ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL

 January 2, 2021:

Psalm 36:7-8 Such a beautiful Scripture. I am always going to be grateful. Today we had a few errands to run. One at the credit union. I have complained about them previously but today we met one of the nicest young men, Grant, he is left handed like me, so I am guessing perhaps that is why he is so sweet. (wink wink).

I feel blessed that although my honey has to return to his office Monday, we experienced some nice days this past week enjoying sleeping in, watching marathon CHRISTmas movies and being together laughing, talking and starting to listen to the bible on tape for 2021. 

I am thankful my sweetheart bought me the cutest outfit for my birthday. I Need to wear it so you can see the T shirt. It says "Rebel Heart". I have never been a follower. I have never fit inside the box and I am way too old to try that stuff now! So although I am law abiding citizen I rarely nod my head like sheep following the lead one off the cliff!

Grateful to have someone by my side that understands me and I understand him. We have done this life thing for nearly 37 years and we feel like we have gotten better at it. 

I was posting some humor and silliness. I am going to continue it here. My husband should have his photo next to the definition of those two words. He is an outstanding comedienne. It has rubbed off on me though the years.

 Ha Ha Ha! Target is a good friend of mine. I Love the 5% back on all purchases and the circle program where you get all  those little perks that add up to nice savings. Our kids gave us a Ring doorbell and my hubby said he is going to watch the packages that arrive at our door.  Ha Ha Ha! Today he received a huge package in the mail so he better watch his step with me! Ha Ha Ha. I was going to post the rest of the humor from 2020 here but decided against it. So many people have done complaining about 2020 not looking at the positive. Susan, a longtime blogger dealt with cancer in 2020. She is currently cancer free. I do not want to insult or disrespect her or anyone else. I would like to throw confetti and strike up a marching band for Susan. She deserves all good things. I was honored and grateful to pray for her and David both.  I did want to  mention, if you list your favorite Scripture here, I will write it in my 2021 Day Planner. I will also write your name next to it. I am hopeful I can collect 52 Scriptures at least to write in my day planner. Thanks Marsha for this great idea. 

Mark Twain was a smart man. 

Tarrah and Baby Ella are getting better and stronger everyday. All the prayer works and we all appreciate it. Please don't stop and thank you for thinking of them. 

Sweet dreams, restful sleep and a beautiful day to wake up to . I wish all those things for you and health and happiness. Thanks for stopping by. 

Gratefulness

 

1. Roger and Piper were having some quiet time watching T.V. Roger looks so serious but if you saw my blog post Phamily Blog you will see he is loving having this little girl around.  I can not get blogger to help me get to my linked pages. So annoying. But I am grateful to blog and enjoy it immensely. My problem is, I stop by for a visit and start catching up on that individual bloggers posts. HaHa, there goes my hour of commenting time. But I eventually get to where I need to go. I am grateful to be blogging and enjoying my phamily time too. Very blessed and thankful.

2. Grateful for evening snacks, celery sticks with cheddar  cheese on the go and olives. We usually have a light breakfast and bigger lunch on the weekend. Tomorrow we are going to make Italian sausage sandwiches. Y U M ! Grateful, Thankful, Blessed.

3. Grateful for my hometown page at social media. I find out so much good information there. Today someone posted that Tom, the brother of Ed passed away.,  I Knew Ed from k-12 and he lived with my hubby when they were single and cruising for chicks in the 1970's in Denver. His brother Tom was in the USMC during the Vietnam War era and served. He had also written poetry. Very sad to hear of his passing. Their dad was a good friend to my husband as well and he owned a Mexican restaurant in our hometown. All his recipes came from his mother who brought them with her from Mexico. It is rare to find good food like that today but our hometown has lots of great Mexican food places. Unfortunately when Tom Sr. passed away so did all those recipes as no one took over the restaurant. Grateful to have known them and blessed for good memories. Thankful for all these memories.

4. Grateful for a new week, hopeful for a good one and  getting more projects done. Thankful too and very blessed.

5. Grateful that today the sun was warm and we even opened a window. Around three o'clock in the afternoon it started to get cold and windy. So it was nice while it lasted. Thankful and blessed.

6. Grateful for CHRISTmas lights in our neighborhood. I repeat myself on his one but they make me so happy. I know where a few really special displays are. So we stop by there when we can. BLessed and thankful.

