from high school and jr high, Jace, got married down there so we made a trip of it!! :) My mom belongs to a time share so we used some of her points and went down for 4 days and 3 nights! It was so nice to just relax, have no real schedule and yet feel like we did something with our time away. :) We went down on Saturday and went straight to Jace's reception it was really nice and it was nice to see old friends again. I love my husband because he puts up with my chatty nature and how I like to talk to EVERYONE!! :) (of course this isn't the only reason I love my husband.) On Sunday, we slept in late and then had breakfast and we made our way to Coronado Island. Once on Coronado we went to our FAVORITE restaurant down there Miguel's Cocina! Mmmm Mmmm Good!! We ended our day with a drive down the beach and the movie InkHeart and a walk around downtown. :) On Monday we did the slightly lazy thing again and I made breakfast again and then we met our friends, Chris and Laura, who happened to live a mile from our resort and we walked Seaport Village and then had dinner together. :) Then Tuesday we had to be up and out by 10am so after that we went and hung out with Laura and Megan (her daughter) and then took them to Chris' work on the way to my cousins house. :)

I was sooo excited to go see my cousin and his wife and daughter! My aunt and uncle happened to be there as well which I was just thinking it was cool they were there. But my aunt is the sly sneaky one she is!! :) She had bought me a cake and the whole nine yards! Karla made dinner and Aunt MaryAnne bought the cake! :) And Dalila was cute as ever. So there is my birthday weekend in a nutshell. :)

Update on the Keehns. . . Urgent Prayer Needed. . .

Hello friends and family…

Would you please join us in praying tonight (TUESDAY) - which would be Wednesday South Africa time - for our lawyers meeting with the head of adoptions. This is a very important meeting and I am copying what our lawyer, Debbie, wrote to us. Her ministry has been experiencing much spiritual warfare the past few weeks and as we are now at the final door to be opened for this adoption to happen, she is letting us know that there may be opposition. Nothing is too big for God!! So please join us in praying that this journey will have a great new beginning for us - to be able to travel to South Africa soon and receive a child to bring home to the US… Here is her email so you know how to pray better.

Thanks,

Dave & Debbie

Please pray for us tomorrow - Brad and I travel to Pretoria (again) to meet with the new Head of Adoptions for South Africa, Margot Davids. I mentioned to you that I had previously worked with her on the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund matter. I am believing for an opportunity to share my testimony with her and the words God has recently given me regarding our ministry to children. We have been under a lot of spiritual attack in the past two weeks and I would covet your prayers for open doors and receptive hearts.

As well, of course, for permission to make the referral to you! You need to know that the court declared the child to be adoptable, now what we need is for the Central Authority to confirm that. The application has caused waves in legal circles around SA as it is the first time an application has been brought on behalf of a child asking for the court to consider where the child's best interests could be met, and we have put forward a report of a social worker proposing adoption...

Keehn Adoption Update/Prayer Letter. . .

I am so excited for my old youth pastor, his wife and family!!!  They are almost finished with the adoption process for a child from South Africa!!  Below is the letter they posted this morning and the prayer requests if you feel led to pray for them!! :)  So excited!!  :)

Here is the latest...

Many of you know that this journey to open up South Africa to Americans to adopt has taken 2 and 1/2 years ... the journey is almost over!!!

Last Friday, Debbie and I went to the South Africa consulate in Los Angeles to have them authenticate our dossier. This dossier was requested mid-July and needed before our lawyer could continue the adoption process. Normally, this dossier would be gathered during the 2 year process to gain approval... we did it in 3 weeks!! The stress of that adventure was huge and we finally finished and got it approved at the county level, state level, US state dept level and finally South Africa gave it their seal of approval. We fedexed the package to South Africa "priority" ... PRAY THAT THEY RECEIVE THE PACKAGE ASAP... because as soon as it reaches South Africa and is registered - we will be referred to a child! Yes, that means we have already been told they have matched us to a child, but we can't know anything about that child until they receive that dossier! PRAY FOR WISDOM FOR DEBBIE AND I AS WE HEAR THE DETAILS ABOUT THE CHILD AND THAT GOD WOULD FINISH BLOWING OPEN THE DOORS FOR THE ADOPTION TO BE A REALITY! 

So - we could very well be on a plane to South Africa in the next few weeks... but here are two logistical details to be dealt with.

1. Our pre-approval for the adoption from the US Immigration expires Oct 2, and we are applying for an extention to remove the stress of the lack of time before that date to finish the adoption. This should not be an issue - we have filed the necessary paperwork and are waiting for a report from the Justice Dept so an update can be issued to our home study which would then allow the extention to be granted. PRAY THAT THIS REPORT COMES QUICKLY AND THAT WE CAN GET THAT EXTENTION ASAP SO WE CAN GET ON A PLANE TO GO PICK UP THAT CHILD IN SOUTH AFRICA.

