EVEN IN MY DREAMS!!!

Sooooooooo the other day I'm having this dream, that my sister and I are at Dillard's, shopping at one of their big sales. Well my sister goes to pay for her $2 item and the cashier says to my sister, "that'll be $6!" And my sister says, well it's marked $2  and the lady says, well yeeeesss, buuuuut we're adding on an automatic $3 fee for the big sale today.

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Soooooooooo my sister is like, well that makes NO SENSE Forget it I dont want it! And the lady says, it's too late, you can't leave the store without paying the $3 fee, plus the other two for the product EVEN if you don't want it now because someone else COULD'VE already bought it by now. 

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Soooooooooo they're arguing back and forth, the cashier is suggesting she just pay the $6 DOLLARS, the place is packed out with crazy shoppers, (Btw: I wasn't buying anything, sooooo it REALLY WAS a dream!!!;) Sooooooooooo just as security was about to be called on my sister, I wake up...

.

Annnnnnnnnnd the first thing I think is WAIT, $2 plus $3 isn't $6, IT'S FIIIIIIIIIIVVVVEEE DOLLARS!!!!Then I was liiiiiiiike OMW....

EVEN IN MY DREAMS...

Sorry, I havn't accomplished sleeping selfies-YET! Still working on that!!! ;)

I'M BAD AT MATH!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Soooooooo one year, right before Christmas Sunday, I decided that I really, really, needed to get my eyebrows done! I was like thinking in my head, I should probably wait til my next paycheck, buuuuuuuut that's after Sunday, annnnnnnnd I really want good eyebrows for Sunday!!! 

.

Soooooooooo I pull up to European wax center, and as I'm walking in, I double check on my bank app that I have sufficient funds in my back account, I have MORE THAN ENOUGH, sooooooo I go in and proceed with getting AMAZING EYEBROWS!!! 

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Once I'm done, I go to pay and my debit card is declined like 10 times!!! I'm liiiiiike WHAAAAT??? Liiiiiiike I LITERALLY JUST CHECKED MY ACCOUNT!!!! I'm like freaking out!!! What do they do to people that don't have the funds to pay for their eyebrow job that has ALREADY BEEN DONE??? 

.

LIKE OMW!!! It's four days before Christmas AND I'M GOING TO JAIL!!!

ALL BECAUSE I NEEDED GOOD EYEBROWS!!!! 

Buuuuuuuut heeeeeey at least i'll look good for that mug shot!!! ;) 

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Soooooo I don't know what to do, I'm actually wondering if they allow prisoners to take SELFIES for their mug shots, when the lady at the desk says, well you do have a $65 gift certificate in your account, would you like to use some of it towards your eyebrows today? 

I was like, I DO???

She was like, yes ma'aam! I'm liiiiike, WELL SURE!!! I mean I have NO IDEA HOW I GOT SUCH A LARGE CERTIFICATE IN MY ACCOUNT!!! Buuuuuuuuuuuuut honestly, I don't even care!! I don't at all question this blessing, i just take this as a sign that CLEARLY GOD DID INDEED want me to have good eyebrows for church on Sunday!!!  

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FAST FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS...

Soooooo I'm opening all my gifts and one of my gifts from my sister is a gift certificate to European Wax Center, i'm liiiiiiike OH COOL!!!! I can ALWAYS use one of these!!! She's like, yeah, they started doing a facial now and I thought you would like to do that, so I made it large enough to get your eyebrows and the facial together! (She knows I'm super into skin care!) Then she says, and you don't even need to save that gift card, because they ALREADY put it in your account when I bought it the other day!!!

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I was liiiiiiiike...Oooooooh...Sooooooooooooo THAT'S HOW I HAD A CERTIFICATE IN MY ACCOUNT WHEN I WAS THERE THE OTHER DAY!!!! She's like, Oh soooooo you already knew about it?! I'm liiiiiiiike, weeeeeeeeeeellll...FUNNY you should mention that, you see, I got my eyebrows done on Saturday, and RIGHT BEFORE I walked in, I checked my bank account and I PROMISE YOU I had sufficient funds in my account to get my eyebrows done, buuuuuuuut apparently, while I was getting my eyebrows done, and UNEXPECTED charge went through my bank account and I no longer had the money to pay for my eye brows! I was really freaking out because I didn't know how I was going to pay for it when the lady said I had a gift certificate in my account that I could use to pay for them....SO I DID!!!

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My sister just looks at me shaking her head...