7. Grateful for leftovers and some crisp salad which I can toss together for lunch tomorrow. I Love quick and easy and it makes me thankful for food and blessed to enjoy it.

8. Grateful that night is here and I hopefully will rest well. I tossed and turned all night last night and slept about three hours. Thankful and Grateful.

9. Grateful to be able to pray. My friend's  hubby Carl was at his appointment at the VA and came in contact with someone with the virus. Please pray for both of them because she took him to the appointment. Thankful I can pray and Blessed that God listens so intently.

10. Grateful for this day. It was a good one, we worked hard and accomplished much. Now for rest. Blessed to rest and thankful for a comfy and warm bed. Amen!

Hopeful I will see this sun rise another day. Have a beautiful week and especially a very good Monday.

Gratefulness & Thankful

 1. Grateful that the past four days were amazing and we accomplished so much. I always get sad when my Sweets has to return to work. But I am happy he has a steady job with benefits and no matter what is in the future, I am praying we are in it together. Thankful.

2. Thankful for simple pleasures, a cup of tea, a holiday cookie, little things that add up to make the moments special and life simple, even for a moment or two. Gratefulness'

3. Thankful so many gifts are arriving and we are starting to get them wrapped and tucked away. My hubby is the best gift wrapper. I am just average. When I was a kid, my auntie Ang's sister Kay worked for a big department store, in Southern California. She worked in the gift wrapping dept. Do you remember those days? Gifts were wrapped beautifully and most as no charge to the customer. It is a long lost service. But Kay wrapped her gifts so exquisitely. I can close my eyes and see them. Simply beautiful. Gratefulness.

I wish I had photos of all the beautiful gifts Kay wrapped for my sister and I through the years. They were very similar to this google image gift wrap.

4. Gratefulness takes me back to more memories. What goodness and joy to celebrate with some favorite foods, traditions, people, places and simple joyful things. I am so very Thankful for it all.

5. My mom made the best cheesecake, with lemon jell-o no less! I still have a typed recipe card, courtesy of my cousin Joanne, who did those simple tasks for her mom and mine. I cherish such simple treasures. Very thankful for them and filled with gratefulness.

6. Gratefulness fills my heart when that first CHRISTmas card arrives in the mail. Many years ago my sister Pat's mother-in-law always sent us our first card of the season. She was a widow and always wrote a personal message inside. When she passed away I was very sad. My life long friend Karen is one of those people who sends cards early. I have not heard from her yet and am praying all is well on her end of the world (Idaho). My pal Sharon too. I feel sad sometimes because she sent the very first card to us, and always very lovely and usually from an African American artist. She had a stroke about 6 years ago and other health issues so I do miss her cards. This year I will find and send the absolute perfect card to her. Thankful for all the memories

7. Thankful: The photo on the card from my nephew Charles and his lovely wife Cheryl. I love hanging all the cards up and enjoy keeping them year after year. Call me a packrat, a hoarder, whatever, I am a very sentimental gal and would never discard one letter or card most everyone has sent to me. Do you know the feeling to find a card your mom, who has been gone since November 2001 , sent you many years ago? I do and it is a wonderful feeling. Gratefulness.

8. Gratefulness made me think of Jene. She is the younger sister of my life long friend Carole. Jene was a journalist and 8 years ago she moved her mom in with her and cared for her. These lovely ladies and their two other sisters lost their mom recently. The holidays are going to be tough. But Jene, who is an incredible storyteller told a story about their mom. She said when she was younger and moved to the big bad city, her mom would come to visit and always leave her a note that said, take care of you for me. She worried about Jene living alone. When they started to live together again, Jene said her mom would tell her I love you more. She said it to everyone who told her I love you.  Imagine who blessed Jene felt when she found a note from her mom with her favorite saying.   Jene says a mug she had made was not suppose to arrive for several more days but yet she received it early, in her sweet mom's handwriting are the words, I love you more, Mom. Talk about being thankful. I certainly hope some of the downsizers, Marie Kondo followers, minimalists will stop and think how important a tiny note should be. But I suppose Jene and I could just be sentimental mature fools. Gratefulness.

9. Gratefulness is spending the late evening in solitude and quiet (except for the hubby's light breathing and occasionally snores). Writing my posts and being able to enjoy a bit of calm and peace before a new day, a new week and new adventures begin. IN the words of my dear, sweet dad, God willing, tomorrow...(you fill in the blank. Thankful.

