Scraps, Recipes, Crafts, and Ramblings

Valentine's Day Surprises

2012-02-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

I love Valentine's Day surprises! We sure had a marvlous day! The girls were dressed in pink... We made a simple heart and foil Valentine's Day box for little sis and big sister received many Valentine's from her friends at school. No worries nothing shown here were from boys! She does not have a boyfriend or secret admirer... Obviously, big sis has a lot of friends!

I made special Valentine's Day school lunches for my girls the night before. They included the following: heart shaped ham and cheese sandwich, a clementine, Capri Sun, strawberry fruit roll up, a pink Loft House cookie, and Chicken in a Biskit crackers. Then I enclosed a Happy Valentine from Mom too.

Later in the evening John surprised the girls with a puppy! One of the biggest pros of living in our new place is the owners allow small pets with an extra deposit. So we looked for the perfect puppy for our needs:
non shedding
hypoallergenic
small breed
intelligent
easy to train
and happy
I did some research on several breeds and the winner is a bishon frise/poodle mix. We named him Jagger! Isn't he the cutest puppy ever? He already knows how to play fetch, sleeps in his kennel at night, and sometimes walks on his two front legs. He loves to entertain us. I can already see that he will have fun learning new tricks! As for potty training that is another story. In due time, he will get the hang of that. We absolutely adore him!

The Help Book and Movie Review

2012-01-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My thoughts: The Help is an incredible book definitively one of my favorite books in my top ten book list! There were a couple times when I laughed out loud while reading this story! It broke my heart how cruel some white people in the South treated the African American people in the early 1960s! If you are a fan of the classic novel To Kill of a Mockingbird then you would enjoy The Help! It is a witty, humorous, and well written book. I loved all the characters in the book especially Skeeter's courage to write a book about African American experiences working as maids for white families in the South, Aibileen's precious relationship with a white child Mae Mobley, and Minny's fearless spunky personality! You would never regret reading this book!

As for The Help movie, I finally bought the DVD in December. Surprisingly, the movie measured up to the book in every way! I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film and even my hubby liked it. If I watched it in a movie theater, I would have stood up and applauded once it started rolling the credits! It was one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time! I love the message from it, which we all can appreciate.

Chicken Wonton Salad

2012-01-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

Chicken Wonton Salad

Salad

1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 package of Wontons

1 head of iceberg, chopped

Grilled boneless chicken breasts, cubed

Green onion, chopped

celery, chopped

2 cans of mandarin oranges
Dressing

1/4 c. Rice Vinegar
1/4 c. Sesame Oil
1/2 Canola Oil
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. ginger
Mason Jar with lid
Directions
Make the dressing first. Add the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake well. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill while preparing the rest of the salad. Cut the wontons into thin strips. In a large pot, add some cooking oil and heat it on medium. Make sure the oil is hot and ready to go. You could test it by dropping in one wonton to see how it cooks. I recommend the wontons a light golden brown color not fried crispy dark brown or black! Allow the wontons to drain and cool off on a paper towel. Next, grill the chicken on medium heat with some olive oil and cube it into bit size pieces (you may season the chicken how you like it I did salt and pepper). Chop the lettuce then add chopped green onion and celery, set aside. In two separate small frying pans, toast the silvered almonds and sesame seeds with a little butter. When they are brown remove from heat and add them the salad. Next, add the dressing and mix well. Lastly, fold the mandarin oranges gently in the salad! Enjoy the GOODNESS!!!

December 2011 Highlights

2012-01-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

December was a super busy month for us, which is typical during this time of the year with Christmas shopping, holiday traffic, choir concerts, several parties, visiting Santa Claus, etc. Among all the holiday craziness, we found out on December 14 that John has type two diabetes and the following day we had to move out of our rental home because our landlord sold his home (a 15 day notice). So we were extremely busy packing and looking for a new place during the holiday break. To be honest, I lost the holiday spirit due to the stress. Since I boxed up all my Christmas stuff, we spent Christmas in southern Utah with my husband's parents. We enjoyed the peace and quiet bliss at Granny's house (a simple and small country town)! Granny spoiled us with incredible tasty food! On Christmas Eve, we drove a couple hours to see Aunt Rhea. We had a lovely time visiting with her, Vickie, and Carmen. Granny read a wonderful Christmas story to my girls that night and we enjoyed the glow of candle light dinners. We went to church for one hour the next day and opened presents after church. We were so happy we spent some time with Granny and Grandpa Free! A week later, we moved on New Years Eve with help from our awesome family, neighbors, and ward members! Luckily, the weather was great (no snow) on moving day. Later that day, one of our old ward members dropped off some pizza, bread sticks, and soda while we unpacked at our new place then we went to a friend's house for a New Years Eve party (we were invited to three parties that night). We will miss our Grovecreek ward! We found a wonderful place on the west side of town. It is a lot bigger than our last home with tons of storage space, yard, storage shed, tool shed, greenhouse, potato cellar, etc. Pictures will come later once we are all set up... I have a lot of empty spaces. Hopefully we can purchase our own home in the future. In the meantime, we are blessed we found a great place during this cold and chaotic time of the year. We hope to get to know our neighbors and make new friends in our new ward in the next couple weeks.

DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Junior High Choir Concert

Big Sister with her friend at their choir concert

A Fabulous Birthday Haircut (thanks Jenny)!

A Gorgeous Hair Style from David Douglas Salon

Checking out the Christmas lights at the River Bottoms Mall

Never Too Old for Santa Claus

A Peaceful Christmas in Southern Utah and My girls with Aunt Rhea!

Wearing Red on Christmas Day!

Making Memories with Granny and Grandpa Free

Playing Barbies in the Snow! Priceless!

Teddy Bear Table Manners

2011-12-09T04:53:00.000-08:00

For Activity day on November 30, 2011, I had the girls each bring a teddy bear. They cuddled with their stuffed animal or doll while we discussed manners, table setting, and proper etiquette during sacrament meeting.

Sugar Doodle had some amazing ideas that I printed out (Manners and Etiquette Questions). Martha Stewart came up with a cool way for kids to practice table setting, she included a template for download that could be printed out on paper-stock for the kiddos to cut out and practice.

The Template by Martha Stewart

We played a game using real paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils, and napkins. I had to girls practice a couple rounds then they started racing each other to see who could correctly set the table the quickest. We ate Honey Teddy Grahams and Chocolate Chip Honey Grahams for a snack.

Next time I plan this activity I would love to do a small a tea party with some tiny cakes or pastries, sandwiches, veggies, and lemonade would be darling. I didn't have much time to plan this activity due to my trip and school. Hopefully they learned something new and had fun!

Fall Family Photographs

2011-12-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

On November 4,2011, our sweet talented friend Mindi Youngblood took our family photos in Lehi, Utah. Even though it was cloudy and cold, we had a lot of fun doing our photo shoot! I decided to do a navy blue and mustard yellow theme! We are stepping out of our comfort zones by wearing the color mustard but it was sure fun shopping for our clothes and accessories! For our photo shoot backgrounds, Mindi picked an industrial area that offered many textured backgrounds such as an old red brick building, rusty metal warehouse, a red wooden building, tall yellow grass, cobblestone wall, fall leaves, and railroad tracks. It was a perfect place to snap photographs! In fact, there were a few other photographers shooting pictures at the same area.

Free Family Established 1997

John wore Faded Glory jeans, Old Navy mustard yellow and navy blue stripped long sleeved shirt, and Dr Martens shoes.

I wore David Kahn jeans (thrift), Old Navy mustard yellow tank top, Old Navy ruffled navy blue blouse, jewelry set by Chaps from Kohls, and mustard yellow Soda shoes from Forever Young.

My oldest daughter wore skinny jeans from American Eagle, Old Navy ruffled mustard yellow camisole, Old Navy long sleeved navy blue tee shirt, feather drop earrings (SO), and Navy blue Toms.

My youngest daughter wore Old Navy skinny jeans, Mudd mustard yellow shirt, Old Navy blue and white stripped long sleeved shirt, Sketchers twinkle toes shoes, and navy blue flower hair accessory by Claire's.

Thank you very much, Mindi!!! We absolutely love them!!!

Thanksgiving in Mesa

2011-12-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to make a road trip to SUNNY Mesa Arizona to celebrate Thanksgiving with many extended family members! We left on Tuesday night November 22, 2011 around 8:00 PM. We made a pit stop to southern Utah to rest for a couple hours. Then we were back on the road at 5:00 AM on Wednesday morning. We took the Las Vegas and Hoover Dam route down to Arizona! We sure enjoyed seeing the desert, cactus plants, and flowers along the way! Here are the many wonderful family members, which we spent the long FUN holiday weekend with!

The five Free siblings (John, Elizabeth, Matt, Dave, and Joe) out of eight total with their spouses were in Mesa this year. Oh how fun it would be to have EVERYONE gathered in once place!!! Below are the many grandchildren.

TURKEY DAY NOVEMBER 23, 2011

We spent Thanksgiving with Dave/Kristin, Joe/Dave, Elizabeth/Ben, Grandpa/Grandma Free, Matt/Chiaki, and many nieces, nephews, and a couple furry friends (Bella and Nutmeg). We had around 45 people at Thanksgiving dinner.

After stuffing our faces, we gathered in a large living area and sang a couple hymns and Christmas songs with the family. Anna put hair wraps in the girl's hair. We are so grateful for our wonderful loving family!

WHITE FRIDAY AND IRON CHEF FAMILY COOK OFF

Instead of "Black Friday"shopping, several family members got up early and went to the Mesa Temple. The youth did baptisms while the adults did endowments and sealings. By the way, it was big sister's first time doing baptisms for the dead. It was a beautiful experience for me because I brought down some names of my ancestors. I felt like we accomplished a lot of temple work because of the effort of many family members!

As for our Iron Chef Family Cook off, we divided into three groups. The secret ingredients were the following: bell peppers, mango, Italian sausage, butternut squash, zucchini, yellow squash, and chocolate chips. We had to use all the ingredients by making an appetizer, entree, and dessert.

John and I were on Team Smith. We met at Jeff and Melinda Smiths (our niece and nephew).

We made the following: Bow-tie vegetable sausage with alfredo sauce, butternut squash/ sausage potatoes, mango salsa, and strawberry cheese cake crepes with melted chocolate.

My niece Aisling made a YouTube of all our delicious food!!!

BABY SHOWER AND DESERT FUN

On Saturday November 26, 2011, we went to a baby shower at Brett and Aisling's house for Keli Silva who is having a boy in February. We played some games, ate some finger foods, and awwwwwed over her new baby things!

While the girls were at the baby shower, the men and boys had a blast in the desert shooting guns and riding mini bikes.

SUSHI YUM

On Saturday night, we went to Sekai Sushi with Matt, Chiaki, Dave, Kristin, Joe, Diana, Elizabeth, and Ben. Since Matt and Chiaki are sushi experts, they ordered for us! The sushi was AMAZING! I tried octopus for the first time! We had a fun time talking with each other and trying out sushi. The eel was my favorite! After dinner, we got some Mesa Frozen Yogurt for dessert! We shared a lot of stories, smiles, and laughter! What a fabulous group date!

A LONG ROAD TRIP HOME

We went to sacrament meeting with Dave's family, changed our clothes, packed the car, and went home. We took the Flagstaff route home. It was a long 12 hour drive home due to slow traffic near car accidents and many potty breaks! We were so happy to be able to spend Thanksgiving with the Arizona Free families! We cannot wait to visit them again in the future!

Gratitude Lesson and Activity

2011-11-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

This past week I homemade some fall color crayons (idea from My Magic Mom) by recycling yellow, green, brown, red, and orange broken crayons in a mini muffin pan and preserved some colorful leaves for a cute fall decoration craft.

