The Almaguer Six

April 21, 2013
by Kelli
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Gluten Free Banana Muffins {printable recipe}

It’s time for another food post! Of course, it’s related to breakfast again — our favorite meal around here!

I’ve been making these muffins for awhile now and the kids really like them (Kinley actually begs me to make them)! They have a perfect moist texture and lots of flavor without any of the gluten… and using some stevia helps to lower the sugar content! I think the combo of the oats and the coconut flour really make for the fantastic texture! It really is hard to tell these from the glutenous versions you might be used to. They are in the breakfast line-up at least once a week! Full of lots of healthy fats, fiber, and fruit they are a great, filling breakfast or snack. Use organic (or grass-fed) butter as often as possible to add extra nutrition and avoid the nasty/toxic hormones fed to commercial cattle. And to add some variety, feel free to throw in some walnuts or berries too! You could easily make these dairy-free as well, by using applesauce in place of the yogurt and all coconut oil (instead of the butter). Either way they’ll be delicious!

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I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! This recipe yields between 12-15 muffins depending on how full you fill them! Feel free to download and print the recipe card (keep it at 24% size if you want it to be the exact 3×5 card size) and enjoy!

April 1, 2013
by Kelli
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Easter

What a great day we had celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! As Christ-followers, we get to celebrate that fact every day of our lives… but Easter is an amazing time to reflect on His suffering, the price that was paid for us and ultimately the LIFE he gives us because He was not defeated by the grave.

God chose to come down at a specific time in history and become human, to live as us – to understand what it feels like to be human – to live a sinless and perfect life… and ultimately take upon Himself the full burden of the sin weighing heavy and on each and every one of us. Our frail and broken humanity was enough to keep us from a holy and perfect God… but His love for us was so great that He didn’t want to be separated from us… His plan – from the beginning – was to make real relationship between humans and a perfect God possible… by taking on all the sins we have/had/ever will commit and bringing them upon Himself. Jesus died while carrying those sins so they could be put to death.. and so we would not have to ultimately pay for them ourselves. He rose again so that we could know that He is who He said He is. A God that created everything we see and understand cannot be defeated by death itself. That’s a God worth worshiping. And that kind of love surpasses anything we can do, or anything we can comprehend. We can’t pay Him back. And in His beautiful design, the only thing He wants in return is simply … US. He wants our love, our trust, our faith, our belief in God the Son…. our everything. It’s a good thing too… since I don’t have a lot more than just myself to offer the God of the universe! In the end, the only thing that will truly matter is what relationship we had with Him.

Each one of us was created for a purpose — to have a relationship with the God that created every intimate detail of us… down to our amazing cell structure and specific DNA. Life is not the result of chaos arbitrarily coming together to create perfect order… such a theory defies all known physical laws. Instead, it is the result of an amazing artist and brilliant designer who got every detail right so that we could have this gift of life… and live and in a place (earth) that perfectly allows us to thrive and grow. God created us… He loves us… and He adopts us into His family when we choose to follow Him.

I hope you were able to spend some time today reflecting on Who created you… and the great price that was paid so you could know Him! You were known since before the foundation of the world… and God has a plan for you

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We got to enjoy spending the morning with our church family celebrating together… and then came home to enjoy some time as a family. The weather was a bit damp and cloudy, but the kids let me grab a pic of them in the yard. After naps we had a fun backyard egg hunt!

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Here’s some of our day via Instagram!

>>>>Myleigh’s participation in “Roaring like a Lion” in the main service (“My God’s not dead! He’s surely alive..”), party for Jesus and a petting zoo at church, and our egg hunt in the backyard<<<<

March 27, 2013
by Kelli
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Little Man of 5

Earlier this week we celebrated Mr. Man’s 5th birthday! It’s amazing how a quick 5 years can transform a squishy, chubby little baby into a very capable and active little boy. The baby years are now in his distant past (he thinks so at least), but his smile and contagious laugh have NOT changed and continue to bring smiles to our faces. He is a busy little guy who loves to play outside and always does his best to run the show… which isn’t always that effective with two older sisters and a demanding younger brother. When he can’t be outside he loves to play with his trains, cars/trucks or Angry Bird games on the iPad. He is doing really well in pre-school – learning lots and building friendships! He is an extremely affectionate child and there is no shortage of hugs, kisses and zerberts to be had when he is around! I really love that about him and hope it never changes (well, except maybe the zerbert part). We are so glad that God blessed us with this little man and we’re proud of who he is!

After school yesterday I asked him if we could grab a few birthday pics of him in the front yard even though it was a bit chilly (the weather was definitely too icky on his *actual* day). I had to bribe him a bit with some Easter treats, but he complied. I try to grab a few of each kid on their day so we have some sort of a record! They love to look back at our blog and see their own special post. I didn’t even make him change clothes from what he wore to school because it captures exactly who he is… An active little boy who shreds the knees out of EVERY pair of jeans he owns. “Hey mom, can I climb this tree?” –Yep!

Photos are the sole property of thealmaguers.com and cannot be downloaded or redistributed.

March 7, 2013
by Kelli
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Great Friends

God has blessed us with many wonderful people to do life with… and we are truly grateful. We’ve also been blessed by amazing friends who have been a part of our lives for years.. living far away now.. but are still so close to us in all the ways that matter. A couple of those great friends were just here from NH to visit their family (and us, of course!) and we got to spend some time with them. It makes me miss them more after being able to see them in person! We decided to do a play date and take a morning off school… I’m glad we did because the sun was actually shining (after days of cold rain)! The kids had an especially fun day playing on the new fort/zip line that Grampy built. Unfortunately, us grown-ups forgot to take a turn! I actually remembered to bring my ‘real’ camera though.. so I got some pics of the kids having fun! We can’t wait until we get to see them again next time!

February 14, 2013
by Kelli
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Love, Always

A quick { Happy Valentine’s Day } from our family to yours Like most of you, we try to show and celebrate our love for each other every day, not just on a special holiday… but it’s definitely fun to set aside a special day when you specifically think about how much you love and care for others~!

I hope that even if you don’t have a special valentine of your own this year, that you will remember a true love that will never leave you! “For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Love,

The Almaguers