Celebration of Life
Sunday we celebrated ninety years we've been blessed to have our mom. She's an amazing woman, in that she still can get around and has a pretty sharp mind. Once in a while she's a bit fuzzy about dates and other issues, but at ninety she still can keep us in line. :) She still likes to dress up and is fussy with how her hair looks.

There are four of us from Mom and Dad's marriage, and from each of their second marriages, they produced six more children. From my dad's second marriage there is another child. That makes a total of eleven children! Every size, shape and personality keeps us on our toes. I will say, it's hard to keep track of birthdays and anniversaries. I'm guilty of forgetting several, but I'm always forgiven. Thank goodness.

I remember when my mom used to lift our spirits and jitter-bug for us! Her dancing completely slipped my mind. She still loves music and can move to the beat. My grandfather, among other things, taught singing lessons and music. As a young woman, he taught my mom to play a mandolin. I asked her what year she learned, but she couldn't remember. Said she was probably eleven or twelve. My grandfather was also a minister and lived close to Cherokee, North Carolina. Mom said today, the Indians sent one of their council to ask him to travel to Cherokee to preach for them. I think that's pretty cool. She says the church is still there, located along the river. I'd love to see it.

So many memories are left behind if we don't take time to ask questions and hold those memories close. I believe love of family and traditions are important to pass to our own children.

Feeling blessed today.

Many thanks, and courtesy of Kristina Knight, for allowing me to post her Slow Cooker Chicken Soup. This soup is delicious. As soon as I read it on her blog Tuesday, I ran to the grocery and purchased the ingredients. After the chicken baked, the crock pot was filled in a matter of minutes. I pulled some cornbread muffins from the freezer, so dinner tonight is done! Kristina's right. The whole house smells terrific. If you like Chicken Soup, this one's a winner.

Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

by Kristina Knight    http://www.kristiknight.blogspot.com/

We've been making this recipe in my family for a lot of years. My mom created it first, and we call it Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo - but since it's 1) not spicy and 2) doesn't have rice and 3) doesn't have sausage or other Cajun stuff I thought I'd just re-name it for this blog. Don't wanna be falsely advertising ya know!

I love this because I can throw the ingredients in a crock pot in the morning and by dinner the whole house smells mucho-yummy! Try it on a rainy day - I think you'll love it!

Ingredients:
1 can of chicken broth
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
4-5 stalks of celery, chopped up
4-5 large carrots, chopped up
1 onion, chopped up (this isn't mandatory, if you don't like onion don't include it)
4-5 chicken breasts, shredded (if you prefer dark meat, use thighs instead)
1 handful of Angel Hair pasta, broken up

Directions: Bake the chicken at 350 for 1 hour, allow to cool - you could even bake the chicken the day before, if you have a super busy day planned. Once cooled, shred up the chicken. NOTE: You can leave the skin on or take it off. Either way works. Toss the soups, celery, carrots and onion in a crock pot and stir. Add the shredded up chicken. NOTE #2: if it doesn't look like you have enough pasta, add a bit more. Put the crock pot on low if you're slow-cooking all day, on high if you only have 3 or so hours, put the lid on the crock pot and forget it.

Hope you enjoy the soup. I left out the pasta, because we're having cornbread, but added onions. We're an onion eating family!

I hope you make some memories today.

Until next time, I wish you butterflies, music and love.

Carol DeVaney