Deborah Vogts's Blog, page 119

Katy Days Got Talent

This summer we've scheduled a few singing events for our two youngest daughters who sing harmony. The first event was a talent contest for Katy Days in Parsons, KS. The first night they sang Down Along the Dixie Line and made it into the Top Ten Finals. 
The next day they sang Traveling Soldier but didn't get into the top 3. Still, it was a great experience for them, and they received some really good feedback from those in the audience. 
Next up, we're traveling to Cottonwood Falls for the Flint Hills Folklife Festival, where the girls will perform during the music events Friday and Saturday nights. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by and say hello! 

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's additions at Country at Heart Recipes. Enjoy! 
Deviled Eggs
Baked Barbecue Chicken
Cottage Cheese Butterhorn Rolls

Happy Anniversary

It seems like just yesterday our oldest daughter married. This weekend Samantha and Dave will celebrate their 5th year Anniversary. Here's a quick look back in honor of their marriage. 
 Samantha and her dad
Sam with her wedding attendants Mr and Mrs. Ronsick
At their reception
Leaving for Phoenix after the reception. Tears, tears.
Their first year anniversary.
Their first baby - Riley
So now, after five years of wedded bliss in Phoenix, Arizona, the happy couple will be moving back to the Sunflower State! Yahoo! Their families couldn't be more pleased! Happy Anniversary and Welcome Back! 

Book Preview ~ Wildflowers in Winter

This is the first book I've had the honor of endorsing as an author. I hope you'll enjoy learning more about this debut author's first release. 
Wildflowers from Winter, by Katie Ganshert
A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built a life far removed from her trailer park teen years. Until an interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa. Determined to pay her respects while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.
Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. So when Bethany is left the land, he must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany’s vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away. For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn’t seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace she’s not even sure exists? Read the first chapter here.
About the Author:  Katie Ganshert was born and raised in the Midwest, where she writes stories about finding faith and falling in love. When she’s not busy plotting her next novel, she enjoys watching movies with her husband, playing make-believe with her wild-child of a son, and chatting with her girlfriends over bagels. She and her husband are in the process of adopting from the Congo. You can find her online at her blog and on Facebook.  

This Week's Recipes

This week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes. 
Pan Fried Tilapia
Cherry Turnovers
Citrus Punch
and Buffalo Chicken Strip Pasta Salad by this week's Featured Author, Carla Stewart

Roses

A Red, Red Rose  O my Luve is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve is like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve!
And fare thee weel, awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

I love flowers of all kinds, but my favorites are roses. Above is my Great-Grandma's red rose that we transplanted years ago.  
Peace Hybrid Tea Rose - Smells so good! 
A pretty yellow rose - though it doesn't have much scent.
 A gorgeous pink rose.
This is either a Queen Elizabeth or a Tiffany Rose, again Gorgeous! What about you? Do you like roses? What is your favorite flower? 

Book Preview ~ After All by Deborah Raney

Deborah Raney dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. After a happy twenty-year detour as a stay-at-home mom, Deb penned her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, which won a Silver Angel Award and inspired the acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Since then, her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, ACFW Carol Award, National Readers' Choice Award, as well as twice being finalists for the Christy Award. Deb teaches at writers' conferences across the country. Her newest novel, After All, is the conclusion to the three-book Hanover Falls Novels series from Howard/Simon & Schuster. Deb and her husband, Ken Raney, love small-town life in their native Kansas––the setting for many of Deb's novels. They have four children and four precious grandchildren who all live much too far away. Visit Deb on the Web at www.deborahraney.com.

Deb's Newest Release: After AllEighteen months after the tragic Grove Street Fire took the life of her husband, David, and four other heroic firefighters, Susan Marlowe thinks she's finally beginning to heal. But then she discovers that David carried a secret to his grave. A secret that changes everything she thought their marriage had been. For the sake of their sons, can Susan forgive the unforgivable?
Andrea Morley lost her closest friend in the fire. But she has no right to mourn him. Instead, she must forever grieve in silence--because her dearest friend was someone else's husband. Peter Brennan carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. As Hanover Falls' fire chief, he was responsible for the brave firefighters who lost their lives that awful November night. 
Can he ever shake the feeling that he should have somehow prevented the tragedy? As Pet tries to rebuild the team at Clemens County's Station 2, is seems he might find comfort in the arms of the woman he least expected. Purchase Deborah's book here

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes. Enjoy! 
Veggie Bars
Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake
Weekend Brunch Casserole

Amber Waves of Grain

Here in SE Kansas, we're nearing the time of wheat harvest, which should come a month early this year. Here are a few pictures from our youngest daughter. 
Zoey out for a romp in the meadow. 
 Time to check the wheat
 This almost looks like a painting
An ethereal shot
 Wheat heads are starting to turn color

 Peek a Boo
 Cat's favorite mode of escape. 
A Kansas Sunset

Book Preview ~ My Stubborn Heart

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing My Stubborn Heart • Bethany House Publishers; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
by Becky Wade

A Sensational CBA Debut in Contemporary Romance!


This summer author Becky Wade makes her CBA debut with a fun -- and funny -- contemporary romance. Amidst the light-hearted banter and laugh-out-loud moments is a compelling spiritual journey of one woman's choice to listen to God and wait on him.  Filled with humor and authentic romance, My Stubborn Heart is shaping up to be the hit of the summer.


Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When Kate's grandmother asks Kate to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.


Yet, she discovers a different kind of project upon meeting the man hired to renovate the house. ;Matt Jarreau is attractive and clearly wounded -- hiding from people, from God, and from his past.  Kate can't help but set her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light... whether he likes it or not. If you would like to read the first chapter of My Stubborn Heart, go HERE.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Becky Wade is a graduate of Baylor University. As a newlywed, she lived for three years in a home overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, as well as in Australia, before returning to the States. A mom of three young children, Becky and her family now live in Dallas, Texas.