Fall Recycled Crayons

Supplies:
Crayons such as yellow, green, brown, red, and orange colors, mini muffin pan, X-Acto Knife, Butcher Knife, and cutting board.

Directions:
We used a X-Acto knife to peel the crayon wrapper off. Then I used a butcher knife to chop the crayons into small pieces. Bake at 250 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Allow them to cool on a baking rake then transfer the pan into the freezer for 30 minutes. Use a knife to carefully remove the crayons from the pan.
Colorful Leaves Strand

Supplies:
Modge Podge, paint brush, brown twine, mini clothes pins, and an assortment of colorful fall leaves.

Directions:
I tied both ends of the twine and hung them up with a tack. Then I coated the leaves with a layer of modge podge. They dried by clipping the mini clothes pins on the twine!

For the lesson on gratitude, I discussed Helen Keller because even though she was lacking her eye sight and hearing that she had enhanced sense of smell and touch. She taught us to appreciate the beauty all around us! I found a wonderful lesson LDS Family Fun, which I shared with the girls. For a craft, I printed out a thankful tree and some leaves for my girls. They colored the tree and then colored their leaves with the groovy homemade crayons. We also placed a leaf behind the paper to stencil the texture of the leaves. The girls enjoyed that the most! Lastly, they wrote down some things that they are grateful for and shared them with the group.

Stenciling Leaves!

I made Turkey Pop Treats for our "thankful treat"! They were rice krispy balls, dipped in chocolate, and candy corn as the feathers, beak, and eyes! They were delicious and cute!

Carving Pumpkins and Halloween Day

2011-10-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

What a busy fun weekend. My oldest daughter went to a Halloween party on Friday night and a birthday party on Saturday night. We bought seven pumpkins on sale a week ago (nine cents a pound) and decided to carve them this weekend. Here are our spooky designs! We got a couple of our pumpkin stencils from some websites.

Daddy's Pumpkins

Jack Skeleton

Our Last Name

Mommy's Pumpkins

Owl

Cat

Big Sister's Pumpkins
Did Her Name

Little Sister's Pumpkins

Sissy's Own Design

Scared Ghost Pumpkin

We roasted a batch of pumpkin seeds and I was surprised that my kids loved snacking on them. We generally do not keep the seeds to roast them instead we throw the pumpkin guts and seeds away! I am glad we cleaned them and baked them. Pumpkin seeds have been a very nice salty treat these last few days!
On Saturday night, my youngest daughter and I enjoyed watching Matilda and Hocus Pocus while big sissy was at a birthday party. We also enjoyed some yummy pumpkin and vanilla frozen yogurt from our nearby grocery store!

I hope you had a Happy Halloween!
My husband decided to to dress up this year. He is so goofy! He shaved half of his face, tucked in one side of his shirt while leaving the other side not tucked, tucked in his socks on one side, wore two different shoes (dress shoes and sneakers), and combed half his hair (left the other half messy). He went to work looking that way! He was very brave, lol! I didn't bother dressing up! I am lucky that I wore an orange jacket vest!

This year my oldest dressed up as a NERD. We had some goofy black 3D glasses, she rolled up her jeans, wore a flannel shirt, cream colored suspenders,and black converse shoes. During her Friday Halloween party, she was voted the weirdest costume!

Little Sis wanted to be Red Ridding Hood. I put her hair in cute pig tails tied with red ribbons. We bought her red cape from ebay, basket with apples from Winco, and wore a black t-shirt, white ruffled skirt, black leggings, and black Toms shoes. At her school Halloween costume parade today, I noticed she was the only Red Ridding Hood! Yay!

For dinner, I made a crock pot chili and bought some crazy bread sticks from Little Caesars. The girls did a neighborhood costume parade, which had pop corn and apple cider. We had perfect weather for trick or treating! For the first time, we didn't have to go trick or treating with our girls! Both girls went with some friends this year! So I did some homework while John handed out some candy!

My Fave Fall Scraps

2011-10-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Falltastic Memories, 2002

Credits: Template by Cindy Schneider Sweet Shoppe Designs, leaves by Dani Mogstad from Sweet Shoppe Designs. Papers and elements are by Shabby Princess (Autumn Chic and Autumn Medley). I used lady rene and segoe print for my fonts.

Not So Scary, 2003

Credits: Template by M Originals, Boo Kit by Shabby Princess, Trick or Treaters by Kate Hadfield from The Lily Pad, Happy Halloween word art unknown artist, and grumble font.

Black Island Farms, 2009

Credits: This one is one of my favorite layouts! I used Autumn Medley kit and Bountiful kit by Shabby Princess. I used love ya like a sister font.

Fall Family Outing: Alpine Loop

2011-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

On Saturday October 22, 2011, We went out on a family outing! We packed a lunch and headed up to American Fork Canyon. We drove on the breathtaking scenic route Alpine Loop. We made a lot of stops along the way so see the beautiful fall leaves and went to Tibal Fork to look at the lake surrounded by pine trees.

We found a picnic area that had a beautiful cobblestone theater-in-the-pines! The girls enjoyed playing on the stairs while I collected some colorful leaves for a fall craft project!

For our last stop in Provo Canyon, we stopped to see Bridal Veil Falls. We put our feet in the freezing cold run off near the bridge by the falls. Then we headed over to Winco to get some pumpkins that were 9 cents a pound! We look forward to carving some cool jack o' lanterns next weekend.

Scarecrow Service Activity

2011-10-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

For Activity Day this month, I decided to do a fun scarecrow themed service activity. Here is my simple reminder/invite that I made for my activity girls!

Credits: Paper and "Pick of the Patch" doodles are by Kate Hadfield from The Lily Pad. I used Segoe Print for the font.

We were in need of a fun service activity. So I decided that the girls could express their appreciation for their school teacher by giving them a delicious fall treat and scarecrow thank you card. The girls helped me make Scarecrow Crunch and made an accordion card for their teacher.

Scarecrow Crunch

Ingredients:

4 c. Oatmeal Cereal Squares

4 c. Tiny Twist Pretzels

1 (22 oz.) bag of mixed candy (pumpkins and candy corn)

2 (6 oz. box caramel popcorn with nuts

1 (6.6 oz) box of chocolate graham bake snacks

1 bag of Reeces Pieces

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve as desired. Makes 15 Cups.
Here is my cute recipe card that I sent home with the girls and they each took home a bag of treats for themselves too.

Credits: Papers and doodles "Pick of the Patch" and "Tricky Treats" are by Kate Hadfield from The Lily Pad. I used Segoe Print and lima bean for the fonts.
Scarecrow Accordion Card

inspired by Fun with Scarecrows: Katherine Marie Photography
Supplies:
Paper bag from the grocery store, construction paper (yellow, orange, blue, and black), scissors, glue sticks, googly eyes, and markers.
Directions: Measure out a 3X13 inches size card from a paper bag. Fold the card four times. Draw a hat, nose, flower, hair, etc with construction paper and cut them out. Glue eyes and paper pieces to the paper bag card. There should be five squares for the kids to write or draw pictures.

Chicken Rolls

2011-10-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

My 12 year old daughter learned how to make chicken rolls at a young woman activity a couple weeks ago. So, she recently decided to make them for dinner for us and little sister helped her. They are simple to make and very savory. The chicken rolls were perfect for school lunches.

Chicken Rolls

We doubled the batch so we had some leftovers.

Ingredients:

4-5 cups of chicken breast (seasoned with salt and pepper)

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

2-3 T. chopped fresh parsley

chopped onion (green or white)

Sauce:

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 cup of milk

Crescent Roll mixture:

melted butter

1 package crescent rolls (8 count)

Italian bread crumb seasoning

Dipping roll in butter

Rolls coated with seasonings

Directions:

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Cook chicken on medium high heat add salt/pepper to flavor the meat. Cut chicken into cubes. In a large bowl, mix together chicken, cream cheese, parsley and chopped onion. In another bowl add cream of chicken soup and milk. Mix them well and add it to the chicken mixture. Flatten the 8 pieces of crescent roll dough out. Fill full of meat mixture. Press edges of roll together. Roll them in melted butter and season bread crumbs, turn edges down in butter dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Mmmmmm! Enjoy!

Bee Attitudes Activity Day Lesson

2011-10-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

For Activity Day in September, we discussed "Bee" Attitudes. Here is my cute invite that I quickly put together for the girls.

Credits: Paper and girl in bee costume doodle by Kate Hadfield @The Lily Pad. I used the following fonts: love ya like a sister, mool boran, and mareen's print.

Clipart from About.com

I had each girl read from Gordon B. Hinckley's article “The Prophet’s Counsel: The Six Bs,” Friend, Feb. 2001, 25. I made visual aids from 6 "Bee" Attitudes Clip Art which I printed out, cut out, and glued on a black piece of construction paper. I cut out "bee" attitudes from “The Prophet’s Counsel: The Six Bs,” article and taped each one on the back of the cute honey bee clip art. After the girls read a "bee" attitude, I either played a game, did an object lesson, or read a story from the Friend to go along with one of the "Bee Attitudes."

The Prophet’s Counsel: The Six Bs

“The Prophet’s Counsel: The Six Bs,” Friend, Feb. 2001, 25

Excerpts from President Gordon B. Hinckley’s Fireside Address, November 12, 2000 (“A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth,” Ensign, January 2001, pages 2-11.)

Be Grateful

Walk with gratitude in your hearts. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings, which are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Be thankful to your parents who care so very much about you and who have worked so very hard to provide for you. Let them know that you are grateful. Say thank you to your mother and your father. Say thank you to your friends. Say thank you to your teachers. Express appreciation to everyone who does you a favor or assists you in any way. Thank the Lord for His goodness to you.

Be Smart

The Lord wants you to educate your minds and hands, whatever your chosen field. Whether it be repairing refrigerators, or the work of a skilled surgeon, you must train yourselves. Seek for the very best schooling available. Become a workman of integrity in the world that lies ahead of you. I repeat, you will bring honor to the Church and you will be generously blessed because of that training.

Be Clean

Avoid evil talk. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. …

Choose your friends carefully. …

While you should be friendly with all people, select with great care those whom you wish to have close to you. …

Be clean. Don’t waste your time in destructive entertainment. …

How truly beautiful is a well-groomed young woman who is clean in body and mind. She is a daughter of God in whom her Eternal Father can take pride. How handsome is a young man who is well-groomed. He is a son of God, deemed worthy of holding the holy priesthood of God. He does not need tattoos or earrings or rings anywhere else on or in his body. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve are all united in counseling against these things. …

There is no need for any Latter-day Saint boy or girl, young man or young woman, to even try [drugs]. Stay clean from these mind-altering and habit-forming addictions.

Be True

Be loyal to the Church under all circumstances. I make you a promise that the authorities of this Church will never lead you astray. They will lead you in paths of happiness. …

Be true to your own convictions. You know what is right and you know what is wrong. You know when you are doing the proper thing. You know when you are giving strength to the right cause. Be loyal. Be faithful. Be true.

Be Humble

The Lord has said, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers” (D&C 112:10). …

Be Prayerful

You need His help, and you know that you need His help. You cannot do it alone. You will come to realize that and recognize that more and more as the years pass. So live that in good conscience you can speak with the Lord. Get on your knees and thank Him for His goodness to you and express to Him the righteous desires of your hearts. The miracle of it all is that He hears. He responds. He answers—not always as we might wish He would answer, but there is no question in my mind that He answers.

"Bee" Attitude Ideas

These are the object lessons, games, activity, and stories that I used for my lesson.

Be Humble Object Lesson (Family Home Evening: Humility)

Materials needed: A lump of soft clay and a lump of hardened clay.

