A Baby Shower

We are having a baby shower for Elise and Jack on Saturday, October 3 at Bridget's house. I am very grateful for sweet sister-in-laws willing to do something so nice. Anyone is invited. Elise has a lot of the things she needs from other aunt's hand me downs but would love to just share her new baby. He is 6 weeks old and weighs 8 lb 5 oz. If you do want to do something, she is working towards a jogging stroller and any help with that would be appreciated. (If that is tacky I apologize to my etiquette minded friends.)

We are sure loving him and every moment we get with him (and his parents).

The Government Can

This video made me laugh . . . made me cry. . . and made me want to pray harder for our country. I get to listen to Glenn Beck occasionally and he has ask everyone to fast and pray for our republic. Please join me today. Our leaders need divine guidance and teachable hearts as well as courage to stand for right and the constitution. We can make a difference.

Shari

I grew up in a neighborhood with 12-15 girls my age. We often got along. We had big sleep overs, played barbies, jumped on the trampoline and grew up together. Various pairing off would take place and rotate. I had one friend, Shari, that was always nice. She seemed to be the steady in a group of girls that struggles through jealousy and popularity. She was beautiful inside and out. She was popular and always nice. She had a smile that just lit up the room.

Graduation, college, marriage, life took her all over the country. She has 5 children. The eldest is married and the youngest is 5. Last November she was diagnosed with a melanoma. She had surgery and thought they had taken care of it. Months later a brain tumor was discovered and operated on. By May things took a turn for the worse. She spent a difficult summer and by September 17 she had passed on. Sharilyn Johnson Bell died exactly 25 years to the day of her first outing with her future husband. It was her funeral that I attended yesterday.

Its strange but I really enjoyed her funeral. Her life was shared in simple ways that fostered an appreciation for life. Her testimony was evident in the stories shared, music played and the faces of her family. I was so grateful for the manner in which her life was shared. I didn't come away feeling like I could never be that good, or any of those feelings that sometimes come through that make you think they are near worship of the person. The manner was more of a humble gratitude that made me feel grateful for her life and for my life and the opportunities that each of us have. I appreciated the obvious love that her husband has for her as he spoke. I was grateful for the lessons they learned along the way and for the incredible trust in God that was evident in their trials. He said that Shari never asked "Why me?" but at one time as they were discussing their trials she asked "Why not me?" She didn't want to go but he said they were not sorry for the lessons they had learned and the closeness they had felt to their Savior.

It all left me wanting to be better. I want to live the gospel more obviously each day. I want to strengthen relationships and especially to reach out to others more completely in friendship. I can't help but wonder what kinds of things might be truthfully said of me on my obituary page. Who am I? What have I done that is worth sharing? Will people know of those things that are most important to me and that bring me my greatest joy?

Funerals also bring together people that have not connected in a long time. I met again many of my friends from those old neighborhood days. We were past the comparing or competing stages and were just happy to see one another, to catch up with each other. I was especially grateful to see that many of them are still strong in their testimony. Sometimes the world seems so full of wickedness and poor choice, even of people you love. Then you get a glimpse of people who share similar values, hopes, and desires for family and God and you feel strengthened just by knowing that you are not alone and there are others out there succeeding through the same struggles or concerns and moving forward in righteousness. I feel grateful for the common thread of the gospel that blesses each of us with strength to endure, with angels seen and unseen along the way, and with joy in the journey.

What?! Not 20 Already!?!

I can't believe I no longer have a teenage daughter. Just one more of the many milestones that come way too fast. Twinkle's birthday is today. She is 20 years old.

1. smiles

2. twinkles

3. loves yellow

4. great testimony

5. great example

6. beautiful

7. plays piano

8. plays organ

9. plays violin

10. loves soccer

11. cooks outdoors

12. hikes

13. loves family

14. friendly

15. independent

16. great student

17. organized

18. creative

19. plays harmonica

20. lives too far away

Wow, 20 things and I still have more I could share. I guess she can keep getting older because I have lots more I could say about her. I love you, MOE.