 SOOOOOOO UNKNOWINGLY, 

 YOU ALREADY SPENT THE GIFT CERTIFICATE BEFORE IT WAS

 EVEN GIVEN TO YOU????

I'm just like, Oooooops!!!😇

She's just like, WOW!!!! 

AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

♥Mary Frances 

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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♪Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer♫ Had a very shiny nose♪♪ annnnnnnnd if  you everrrr saw it, YOU WOULD even say it GLOWED...♪

LIKE A LIGHT BULB!!!♫

"Did you know???..."

 Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system. According to Roger Highfield, the author of the book “The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey” the world’s most famous reindeer has a red nose due to a parasite. However, Rudolf’s relationship with his parasite is symbiotic: after all, the red nose illuminates the path through the winter night for the whole reindeer team.

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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

Seems rather fitting in these times that the world's story of Christmas is all about a reindeer with a VIRUS!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAAA!!

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 Merry Christmas! 

Let your light still shine brighter than a reindeer with a parasite!!!! Hee, hee!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

If my mom was Rudolph!!!

Soooo one day, while my mom was alive, her and I were doing 

some Christmas baking at her house. We're just mixin an stirring, listenening to Christmas music, havin a good sweet, mother/daughter time together. 
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All of the sudden, over the radio comes on the song Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer! I've always liked this song, you know, its just kind of happy and fun....WELLL...My mom is like, "YOU KNOW, I've NEVER understood this song!!!" [So i'm thinkin like oh great, here comes a lecture about how this song has NOTHING to do with the birth of Christ...(Which is TRUE...BUT...its still a fun favorite of mine)] so she is like, "I've NEVER understood this song" ...she pauses then continues... 
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"if I WERE Rudolph, her NYC accent kicks in like she never left 30 years ago, I would have just told THOSE OTHER Reindeers WHATS UP!!!" She's like waving flour in her hands, "I wouldn't of let them treat me like that!!! I just woulda let them know!!!" 
.
AHAHAHAHAAA!  I was  laughing soooo hard! "I'm like, "MOM, I'm SURE YOU WOULD HAVE!!! I'm SURE YOU WOULD HAVE!!!" (You know, MY MAMMA AIN'T NO ONES DOOR MAT!!! Trust me!!! ;)

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Sooooooooo I saw this and thought...

IF my mom HAD BEEN RUDOLPH!!!

Those Deers are BLESSED, that MY MOM wasn't Rudolph...

THEY REALLY ARE!!! BAHAHAHA!!!

I seriously have THE AWESOMEST MOM EVER!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Monday Christmas!!!

What do elves call…???

It's DECEMBER YOU GUYS!!! Let the Christmas FUUUUUUUNNNN BEGIN!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Red and white dough twisted together, infused with peppermint flavoring and little pieces of peppermint candies- Grandpa’s Candy Cane Cookies. 

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Shortbread dough dipped in milk then rolled in sesame seeds, cooked until golden brown. Best served while still warm with hot chocolate- that’s Grandpa’s Sesame Seed Cookies. As one takes a bite of this next cookie their mouth will be filled with a variety of delightful goodness. This cookie is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. It is filled with the sweetness of almond paste and yet salty from the taste of pine nuts- these are Grandpa’s Pinoli Cookies. The all around favorite cookie is a 3-layered, Neapolitan-Italian-flag cookie. In between each layer is a filling of fruit preserves and topped with a thin layer of melted chocolate. Once the chocolate is hardened they are cut into tiny, bite-size squares. We simply call these- Grandpa’s Three-Colored Cookies...
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Every year, at the end of November, my Grandfather, Joseph Mangino, a retired New York City Policeman, would begin his holiday baking. Grandpa was a big man with broad shoulders, a loud booming voice, chubby cheeks a big smile and a twinkle in his eye. Everyone loved his baking and looked forward to it. Then one year everything began to change. .
“I don’t know Franny,” my grandpa says to his daughter who is my mom. “I don’t think I am going to be able to send cookies out to everyone this year.”
“Why not?” Asks my mom.
“I just don’t feel up to it,” he says with a sigh. “I don’t think I could get it all done.” I couldn’t imagine Christmas without Grandpa’s baking. It was a part of who he was and a part of what made Christmas.
“We’ll help you make them,” says my mom. “You can teach the girls. They need to learn anyways.” 
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So the baking lessons began…The thing about Grandpa’s baking lessons was that it didn’t matter if you already knew how to bake. When you were in HIS kitchen, you did things HIS way! I remember standing in the kitchen one day after putting all of the dry ingredients in a bowl; I got out the hand mixture to blend it real well. I plugged it into the wall then stuck it into the bowl, which was on the kitchen counter.