I believe the meek and the humble are those who are teachable. They are willing to learn. They are willing to listen to the whisperings of the still, small voice for guidance in their lives. They place the wisdom of the Lord above their own wisdom. Demonstrate how the soft clay can be molded into any shape that you desire. Then try to mold the hardened clay. Express the difficulty you are having in shaping the hardened clay. State that hardened clay is unworkable. Explain that we are like the clay. When we are humble we can be shaped and molded the way the Lord needs us. If we become stubborn we harden ourselves to the guiding influences of the Lord and we become unworkable. Discuss ways in which we can become more humble. (Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Building Blocks for Better Lessons, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1998] Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I believe the meek and the humble are those who are teachable. They are willing to learn. They are willing to listen to the whisperings of the still, small voice for guidance in their lives. They place the wisdom of the Lord above their own wisdom." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, January 2001, 2.)

Be True: Story

Be True : In all circumstances

In some situations it may be inconvenient or uncomfortable to stand up for what we believe in. But it is still important to follow the commandments and live righteously. We must, as President Hinckley reminded the youth, “Be loyal to the Church in all circumstances.”

Tiffany Roy, of the Port Charlotte Ward in Florida, had an experience in which she was true to the teachings of the Church even though it was uncomfortable.

“I had just moved to another state and started school. There was a group of girls who found out that I was Mormon and started asking me all these questions. When they found out that I would not swear, this little group of girls blocked me from going inside the classroom. They told me that they would not let me go in until I would swear. I told them that we would be sitting there all day because I would not lower my standards for them. The girls let me go inside because they knew I wouldn’t do it. They avoided me the rest of the year. I did not care what they thought of me. I stood true to my faith by doing this.”

Be Smart: Being Smart Story

Be Smart: The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost … shall teach you all things (John 14:26).

Olivia smiled as she uprooted a reluctant weed. The sun was warm, and it felt good to be weeding the vegetable garden with her family. It felt even better to be finished with school for the day. As they worked, Olivia’s older brother, Jake, started talking about President Hinckley’s six “B’s” that he was studying in seminary.

“Six bees? Like bumblebees?” Olivia asked, pointing to a fuzzy bee busily gathering pollen from a bright purple flower.

“No,” Jake said. “They’re things that we should try to be. They are be grateful, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful, and be smart.”

Be smart! Olivia’s eyes opened wide with dismay, and her heart seemed to drop into her tennis shoes. “President Hinckley says we should be smart?” At her baptism recently she had promised to keep the commandments, and that surely included following the prophet. But if there was one thing she could never be, it was smart.

Olivia dreaded school. Mr. Blaine, her third-grade teacher, was nice, but he made the class do multiplication tables, which tangled up in Olivia’s brain like barbed wire. She felt dumb when she got bad scores on her tests and worksheets. She tried hard, but her best just didn’t seem to be good enough. The rest of the evening Olivia worried that her grades were a terrible disappointment to Heavenly Father.

The next day at school, she felt even worse about “be smart” when she missed five words on her spelling test and couldn’t find Madagascar on the globe. She was relieved when recess came.

As Olivia ran across the grass with her friends, she noticed a group of fifth graders looking at something. Forgetting her problems for a moment, she went over to investigate.

“What are you looking at?” she asked a tall girl.

“Oh, we found a needle, like the ones doctors give you shots with.” One of the older boys bent to pick up the needle. A sick feeling came over Olivia, and she knew somehow that this was not a thing they should be playing with. “Wait!” she yelled. “Don’t touch it!”

The boy stopped short, staring at Olivia with raised eyebrows.

“Well, it’s, uh, way bad to t-touch stuff like th-that,” she stammered, feeling stupid for telling an older boy what to do.

But then a recent family home evening lesson came back clearly to her mind. “If we listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, He will help us know when something is wrong,” Mom had said.

Olivia looked the boy in the eye. “We should probably tell a teacher to come get it instead.”

One of the other third-graders ran quickly across the grass and brought back Mr. Blaine. “Olivia told us not to touch it,” the older boy said as Mr. Blaine bent over the sharp needle.

“Smart thinking, Olivia!” Mr. Blaine exclaimed.

Smart thinking? A warm glow replaced the sick feeling that had filled Olivia moments before. Wow! She had remembered her mom’s counsel about listening to the Holy Ghost, and she had followed His promptings. That was something a smart person would do!

Running across the playground, Olivia felt much better about trying to be smart.

Be Grateful: Game (Spin the Honey Bottle)

We played "spin the honey bottle" for a few minutes. Each girl had a couple turns sharing what they are thankful in their lives. They had a lot of fun playing this game!

Be Clean: Object Lesson

I showed them a fresh bar of soap. I allowed them to smell it and hold it. I asked them the following question, "What does it mean to be clean?" Then we talked about how our bodies are like temples and we should keep them clean by not thinking bad thoughts, no wearing immodest clothing, no swearing, and no gossiping. Then discussed avoiding harmful substances such as drugs, alcohol, tea, coffee, and smoking. We briefly talked about no tattoos or many body piercings.

Be Prayerful: Discussion

We discussed when we should pray (all day long and pray to Heavenly Father like you are talking to your best friend). The Lord listens to our prayers and may need not get the answers we need right away. We need to be patient and trust in the Lord about the things we pray for.

"Bee" Attitude Bookmarks

For our last activity, I had the girls color a "Bee" Attitude bookmark. Supplies: Bee attitude bookmark print out, colored yarn, hole puncher, scissors,

and markers.

Treat: Butterfingers

You can get more B attitude ideas from Sugardoodle.

Past Due Labor Day Weekend Post

2011-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

I had good intentions to post these Labor Day photos sooner, but never got around to it. I have been so busy lately... My nutrition class demands a lot of time and energy from me. I am currently researching water treatment methods as well as pros and cons about bottled water. I will be doing a power point presentation in a couple weeks with a group of five other classmates. In addition, I am trying to keep up with my nutrition assignments and reading. On Tuesday morning September 20, 2011, I injured my knee during a workout. It happened while I was doing a very high impact "jump training" P90X plyometrics workout. All a sudden, I heard a popping sound and then waves of pain hit me. I had sharp pain, some swelling, and stiffness in my knee with limited range of motion for a couple days. It was difficult to drive, walk, stand, sleep, and rotate my knee. This injury was a big inconvenience for be because I had school on Tuesday and could not miss it... On Wednesday, I was able to rest all day long. I did some mild stretching, iced it several times, wrapped it with an ace bandage, elevated it, and took some ibuprofen for pain. To my surprise, yesterday and today I have mild pain nothing close to what it was like before. I hope it is healing and I will continue to take it easy for the next couple days... By the way, I am too stubborn to go to the doctor unless is it critical... I wanted to wait it out to see how it heals before wasting hundreds of dollars on a doctor who will just tell me to R.I.C.E. (I am hoping and praying it wasn't anything too serious)... I miss jogging and exercising. :(

Cowabunga Bay

We decided to do something really fun for labor day weekend.... We got some discount tickets to Cowabunga Bay water park in Draper, Utah. We decided to go on Saturday 11:00-3:00. The slides reminded me of the game mouse trap because of the many bright twirly colored water slides, water games, bridges, etc.

There was a lazy river, wadding pool, and snack shack as well. My youngest daughter was nervous to go down the slides by herself at first. We had her try the baby slides by herself and eventually she worked up the confidence to go down the bigger ones without us! We had a total blast even though we got a little sunburned (no we did not forget to apply sunblock we just happened to miss some areas such as our faces, foreheads, shoulders, back, neck,)!!! ACK! What a painful Saturday night sleep.

On Labor Day, we had brunch around 10:00 AM with some extended family members at a park. It was a cool summer morning (a light jacket day). As for the brunch menu, it included: scrambled eggs, bacon, bagels from Einstein's Bagels, cream cheese, fresh fruit, and orange juice. My kids enjoyed playing at the park and throwing the frisbree with their cousins! We were able to see some family members from Arizona and Idaho who were up for a baby blessing as well as family who live in Utah. It was great to interact with them all since it has been a while since we had a large family gathering.

What a fabulous weekend to end our summer adventures!

More Scrapbook Layouts

2011-09-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Summer Time Memories, 2008

Credits: Shabby Princess. Most of the items that I used are from Summer Cottage Kit (papers, alpha, and elements) and some Summer Cottage Seasonal Additions (clothes pins, ribbons, and word art). The cute birdies are from Barefoot Collection Kit. I used pea hannah vanilla for my font.

You and Me Easy Baking, 2010

Credits: The template is by Urban Mom Scraps. The pink lined paper is by Karen Fredricks. The happiness food label is by Andrea Victoria. The rest of the papers and elements are by Kaye Winiecki. I used the following fonts: 4 my lover, and Segoe Print.

Happy 8th Birthday, 2011

Page Two

Credits: Template is from Shabby Princess' Blog (March 2011 template challenge). Everything is from Shabby Princess' Blossom Kit except the Happy Birthday word art is from An Affair to Remember. I used grumble as my font. :D
Your Cousins, 2003

Credits: Template is from Shabby Princess Blog. I used some items from Sandbox and Barefoot kits from Shabby Princess Shoppe. The felt button is from Smarshmallow kit by Shabby Princess. I used Peas Hannah Vanilla for the font!

Back to School! Where Did Summer Go?

2011-09-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Ack! What happened to my little girls who are not so little anymore? My oldest daughter is now in junior high! As for little Sis, she is a third grader! Where did the summer time go? Good grief, I hardly completed my Summer 2011"to do" list, ugh! We had quite the eventful summer to say the least!

First Day of Junior High August 22, 2011

First Day of 3rd Grade August 23, 2011

We were definitely busy this summer with our box garden, went on hikes, attended the Worthen family reunion, had a couple summer BBQs with family, went to a couple parades, went swimming, my oldest daughter survived her first year at girl's camp (river rafting, hiking, and camping). I did some digital scrapbook page layouts and my youngest daughter had her first sleepover at a friend's house! We went to my mother's funeral (July was a blur to me), went to the Taste of Utah Valley and got free makeovers (nails, and hair do's). I planned a couple activity days for my church calling and went to the Jordan River Temple with my nephews and nieces. Then, I went on my trip to Cape Cod in August with my brother to see my Grandfather and step Grandmother. My husband passed his college English class this summer. By the way, John is working on his bachelors degree in marketing and business through an online school Western Governor's University. Lastly, my oldest daughter needed new glasses and both girls went to the dentist. Then, we bought school clothes and school supplies at the very last minute.

It has been a crazy summer! I totally went off my diet and exercise routine. Due to stress and the loss of my mother, I gained weight, UGH. I need to get back on track soon! With the kids in school now, I have a better schedule for myself that includes working out during the mornings! Also, I am taking one class this semester at Salt Lake Community College. I signed up for a nutrition class, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is a long 40 minute drive to the college from my home, but thankfully I have a radio in my car to blast some great pop music! I decided to not overwhelm myself too much by taking too many classes since John is currently in school and working two jobs. This class will be super easy and a great way for me to get out of the house a couple times a week.

I agreed to do a carpool exchange with some other junior high parents in my neighborhood. It will be very helpful for all of us since we only have to transport kids once a week. I signed up for Mondays to drop off and pick up! Mondays are early out day so I will need to be there a hour earlier than usual. There are five kids total three girls and two boys. My daughter could ride the bus, but the stop is a couple blocks up the hill and technically we do not live in the bus zone boundaries. Carpooling kids is the next best option, which I am very grateful to be apart of since most of these mothers are busy working or taking care of small children. I am glad to be helping out in a small way.

Even though summer went by so fast, I am looking forward to the fall season! I love the autumn colors and cooler weather.