Canning Peaches

For my girls, this is how I can peaches. I like the Elberta peaches. You need nice, just ripe peaches. If some are not ripe spread them out on a table and they will ripen in a day or two. If you can't get to them right away keep them in the fridge or cool place to slow down the ripening. Gather all your equipment. You need:

steam or water bath canner

pot for blanching

pot for lids

quart jars washed in dishwasher

2 piece lids

pitcher

sugar

peaches

paring knife

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Scrub sink and fill with cold water. In other sink put a bowl for the peels and pits. When water is boiling add 6-7 peaches keeping heat on high let them go for at least 1 minute. This is blanching. With slotted spoon remove peaches into a bowl and dump them into cold water

I use the same water for several batches. It does start to get a little cloudy looking but works fine. Once the peaches are in the cold water you can easily slip their skins off, cut in half, take out pit and put directly into your clean jars. I use to put them in as halves with the pit side always facing down. I now slice them in quarters and just drop them in. Actually Ike did most of that step. It seems like I get more peaches in a bottle when they are cut smaller. We cut them when we eat them anyway so it works for us.

When the jar is full I add a little sugar right on top. We use a 1/4 cup and then split it between two jars. Not real precise. Then using a pitcher of hot water, pour over the sugar to within 1/2 inch of top of jar. Wipe the jars with a clean cloth. (Note the crock pot in the background. Great idea to start it first when you are doing a major kitchen project. Takes a lot of stress off come dinner time.) You should have already brought to boil your seals and then turned them off. You can use a butter knife to separate them to get one out at a time or get a tool that is a stick with a magnet on the end that will lift them for you.

Place the lid on top and then screw down the ring just finger tight.

Then take the jars to your canner. It will hold 7 jars. Have water in the bottom of the canner. The steamer just needs a couple of inches and the jars sit on the rack. The water bath needs to have enough water to cover the jars when let down on the rack. You can do this in the kitchen on your stove but it sure works nice to have it outside on a camp chef. Turn on heat and bring water bath to a boil and steamer until it has a steady stream of steam coming out the side holes. At this point turn down the heat to just maintain the steam/boil and start timing. At my altitude it needs to go for 40 minutes.

Once the time is up turn off heat and very careful open the lid away from you to avoid burning yourself with the steam. A bottle lifter is very handy to move the bottles to a table or counter covered with a towel. Allow the jars to cool and then check to make sure they sealed. You push on the top. It should not pop up and down but be concave.
( Not everyone has the opportunity to share the garage with their canning, their son's truck project, soccer balls, bikes, and just too much stuff but here is the proof that even with distractions it can be done.)

With peaches when they are sealed they also float. Unsealed peaches will not be at the top. When they are cooled and sealed, label with at least the year, leave them out to be admired for a time and then store them away in a cool place. (In the making of this project, no young children were hurt. I just want to thank all the little people that helped me make this happen.)

We love to use the peaches all year, eating them fresh, making cobbler, and on Norwegian pancakes.

Norwegian Pancakes

2/3 cup plain yogurt

2/3 cup cottage cheese

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup flour

1 t sugar

1/2 t salt

Combine well. Cook on greased griddle. Serve with peaches on top.

Peach Cobbler

In saucepan, combine:

1/2 cup sugar

3 T cornstarch

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 qt peaches

Cook until nicely thickened. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart casserole.

Combine:

1 cup flour

2 T. sugar

2 t. baking powder

dash of salt

Mix well together, then cut in: 1/3 cup butter. Cut until fine, then gently stir in with a fork:

4 T milk

1 beaten egg

Drop by spoonfuls over fruit mixture. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.

Peaches also make great baby food. A nice snack with cottage cheese, pies, other cobblers, smoothies, in your oatmeal. It is always nice to have fruit that doesn't have to take freezer space. I think we did 75 quarts this year and ate as many fresh as humanly possible. We love peach season.

Just what have I been doing?