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“Uh, uh,” said Grandpa. “Stick the bowl in the sink and then begin mixing it. This way if any of the flour comes out it will go in the sink.”
“Okay Grandpa,” I said. Next I got out the eggs and began cracking them into the bowl.
“Uh, uh,” said Grandpa. You gotta get a separate bowl and crack each egg individually to make sure the egg is good. Otherwise if one egg is bad it will ruin the whole batter.”
“Okay Grandpa,” I said. I began rolling the cookies out and putting the lumps on the cookie sheets.
“Uh, uh,” said Grandpa. “Those cookies are way to big. Make them smaller.”
“Okay Grandpa,” I said with a sigh. .
When I would get something right Grandpa would nod his head in approval.
“Atta girl Maria, atta girl.” Then when I would take the cookies out of the oven and they were just right Grandpa would smile. “Beautiful, beautiful,” he would say taking a bite.
So became our tradition, each year at Christmas time, my mom, my sister and I would take turns on different days baking cookies with Grandpa. .
“You gotta get this right Mary” Grandpa said to me one year as I baked. “I might not be here next year to show you how to do it.” I was startled to hear him say this.
“Don’t say that.” I said looking up from what I was doing. I couldn’t imagine him not being here.
“Well you never know,” said Grandpa. “Everyone dies some time.”
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We all knew that Grandpa was getting weaker with each passing year. His body was deteriorating from Parkinson disease, but we didn’t want to think about it. .

Then one day it happened. Grandpa died. I remember sitting in his recliner in the living room watching as early in the morning two men from the mortuary came to take his body away. A soft blue blanket covered him as the men rolled his stretcher down the hallway, through his kitchen and out of his house. It took a while for the reality of the situation to really sink in. Grandpa was gone.

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However the things that he taught us still live on...

As Christmas time comes around my family and I begin our baking. It’s a family thing and my brother John has picked up the role of BOSSING everyone around now. Through the laughter and teasing of who broke the cookies and who cooked them too long, I remember Grandpa’s words to me;“You gotta get this right Mary, I might not be here next year.”
“ Don’t worry Grandpa. I promise, I am going to get it right!” I start mixing the ingredients in a bowl on the counter. Then I remember and put the bowl in the sink. I pull out a separate bowl for the eggs and hope the cookies aren’t too big. As I take the cookies from the oven, I know Grandpa would be smiling, nodding his head in approval, satisfied in knowing that his cookies are still being baked. If I listen closely as I take a bite of a cookie I think I hear Grandpa. “Atta girl Maria, atta girl.” I take another bite and savor the taste. “Beautiful, beautiful!”

.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Mangino!!! 

Your memory and the things you taught me foreverrrr live in my heart!!! Biologically speaking, I may only be 51% Italian, buuuuuuuuut, my HEART is 200%!!! ITALIAN GIRL FOREVERRRRRR!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Single Saturday-guy advice!!!!

Years ago, I had a guy friend that was explaining a conflicting situation he was in with another young lady. He said, she wanted him to meet her at a coffee shop to just discuss something as friends. He didn't feel like this was a good idea because it may give people the wrong impression of them being in a relationship. Apparently, the girl was insistent, etc... (this is one of those girls that has IT'S COMPLICATED in her relationship status on every profile🙄) Now he was asking for MY ADIVCE!!! AHAHAHAAA!!!

.

To explain himself he said, MARY, If you saw me sitting in a quaint little café, talking with a single, godly, BEAUTIFUL young lady, what would you think? 

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I was liiiiiiike, hmmmmm, clarify to me, just how beautiful is she??? He says, absolutely, stunningly beautiful, even GORGOUS!!! 

Without hesitation, I said, WEEEEEEEEEELLLLLL... 

to be perfectly honest with you...

 it would be RATHER hard... 

to look at myself...

IF I WAS SITTING THERE!!!

AHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!

Yes, that was really, my whole thoughts on the ENTIRE MATTER!!! 

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

OMW! I seriously crack myself up!!! 

Oddly, he stopped asking me for advice....hey, don't ask me stupid questions, you already know the answer too...YOU KNOOOOOOOW you shouldn't be meeting up alone with girlZ BRO!!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

Italian Question!!!

Question: HOW DO YOU STOP AN ITALIAN FROM TALKING???