Back to School Water Party

2011-08-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

For our last summer activity day, we decided to have a back to school water party! I designed the invite of course and hand delivered them to each girl's home! I was in charge of coming up with some "cool" fun water relay games! Sister Jensen came up with a snack, craft, and back to school prizes.

Credits: Template is from the Coffee Shop Blog and papers/elements are by Kate Hadfield from the Lily Pad. I used Kids font and Love Ya Like A Sister font.

Sponge Ball Craft

Credits:One Charming Party inspired us with this cute craft idea!

Supplies:

Sponges, sharp scissors, and dental floss.

Directions:

Cut the sponge into strips by cutting the sponge in half and then cutting it in half again. You should have four strips from each sponge. You will need three sponges (12 strips total for each ball). Have the kids arrange the colors how they like them. Squeeze the sponge pieces tightly and give them a little twist. Then with a helper wrap around dental floss tightly in the center of the sponges and double knot it. Cut any excess floss at the end and fluff the sponge ball.

Rainy Day Relay

Credits: Beat Boredom Fun Water Activities

Supplies:
Two paper cups with holes poked in them all over Four buckets or large containers for water. 2 full, 2 empty
Instructions:
Have the kids line up in two lines by the 2 empty buckets. In relay style, have them run across to the other bucket (full of water.) Fill the cup, and holding it over your head run back to your empty bucket. Dump whatever water is left into the empty bucket. Hand the cup to the next person in line. Continue over and over. At the end of a predetermined time, see which bucket is more full!
Wet Sponge Relay:

Credits: Water Games for Kids

Supplies:
Two buckets filled with water, two empty jars, and two large sponges (like car wash sponges). Instructions:
Form two teams. Each team makes a line next to a bucket filled with water. When the game starts, have the first member of each team put the sponge in the water, put it on their head, and run towards a jar at the other end of the playing area. Squeeze the water into the jar and run back. Continue on with the rest of the players. The first team to fill the jar to overflowing wins.
Waddle Walk

Supplies: Water balloons (fill them up large so they pop easier).

Instructions:

Divide the group into two teams. One goes at the time. He/she carries a balloon between their legs across the yard and drops it in a large bowl or bucket. Then runs back and the next person goes. If they drop or break a balloon their turn is done. The next person goes. The team to get a certain number and the most unbroken balloons in the bucket wins.

Tip: I used the regular balloons with water instead of actual water balloons because I couldn't find water balloons at the stores. Using water balloons would break easier and my balloons would not pop during this game, ugh!!!
Afterwards, the girls had a water fight and played on the slip and slide.

The whole group of girls!

We ran out of time quickly, but these are some other games that I wanted to play.

Duck, Duck Squirt

Supplies: One sponge or spray bottle.
Instructions:
Gather in a large circle. The person who is it has the sponge/spray bottle does duck duck then squirt (squeezes the sponge or squirts water on them).

Water Guessing Game

Supplies: Spray bottle or water gun.
Instructions:
Have the kids get into a large circle. The person in the middle will think of something: what is my favorite________? (food, color, song, sport, holiday, candy, subject in school, etc). Then everyone takes a turn guessing what the answer is. The person who guess gets it correct will be sprayed wet with the water bottle or water gun and in the middle. Everyone should each have a turn in the middle.

The Prizes: Back to School Supplies

Pencils, crayons, notebook, and glue.

The Snacks

Vanilla/Chocolate ice cream bar.

Happy 14th Anniversary to Hubby and Me!

2011-08-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Shoga Japanese Sushi Bar

Enjoying my dinner, Yum!

Yes, I am lame eating with a dinner fork in a Japanese Restaurant! I cannot eat well with chopsticks! I tried and failed miserably! Thankfully my waitress offered to bring me a fork, lol!

Here is John eating his food and is a master with his chopsticks!

On August 14th, 2011 was our 14th Wedding Anniversary! We celebrated by eating sushi at Shogo in Orem. My brother in-law Matt and sister in-law Chiaki highly recommended that place! Since they are sushi experts and my sister in-law is from Japan, we trust their opinions! We absolutely loved it! The atmosphere was cozy with friendly service. The presentation of the food was very creative, fresh, and authentic. The restaurant was decorated with black modern and chic furniture. We started our meal out with a refreshing house salad that contained a couple types of lettuces, mandarin oranges, tomatoes, shredded carrots, and cucumbers topped with an Asian dressing. We then shared some sushi rolls (playboy and funky roll), and had an incredible dessert chocolate trilogy mousse,MMMMM!

Our sushi rolls with a side of sauce, ginger, and wasabi

We like to mix our wasabi in with the soy sauce in the small white dish.

The Funky Roll and Playboy Roll

The funky roll included the following: cucumber, crab, avocado, rice, seaweed, topped with eel tempura and a couple sauces. As for the playboy roll, it included the following: shrimp tempura, cucumber avocado, rice, and seaweed topped with raw tuna, spicy mayo, unagi sauce and tobiko.

Chocolate Trilogy

What a beautiful edible master piece! It has three layers chocolate genoise, white milk chocolate, and dark chocolate mousse, with dark chocolate shavings, three sauces, and powdered sugar! Oh, what a delicious treat! We died and went to heaven! There was a serious party going on in our mouths! To our surprise, it was not too rich. It was very fluffy and tasty! We are total Shoga fans and cannot wait to go back again to try something new on the menu! We give it 5 stars! We left the place feeling satisfied and not over full. This place is by far better than Happy Sumo and Sushi Ya!

My Visit with Grandpa Coleman Cape Cod Trip, 2011

2011-08-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last year after several of weeks of not feeling himself and tired, my Grandfather was diagnosed with acute leukemia. It was a terrible shock for all of us because that was the same disease that took my sweet Grandmother in 1979. Due to his old age, he decided to not fight the cancer with radiation and chemo. He was afraid the treatments would kill him. Luckily, he has been doing well the first several month after being diagnosed due to his healthy life style of eating well and exercising. A few months ago, the cancer showed its ugly face by wiping out a lot of energy from him. At the age of 85, he finally retired from his job as a radio engineer for a Classical radio station on Cape Cod and volunteered citizen police officer. He has a hospice nurse who checks on him regularly. He is getting by with blood transfusions every couple weeks as needed. Thankfully, the blood transfusions have been working for him and it has been several weeks since his last one. He has been able to do some gardening, some small projects around the house, work a couple hours at the radio station, etc. He is taking life one day at a time by making the best of it.

My Grandpa with some old radio equipment downstairs.

A couple weeks ago my brother and I bought some last minute airline tickets to Boston, Massachusetts August 2-6, 2011. My sister Karen was not able to come this year. It was a very quick trip not long enough for all of us but we didn't want to overwhelm him and my step Grandmother. We wanted to purchase our tickets months ago, but we were advised by our Grandfather not too in case his health got worse. More importantly, we all didn't know what to expect since he isn't aggressively fighting the cancer. Since my grandfather is dying, we felt it was important to see him this summer. I cannot imagine the guilt and grief that I would feel if he died without me seeing him this year. It has been over five years since I last saw my grandfather and I am not close to him as I would like to be. The distance in miles between us has made it difficult, but I have cherished my memories spent with him while visiting him on the Cape when I was a young girl, teen, and adult. He came out to see us when we were kids occasionally too but I was sad we didn't live close by each other. Over the years, we kept in touch by sending cards, letters, and phone calls.

My girly girls and me! Big Sister is getting very tall!

Ready Set Go! On our way to the airport!

Nate and me at the airport ready to check in.

~My Journal Entries: My Summer 2011 Cape Cod Trip~

Goals: Eat fresh fish every day and spend quality time with Grandpa and Grandma!
They are such a cute couple!

Wednesday August 3, 2011

We made it to Boston around 9:00 a.m. At the airport, I bought myself a ladies brown and pink Boston Red Sox cap and my daughters Red Sox t-shirts . We were shuttled by bus from the airport to our rental car agency (National). On the way down to the Cape, we stopped to see the Scituate Lighthouse, which is located on a very rocky shoreline. The stones were very scared there and we were not allowed to take one as a keepsake. What a beautiful harbor and shoreline in Scituate!
Rocky Shoreline near the Scituate Lighthouse

Scituate Lighthouse, 1636

Next, we went to Plymouth for lunch at Cafe Nicole. The view from this Cafe was breathtaking! We could see Plymouth Harbor! I ate calm chowder, fries, and a haddock sandwich.

New England Clam Chowder and Haddock Sandwich

To our surprise, we got a $15.00 parking ticket because we forgot to pay the meter, duh. Good grief, I had at least $5.00 in change!!! That was a terrible mistake due to lack of sleep and jet lagged from the airplane... We learned our lesson the hard way, GRRR! Finally, we made it to Marshton Mills later in the afternoon to see my Gramps and Grams Coleman. We took our stuff upstairs and talked outside on the patio deck for a couple hours. Then my grandparents took us all out for dinner at Wimpy's Sea Food Cafe and Fish Market in Osterville, MA. I tried swordfish with capers for the first time and absolutely loved it! I also had ginger al, dinner salad, rolls, baked potato, and squash.
Picture from ---->Wimpy's Seafood Cafe

On the way home, we stopped by 1856 Country Store. There are several cute souvenirs, decorations, gifts, books, candy, etc at the shop. My father informed me that he and my mother lived in the apartment above that store many years ago.
1856 Country Store

We all went to bed early that night since Nate and I were running on no sleep or nap due to traveling and sightseeing.

Thursday August 4, 2011

We woke up to the incredible smell of homemade blueberry pancakes, orange juice, coffee (for my brother and grandpa) and sausage for breakfast! Nate and I visited with our Grandpa and Grandma for awhile. We left the house around 11:00 a.m. Today we spent most the day in Hyannis, Massachusetts. We went shopping on Main Street. There is a lot to see and do on Main Street, Hyannis!
Main Street, Hyannis

There are rides for kids, modern art, a large Cape Cod beach chair, several shops, many restaurants, a church, and live entertainment. What a quaint place to hang out for a couple hours! I bought some sea shells , a beach tot bag, a salmon pink Cape Cod jacket, some popular nautical postcard and print by Robert Edward Kennedy at Kennedy Gallery, and small souvenirs. As for lunch, we went to an Irish"rustic shire" restaurant called Common Ground Cafe. The place was absolutely enchanting with handmade wood decorations! I felt like we were in the middle of a forest among hobbits! I ordered a fresh tuna wrap sandwich, chips, and bottled water. They make an amazing homemade dressing as a dip for chips or spreading on sandwiches/wraps.

Afterwards, we went to Craigville Beach. I was able to change my clothes at an old bathhouse. The ocean water was extremely warm and the beach was filled with sea shells and grainy sand. We enjoyed swimming and sitting on our towels soaking up the sun. There were a couple snack shacks across the street. Nate got a very yucky Coke there (fountain that was maybe expired). Since my brother is a sales man for Coke, he knows the difference between the taste of fresh and expired product!
Craigville Beach

We went home around 5:30 p.m. Grams made homemade chicken pot pie, baby peas, a berry/pineapple yogurt salad, and cranberry sauce. My grandmother spoiled us with her homemade hot fudge sauce over peppermint ice cream. We spent the rest of the evening visiting with Gramps and Grams until around 10:30 p.m. I enjoyed listening to stories about my Grandpa. Several years ago, he worked with the Boston Pops and met many jazz singers. He worked for a recording studio in Boston. He showed us his awesome man cave in the basement! He has a lot of cool toys such as vintage radio equipment, artifacts from the civil war time period, as well as several original paintings by my great grandfather.

Friday August 5, 2011
We had a light breakfast today cereal, English muffins, jam, and juice. Nate and I had a long day planned. We decided to check out some more lighthouses and hang out at the beach. Nate is extremely fascinated by the beauty of lighthouses in fact he has a book that contains the location and photographs of all the lighthouses in Massachusetts. We drove south to Eastham, Cape Cod. We saw Three Sisters Lighthouses as well as Nauset Lighthouse.
Three Sister's Lighthouses, 1838.