10. Thankful for so many little blessings and knowing I need to spend more time in quiet with my Jesus, to get my focus back on and remind myself this world is just one I am passing through. Gratefulness fills my heart.

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Pink Saturday and Reasons for Gratefulness

 

Please visit Pink Saturday.This is our 2020 CHRISTmas ornament from the three grands of Jeremy & Brittany.We love it. I am excited for the holidays. Nearly set for THANKSgiving. Sad Hannah and Jake can not join us this year. Otherwise very grateful for the other kids to gather.

1. With the nineteenth anniversary of the passing of my mother coming up November 16, I have been a walking zombie. Somethings are harder to pass on and loss of loved ones is a big one for me. My mom was always so easy to talk to. She knew exactly what to say. I will always miss that about her but would not wish her or any loved ones gone to heaven to this disaster we are moving into for 2021 and beyond. I do not believe the hatred with let up, the violence and constant mean and hateful words people pass back and forth. It's sad but I have to trust GOD as He has a plan unfolding and I want to be part of HIS plan to move upward. I am simply GRATEFUL.

2. Grateful for those precious grands and that precious ornament. 2018 I had two ornaments made with all of our names on it. I Need to update another ornament. We even had all our pets past and present. It was double sided and so sweet. Thankful we can mostly all be together during the holidays.

3. Grateful for hot tea and indoor activities while we have high wind and 20 and 30 degree temps. It has been an incredibly strange time. THANKFUL for all the good times we have.

4. GRATEFUL most of Thanksgiving is ready to be placed on our THANKSgiving table. A plump and juicy turkey will be the centerpiece with all the wonderful dishes we serve on the side. We shopped early and are good to go. THANKFUL

5. THANKFUL and GRATEFUL to have resolved some of the blog and internet woes. It went from bad to worse but things are slowly coming back together. So very GRATEFUL.

6. GRATEFULNESS is easy to find, you simply look around you and see all the tiny and sometime insignificant things we take for granted most days. I thank all of you who have shared your own thoughts too. I love seeing all the thankful and grateful shares.

7. GRATEFUL THANKSgiving and CHRISTmas are coming. I love the holiday music so I was singing in my mind, The CHRISTmas Song by John Denver and the Muppets, Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat... So very THANKFUL.

8. THANKFUL my birthday is just around the corner and I cherish all the good wishes from years past. When I turned 60 I received 60 different wishes and greetings from so many loved ones including some awesome bloggers. Anyone who knows me knows how much I appreciate good old fashioned mail. It thrills me. GRATEFUL.

9. GRATEFUL for mail certainly. Today I received the sweetest note from Char, a high school buddy, who sent a thank you for simply praying for her and checking in on how she was doing. She recently had to have her foot amputated due to neuropathy. She is a trooper, an amazing strong woman and she went through so many  hard losses too. I found the button I posted here and immediately thought of not only myself but I thought of Char too. IT seemed perfect for all the loss we have in our lived. THANKFUL.

10. THANKFUL for all the wonderful friendships here, the friends I have known for ages and all the rest of the friendships that I want to celebrate here now. I am still catching up on commenting so please do not give up on me. I am coming your way. 

Ten More Days of Gratefulness

 Starting out Ten More Days of Gratefulness with a single stanza from the famous poem

 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882,

The Midnight ride of Paul Revere:

Listen my Children and you shall hear,

Of the Midnight ride of Paul Revere;

On the eighteenth of April in 75:

Hardly a man is still alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

This poem has fourteen stanza's. It is a favorite of mine, although one I could not memorize in it's entirety. When Nick and Colton were small boys, they were very busy! Honestly, not much of that has changed through the years! They were wound up tight so I would give them a bath in chamomile and lavender and make them a cup of Sleepy Time Tea. It worked like a charm.  But I would start out reading this poem to them and before I finished this first stanza, they were asleep. That is simple Parenting 101 and Grandmothering at it's best. I had always been a lover of poetry and wrote much of it when I was young, foolish and often in love. I am a firm believer that someone still needs to teach the children something more in life then video games and electronics. 

A favorite photo of these two, from Noelle's 2000 wedding.  Colton had already torn a hole in his tuxedo pants and shed his jacket and boutonniere! I remember this capture like yesterday and I caught them for that brief moment before then ran off to play hard.