Answer: YOU TIE UP THEIR HANDS 🙌 

You knooooow, cuz Italians talk with their hands!!!

 Buuuuuuuuuuuut, I’ll tell you, 

im A LOT MORE ITALIAN THAN THAT!!!! It would take more than tying up my hands to shut me up…You’d have to gag me too!!!

😂😇😂😇😂😇😂😇😂😇😂😇😆😝😜🤣🙃🤪😉

♥Mary Frances :)

Ginty Thanksgiving 2023!!!

Ginty Sisters!!!! 💕 

Pie 🥧 is my favorite part!!!

My Thanksgiving Day outfit cuz by Thanksgiving Day I was bored with wearing fall colors!!! Lol 😝 

I had to make a little tray of lasagna cuz ya know… that’s what Italians be doing!!!

Juliana’s shirt said give me the mashed potatoes and no one gets hurt!!!

My full plate 

My plate when I was full!! 

Going for a walk after eating 🍽️ 

Bethany won 🥇 the turkey 🦃 hunt!!!

Cherry 🍒 pie 🥧 

 It was a really, really nice Thanksgiving day and then you always think, how could I have had such a good time when my brother just died and wasn’t there and you start to feel guilty but then you remember that they’re having a waaaaaaay better time than you could ever be having down here and that they would want you to have a good day too!!!! I’m so thankful that we have a hope that goes beyond the best and worst times down here!!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

You know you live in AZ when…

It’s just an AZ THING!!! It doesn’t start looking 👀 like fall here till it’s actually cold 🥶 which usually isn’t until after Thanksgivingish!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

The Case Of The Missing Kate Spade Shades!!!

Sooooooooooo my sister had gotten me these ADORABLE glittery, Kate Spade sunglasses for Christmas one year!!! I gave her only like A MILLION AND ONE hints that they were what I really wanted! I was pretty sure she was going to get them for me, buuuuuuuuut I wasn't sure if she had gotten them, I searched her room and closet for them and could NOT find them...it was kind of a mixed feeling, cuz I WANT TO BE SURPRISED with my gifts, buuuuuuuuuuuut I also want to know, buuuuut I want to be surprised too!!!                         

.

 Anywayz, much to my dismay, I did NOT find them, soooooo I was SURPRISED on Christmas morning!!! YAAAAAAAYYYY!!! I looooove being surprised, buuuuuuuut I'm pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to be surprised, because I'm ALWAYS WATCHING and paying attention even when it seems like i'm NOT, I really am!!!! I notice EVERYTHING!!! 

.

Anywayz, I ADORED MY GLASSES!!! 

They’re on my Christmas Present 🎁 Favorites list along with yellow beach cruiser bike and OF COURSE my favorite of all time, MY BLACK BABY DOLL… oh wait that was my 5th BIRTHDAY 🥳 , NOT Christmas!!!

I've worked really hard with taking care of them and NOT losing or misplacing them!!! Every time I take them off, I carefully put them in their case!!! Weeeeeeeelllll one day I was out shopping and I forgot to put them in the case before I got out of the car. Instead, I put them on top of my head and walked into Ross! I was on a hunt for a BLACK FUR VEST!!! 

.

Well after trying on several things, and NOT finding what I was looking for. I headed back out to my car. I got in, put the keys in the ignition, started the car, started blasting my Jesus music(The Abbott's CD, you guys NEED to get it!) As I'm bumping to my music about to back out, I reach on my head for my adorable-glitter-pink-gold sunglasses and gasp, they're NOT THERE!!! 

WHERE ARE THEY!?

I reach into my pocket, 

NOT THERE!!!

.

I check the seat next to me, 

NOT THERE!!! 

.

I check the floor of the car,

 NOT THERE!!!

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I'm more than disappointed with them being missing, disappointed is when a kinda cute guy flirts with you one time, then ignores you THE NEXT TIME he sees you, that's disappointed!!! Buuuuuuuuuuut, life goes on!  “Ain't nobody got time to dwell on it...there's always more cute guys, buuuuuuuuuuuuut THIS, this is MY ADORABLE-GLITTERY-GOLD-PINK-KATE-SPADE-SHADES!!! They can NOT be replaced!!! (Okaaaaaaaaaay they can, put who wants to spend $90 on sunglasses???;) soooooo anyways, I am truly beyond disappointed….

I'm devastated!!!

ABSOLUTELY HEART BROKEN!!!

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I'm about to get out and search the store, as I'm on my way out, I glance in the rearview mirror annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd WHAT DO YOU KNOW????