Nauset Lighthouse, 1923 was a twin lighthouse transferred from Chatham.

Next, we ate lunch in Orleans, MA at Lobster Claw. We shared a plate of fried calamari for an appetizer. As for my main dish, I ordered fried lobster, fries, and coleslaw. We loved the restaurant! The service and food was excellent!
The Lobster Claw (Postcard)

We drove to Chatham, Cape Cod to see the Chatham Lighthouse. What a gorgeous beach! The water was so blue and the sand was white! To our surprise, most of the beaches there were for locals only that required stickers (for parking) and there was no public parking near the beach we wanted to hang out at...
Chatham Lighthouse and Beach

So we continued our journey to find another beach near the coast. Along the way, we stopped at the old Eastham Windmill off 6A.
Eastham Windmill

Then proceeded down the road to First Encounter Beach in Eastham. According to history, First Encounter Beach is where the pilgrims first met the native Indians. The pilgrims stopped at Provincetown, then Eastham, and afterwards they headed towards Plymouth, MA where they settled in 1620. Anyway, it was high tide during that time of the day at the beach. There were a lot of sand dunes which were prohibited to walk on. I recall the sand was rocky. The water was extremely warm like Craigville Beach. Most beaches have very cold water and we were lucky to swim in two warm ones during our trip, Yay!

We headed back home around 5:00 p.m. Grams made a dinner reservation at Amari Bar and Ristorante in East Sandwich. The authentic Italian food was magnificent. I ordered shrimp scampi while Nate got shrimp parmigiana. We had tons of left overs for the next day!

After dinner, we drove out to Sandy Neck Beach. Nate and I walked on the beach for a few minutes enjoying the sunset. Sandy Neck Beach is extremely rocky compared to the other beaches. It is also cold to swim in, although it is a beautiful beach to sit and listen to the waves. There are beautiful sand dunes there too.

When we got home, we ate some lemon cake, played a game of Phase Ten, and talked way past my grandparent's bed time!

Saturday August 6, 2011-August 7, 2011

This morning, we packed up our things and spent some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Coleman. We had blueberry muffins and juice for breakfast. Before we left, we had some of our leftover food from Amari Bar and Ristorante and took many pictures on the backyard deck of my Grandfather's home. I cannot believe how quickly our trip came to an end! It was so hard to say good bye! My grandfather truly appreciated the time we spent with him and Grams. We sure hope and pray he can be around for a while.

If there is another "next time" on the Cape in the future we would like to extend our trip another day or two. Travelling home was brutal! We saw another windmill on our way to Boston. We returned our car around 1:45 p.m.

We bought some last minute RED SOX stuff at the airport and were off to New York City around 4:00 p.m. Since we had a couple hours until our next flight, we ate dinner at a Sports Bar and Grill. We were able to watch the Red Sox versus Yankees at the airport restaurant. The Red Sox won that night 10-4, Woohoo! We proudly wore our Red Sox caps in the New York airport and boy did we get the glares! For dessert, I got some Ben and Jerry's sweet cookie and cream ice cream! Our next flight was so messed up in New York. We had no seats assigned to us luckily we were able the get the LAST minute row seats at the ticket counter since it was a FULL flight.
No surprise we were delayed, ugh!
Our gate changed on us three times. Our "plane" was taken twice by other flights. There were mechanical problems with the third plane. So around 9:00 p.m. we boarded a plane from Boston and sat on the runway for ONE HOUR! I need to remind myself to avoid the JFK Airport next time. Every time we fly from there we were always delayed due to the heavy airplane traffic. So the captain on our flight home to Utah allowed us to watch free movies and Nate got free cocktails. I slept a little, watched some TV, and listened to my iPod. My husband John and daughters greeted us around 1:20 a.m. near the Jet Blue pick up parking. I went to bed around 3:00 a.m. I was extremely jet lagged for a day and half later. Overall, we had a fantastic time! We saw many lighthouses, beaches, and windmills! We ate delicious sea food and Granny's home cooked meals! We went swimming and shopping. Lastly, best of all we made some wonderful memories with our Grandfather and Grandmother Coleman.

Sausage and Vegetable Lasagna

2011-08-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Since we have an abundance of zucchini, squash, and onions from our lovely box garden, John and I came up with a tasty white lasagna!

Sausage and Vegetable Lasagna

1 (16 ounce) package of lasagna noodles, cooked and drained.

1 pound of mild sausage, cooked

Italian Season (desired amount based on your preference)

1 large white onion, diced

1 medium-large squash

1 medium-large zucchini

3 medium carrots peeled and sliced

2 (16 ounce) Ragu Alfredo Sauce

1 (24 ounce) cottage cheese

1 (8 ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (8ounce) shredded parmesan cheese

1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a large frying pan, cook sausage, diced onions adding Italian Season on medium high heat. Drain meat mixture and set aside. Boil the lasagna noodles in a large pot following the directions on the box. Stir fry chopped squash, zucchini, and carrots in a large frying pan for a few minutes. In a large bowl add Alfredo sauce, cottage cheese, sausage, and vegetables. Spray cooking butter on the bottom of the baking dish. In a 10X15 pan, layer lasagna noodles, meat/veggie mixture, and top with cheeses. Repeat until desired amount of layers. Top with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes and allow to cool before serving!

Our First Box Garden

2011-08-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Around spring time, we decided to build our first box garden. We bought four cubic yards of dirt, which I hauled half of it from the front of the street with a wheeler barrow to the backyard ALL by myself!!! Gooooo me, right?! John had to work after it got delivered to our house. It took me all day and boy was I sore afterwards! What a serious workout!

Box Garden Before/After, May 2011

We planted a lot of starter plants such as tomatoes, cucumber, squash, zucchini, watermelon, onions, basil, chalets, green onion, green peppers, cabbage, strawberries, and broccoli. From seeds, we planted green beans, peas, yellow tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, parsley, chives, cilantro, and radishes. So far, we had some bad luck with parsnips and the watermelon everything else is thriving well. We planted green beans in place of the parsnips! The watermelon has a couple tiny green leaves that are not getting very big. The girls have been very helpful in watering and weeding.

June 2011

Leftover Scraps Project!

With some small pieces of wood, John was able to construct a small planter box for me. He used some logs for the base. I bought a couple flowers from Walmart. It is a little wobbly and it blow over from a serious summer rain storm, but I think it is cute!

July 2011

In the long box on the left are cherry tomato plant, two rows of beans, one squash, one zucchini, and few pea plants. Back box on the right contains two rows of radishes and one watermelon plant in the middle.

As for the front box on the right, it has strawberry plants, herbs, and yellow tomato plants.

Yes, we need to weed around the box garden... In this long box, we have in the back two rows of onions, some chalets, and a green onion plant. In the middle, are two tomato plants, four cabbage plants, one cucumber plant, and hidden pepper plants! In the front of the box there are two types of carrots growing.

We have already picked some radishes, chalets, cabbage leaves, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, baby carrots, and squash! It has been a lot of fun learning how to garden and I have been impressed with our efforts so far!

What Is An American?

2011-08-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

After looking thoroughly through my mother's book of remembrance, I found a copy of my mother's “What Is An American?” essay, which she wrote in 1971! It was the essay that she received the George Washington Honor Medal Award at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. It was buried beneath other documents in her plastic sheets in her book of remembrance. I was so thrilled to read it and felt her American patriotism.

My Mother at Otis Air Force Base

July 4, 1971

Ambassadors of World Affairs

Neighbors of the World

Dear Neighbors,

Our country began with 101 passengers and a crew of 48 on a ship called the "Mayflower" which landed on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in November 1620.

They came here searching for religious freedom from their native country England and found it. Ever since that day a lot of you have come here to live. People from France, Spain, Italy, Japan, South America, and Africa came to find a welcome mat.

Each of us came here for happiness, freedom, and believing that all men were created equal. For many years, we tested ourselves in these beliefs and battled till one day we became an independent nation.

Even today we are tempted by war, witnessing freedom by bitter peace, and bearing many burdens as any nation would. We have a choice in who is to represent us in the government called a Democracy. It is not always perfect as we would like it to be, but we have more than one choice. Our greatest enemy is the wars we fight in ourselves. We do not have confidence in ourselves unless we have faith in the wisdom of those who lead us.

This country is of law and order. We help make the laws since they protect us from those who want our freedom as well as their own. I want to be your friend and everyone's friend. We like to help those who need us. Many of you suffer from hunger, misfortunes, and are battling for your own freedoms. Many lives have been sacrificed on this land and at work already with hope to make this a world of peace for us all.

We've earned this heritage, learning from hardships, and having faith even though it asks more of us than we can get in return. Our courage, tolerance, and vision is for progress. We work hard and try to be compassionate to those who do not feel the same as us.

Everyday I see the eternal peace in my heart as I salute the flag of this continent. Its red, white, and blue colors waving in the breeze mean so many things to me.

People respect my opinion. Someone may judge me, but I'm not guilty till they prove it. Every Sunday I can worship God as I please.

I can always find a friend. I never cry for long, never go to bed hungry, and someone will miss me when I die. There are as many different people here as in the tribes of Israel. Out of all of us, we become one in judgment of God.

At night I can sleep and awake to bells ringing. I think those bells are called, "Bells of Freedom." In gratitude I say, I'm glad to be an American.

Yours Sincerely, An American

Sergeant Jill Dawn Killitz, United States Air Force

Cape Cod 2006 Memories and Seascape Artist Vernon H. Coleman

2011-07-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Karen, Nate, and Jennifer (Me)

Gramps and Grams Coleman

Cape Cod Massachusetts is my heritage and birthplace. We moved to Utah in 1981 and I have never understood why my parents left the Cape in the first place other than wanting to be among other Latter Day Saint Mormons. My brother Nate, sister Karen, and I went to Cape Cod in July 2006 to see our Grandfather Vernon Ellsworth Coleman and step Grandmother Gloria Coleman of Marston Mills. We had a fantastic time with him and Gloria. My step Grandmother is a gourmet cook! She served us some delicious food! Since my Grandfather is a local, he recommended a perfect list of fun things to do while visiting Cape Cod.

1. Eat a lot of fresh seafood!
We ate fresh shrimp, lobster, crab, clam chowder, etc at any local Cape Cod seafood restaurants. I did not have a preference on the place because generally sea food is expensive where ever you go and it ALL tastes good to me! My favorite place to have lunch was at the Box Lunch! As for some great places for dessert, we absolutely loved the ice cream from Cape Cod Creamery and Four Seas Ice Cream.

2. Body surf and lounge at Long Beach and Sandy Neck!
My grandfather recommended those two beaches because they are less touristy. There are few people on them compared to the public beaches. The big bonus was the fact that he dropped us off instead of us having to pay for parking which is around $15.00 a day.

3. Look at beautiful lighthouses!

Chatham Light House

4. Sightseeing and Shopping in Hyannis and Provincetown.
I love the vintage shops such as the 1856 Country Store in Centerville and the quaint outdoor stores on Main Street Hyannis and colorful shops on Main Street Provincetown! I picked up some yummy salt water taffy, a rope bracelet, Cape Cod clothing, Boston Red Sox stuff, cute souvenirs such as magnets, postcards, collectibles, shells, nautical themed decorations, jewelry,etc. We loved looking at the harbor in Hyannis and was surprised how much we we could do and see in Hyannis and Provincetown.

Hyannis Port
Ferry boats to Nantucket, whale watching, and deep sea fishing boats are usually docked here. Many years ago, I went with my father on a boat ride to see John F. Kennedy's Home from Hyannis Port. John F. Kennedy Museum is located in Hyannis as well.