1. Gratefulness for these moments we catch on film and the memories that go along with them. Thankful for all these things.

2. Grateful for poetry, in case I have missed saying it out loud. I will always love it and think it is important for children to have some sense of it.

3.Grateful for the sense of taste. I use to love eating popcorn and especially all the flavored ones (i.e. cinnamon, chocolate, cheddar cheese) but then it started to stick in-between my teeth ! Now I Just love the smell. I like the scent of newborn babies and a well thought out Thanksgiving feast. I am very grateful for my sense of smell. Fresh bread, cinnamon candy, to name a few more , yum...

4. Grateful for conversation. I was working on this post and Noelle said why don't you stop by and visit Harrison. He was watching a movie so I headed over there, two houses in-between her house and mine. Noelle had the 2020 Target kids catalog for CHRISTmas.  I said why don't you look over this catalog and find some things you'd like? Of course, nearly every item was marked! He looked concerned, and then he said to me, Grandmother, why don't you take this pen and mark a few things you'd like too. HaHaHa! How well he knows me as the next several pages were filled with dolls and all the things most girls love. It was a fun conversation. Gratefulness.

5. Grateful for peppermint gum. To ward off raiding the remainder of the Halloween candy, I like to chew peppermint gum or drink peppermint tea. The smell is wonderful and I love the taste too. I am very thankful to enjoy peppermint in all sorts of ways. 

6. Grateful for my perpetual calendars. Many, many years ago, when my children were still small, I had a beautiful perpetual calendar from Elisabeth Elliot. I still have it today and there are biblical verses on it daily and it really lifts my spirits, in these dark and daunting times, it is so important for me even though it is small and old and worn. Thankfulness.

7. I am very grateful for H U G S ! Today it is hard to give others a hug but I still hug my kids and my honey.  Since it is hard to give hugs to others I do not know very well, smiles work too! Especially when  I am stopped at a red light. Even in the store, with a mask on, you can feel the smile popping up underneath someone's mask. It is a small token of kindness, gratefulness and something I am most thankful for.

8. You know I use H U M O R to stay positive! This came from a friend with four children, two of them with Down's Syndrome. This first grader should be a comedienne!

9. Today I am very grateful for Harrison. He has been a good buddy for over 4 years now. Anytime I have the chance to see him, it is a good thing. I am very grateful and so thankful he is in my life, today and forever. 

10. Grateful for more smells and more phamily. When Rebekah was getting ready to be married, a wedding she planned in a mere 54 days that ended up being the biggest blessing of 2017! She wanted some nice jewelry to compliment her wedding gown (which she refused to purchase, until it received her dad's approval!). I went to the jewelry store with her. They were selling these soft and cuddly bears. This guy is Avery Bear so since it is my honey's name I "Had" to buy him! Plus $7 of every Bear sold went to St. Jude's. You can not pass a bargain like that up! Seriously! I recently found this burlap pillow for my hubby. He loves burlap. He could smell it all day long! It is very reminiscent of his childhood. As for the statement on the pillow, well....that is who we are! We just roll with it. Grateful for Rebekah, our middle girl and of course her twin middle, her dad Avery! Thankful!

Day 10: Ten Days of Grastefulness

 

1. Grateful always and forever for selfies and kids who will take a moment to snap a photo of the sweet hubby and me.

2. Grateful the hubby will wear matching t shirts with me. He has always indulged my whims. 

3. Grateful to Betsy and her hubby George who get to travel to their favorite places and always wear matching t shirts or sweatshirts. They inspired me and Avery went along with me for the ride! They are good memories we will always treasure along with good friends who inspire you.

4. Grateful for Dan, a friend of the kids. We treasure his friendship too. He is into astronomy. So tonight, with the full moon, he brought his telescope over. I am here to tell you, seeing the moon, up close and personal, it is just unexplainable. Saturn was cool too, with its ring and Mars was really a tiny red dot. But those planets and stars and the moon and sun, they are amazing creations from an amazing awesome God. I am grateful for all they are

5. Grateful for warm days and cooler nights. Today was a perfect day to get things organized. Makes a person feel accomplished when each thing you have has it's own place. 

