See this little guy? That's my grandson. In a few weeks I'll be blessed to be able to watch him every day while his mama works.

He's been breaking me in the last few weeks. Love being able to spend time with him!

Petite Pumpkin Spice Donuts

I found this yummy donut picture on Pinterest.

and then clicked on the picture because I was so intrigued and found myself here-



Petite Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Makes 24 mini donuts

Print Recipe


For Donuts:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk

For Coating:
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1-2 tablespoons cinnamon (more if you're a cinnamon lover)

Preheat oven 350 F. Butter a mini donut pan and set aside.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and set aside.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixture and stir until just combined, careful not to over mix.

Using a pastry bag or a steady hand and a spoon, fill each donut cup with the batter. The donut cups should be fairly full, but not overflowing. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until donuts spring back when gently pressed (if you're using a larger donut pan, allow them to bake for 12-15 minutes). Turn donuts out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes.

While the donuts are cooling, melt butter in one bowl and combine the sugar and cinnamon in another. When donuts are still hot (but not too hot to touch), quickly dip each donut in melted butter, then coat in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately.

*Note: If you're not going to serve the donuts immediately, you can bake them up to a day in advance and store them in an airtight container. Do not coat them in the butter/cinnamon-sugar mixture until just before serving or they may get soggy.

You can also adapt this recipe for mini muffins. Just bake muffins for 10-12 minutes then follow the same procedure for coating

Wanting to make this recipe I ordered three of these:

Picture a mini donut pan-can't seem to insert the picture. I think I need to switch blog servers.






http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Nonstick-12-Cavity-Mini-Donut/dp/B004CYELQ4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343494080&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=%27Wilton+Nonstick+12-Cavity+Mini+Donut+Pan%27+by+Wilton

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For weeks I have not been able to get on and post. When I try and post under the 'Compose' button it doesn't work so I'm trying this under the 'HTML' button.

You're never guaranteed a baby at the end

"You're never guaranteed a baby at the end," said my friend many years ago. She was talking about how vulnerable we are as women when we are expecting a child. Those months and months when our bodies don't seem to be our own, when God is working the intricacies of the new life in our womb. We can go through all nine months of pregnancy and labor and be presented with a still birth. We're not guaranteed a baby in the end.

So it was with our adoption of A in Ethiopia. We decided the day before court not to go forward with her adoption. Given the circumstances that were unfolding in our lives we decided she needed younger parents. We are fifty-one and fifty-two and she is four. Yes, we could parent her and give her a good life. I knew it wouldn't be the best for her. So, we decided as a couple to withdraw our petition to adopt her.

The week before I left for Ethiopia I received a call from the urologist who has been checking me since September for something my general practitioner saw in some of my test results over the past few years. He told me that I could have kidney cancer. I had just had an MRI a week or so before, and I have to admit, I wasn't even sure why I was getting an MRI, but knew it was ordered so I went. Hated it too, almost climbed out, felt like I was in an episode of "Lost."

I have a growth on one of my kidneys which may or may not be kidney cancer. My Dr. said it is small enough that if a biopsy is done there is a chance they may not be able to get to it and the other problem is that they could puncture my intestines. Neither option seems good to me. In the meantime we are doing another test to see if cancer cells show up, but won't know for at least a week. Depending on what that test shows will determine the next step as far as what I do with this growth. Hopefully, it's just a cyst and it has all been a big scare.

My husband also has a health issue that recently came to our attention. Thus our decision that she needs younger parents than a couple in their fifties.

Now a little on my time with A.

The first day I met her things went very well for a bit, then it went downhill fast. We were bonding quite well. She liked the flashcards I brought out and would repeat the words in English that I had said like apple, ball, cat.... she counted with her fingers, we threw a ball back and forth, she was fine-I was fine.

Then we went for a little walk around the building and something snapped in her. She wanted nothing to do with me. She shrugged her shoulders which means no when the nannies tried to cajole her to go with me. She basically shut down and was done with me. I believe God revealed that side of her to me for a reason. I believe that reason was to show me she needs a lot of heart work. Work from being in an orphanage for three years and not just in an orphanage but basically in one room for three years. We were bonding in front of that room, and that room had a BIG glass window where she could look in and see her past life. I knew I couldn't be the one to take her from there. I knew I couldn't be the one who traveled over the continents and an ocean and then states with her. I knew she needed a younger mom. And so we came to the tough decision to not go to court and make it legal so that she would have the chance to go to a younger family.

Sometimes we're not guaranteed a baby at the end. We are guaranteed Grace though and His strength and that is what we lean on.

It's happening!

It's hard to believe that on Thursday I will be on a plane to Ethiopia. Crazy! We have one suitcase packed with shoe donations. I needed another suitcase with a working handle so we hit the thrift store and scored one for $10. I'll take more donations in that one. A friend donated seventeen pairs of pajamas and another shoes, crayons, and notebooks. Another friend had a bag of shoes she wanted brought over so those were dropped off at Steve's work and packed with the shoes we had bought. While at the thrift store I found individual piece nanny scrubs that can go together as sets. The ladies who work with the children in the orphanages and transition homes are called nannies and they wear scrubs while at work.

I have care packages and photo releases for children in the transition home. American parents like to send things over with traveling families for their children, and have photos taken. It's a small way to connect with your child when you're continents away.

I'm still waiting on updated referral information from our agency on Little A. Her initial info was false and I should have new information before I leave. Hopefully.

Finding cords and the universal adapter, charging cameras and the camcorder, making lists and checking them twice, wasting time on Pinterest....it's coming down to the wire!

I'll see Little A by this time next week. Hopefully we pass court the first time and I can finally post pictures.

Court Date!

After fifteen months of accepting our referral for a little girl in Ethiopia we have been assigned a court date. On July 17 we will find out if Little A is officially a Grieshaber, or will be assigned a new court date because of a lacking signature or something.

I just found out on June 29 that we passed the initial hearing before the judge and also that we had a court date on July 17, but needed to be in Ethiopia by the 14th. Yikes! That was just two weeks away!

I'm now scrambling to get things done. I've made travel arrangements through susanparrtravel.com, had my travel shots, picked up my prescribed and over-the-counter meds, bought some new clothes to go with other pieces I have, bought a new purse that will go over my shoulder so I can have my travel docs right in front of me instead of in my backpack, buying free and cheap books for my Kindle, uploading music to my iTunes to keep me sane on the almost nineteen hours of flying plus lay-over time, and wrapping my head around the whole idea that I'm traveling by myself.

I know I'll get to visit with Little A for a few days before court. On my way back to Cali I'm staying in the D.C. area for a few days since Jesse & Sage are stationed close by.

Birth parent interview at court is on July 10, I arrive July 14, and fly out on July 18. I will not bring her home this trip, but will return for embassy maybe six weeks or so after we pass court.

I'll start posting more, promise.