My next few posts are a taste of what we have been up to. There has not been a lot of dust gathering on us. We got to enjoy a very nice hike to a beautiful set of caves. Spelunking this way is my preferred method. We walked on paths, had well lit caves and a guide. No crawling through dark muddy caverns wondering when it might all just drop off. We went with a group of home schoolers and it was a lot of fun to have the hillside covered with people we know,

and critters we enjoy.

The hike is 1.5 miles but ascends 1100 feet. I now know I am not in good shape but have plenty of room to improve.

The views were spectacular as long as I could keep the kids on the inside of the trail.

This last picture is after the cave tour. We all had a great time and will do it again . . . in a few years. It was a perfect, overcast day with a bit of refreshing rain.

I have been feeling a bit behind in my house work and other projects. It helps to blog where I have been so I better understand why I feel the way I do. I am really wanting to stay home for a while and bring back some regular schedules and put my house in order. When my house is in order I feel like I could accomplish almost anything. When it gets this far behind I just want to stay in bed and hope for some helpful little elves that like to clean. It could also be that a lot of my muscles just didn't want to move. Oh well, tomorrow is another great day and we get to stay home, YEAH.

the baptism

Newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in our family

and the family.

Then a few cousins and friends. . . and finally the clean up crew. You are amazing. What a day.

neighborhood party/concert

Julie invited all of us to her neighborhood benefit concert. We were lucky enough to be close by and had a great time. Thanks to my creative photographers (my children) We at least know who was there.

Our favorite performer of the night.

The sold food real cheap but of course then you feel like you can be generous and help out a worthy cause plus allow your kids to go crazy on things you feel very bad about.

Living Aquarium

We liked petting the stingray. Loved the octopus and the sharks.

Little girl, little nurturer

Doodle's first self portrait.

God has told us "Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children". I love when his words are so obviously true.

Doodle just started drawing. She had not done any drawing before but when we got a new white board, she just couldn't resist. The fun part for me was seeing what she would draw. It is no secret that boys and girls are innately different. Doodle drew her family. Girls are wired to nurture. They can do many other things but when it comes to their core, to their purpose, even at a very young age they know that family is important and that they're role has to do with relationships with those around them.

I have been through 4 boys. They drew some family but favored trucks and boats. This was during a time when their dad had a lot to do with trucks and boats. They were following the example of their dad. "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."

As parents we have a huge responsibility to be a good example, to enjoy our God given roles and to encourage those desires in our children. It is such a beautiful plan to be organized in families and have a loving Father in Heaven as our third partner. And it is comforting and amazing that those desires are planted deeply at a very young age.

Obama's speech

I read President Obama's speech this morning. It wasn't very scary. He had some good ideas. Kids should stay in school. (being a home schooler I must say that it would make more sense to me to encourage children to continually further their education, learn all they can, school is not going to solve every problem but that is another post) Basically I can't offer a specific example of what I didn't like but I can say that I don't like him. I don't like the attitude he expresses over everything that says we are not good. We are not good enough. He seemed to be talking as if no one would choose to stay in school on their own. He is there to encourage them to tough it out. That it will be worth it and you owe it to yourself and your country. It is a subtle attitude that always comes through. Our country is not great - it needs fixing. The people are not doing enough. . . I just feel like he considers it his job is to fix the country, the economy, the health care, the education. If we would just help him do it his way then we might have a great country.

I want to be a great American. I live in a great country where good people have opportunities to create great futures for themselves. We are an independent nation. Our federal government is there to protect our freedoms - not to fix us, give us everything, provide for any need they may foresee. They are there to provide an environment where we can work hard, progress, make mistakes and learn from the consequences of those mistakes, and also reap the blessings and benefits that come from hard work, effort, innovation and choosing to serve others when we see a need. We can be a friend. We can reach out to others. We can build great communities without being told to. I live in a great country. One of the best things I can do to make this country great is to focus on raising a spiritually strong family with Godly values of hard work, charity, and leadership.

I think I'm done with my political posts. Thanks for putting up with me. If you want to read President Obama's speech I found it through a link on ksl.com. You are welcome to share with me your thoughts.