6. Grateful for our chiropractor. He is a great person with a good personality and without him, we would be limping and whining and crying in pain. He is a good grateful in our wellness journey.

7. Grateful that we should be able to fix our Kia in the next few months. It is a good car and I like to have it to run errands and do our drive up banking.

8. Grateful for an Addams Family TV marathon. One of our favorite TV programs. So incredibly silly, it makes you feel good. 

9.Grateful I found some really cool hard shell storage containers for my Princess House dinnerware. I am hoping to get more of them because I treasure my PH pieces. They were made at a time when pride was first and foremost in making good quality products. I have several different sets with lots of serving pieces too.

10. Grateful each day I live, I am more grateful then the day before. I use to grumble about getting older and somedays I still do. But I am at an age where I know truly what is right and wrong and what to expect from my sweet hubby. I am saddened when I see younger people just give up on their marriages or phamilies because it is hard work. We all go through rough times and rocky roads in life. I am grateful every single day I open my eyes and try to find the best in each day. 

  These words make perfect sense to me. I am very blessed. I have so much to be grateful for. I know how hard struggling is to make ends meet. So when we have better times I am  thankful for those times. I never take anything for granted because you never know when it can be gone, like the snap of your fingers. I hope you enjoyed this with me. Since a new month is looming just a few hours away, I am going to try to add something to be grateful for everyday in November.

Day 9 Ten Days of Gratefulness

 1. Grateful for a beautiful day filled with sunshine. It was a nice change from the cold temps we have had,

2. Grateful my Sleepy Tea and Mint Sleepy Tea. It is always our favorite to mix the two together before bedtime.

3. Grateful anytime my teacup is filled with herbal tea but also honey and lemon. My  friend Marilyn, a wonderful blogger who passed away before her only grandson  Oliver was born, gave me that mug. It is so special to me and I will always treasure it. 

4. I know I put my photos in the wrong order but I am grateful I spent a great deal of time with this little doll today. Her daddy is off W-Th-F so Harrison came to be my helped while daddy took mom to work with this baby girl. Colton came back and spent the day with us. It was very nice.

5. Grateful this handsome child still likes to spend time with me. He was the cookie maker. Witch hats equal four ingredients. Keebler striped  cookies, frosting, yellow and red food coloring to create orange frosting, and Hersheys kisses. He was perfecting the frosting on the kiss.

 

6. 5 drops of yellow food coloring and one drop of red makes orange. Frosting makes  good witch hat helpers.

 

7. These are the product of a four year old cookie maker. Harrison is quite patient and his only fault is he does like to eat some of the ingredients.

 

8. Grateful for traditions to create some fun at the holidays . These are good witch hats no bad witches allowed.  WE made these in previous years too. 

9. Grateful for blessings. My cousin Mary shared this at social media. Oh how wonderful the world would be if no one held a grudge or hated.

10. Grateful always for humor, which is a glue of sorts, holding together pieces of us as we travel through troubled waters or climb uphill battles. There is a person at Indian Hills here in Colorado that thinks up these great humorous sayings.  I hope they made you smile today. 

Day 8 Ten Days of Gratefulness and more

 1. Grateful for my new heating pad. It snaps around the front so it covers your entire shoulder are and ties on the front to cover your low back. It feels wonderful...sigh!

2. Grateful the sun came up and the temps are climbing. I was able to do a few outdoor chores and cleaning our tiny garden area.

3. Grateful the hubby still gets lunch everyday and brought half a sandwich with chips home last night. I had a nice lunch. 

4. Grateful we are who we are. I read so many things about so called important celebs and dignitaries. Would not trade my life to be like them. I like my simplicity best of all.

5. Grateful I have some easy recipes to test. I follow a gal from NYC who is a professional recipe developer. She shares lots of good stuff.

6. Grateful to know most everyone I keep in contact with is happy and staying healthy.

7. Grateful my Vitamin C with Rose Hips arrived today. They are chewable and quick to take.

8. Grateful I keep learning at least one new thing each day. Did you know there was a full moon at the beginning of the month and will be another one at the end of this month? It happens every 19-20 years.

9. Grateful I can see Amanda this weekend. She is my acupuncturist. It has been too long.

10. Grateful we have flex dollars right now to help offset the expenses that insurance won't cover. They would like you to remain healthy (so they say) yet they refuse to cover so many natural remedies.