Pilgrim Monument, Provincetown

5. Visit Plymouth Rock and Mayflower II at Pilmoth Plantation.

6. Take a ferry to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket.

Around August 2010, Nate and Karen took a Ferry boat ride from Hyannis Port to Nantucket. They had a lovely time visiting the beaches, walking to the lighthouse, and eating there.

7. Go to Museums, Town Hall, etc to see my Great Grandfather's seascape paintings!

To our surprise in 2006, we planned our trip while my Great Grandfather Vernon Herbert Coleman (1898 -1978) nautical paintings were being showcased at Centerville Historical Museum. My Great Grandfather was a well known marine seascape muralist artist. He was also an art teacher on the Cape. He taught junior high, high school, as well as elementary school children. I was able to get a couple prints of his famous pieces at the art exhibit and my father has given me a couple original seascape paintings, which I have hanging up in my home. We were thrilled to see many of his work of arts! What an incredibly talented artist! I am so lucky to have him as my Great Grandfather!

These were found at Auctions

Hyannisport Marsh with Dunes

Sandy Neck Cape Cod

Rocky Coastal Scene

Cape Cod Cove

Crosby's Boat Yard

Stan Dubeck's Cabin Cruiser

My Grandfather Vernon E. Coleman found this at a yard sale.

These are some of my favorite paintings by my Great Grandfather

He loved painting clipper ships!

I love the sand dunes in this one!

My Dad owns this painting

Some of his large murals are found in Barnstable Town Hall, Pope John Paul II Catholic High School, Center for Creative Arts in Hyannis, Centerville Recreation Building Senior Home, and Osterville Historical Society Boat House. He has hundreds of paintings that are collected by art dealers, fans of his work, family, friends, etc.

This large mural can be found at Barnstable Town Hall.

Lastly, there are several breathtaking murals that are found at the Centerville Recreation Building Senior Home and Pope John Paul II Catholic High School.

Spanish Ship and Clipper Ship in the High School

Captain's Wife on Widow Walk, 19th Century Sailing Vessels, Whale Tail, and Neptune

This was his last clipper painting he did which he gave to my Grandfather Vernon E. Coleman

There are endless things to do while vacationing on Cape Cod. My brother Nate during a trip a couple years ago went Whale Watching with my Grandfather. You can go sailing, deep sea fishing, canoeing, kayaking, biking, exploring dunes, etc. Cape Cod will always be "my home" as well as have a special place in my heart!

Summer Time Recipes, 2011

2011-07-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Every Summer it is our family tradition to eat layered jello and pasta salads since it is too hot for baking! The following recipes are our most favorite summer dishes, which we take to BBQ's, picnics, and so forth!

Ice Cream Jello

We have done all the colors of a rainbow. You may do a 4th of July theme of red layer, cream red layer, blue layer, cream blue layer repeating over and over. We then put a layer of white whipping cream or Cool Whip layer on the top. We think doing a cranberry theme with ice cream and sparkling cider would be good for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is really an easy recipe, just time consuming, but definitely worth it because it tastes so good!

INGREDIENTS:
Jello boxes (suggestions: strawberry, cherry, cranberry, pineapple, blueberry, grape, mango, peach, apricot, orange, lime, watermelon, raspberry, lemon, strawberry/banana, strawberry/kiwi, tropical punch and so forth)
Water and ice
Gallon of ice cream (vanilla)

DIRECTIONS:
Follow the directions on the Jello box for the first layer (adding hot and cold water). To speed the process up, we use ice with cold water. Make sure you measure accurately on what the directions say on the Jello box.

Next is the cream layer. Instead of measuring cold water we substitute ice cream in its place. The cream layers usually set up quicker than the normal layers.

Then add another regular Jello layer (hot water, cold water with ice). Carefully ladle the next layers in so that you don't put holes in the previous Jello layers.

Bow Tie Pasta Salad

We have an amazing refreshing summer pasta salad recipe. A couple years ago my brother Nate shared this recipe with me and I altered it to my liking! It is so good!

Ingredients:

1 bag of bow-tie pasta or your favorite pasta shape

1 bottle Italian dressing

1 of each green, yellow, red, and orange peppers, chopped (we used just red this time but it is good with all four peppers)

1 large tomato, chopped

1 large cucumber

1 small pkg. fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

pepperoni sliced in half (amount based on your preference)

Salad Supreme Seasoning (desired amount by taste)

Optional: Instead of pepperoni, you may grill some chicken breasts and cut them into cubes and add a can of small black olives.

Directions:

Boil pasta by following the directions on the package. In a large bowl, combine the chopped vegetables, add Italian dressing, pepperoni slices, cheese, and sprinkle your desired amount of Salad Supreme Seasoning. Mix all ingredients together well. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours before serving. Enjoy!

Worthen Family Reunion, July 2011

2011-07-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

On July 1-2, 2011, we attended a huge family reunion on my husband's side of the family in Beaver, Utah. Our family was in charge of everything this year (food, games, activities, clean up assignments, etc). There were a total of 29 Frees representing our side of the family. That is surprisingly a small number this year; however, we enjoyed being among every single one of them as well as mingling with the extended family members!

We arrived early on Friday afternoon to set up camp and got ourselves organized. John and I were in charge of preparing dinner that night. So we spent a lot of time in the kitchen making frog eye salad, chopping veggies, warming chili, and later that evening John helped with frying yummy scones.

Friday Dinner Crew

Justin, Keli, John, Nita, Me, and Marilee

Friday Night Entertainment

The Friday night entertainment included the following: the Worthen siblings talking about their favorite memories growing up with Grandma and Grandpa Worthen, playing card games, getting into groups reading/doing skits about our ancestors, eating scones, while kids played on the see saw, trampoline, and playground.

We "roughed it" in a tent that night and slept comfortably listening to the sound of crickets in the dry desert among juniper and sage... We woke up around 7:00 AM ready to do some service projects, eat amazing food, and play games later on!!!

Saturday Morning Service Projects

There were three service projects, which John's brother Matt set up. John, Matt, Keli, Justin, extended cousins, and I picked the least popular one picking up garbage on the side of the road. Our daughters helped paint a white fence with Dave, Kristin, Jessica, Madison, Jeremy, Elena, etc, while several other family members went to the rest home to perform a patriotic program (singing and musical instruments).

Fun Family Reunion Activities

My brother in-laws (Joe and Dave) thought it would be cool to engage in type of activities that were around when John's grandparents were married in 1927. Many people played several card games, made some crafts, jump roped, played marbles, ping pong, golf, horse shoes, tether ball, had potato races, and ate cotton candy. We had a lot of fun interacting with many cousins and doing many simple activities.

Crafts: Sling shots and Clothes Pin Dolls

Let The Games Begin!!!

The Worthen siblings: Aunt Leola, Granny Free, Aunt Carlita, Aunt Shelia, Uncle Dick, and Uncle Claire!

From left to right are Rich, Marilee, John, Jen, Grandpa, Matt, Grandma, Joe, Diana, Dave, and Kristin.

4th of July Paragonah, Utah

We decided to stay at Granny's house until 4th of July. We spent a lot of great time with Joe and Dave's families. There were 19 of us at Granny's small house. We were outside in their trailer, while several bodies slept on the floor, couches, etc. Joe set up a tent for his family in the back yard. We went to church with all of them on Sunday. We had a peaceful Sunday taking naps, reading scriptures, and taking a walk. The next day a couple of us went jogging for 30 minutes (Jessica, Dave, Josh, Andrew, and myself). I was the slowest but they were sure patient with me! Next, we showered and ate breakfast. Then headed over to Parowan to the 4th of July parade. It was a simple parade. There were tons of candy tossed, loads of trackers, and farm animals. What we liked best about the country folk parade is the fact that we were able to show up 15 minutes before it started, got great seats, and were home 10 minutes after the parade was over. Now that is my kind of 4th of July parade! The Provo parade is over rated!!! We left granny's house after lunch so that we could make it home in time to have a BBQ with Uncle Duane, Matt's family, Justin, and Keli. Around this time frame, is when my dear sweet mother passed away and I was not notified until the next night.

Although we had a wonderful 4th of July this year, this holiday will never be the same for me since my Mom passed away on Independence Day. In the years to come, I will always remember the great memories of my mother. May her spirit rest in peace. I love you, Mom! XOXOX

In Loving Memory of My Mother and Happy Birthday!

2011-07-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

Today would have been your 61 birthday if you were still here. What a wonderful privilege to know you, mother! In 1980, my mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Although it was difficult growing up with her because we didn't understand her illness, we were so blessed to have her as our mother. I always knew that she loved me and my siblings. She was a lot of fun and did so many things for us! Many other health problems occurred later in her life such as diabetes, heart disease, and Parkinson disease. It was extremely difficult for me watching her body deteriorate during the last year of her life. It was a sudden heart attack that took her life last week. Even though a piece of my heart is missing, I am very grateful that she is no longer suffering on this earth. She never complained and truly endured to the end! What an amazing reward she got in heaven! Thank you for EVERYTHING and Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you! XOXOXO

Jill Dawn Hawley July 13, 1950-July 4, 2011.

This poem was found in my Mother's Book of Remembrance. I want to say that she wrote it but I am not certain of that fact.

Mothers

Mothers are our first love,

They give us much understanding,

No greater calling from above.

Most often they can be a friend,

A choice and noble teacher,

Striving patiently to attend.

A mother is one who cares,

She can be trusted with secrets,

Helping to repair human tares.

When I know she is there,

To help with special needs,

Her love is golden and fair.

As I walk my life's paths,

I reach for her guidance,

Finding joys and sore laughs.

With unconditional love so great,

Our eternal bond will never break,

Enduring trials in bending faith.

Author Unknown

One hundred years from now it will not matter how much money I had, the kind of house I lived in, or the kind of clothes that I wore, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. ~Unknown Author

Celebrating the Life of Jill Dawn Hawley by Jennifer Free

Jill Dawn Hawley was born on July 13, 1950 in Santa Monica, California. When she was two years old, she was adopted by Mary Ed Smith Killitz and George Fred Killitz. She had one brother Jeffery Killitz. She grew up in Reseda, California.

While attending school she enjoyed the following subjects: English, Spanish, and photography. Her favorite colors were pink and yellow. One of her favorite memories of growing up was receiving home made doll clothes from her grandmother and going to the movies with her Father. Although Jill had many challenges during her life, she was extremely intelligent and accomplished in many incredible things.

After high school graduation, Jill served four years as a Sargent in the United States Air Force in 1968-1972. She worked as a computer operator and in the base supply department for the military at Otis Air Force Base, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1971, she received the George Washington Honor Medal Award at Valley Forge Pennsylvania for her outstanding essay titled “What Is An American?” How very symbolic that she peacefully died on the 4^th of July.

On February 13, 1971, she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Becoming a member of the church changed her life! She absolutely loved the gospel and had a strong testimony through out her life. She enjoyed reading her scriptures faithfully, taking family history classes, doing genealogy, and attending the temple.

She graduated from Brigham Young University in 1974 with a bachelor degree in communications/journalism. She had her own broadcasting news show at BYU. She was a talented writer. She enjoyed writing poems. She even wrote a book, which she never had a chance to publish. On November 28, 1980, a family home evening article written by her was published in The Cape Cod Times newspaper. Even with poor health the last few months while living at the nursing home, she continued sharing her talent of writing by submitting articles for Orem Nursing and Rehabilitation's monthly newsletter.

She served a stake mission in San Jose, California in 1975 and worked at General Electric. She also completed training and worked as a homemaker certified home heath aid in 1976.