THEY'RE ON MY FACE!!! 

Yes, true story peeps, I couldn't find my sunglasses because,

I WAS WEARING THEM!!! 

.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Next time your missing your sunglasses,

 CHECK YO FACE!!! 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Fluffy Monday!!!

To say HAPPY MONDAY!!!!

Get it guys???? Fluffing in??? AND I"M FLUFFY AND IT'S PINK FLUFFY COTTON CANDY!!! Pink+Fluffy+Sweet=ME!!!  GET IT???? AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

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♥Mary Frances :)

Shout out to ALL THE FLUFFY MOMMAS out there!!! ;)

Single Saturday!!!

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Black Friday!!!

Soooooo it’s a tradition to hit the mall on Friday after Thanksgiving, I just love seeing alll the Christmas decorations and music and that’s when I officially switch from fall to Christmas outfits for the next monthish!!! 

So I mostly bought stuff from SHEIN…lol… buuuuuut my sister got me THE CUUUUUTEST EVER SWEATSHIRT from Anthropology-it’s green and in pink it says New York! Buuuuuuuut she’s wrapping it up and I can’t wear it till Christmas!!! Green and pink are like my favorite combo everrrr!! 

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Buuuuuuut there’s so many sale pushes I’ll probably be skipping the rest, I mean tomorrow is small business Saturday, Monday is cyber Monday, last Friday was Pink Friday which is basically the same thing as small business Saturday, I looked it up cuz PINK FRIDAY sounded like the coolest day everrrr!!!! Haha so yeah, I can’t buy EVERYTHING!!! Bahahahahaaa 

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The men in our church ⛪️ boycotted Black Friday and all went out shooting together!!! Lol 😂 

Happppppppyyyy Thanksgiving!!!

At least someone is thankful for vegans… Bahahahahaaa 
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Remember, THERES NO SUCH THING AS CALORIES ON THANKSGIVING!!!! Eat, eat, EAT and eat AGAIN!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Not YET!!!!

I’m one of those people that… CHRISTMAS does NOT START until Thanksgiving is OVER!!!! Do NOT decorate before!!!

Tomorrow I will be wearing a festive Christmas outfit in the mall, buuuuuuuuuut TODAY it’s still THANKSGIVING!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-boosting Wednesday!!!

What is THANKSGIVING???

Sooooooo quite a few years ago, when Odin was pretty little still, before Thanksgiving, buuuuuut after Halloween, my little nephew O was talking to me and he started on his own accord saying that Halloween was YUCKY!!! My sister said she never said anything to him but when they would go to the store and he would see the Halloween stuff he would say, ewwwwww! I don't like it,  HALLOWEEN IS YUCKY!!! Which, in case you didn't know, it IS indeed YUCKY!!! I 

.

Well one day when I was getting him ready for school in the morning, I asked him, Odin, do we celebrate Halloween?! He said, NOOOO!!! He shakes his little head, we don't celebrate Halloween! Halloween is YUCKY!!! Then he points to our fall pumpkins on the kitchen table says, 

WE CELEBRATE JESUSGIVING!!!

Isn't that the cutest thing everrrr!!! 

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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"Did you know???..."

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Thanksgiving: Remembering to GIVE THANKS, 

                      for all that JESUS HAS GIVEN!!! (Mary's definition;)

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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

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"Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:11)

Happy Birthday John!!!

Your first birthday 🥳 in heaven John!!! We tried to recreate your pizza that we did together every year buuuuuut of course it wasn’t quite the same!!! Buuuuuut it wasn’t bad, it tasted like the year you made pizza for mom’s birthday and I told you to pizza wasn’t your thing, stick to cheesecake!!! Buuuuuut hey it was still bomb.com, I only said that to be annoying!!! 😜 

And we released balloons for you cuz you always liked doing that for people, I told Grace, John always liked doing that, as long as he didn’t have to buy the balloons!!! Bahahahahaaa 

.

Abe made cheesecake and it wasn’t to shabby, Richard said it tastes like dad’s!!! Buuuuuuut I have to say, I’m working on cheesecake recipe that is going to outdo both of your guys cheesecake… it miiiiiight even get me a husband… IF I can find a single guy to actually eat it!!!! Bahahahahaaa 

Happy Monday!!!

Weeeeeeeellll that is THE TRUTH!!!

 I may not be a parent but this is soooooo TRUTH!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Sunday!!!

“ “Unto Him that is able He is to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20)

♥Mary Frances :)