TBT - it's Jeremy. He was always such a happy baby. His two boys are too. Brody is very kind and has a good heart, Blake is a happy explosion! He is all over the place, having learned to master the art of walking and running into mischief. Thank you Martha for hosting. 

I have loved this characters since I was a kid. They are timeless and priceless too. Nothing beats the Peanuts Gang. Do you have plans for Halloween? Relatives in Ohio took their three kids trick or treating today.  They must  have a neighborhood party. Schools use to do the truck or treat. I think it is sad. We will get treats for the grands and greats but we have always had such a nice crowd of little ones. I am not sure anyone will be out and about this year.

Day 6 Ten Days of Gratefulness

 This is Layla. I am going to tell you her story in my grateful post here:

1. Grateful that our daughter Noelle and her hubby Roger adopted Layla. She was a pure bred boxer. She was  so silly and funny and everyone loved her.

2. Grateful that when someone doesn't love a pup anymore, there is someone out there who will love them and cherish them. Because dogs and cats too, deserve the best of love and care!

3. Grateful for dogs with sweet personalities. I think boxer's look sad but it is their facial features not their personality Layla was so loved by Noelle and Roger and Colton. She came to them in 2009. She left them sadly June 14, 2018, a short illness that took her away so suddenly.

4. Grateful that Trek, who was very anti-social to other dogs, A D O R E D Layla! He was her protector. I must say, it was quite sad that he left us too soon also. I am always going to believe, he died from a broken heart. He adored this girl and he left us August 14, 2019, 14 months after the loss of Layla and ten days after our loss of Alastor Avery. You think 2020 is tough, we nearly lost our sanity in 2019. It was not a good year for this clan of caring phamily individuals. So 2020, you do not scare me. I have lived through hell on earth!

5. Grateful that these two were so smart! Once and a while, they would escape their yard, two houses away from us! They were smart. They sat on our front porch until I hurried the other dogs out into the backyard so they could come in. They sat like good little soldiers on the sofa until their mom or dad or Colton came for them. 

6. Grateful for good dogs and good people too. Grateful someone can love where someone else failed.

7. 

Grateful Scriptures speak of animals too. It is our duty to care for them.  The woman who relinquished Layla said she could not keep here at her new rental. But she turned around and purchased a pure white boxer she named Princess and dumped Layla and her things like a bad habit. It was very upsetting to myself & Noelle because a boxer is a boxer. The new dog would grow up too. Very strange and extremely sad. Roger was not a fan of getting a second dog. But Noelle persisted and he relented. Thank goodness as Layla adored Roger and climbed into bed with him as if to say, dude, I love you and I am sharing this bed with you. She did! 

8. Grateful for all the goodness in life. The kind folks, the pups and kittens and all the dogs and cats in between from tiny to giant size, that they move into our hearts and we allow it only to have our heart ripped from our chest when one of them is called to the Rainbow Bridge.

9. Grateful everyday for the stories I hear from friends regarding their dogs and cats. I even know a few horse stories too. Goats, yep, sheep, uh-huh! As human beings, we sure love our fur babies no matter their size, shape or color. W O W ! The world would be wonderful if people had the common sense that dogs and cats have! All animals in general, actually.

10. Grateful for the love of animals. I use to think people were strange saying, the more I know people, the more I love my dog. You know these funny sayings don't you? People would rather be with their cat or dog then people! Ha Ha Ha! I talk to the pups and cats all the time. Hey, I am here with them all day while the others are hard at work (or hardly working hahaha). Grateful my phamily all have jobs. They really do work hard. In fact Noelle and our son-in-law Zach work for the same company. They will always work from home, their productivity went through the roof since people started working from home. Take that 2020!!!!

I am hopeful you visit Aw...Mondays. To be honest I had completely completed this post yesterday and lost it before it was posted. So I recreated it from as much of my memory as I could for today. 

Love is....what a wonderful little pick-me-up each day. Grateful for this too.

Ta Da ...the strawberry sour cream pie. Noelle told us Caroline, or Gram "C" as Harrison calls her, made this pie. She said her sister sent her the recipe and she made it and it looked wonderful. We had strawberries, pie crust and sour cream so voila! It was lovely and seriously not as sweet as some desserts can be.  This was Caroline's grandmother's recipe and all I can is, thank you for sharing your phamily recipe with us Caroline.