She married Vernon Coleman on October 21, 1975, later divorced in 1989. They had three children Jennifer, Karen, and Nate. The privilege of motherhood was her most wonderful blessing from God. Her children were her masterpieces during her life. She found comfort being among her children. Some of our early childhood memories of her included: her reading bible stories to us, having family home evening, and making fun treats like mini cherry tarts, apple crisp, chocolate chip cookies, and tiny peanut butter and jam sandwiches after school for snacks. She found joy in taking us to the park, swimming, skating, shopping, and drove us around all over the place. She was an extremely patient Mother to us and loved us very much.

In 1981, she went back to school at BYU to fulfill her dream of teaching. She was interested in teaching special needs kids. She gave up her teaching career after doing a couple substitution teaching positions because she decided it was more important to be a full time Mom at home raising her children.

My mother absolutely loved music! I recall her singing as well as playing the piano and guitar. My mother also composed some of her own music many years ago. I was impressed that she learned how to play the piano by ear with few piano lessons. She loved listening to the church hymns and enjoyed serving as the ward chorister or piano player.

My mother loved to create many homemade things. My sister and I wore many dresses all sewn by her loving hands. She made us doll clothes too. Crocheting hooks and knitting needles as well as colorful yarn were always nearby her side. She made several blankets, slippers, baby items, out of her beautiful string.

When my sister and I were in girl scouts, she served as our leader. She also volunteered at our schools and worked part time as a crossing guard. She loved being among young children.

She married her sweetheart Dennis Errol Hawley on May 25, 1996, later sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple on May 26, 1998. She was happily married to Dennis and loved him very much. She enjoyed cooking for him. They spent a lot of time together watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Around this time, she was working at Wasatch Mental Health as a secretary.

In 2001, she was able to obtain the names of her Dutch descendent birth parents: Lucille Smith Pilgrim (1908) and Ford Pilgrim (1890) of California who are preceded in her death. It took several years for the State of California to finally release that important information to her since it was confidential and sealed records. What a great relief for her to finally know the names of her birth parents.

Jill was a wonderful grandmother to her four grandchildren Kyler, Audrey, Kanyen, and Savannah. She loved seeing her grandchildren, attending their special occasions, and spoiling them. They will continue to live on this earth knowing her wonderful legacy that she left behind.

Jill was always known for her gentle sensitive loving spirit, her warm beautiful smile, great example, and kind heart that touched many lives. Jill will be missed dearly by her family and many beloved friends. She always asked her children, “Was I a good mother to you kids?” We always assured her she was the best mother to us! We were so blessed to have her as our mother! We never doubted her love for us. On behalf of my brother, sister, and me, we honor and salute you, dear mother. You are now free to do what you loved best on this earth serving others and sharing the gospel. We love you mother and will never forget you.

Hike and Sack Lunch Activity

2011-06-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

My Activity Day Invite!

~How cute is that?~

Credits: Template Storyboard is from the Coffee Shop Blog. Papers and doodles are by Kate Hadifeild @ The Lily Pad. The brown paper, red checked paper, felt flowers, and red butterfly are by Kaye Winiecki @ The Lily Pad. The hiking boot clip-art is from Clker. I used the following fonts: Love Ya Like A Sister, Lady Rene, and Kristen ITC.
On June 16th, 2011 we did a combined activity with the other group in our ward. Big sister decided to tag along on the hike too. Technically she is too old for achievement days since she is in young woman's now but she didn't want to hang out alone at the house while little sissy and I went on the hike. We met the other group at Kiwanis Park. That day was a perfect day to hike! It was cloudy and not too hot! The hike took us about 15-20 minutes to get up to the beautiful waterfalls. Within a couple weeks, the water has risen (we went on this same hike twice before the activity this year)! Some of the stream water runs down the trail now.
Activity Day Hike and Lunch

My sweet girl! XOXO

Lunch time! Each girl brought their own lunches!

The activity was a huge success no injuries or drama! We had a big group of girls that came and they all seemed very happy together! Yay!

I might as well add these gorgeous photos that we took a few weeks ago with our nephew and his wife (newly weds) at the same waterfalls at the beginning of June. We sure enjoy spending a lot of time with them making wonderful memories together (cooking, playing games, hiking, etc)! GOOD TIMES! My girls adore their new cousin Keli!

A Wood Fish Bowl

2011-06-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago while visiting my in-laws in southern Utah, my father in-law challenged us to make something creative. John decided it would be fun to make a fish bowl for me to put jewelry, chap stick, coins, etc. It also can be displayed in a room as decoration. That was the same weekend when I made my material clothes for paper dolls.

Fish Bowl

Supplies:

Wood, chisel or grinding tools, sandpaper, and a light wood stain.

Instructions:
Step 1. Cut out the desired shape of the fish with a band saw. Drill a hole where the eye would be be and but a contrasting color of wood for the eye. John used Zebra wood for the eye.

Step 2. Sand down the rough edges with a belt sander.

Step 3. Continue to sand until desired smoothness.

Step 4. Shape and form with a chisel or grinding tool. Next, use sandpaper to smooth it down.

Step 5. Lastly, apply wood stain until desired color is achieved.

Fun Summer Ideas for 2011

2011-06-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

The kids have been out of school for only ten days and they are already bored. All they seem to want to do is play computer games, watch TV, and hang out with friends. I want to make a regular schedule of having them read for 20-30 minutes in the morning five times a week as well as reviewing some math a couple times a week. We would like them to earn their "fun summer activities" by accomplishing some chores, making their beds, keeping their room clean, reading, and assisting me with cooking. I was inspired by The Crafting Chicks who made an fun list of 50 summer activities! I came up with my own ideas of things we would like to accomplish as a family this summer.

Our 50 Fun Summer Ideas!

1. Hike Battle Creek to see the waterfalls.

2. Make strawberry freezer jam.

3. Go jogging in the foothills (me).

4. Hike and explore Timpangoes Cave.

5. Volunteer at Strawberry Days and enjoy the events.

6. Go to the temple with John and big sister to do Baptisms.

7. Make Block Art, Owl Boxes, etc.

8. Sign up for swimming lessons for the girls.

9. Go on a couple camping trips!

10. Make slime, play dough, and giant bubbles!

11. Make pudding pops and home made juice popsicles!

12. Hike Bridal Veil Falls!

13. Attend summer parades!

14. Cool off by eating snow cones!

15. Water, weed, and watch our box garden grow!

16. Visit Yellowstone National Park.

17. Soak in a hot spring!

18. Pass off some personal progress goals with big sister!

19. Go to an outdoor movie in the park or Drive In.

20. Roast a perfect marshmallow or eat some Smores!

21. Watch Fireworks!

22. Hike Silver Lake!

23. Create some silhouettes to hang on the wall!

24. Go on a bike ride!

25. Make fruit kabobs!

26. Have a picnic in the canyon or park!

27. Make ice cream in a bag!

28. Make a clothesline photo holder craft.

29. Go to Park City's Alpine Slide!

30. Finish my cookbook project.

31. Have a BBQ and swim with my sister's family!

33. Have a spa day doing facials and manicures.

34. Watch So You Think You Can Dance!

35. Teach little sis how to ride a bike.

36. Plant some pretty wild flowers in a planter box!

37. Buy a slip and slide or wacky sprinkler!

38. Make Fish Bowl Gelatin or Glass Block Jello!

39. Take the kids to Kangaroo Zoo!

40. Make some cute flower flip flops!

41. Go to the library and check out many cool books!

42. Make a toy boat and watch it float down a stream!

43. Go to a Utah water-park!

44. Finds some good deals at flea markets and yard sales!

45. Have a game night outdoors (cards and game boards)!

46. Go to Mill Creek Canyon for hiking and fishing!

47. Have a water fight with water guns, balloons, etc.

48. Listen to a free concert in the park!

49. Go to Cascade Springs and Alpine Loop!

50. Ride the ski lift at Sundance!

Ack, Nearly 40 Years Old!!!

2011-06-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

On June 10th was my hubby's big 36th birthday! Since we love to try new recipes, you maybe wondering what was on the Birthday boy's menu... Well, we made something delicious of course such as two types of skewers, a fruit salad, and coconut lime rice!

Herb Sirloin Beef and Italian Vegetable Skewers

Ingredients:

1 pound of beef sirloin

2 green peppers

1 white onion

1 package of extra large mushrooms

1 bottle of Italian Dressing

Desired amount of rosemary, black pepper, and tarragon seasoning.

Directions:

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Cut the vegetables into uniformed sizes around 1 inch squared or cubed pieces. A useful tip when you have meat and vegetables about the same size, you will have even cooking. In a large bowl, soak vegetables in Italian Dressing. Season the meat with the herbs. Place skewers through meat and vegetables. Bake for 15 minutes turning at least once or until desired doneness. We still had some pink in the middle of the sirloin.

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

recipe by Our Best Bites Cookbook on pages 46 and 117. Our thoughts about this recipe: Wow, what a kid friendly recipe! Even my picky eater loved this dish! We enjoyed dipping the pineapple and bacon-wrapped chicken pieces in the extra teriyaki sauce! We will be making this dish a lot in our household! Next time we will marinate the chicken in the teriyaki sauce for a few hours before cooking.

Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice

recipe by Our Best Bites Cookbook on page 203. Our thoughts about the recipe: We added a little zesty twist by adding some fresh lime juice, lime wedges, and a little half and half. The kids gobbled this dish up! We loved the creamy richness of the coconut milk flavor, YUM.

Birthday cakes can be so over rated in our household sometimes! Since my husband is a huge fan of sherbet, I was inspired by Make and Takes to make this fabulous watermelon pie instead of birthday cake! We made it a little different than the website by just layering the sherbet on top of each other. It was very easy to make and turned out very well! What a fun and refreshing summer treat!

As you can tell, he loved his watermelon pie!!!

I made a "reel" cool fishing birthday card and bookmarks for my hubby!!

The Fishin' Birthday Card!

The front of the card says the following: "Happy Birthday Fishin' Fool. The catch of the day of all the fish in the sea we are so glad we caught you!"

The front and inside of the card looks like this from left to right:

On the left inside of the card says: "Reel Women Fish" and on the right says: "We hope your birthday is fin-tastic!" I left plenty of space on the bottom for us to write birthday wishes to him! I used some brown twine to make fishing line on the front of the card and a small sewing button as embellishments. The card turned out cute if I say so myself!

The Fishin' Bookmarks

Card and Bookmark Credits: The paper and elements are all by Kaye Winiecki @ The Lily Pad I used the following fonts: CK Fun and Segoe Print.

In the evening of his birthday, we went on a family outing to Highland Glen Park. John was able to enjoy a little fishing time on the pond even though he didn't catch anything. The girls feed some ducks and played on the playground. John seemed very content spending time with us, eating good food, and looking at his new home-made bookmarks/birthday card! What a great day well spent!!!! I love you, babe! XOXO

Sleepless Nights Scrapping Memories

2011-06-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

I've been busy scrapping lately and learning how to use photoshop element actions with my photographs! It has been fun learning how to edit photos and scrap some cute pages!

Here are some of my recent favorite digital scrapbook layouts!

My Little Mermaids, 2004

Credits: The template is by Rainy Day Designs and everything else is by Kay Miller Designs.

Salt Lake City Aquarium, 2010

Credits: paper and orange reef by Kay Miller Designs. The aquarium alpha and doodles are by Kate Hadfield. I used the following fonts: Love Ya Like a Sister and Segoe Print.

Fairytale Memories, 2011

Credits: The template is by Rainy Days Designs. I used a lot of different elements from Kaye Winiecki's kits such as the following: Green Jelly Alpha, Ruby's Room, Paper Daisies, It Pays to Believe, Felty Friends, and Once Upon a Paper. Some of the papers are by Karah Fedricks. The Fireflies are by Natalie Braxton and the sun element from ABC Felties by Valerie Wibbons @ The Lily Pad. I used the following fonts: Love Ya Like a Sister and Grumble.

