Starting a new year

This past few months have just flown by so fast that we don't even know what happened. Just in the last 4 months we have changed job a couple times, dealt with the crazy holiday season at work, gotten sick, had district convention, 2-day assembly, had our congregation split & change meeting times (now monday nights & saturday mornings!) and had company. But we have made it through alive and are looking forward to this new year.
We also finally got a home phone and internet, so apologies for not keeping better in touch but we are looking forward to keeping up now. You can contact us through the blog, via email, skype, phone, xbox or instagram- i think that covers them all.
To those in Guam, we would love some "home" recipes! We have been trying to figure out how to make some Guam classics, but it's not going well. That is one thing we really miss- the food! And of course all our friends too!


We just had a recent visit from Gram & Pop Hammey so it gave us a little push to finish up some of our indoor projects on the house. It's pretty much finished now except for some trim painting. Take a look.....

laundry room finally finished -one grammy (the laundry queen) was proud of!

our dining/entry is getting there

the art corner in the laundry room

our guest room

The other day this is what i saw when i looked out the window: 

a buzzard chilling on our fence

Dessert tonight - homemade brownies with coffee ice cream, grammy h.'s hot fudge sauce and whip cream -yummy!

Here are the recipes for the brownies and gram's hot fudge sauce.

Brownies

2 cup white sugar
 2 tablespoons butter
 2 tablespoons water
 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
 2 eggs
 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon salt
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Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch square pan.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies set up. Do not over bake! Cool in pan and cut into squares.

Grammy Hammey's Hot Fudge Sauce
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups chocolate chips (nestle)
1/2 cup white sugar
speck of salt

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir continuously till just comes to a boil.
Add:   1-2 tbsp butter
          1 tsp vanilla (real)
Stir until incorporated. Voila!
Serve over ice cream or strawberries.
Makes about 2 cups.