2. PRAY FOR GOD TO PROVIDE THE ADDITIONAL MONEY to pay for all the fees. We have spent about $9,000 so far, have $7,000 saved - but probably need another $15,000-$20,000 to complete the process. - no one knows because no one has done this before!) 

God has taught us what it means to "wait on Him"... the waiting has been long and hard at times, but now that the finish line appears to be so close, PLEASE PRAY FOR STRENGTH TO WAIT A LITTLE LONGER. Nothing is a "done deal" and so God must still do all the work as He has been doing this entire time. I can definately look back and see God's hand in making this all happen in His perfect timing!! Please pray these prayers in agreement with us!!!

*Just in! Dossier was received and we are waiting for clearance! Detailed meetings are happening with our lawyer and other officials to prepare for us to come. :)

Thank you so much for your support!
Dave & Debbie

Hola. . .

For the very few of you that actually read this . . . I know it's been a while since I have posted anything. The last few weeks have been a little out of the norm and kinda crazy! There are definitely some big changes coming our way but what those changes are I just can't say out in the open just yet! ;) I know such a tease!

My birthday is less than a month away and I will be another year closer to 30! Wow, crazy to think I am only a couple of years away from 30! I always thought that was so far away! The other big thing coming up in the next month is my high school 10 year reunion! WHAT?? I have been out of high school for over 10 years?!?! That is just crazy talk! Recently I had a friend from high school over for dinner and we were going through the year book and remembering the crazy funny moments from high school! Like the "Spice Boys" and crazy rallies and the fond memories of classmates making class enjoyable and all the teachers that inspired you or drove you NUTS! Wow, that seems like it was sooo long ago! Then I was flipping through pictures on FaceBook of my youth pastor from high school and he still looks the same as he did 10 years ago and the pictures also brought back fond memories of all the youth events we did!! I do miss being a teenager and not really having any responsibility, oh to be young again!! ;)

On a more present note, Bryan "took" me on a date tonight! And when I say took I mean I told him on Tuesday that tonight was date night and that he was to plan it! ;) We ended up going and seeing Julie & Julia and getting Carl's Jr. The movie was good and I really enjoyed it but I love to cook so there was a great chance that I would enjoy the movie! ;) And as for Carl's Jr. I know it doesn't sound like a great date night dinner but I really did enjoy it! We don't eat out often any more so this was a treat! The burger tasted GREAT! But I think the best/funniest part about dinner were these two crazy men that were there. They didn't seem to know one another but were having a very lengthy conversation that was VERY loud so that everyone in there could hear them!! Their topics were very random and all over the place and sooo inaccurate it was CRAZY! They talked about regions of land, to politics, to religion and other uninteresting topics! We left as they were debating how the world began and I just couldn't help but laugh because the older of the two gentlemen was insistent on the fact that he KNEW how the Bible stated the world began and that there were two scenarios! Neither of which was correct! Wow, as Bryan stated at some point tonight, "Too much knowledge is dangerous, or in this case too much information!" That pretty much sums up our evening! I hope the rest of you have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!! :)

Sloppy Joes. . .

So, lately I have been really into watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay and last week he did a Throwdown with a restaurant named Schnipper's Quality Kitchen in New York City. Bryan and I really got sucked in and really wanted to try their recipe the best that we could considering they didn't give exact measurements on anything. So Here is my interpretation of their recipe:

Homemade Sloppy Joes:

Ingredients:
3 lbs. 85/15 Ground Beef
2 Cups Finely Diced White Onion
2 Cups Finely Diced Red Bell Pepper
2 Cups Finely Diced Green Bell Pepper
3 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 pkg of cheap white bread Hamburger Buns

Directions:
In a large cast iron pot (ceramic coated or not) cook the ground beef on medium high heat so there is no pink/red color left, do not brown just cook thoroughly. Once the meat is cooked remove it from the pan leaving most of the juices behind. After a majority of the meat is removed add in the onion, red and green bell peppers and sweat them down until they are translucent. Then add to the onion pepper mix the brown sugar and smoked paprika, mix together and make sure it doesn't burn. Once completely mixed add the meat back in and also add the red wine vinegar and worcestershire, mix thoroughly. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer the mixture for at least one hour (I did mine for 2.5 hours) stirring occasionally. The sloppy joes will taste best if you prepare this at least 24 hours in advance and reheat.

Serve generous hot helping on bun and enjoy!! :)

It makes probably at least enough for 15-20 sandwiches worth, depending on bun size. ;)