It was a JOYOUS morning.

Christmas morning, 2010, that is.

After attending an awesome church service on Christmas Eve, we arrived home to find a genuine Christmas surprise that actually stopped us in our tracks.  It literally took our breath away.  Completely unexpected, it seemed to come from Heaven itself.  Our surprise was so incredible that I've been struggling with how to put it into words, for fear that my simple description could never describe the overwhelming joy it brought to our hearts.  Candy Hearts is the place where our life journey is written...please stay tuned, because I need some time to figure out how to reach beyond the obvious and unwrap the true gift we found inside.

I had to work until almost 1 am on the 24th, but that didn't hamper my excitement and anticipation for the JOY that Christmas morning would bring...

JOY 
is the only word I can find to describe our beautiful morning...

Here's a little something that will bring JOY to your heart.
It's less than a minute long.
And JOY is promised...


Special thanks to Mrs. Harer for our awesome DOC Secret Santa gift!

And I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to
all my T1 Facebook pals who sent such an amazing array of cards.
We genuinely enjoyed opening each one and sharing your stories.
PS -- This card exchange was organized by the
T1 Hangout on Facebook.

I'll be back with more joy to share.
God bless,

Gluten Free Santa Goodies

What are you leaving out for Santa this year?

From the website A Year of Slow Cooking, we made some of these sugared almonds.

They make great gifts, by the way :) 

Did someone say....CHRISTMAS COOKIES?

(Who needs gluten anyway?)

I mentioned the other day about winning 1st place
in the Gluten Free Cookie Exchange hosted by Jules Gluten Free Flour on Facebook.
Our Christmas Snowballs use the same recipe as this one that Monica entered.
And we *LOVE* these pumpkin cookies submitted by Ami.

We have also been nibbling on some
no bake chocolate peanut butter cookies, made using gluten free oats.
And, finally, to come full circle...
Coconut Chocolate Nirvana Bars were the very first gluten free cookie I ever baked,
the day after Sugar's celiac diagnosis 2 years ago.

With that, it's time to cuddle up with the family, and seize the moments ahead...
before another Christmas season -- is gone completely.

Good numbers to all and to all a good night!
Merry Christmas, Everyone!