Recipes

I am not much of a cook....wish I liked it better.

I have been looking a Pinterest* lately and it seems like I am drawn to the food and the recipes.

I find this weird!

But I did stumble across someone who made no bake cookies and used half Nutella, half peanut butter.  I love the no bake cookies and since I found out I am sensitive to peanuts they have been on the DO NOT EAT or you will have a headache the size of Australia list.  Thanks to Pinterest* I started to crave them like I do a good cold Ding Dong.  So I thought I would try it.

a food photographer I am not!!

Yummy!  They turned out pretty well and although  they lack the lovely peanut taste and the texture is really smooth but they are really good and healthy too!  Whole grains baby!!

My Recipe (which means I got it from my mom!)

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

2 cups Sugar                   1/2 cup Nutella

1/2 cup butter                             1t vanilla

4t cocoa powder                   3 cups dry oatmeal

1/2 cup milk                                          . 

Combine the first column in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil on Med high heat, stirring to prevent burning.  Boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add the second column.  Stir to combine and drop about 1 tablespoon per cookie or so on wax paper to cool.  Fight over who gets to clean out the pan!

As a kid I got many a mouth burns because I couldn't wait for them to cool before eating!

As I try more of the recipes I will blog about the best ones (or worst) as I go.

*Warning:  Pinterest is addicting and time stealing!  

Homecoming 2011

Logans first date and what a lovely date she was!!

They went to the Lake for the day date and then the mom's hosted a dinner and then on to the dance!

Lis and Logan

New person

We have a new person living at our house:

It was her 21st Birthday too:

I am not too sure I have gotten used to the new do but she looks good!

Blue Boy

The tradition at Mountain View High is the wrestlers are the 'Blue Boys' - they paint themselves and help the cheerleaders excite the crowd at the football games.  They also have to do push ups on a board elevated by the cheerleaders as the team scores.

It is a right of passage for my boys.  I think Logan enjoyed it.  He could be as loud as he wants and flirt will all of the girls in the front row!

 Do you wonder what they use to get blue?

Do you see the paint brushes?  I am pretty sure they are the same ones they used last year.

Sadly, the football team is awful!  MVT is usually a power house when it comes to sports but the game on Friday was saaddd!

On another note, Grandma is not doing well.  I am pretty sure the end is near and I am both happy for her and sad for me and my family.  She has been such a great Mother and Grandmother.  Service has been her life, I cannot remember a time she was not taking care of someone, neighbors, friends and even strangers.  I love her and hope I can be like her!

Change is inevitable.

Hospice, 

Does that bring dread or comfort to you? 

Right now I am feeling comforted.  

Comforted that someone with lots more experience medically will give us the tools and information to keep Grammie safe and comfortable.

Comforted that the necessary equipment (hospital bed, etc) will be provided and will help keep Grammie comfortable.

Comforted that the nurse will monitor her conditions and if she should fall again, bring the X-ray machince to my house.

Comforted that the Doctor will make house calls.  To be fair, her regular Doctor is wonderful and will let me bug him for things, this will alleviate the guilt I feel taking him away from his family time.

I am sure you wonder, Why now?

The last two weeks have been hard and have kept me on my toes.  Last Friday (Aug 26th) the shower chair leg went down the drain and dumped my Grammie on the shower floor, against the wall and on top of the shampoo bottles  As she hit, she banged into the shower door, it flew open and scared me to my toes!

After a long trip to the ER (Thank Heaven for an Ipad and Angry Birds) she was pronounced bruised and sore but nothing broken.  I am not sure how she didn't break anything but Thank You Fosamax!

 She is a riot on Tylenol 3!  And strangely lucid while she also hallucinates, hmmm.

Regardless, she is still too sore to sit up by herself and is not doing real well.  This is the 3rd time she has fallen in 6 months and I will admit that it worries me.

Now I find my self strapping her in her chair, she cannot remember she is hurt or to ask for help.  After finding her in precarious situations I find myself strangely grateful for that strap.  It makes her mad though,  I don't like that part.

Then I also put the rails on her bed and my mom commented she can't get out unless she goes off the end and sure enough by that evening she shimmied down the bed and got in her chair.  I may or may not have had a mini breakdown before calling my mom and having her go get the third rail.  Grammie doesn't like her 'cage' either but I can at least sleep at night.

She is just not healing this time and I worry that I am missing something. So I am looking forward to the technical help from Hospice and I know they are unfailing kind.

Nothing like a new adventure!

Sweet 16....

Pretend its then end of May.

Pretend I am not the worst mother in the world for waiting 2+ months before documenting the momentous occasion.

He has to pose!

He is such a great kid!!  Got his license the first time and is enjoying being independent!  Now if we could just get him to go on a date.....

First day of School

My next to last, first day of school!  Only one more to go.....

Its nice he can drive and park, no more running to the school for me!!

I know its been a busy summer when its been 6 long weeks without a blog post!

Whew!!  I realize I only really have one kid to keep track of this summer but he has taken all of my time!  Not only does he now drive but we have spent the whole summer wrestling.  I know I should say that Logan spent the whole summer wrestling but I have been there too!  We went to Pocatello Idaho for Western Regionals and it was fun.  We got to spend the week with the Masons and we managed to go to the hot springs and the Body World exhibit.

We also went to Fargo, North Dakota for Nationals and we managed to go to Radio Shack and the Mall of America.  Somehow Pocatello was a lot more fun!  Fargo has almost nothing to do for a tourist.

I can hear you asking how Logan did and I am going to tell just because this is supposed to be a journal - he lost - every match - he really only had one or two that he even had a chance and he was so nervous and sick in Pocatello that I am amazed he could still wrestle (bad flu!)  and in Fargo the competition was amazing!!  He had a bad draw too, last years national champ.  But he wrestled really well and feels like he did his best.  I am so very proud of not only the hard work he put in ALL summer but that he was so tough to beat!