Marriage and family

We had a combined adult meeting in church today. Our addiction missionaries and a couple of recovering addicts spoke to us. The main focus was on pornography and the destructive effects on the family - the whole family. And the healing that is possibly with proper priesthood authority, counseling, and the atonement of Jesus Christ. The epidemic is scary but when we know it's there, when we can help one another through it, and when we know how to fight it then it doesn't have to destroy our families.



I feel the desire to share some things that I have been reading. On lds.org they have links to the LDS speakers at the the World Congress on Families. I went to the links that had the whole speeches. They were so good, so inspiring and help me understand the incredible need to defend traditional families and to strengthen my own family, especially spiritually. Wendy Watson Nelson spoke on spiritually strengthen our families. Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke on the importance of traditional families and the religious freedom and protection the family looses when we redefine the family. Sherri Dew spoke on the importance of moral purity and virtue. It helps me a lot to understand the "why"s. I know these things are important but reading these words helps me to be able to better explain to others the need for strong, righteous families.




Really, family is one of our most precious possession.

Changes

This is where I am spending a lot of time lately. I pulled out my kids' old finger exercises and drills and am practicing each day. Then I move on to my special list of primary songs. The reason I am so inspired to improve my abilities would be my new calling. I was released from the nursery and am now the primary pianist. My abilities are not yet dependable or confident although this is not my first time as primary pianist. I remember being call to this as a young woman when primary met during the week. We played out of the old Sing With Me book and I think the calling lasted about 1 month. We will see if I can hold this one down for a little longer. The program is coming up soon too so there is another reason to practice tickling those ivories.

My secret hope is that all my practicing will inspire some of the other musicians in my house to practice also. That would make it all worth while.

Are you pledging to Obama

There is a lot of talk right now about an I pledge video. Hollywood is pledging many things that they feel will make our country better. They are pledging these things to Barrack Obama. They ask you to pledge. Our country was not founded to pledge or serve the president and his vision for America. We are a country for the people, by the people, of the people. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, to freedom, liberty, to the founding principles of the constitution - NOT to the current president and his hopes of change for our country.

On September 8 President Obama has plans to speak to the public school children of our country. Listening is mandatory for all students in attendance that day. Afterwords the teachers are given activities praising Obama and being directed to consider ways they can help him reach his objectives. The contents of the speech are not available for preview.

As parents we are being ignored as protectors and guardians of our children. The family is the fundamental unit of society, not the government. We are the foundation of society. He intends on building a new foundation. His ideas for increased government control and intervention in our lives is wrong. Please search it out. Be aware of what your children are being taught from the federal government without your permission or supervision. The school is not the place, our children are not his vehicle. Schools should be run locally by elected school boards with a voice in the education of our children and the ability to have our schools represent the values of our community not the confused and freedom robbing ideas of the new czars.

Unless I hear that my child's school is free from this indoctrination, he will stay home. Make a stand and keep your children home on September 8.

sweetness of ?

I have been enjoying a special blessing that I wasn't expecting. I have three girls all moved away to college. They are wonderful, independent, beautiful girls. The blessing I'm enjoying is that they like me.

They call me with questions.

They listen to my answers and even call again. They share their triumphs, fears, hopes, and even the little things.

I can't tell you how fun it is to think that they don't mind calling home, don't mind if I don't have all the answers, and don't mind accepting advice, suggestions, or too many questions.

I have had a lot of calls from Elise. She loves her new little baby and is having so much fun. She is sharing the fun by calling with updates and questions. Sometimes I don't have the answers. Sometimes she doesn't like the answers. For me the blessing is that she is showing me with her questions that she believes I was/am a good mother and have some things worth sharing.

I don't think I can explain how good it feels to have people you love and admire believe in you. That is what I am feeling. They each know me very well. They know my weaknesses. They know I made/make mistakes. They know I'm still learning too but they still call.

I hope they each know how much I love them and am grateful to be their mom.