Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Alternative to Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

2 cans pumpkin (plus   ingredients for mixing)
1 yellow cake mix, with or without pudding in the mix
1 cup pecan pieces
2 sticks butter, sliced into one teaspoon pats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 glass baking dish by spraying with a vegetable or canola spray. Prepare pumpkin per instructions on can. Pour mix into baking dish. Sprinkle DRY cake mix evenly over top of pumpkin mix. Put pecan pieces all over top of cake mix. Put butter pats over top of other ingredients, covering all. Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until golden on top and pumpkin is set. 
Great warm or cold!

The Sacrifice

As I was passing by Florence National Cemetery 2 years ago, Emily, (who was 6 at the time) asked me, "What is that place and why does it (the tombstones) all look the same?"


I explained to her that it was a cemetery for those who served and or died in the military while defending our country and others for what is right and just.


Emily got really quiet and as I watched her deep in thought in the reflection of her window, she whispered to herself in a humble yet solemn hushed tone, "They died for me...the didn't even know me."


I was moved to tears witnessing my daughters understanding of their sacrifice and simply answered just as quietly and humbly, "Yes they did."


God Bless all who have served and thank you for your sacrifice, you will never be forgotten!

The Final Inspection

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint.

'I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

'But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

'And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

'I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

'If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.'

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown~

Sweet Hawaiian Crock-Pot Chicken

SWEET HAWAIIAN CROCK-POT CHICKEN--EASY AND YUMMMY!!

2 lb. Chicken tenderloin chunks
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce

Combine all together, cook on low in Crock-pot 6-8 hours...that's it! Done! Serve with brown rice and you have a complete, easy meal!!

What is a Veteran?

WHAT IS A VETERAN?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in their eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg, or perhaps another sort of inner steel; the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She-or he- is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years at Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL!

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into MARINES, and teaching them to watch each others backs.

He is the parade riding Legionaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp, and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary yet extraordinary human being - a person who sacrificed some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice their's.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, the greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say THANK YOU. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were rewarded. Two little words that mean a lot "THANK YOU"!

Author - Father Denis Edward O'Brien USMC

Contributed by Don Warhurst

Veterans

VETERANS

When we gather around our flag,

our heart beneath our hand.

A prayer should be on our lips

for the veterans who took a stand.

On the ramparts of Fort McHenry,

the bloody battlefields of ol' Bull Run,

atop of San Juan Hill,

the muddy trenches of WWI.

They stood on the decks of destroyers,

hunting the U - Boats down.

The wards of a dim lit hospital

where weary nurses are found.

They rushed the beaches of Normandy,

flew bombers over Japan,

defended South Korea,

walked the jungles of Viet Nam.

They were forced to crouch in cages,

their hands were bound with rope,

still they honored God and Country,

and filled our hearts with hope.

They scorched across the desert sands,

in Black Hawks on patrol.

They served this Nation proudly,

on the doomed USS COLE.

Our freedom is not our birthright,

and courage knows no gender.

OUR FREEDOM IS BOUGHT BY VETERANS,

WHO STAND INSTEAD OF SURRENDER!

from www.debsfunpages.com

Contributed by Don Warhurst