I am also switching from a Windows PC to a Mac - quite a change.  Just dippin' my toe in the mac waters to see if that is where I want to go.  So I bought a Mac Mini.  I had a lot on my last computer and I am trying to go thru and purge but with thousand and thousands of pictures it has taken me quite a while.

Elder Cole is doing splendid!!  Here is a picture he sent today:

This is his two investigators Sean and Chuck (I think its Chuck he keeps typing Chunk).

He looks so happy!  I miss that kid but I am so grateful he is serving!

Brenn is working 2 jobs:

Victoria Secret and
Janie and Jack

So one store helps to make the babies and the other clothes the baby once they are here!

More to come.....

Stella Sue

I forget how big our Stella is, as I sat on the couch finishing Harry Potter 5 (yes I am reading them again in preparation for the last movie) I looked down at her sleeping and my shoe right by her foot....

WOW!

I wear a size 7 and so does she!!

Missionaries are FUN!

I am loving having and missionary.  Each Monday morning at an impossibly early hour I roll over and check my phone for an email from Dallin.  My goal is to catch him at the computer so I can have a back and forth conversation with him.  Unfortunately he is 8 hours ahead and I have yet to be up at 3:15 am. 

Now there have been two Mondays I haven't gotten an email, once while in Pocatello at the wrestling tournament (I worried and then turned it over to the Lord, then repeat) and yesterday. 

The first time I was a little nervous but figured it must be transfers or something and I was right.

This Monday, I knew it was too soon for transfers and wondered if he got carried away having fun on P-day and neglected to email his mother.  Today I got an email with accompanying pictures:

With the explaination

Well im sorry that this is a bit late and i will tell you why at the end. well this week has been great, i dont have much time to email but i will go over the good parts. Well we went over and worked all day on tuesday in a part of our area called bromsgrove. it is about 15-20 mins by car so not much work goes on there. so we went and worked hard there. it was great we were knocking doors and three doors in a row we had good talks and they said we could come back. we had lots of good stuff going on this week. we did alot of finding and we found a lot of good people. For the 4th we had a big party at Gerrys house on sunday. it was great, we had some root beer (which was soooo good, they dont have it here) and some chicken and hot dogs and it was super good. We had a great p day yesterday. our whole zone got together to celebrate the 4th. We meet some missionaries at the bullring in birmingham. i think it is the biggest shooping center in england, most certainly in our mission. we went and wandered around there a bit. Then we took a bus to the church in Harborne. So we got there and met tons of missionaries there. we played soccer, had rootbeer floats, did a football (soccer) tournament, and played some ultimate frisbee. now to the reason i didnt email yesterday. So we were playing frisbee and i was running after the frisbee and i stepped in a massive rut, and rolled my ankle. it was bad i heard it pop and crunch. so i was carried off to the sidelines, and Chunk our investigator who is taking university to be a sports therapist checked out my ankle. it was swelling up lik a balloon. so we got some ice on it. and we drove home and we were looking at it and decided to go to the hospital to get it checked out. so i was seen by a doctor and he said that there was a chance that my ankle was broken. so i got an x ray and it isnt broken! but it is messed up, possibly some ligament dammage, but i will be alright! anyways i love you and promise to write more next week

love elder cole


p.s. here is a pic of my ankle


and me at the hospital

Up until now he has written nice long emails, lots of detail and I have reread them several times.  Each time my heart swells with love and pride for this young man serving and enjoying his service.  He is happy, therefore I am happy!

I am singing Dolly Parton

Here are pictures of my Boat cover of many colors:



Somehow the boat cover got lost in Utah and we have been searching for a replacement, we used tarps for the winter but they were hard on the boat.  I finally found and ordered a new cover but in the mean time something needs to keep the brutal (110 yesterday) sun off the seats so....

I went to the thrift store and bought the thickest and prettiest (*snicker*) sheets I could find and laid them out and sewed them together.  I guess I could say it was with love and I did tell a story to my RS President who dropped by and asked what in the world was I doing? 

So this is what I keep hearing in my mind every time I walk by:



I am AWESOME!!!

Just ask me when I have completed a big or difficult project and I will tell you

I am Awesome!!

It's kinda funny because my kids do this too, I guess I was not the best parent for humility.

But Look at this and tell me I am not Awesome (good thing Hyrum doesn't read my blog!)

Garage before:

After:

But the real awesomeness was the tool room.

Before:

After:

This room hasn't looked since we moved in, OK BEFORE we moved in!!  It only took us two days, which was about half of what I thought.  We did this for Father's day - I think he will eventually come around.

AWESOME!!!

16 years old

Logan is now 16 - Holy cow!!!

He had to wait one day to get his license since Monday was a holiday.  He was nervous but passed!!  And drove himself to wrestling practice....twice!!!  I stayed home!!!  (cue the music!)

I have no pictures of that because I am a loser.  He left on the Trek on Thursday and I keep wondering how he is doing.  For his birthday I am cleaning out his room (we do this every summer) and letting him go the the bin way of storing his clothes - what is that you say?  Well since my boys cannot seem to get their clean laundry out of a laundry basket and put it in a drawer, I devised a system.  Shelving unit, big tubs, labels - just toss you laundry into a bin - slide said bin back in to shelf, done! 


So, as I am doing this I pause for a pit stop, now I rarely go into the downstairs bathroom because it is inhabited by BOYS!!  Since we are down one boy, I thought it might be safe.  I sit and this is what I see:

What an amazing boy, as I start to look around I see this:

I wondered where the stack went from the living room.  Then I see his mirror:

He is preparing.

what more could a mother want? sniff, sniff.....