Sixth Grade Graduation, 2011

2011-05-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Big Sister!

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that I am a mother of a pre-teen already! Where does the time go? I wish my kids would stop growing up too fast! In August she will enter the most awkward phase of her life- dreadful junior high! Junior high memories were my least favorite phase of growing up. Peer pressure was the pits, my hormones were out of control, and I spent hours grooming myself in front of a mirror because I could never leave the house without perfect hair, outfit, and make-up! I see my daughter already doing the same crazy behaviors that I did at her age! I sure hope she survives through the next couple brutal years of junior high better than I did. Anyway, on Friday May 27, 2011 @ 10:00 AM, John and I attended big sister's sixth grade graduation. A couple months ago, we bought her a darling black and white striped dress with a belt around her waist that she planned on wearing during this special occasion. She wore a cute silver heart necklace, white leggings underneath the dress, and black flats for her shoes. For her graduation cap, she had a plastic fedora black hat with blue ribbon tied around it. The gym was decorated Hollywood style (stars, a vintage popcorn machine, and old film strips were all over the walls with baby photos of each child)! In the photos below, Big sister was with her teacher Mrs. Day and above Mrs. Day's head is her adorable baby picture! It was a lovely ceremony! The teachers and principal gave a small talk and there was a slide show of each student that included a baby picture and their current school year photo. They all received their sixth grade certificates and file organizer for junior high! We checked out little sister so she could be apart of the event too! The school gym was packed! Many people had to stand in the back or sides of the gym! What wonderful job the PTA and mothers who volunteered to make the graduation a huge success! We had refreshments from Mimi's Cafe delicious banana and carrot/walnut bread.

Way to "GROW", Big Sister!

The Stylish Dress

After the graduation, we took the girls out to lunch to their favorite BBQ

restaurant The Smoking Apple! Big sister ordered ribs, corn bread, sweet cream corn, and yummy fries! She also enjoyed some bubbly apple beer non- alcoholic of course, duh! After stuffing ourselves, we dropped the girls off back to school. Big sister had a talent show (which she didn't sign up for but enjoyed watching her friends perform) and little sis needed to practice her dance moves for the dance festival next week with all the second grade classes. After school, big sister went to her friend's house. A bunch of girls and a couple boys were all invited to a graduation party. Big Sissy was so excited to be among many friends. She is definitely my popular social princess with TONS of friends who adore her! Look out junior high, big sissy is coming!

Mother's Day Card and Spa Day

2011-05-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

A couple days before Mother's Day, my activity day girls made a darling Mother's Day card, which I was inspired by Craft Ideas and Family Fun. We also planted some cat grass and talked about gardening too.

Mother's Day Flower Bouquet Card

I got the pattern for the flowers Craft Ideas Flower Bouquet and the flower pot from an unknown site. I searched and cannot find the template that I used for the pot, DOH. You can easily draw a flower pot or find another one on the internet!

Supplies:

Scissors, construction paper (purple, blue, pink, orange, yellow, red, and green), templates of flowers and flower pot, popsicle sticks, glue, markers, and card-stock paper for the card.

Instructions:

Trace the flowers/yellow circle pieces on colored construction paper and cut them out. I only did the pansies and tulips by the way. I cut the pansies out by following the directions on the template. Glue the yellow middle on the pansies. Next, fold the middle of the petals of the pansies to add some nice character to the flower. You can also fold the middle of the tulips too. Measure out the stem by placing green construction paper over the popsicle stick. Glue the green paper on the stick and glue the flowers on the green sticks. For the flower pot, along the edge of the top I cut a hole in the middle of the pot. Then gently slid the flowers in the pot. We cut out some squares and wrote a message on a white piece of card stock. Fold a piece of white card-stock paper in half and glue just the outer edges of the flower pot.

The girls each wrote a message inside their cards! They had a lot of fun making these cards and they were super easy! It took about one hour to assemble them together.

It was Mother's Day a day after my daughter's baptism. So she gave Grandmother the home-made card on Saturday, which John, myself, big sister, and little sis signed with a message. I think it turned out darling if I say so myself! Granny sure loved it!

Spa Day: Facials and Manicures

For activity day this week, we talked about grooming and self esteem since they go together. We had the girls pair up and take turns pampering each other. First they did facials then either painted toes or finger nails.

Spa Supplies:

Nail polish, nail stickers, towels, face clothes, oatmeal, Gentle Baby essentail oil, warm water, extra virgin olive oil, lavender tea for soaking wash clothes/and for drinking.

1. Wrap towels around neck and front of shirt.
2. Apply oatmeal mask. For our masks, we did the following simple oatmeal recipe:
Oatmeal Mask
3 T. Oatmeal
2-3 drops of Gentle Baby essential oil
warm water
Mix together the mask ingredients and apply gently all over the face. Keep it on for a couple minutes. While the masks dried, they painted nails and applied some groovy stickers on their nails while the facials dried.

3. We had several rags in a warm pot of lavender tea. The girls gently wiped off the oatmeal mask with the warm lavender tea. Then they applied extra virgin olive oil on their face to bring some moisture back.

My co-leader also made some lavender tea for us to drink. Since it was a cold rainy day, I enjoyed it, but the girls thought it was gross... Ha ha ha! I don't blame them. I am sure when they are older they will appreciate a warm cup of herbal tea!

Little Sis helping another girl in the group and below is her turn getting pampered!

Lastly, I discussed some other recipes and foods that can improve dry or oily skin. I sent the girls home with the following handout, which I got from Our Best Bites: Spa in Kitchen:
Facial Recipes
Tightening Strawberry-Lemon Mask
1/4 C roughly chopped strawberries
3 T corn starch
1/2 t lemon juice
Use a mini food processor or a fork to mash the strawberries into a pulp. Stir in lemon juice and corn starch. If the mixture is too runny to stay on your face, add more corn starch. Smooth onto skin and let sit for about 20 minutes or until dry. Rinse off with water (and a wash cloth helps) and pat skin dry. Moisturize after.
Honey Yogurt Mask:
1/2 T honey
1 T plain yogurt
1 t cucumber pulp
Warm the honey in the microwave for just a few seconds. Just to make it easier to stir. Add yogurt and combine. Use a microplane or a fine-holed cheese grater to make the cucumber pulp. Add it to the honey-yogurt mix. Chill if you want a cool mask, or just use as is. Apply to your face, pop a couple of cuc slices on your eyes and chill out for about for 3-5 minutes (or longer if desired). Rinse with water and pat face dry. Moisturize after.
Moisturising Avocado Treatment:
1/2 mashed Avocado.
Apply plain avocado to the skin, or use one or more of these add-ins:
Honey- brightens, tightens, and fights wrinkles and acne
Oats- moisturizes and mildly exfoliates
Yogurt- refines pores and sooths irritation
Egg white- great for oily skin
lemon juice- great for oily skin
Egg Yolk- great for dry skin
Olive Oil- extra softening and moisturising

Joyful May Events

2011-05-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

What a busy last couple weeks! I did a couple fun achievement day activities with my 8-11 year olds. We planted some plants in our box garden and boy are they getting drenched by rain lately, grrr! I will blog more on those subjects later. We had a couple major events in our family! I attended a wedding shower. My beautiful niece Melinda got married to the man of her dreams Jeff on May 6th in the Salt Lake City temple, which was an all day event. We were so happy to be among so many family members! They are such a cute couple! We attended her sealing/wedding, stayed for pictures, went to lunch at the Lyon House, and went to the reception in the evening. I absolutely love this photo of Melinda! She looks so happy! Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

John and me waiting at the temple.

Our family at the wedding reception.

The next day was my youngest daughter's baptism. I stayed up really late (2:30 AM) preparing the food. Our niece and nephew stayed the night and was able to help us make the food. Thanks James and Heather! We had about 40 people who attended the baptism. It was so fun to have some family from Arizona and southern Utah attend the baptism! A funny thing happened to us that night before the baptism. After dropping off some our nieces and nephew in Highland, we went to a couple stores to get some ingredients for our food. Around 10:30 in the evening we started the potato salad, magic bars, pasta salad, jello salad, etc. To our surprise, we were missing a whole bag of groceries, ack! We searched our car and the house, they were no where to be found. So John had to drive to Highland Walmart (not our usual shopping store since it is near the place we dropped our family members off, grrrr). He brought in our receipt and explained to them the things we were missing: a bag of coconut, a large bag of chocolate chips, two cans of mandarin oranges, shredded parmesan cheese, two cans of sweetened condensed milk, and pepperoni. Obviously, we were missing a lot of key ingredients to make some of my things! Luckily, they had record that our bag of groceries never left the store and John was able to get them again. The next day we made peanut butter brownies. It was a crazy morning getting ready and doing last minute cleaning! My daughter received a rose from her primary teacher, Sister Taylor.

We left for the baptism about a half an hour before it started. When I got there, her baptism jumpsuit was waiting for her in the changing room, but I forgot towels for John and my eight year old. I recall with my oldest daughter, I forgot a dry pair of underwear, but I did remember the towels. So I hurried home and grabbed a couple towels. By the time I got back, it was starting. There were three kids in our ward being baptised that day. There were a couple talks and we sang a few songs. My daughter was second to be baptised. She gasped when she entered the baptismal font due to the water being so cold. Luckily, all went smoothly. My oldest daughter had to be baptised twice due to my husband not raising the right hand! She was one cold girly afterwards.

She was baptised by her father, John.

I was missing in the picture due to getting towels at home!

After she and John changed into dry clothes, she received the Holy Ghost from my father in-law, Joseph. It was a beautiful blessing and we all could feel the Spirit when she received it! Later that day, my daughter told me she felt warm and happy when she got the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The happy sisters!

Here are most of the guests at the Baptism! We were missing John while he was changing into dry clothes!

Getting ready to receive the Holy Ghost

Here are most of the guests some left (my side of the family), but I got their photos at the house! Many family members from John's side of the family attended: Uncle Duane, Grandpa and Grandma Free, Marilee, Rich, Holly, Becca, baby Kate, Stacy, Ryan, Avery, Joe, Diana, Josh, Daniel, Andrew, Adam, Michael, Rachel, Heather, James, a couple extended Brazilian Silva family members, Matt, Chiaki, Kent, Anna, and Erika. We had a couple friends Amy and her daughter came.

Below is my brother Nate with my little girl. The rest of the people are the Hahn family: Ruth and her three darling girls! Ruth's husband Keith is my ex step brother who couldn't make it due to working as an ICU nurse!

Afterwards, we went to our house. I asked some local family members to bring camping chairs so that we all have something to sit on! I had a lot of help from people bringing a salad, a fruit platter, desserts, rolls, meat, cheese, etc in addition to what I made.

Two happy friends enjoying some good food!

Over all it was a wonderful day. We had lovely weather (it rained the next day) and enjoyed interacting with many family members this past week. I am so proud of my girl for making the decision to become baptised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Lastly, another joyful event took place this past week! My nephew Justin married a sweet girl (Keli) from Brazil. Keli is 3/4 Japanese and 1/4 Brazilian. She can speak three languages. They met while he was serving in Japan. In fact, he was the missionary that baptised her a couple years ago! What a neat story they can tell their children/grandchildren someday! We had the opportunity to get to know Keli better while she was visiting a couple months ago. Since most of his family currently lives in Brazil as well as hers, they decided to get married/sealed in Brazil. They will be returning to the United States next month so that Justin can finish school. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Silva!

Photo by Tobar Photography (Kelli Tobar).

What a wonderful month to rejoice such important events! I am so grateful for my family and friends who support us!