words to live by

Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.
Alma 26:37

Adventure

This picture makes me laugh now, but at the time I was going through what would end up being 3 days of all natural labor with Samuel. And that my friends, was no laughing matter. Why on earth would I put myself through such a thing, you ask? Cause I can do hard things.

Over the last 19 years we have lived in many places across the country. The moves had always been initiated by better opportunities in Brett's line of work -sales. Added mula for an ever growing family was a bonus, but the biggest pay day came in the form of friends we made along the way. Kurt and Julie in Provo, Lee and Juliana in Ohio, Cindy, Jen, Kim and Steve in Chicago, Daisie in Houston, Kristin, Michelle and Blue in Salt Lake and countless others who have had a profound impact on me and the lives of my children. We savored the time living close to family in Georgia, Ohio and Houston. Get togethers with my sisters and in-laws here in Utah have been priceless!

As typical with any sales job cycle you have good years and not so good years. Budget cuts in the lowest dollar per pupil state in the Union have left my educational sales hubby in a difficult position. As we've prayed about what to do without completely uprooting our two high school girls the answer seemed rather simple. Sell the house.

Because we bought our home just before the big housing boom at a crazy good price we felt that if we could sell for current market value we could live on the equity for several years until the oldest two graduate and something better presents itself work wise. A darling family in our ward who were just preparing to move themselves jumped on it and long story short, we close after the holidays.

Come February 1st comfy chaos will be taking up new residency. (heavy sigh).Who knows what adventures lie ahead? But ready or not here we go, again.

Art

If you happen to be in Springville, Utah visiting the local art museum you might come across a painting that looks like this. It will be on display til the end of December and then be shipped off to some gallery on the east coast where it will sell for about $8,000.

Last year while looking at our agents website, the artist, Sandy Gagon, came across a picture of Matthew. She took one look into his deep brown eyes and knew he was the boy "Timothy" she'd envisioned in her plan for this portrait. After much searching she came across my picture. Since our profiles are first name only she called the agent and asked if there was any chance we might be related. She was thrilled to find out that I was his mother! She measured us for costumes and began her work with me. I sat (head tilted just so) for about 20 minutes at a time and then rested for about 5. This process went on once a week for about three hours at a time for about 6 months. During the "breaks" I grew to know and love this dear lady as a sister. Her testimony and love for the scriptures became evident through our weekly conversations.

After she completed most of her work with me, she began painting Matthew. His breaks consisted of mini art lessons and talk of classical music. Needless to say, it wasn't long before the two of them became bosom buddies. It was a special time for the three us and one that I will always cherish.

what are you thankful for?

ditto!

controlling the chaos at dinnertime

All heck breaks loose at our house right around 4'o clock. The last school child walks in the door back pack in hand and asks the million dollar question, "Hey mom, what's for dinner?"

Monday's are dedicated to tennis, voice, dance, homework, family night, etc ....and so the week goes...

If I haven't planned ahead or at least made a trip to the grocery store well before 4pm, it's good old Papa Murphy's Pizza to the rescue yet again.

In an effort to tame my stress level and provide a little more nutrition than cold cereal, I designed a menu template and stuck it in a cheap IKEA frame that hangs in the kitchen. On Sundays when things are relatively calm I pull out my cookbooks and jot down dinner ideas with a dry erase marker directly onto the glass. I then make a grocery list according to the weekly menu and voila, a plan is set in motion. The kids like knowing what's in store for the week and occasionally add their own requests. It wipes off in a jiffy with a damp cloth providing a fresh slate for the following week.

I'd love to hear any ideas out there of things that work for you. I have recently become a huge fan of allrecipes.com and have enjoyed getting e-mails of nutritious things my kids will actually eat. Bon appetit!

Lofty Goals

Every year starting late spring Analisa and Matthew are encouraged to work on a piano concerto. They start off all gun ho and then come June, their crisp music books take a back seat to swimming, tennis, hanging out with friends and all the fun things summer has to offer. They set goals with their piano teacher, Bridget, and chip away at getting them learned one little section at a time. By late October the pieces are expected to be memorized, polished and performed just in time for Federation the first weekend of November.

Matthew thrives on things like this. Give him a mountain to climb and he's all over it. Easy peasy. Analisa on the other hand had to work her guts out to fit it all in to her busy schedule. The recital was shaky for Lisey. It was a good wake up call to show her where she had to beef it up.

As Analisa explained to me as we were waiting for her turn to go in and perform for the judges, "You have no idea how hard this is unless you've ever had to do this yourself."

"And you're right," I said to her,"but you've worked so hard, and I know you can do this. I will be there praying along side you. Go get'em girl."

And so she did.

She and Matthew skip to my lou'd all the way to the car waving their little gold superiors in the air, elated from a job well done.




(Since her original concerto is well over 6 minutes long, I just took a little from the beginning and end and showed a condensed version)

Empanada Recipe

Pumpkin Filling:
1 (15oz.) can pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cloves (optional)

Mix above ingredients and set aside.

Empanada Dough:
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 (1/4 ounce) packages dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups flour, divided in half
3/4 cup butter flavored shortening

1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 8 dough ingredients along with half of the flour. Gradually add remaining flour. Once it is well combined, form a small well in center and add milk and egg mixture. Mix until nice solid dough is formed. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. I then subdivide into small balls that can be rolled out on floured surface into 4 inch circles about 1/8 inch thick.

Place 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin filling in center, fold over and seal edges by pressing lightly with a fork. You can then brush with an egg white wash and sprinkle with a little sugar. That part is optional. I just think it makes it look pretty.

Bake on cookie sheet for 18-20 minutes til golden. Enjoy!

Empanadas

Brett was gone on business to Arizona this week. The kids and I feel such a void when he is gone. There were carpools to drive, doctor appointments, bills to pay, mounds of laundry scattered about the house and a teenage battle looming in the near distance all screaming my name. After tending to a few must do 's on the list and letting a few salty tears wash me clean I decided to pull out my trusty Kitchen-Aide mixer and take a trip back in time 30 years to Saturday mornings on 323 Exchange Street where the smell of Mom's cooking and fresh pan dulce were a feeling of comfort and home.

Mom's weekend breakfasts consisted of huevos con chorizo or barbacoa. Freshly mashed beans, corn tortillas and savory salsas. Dad piled us girls in his yellow truck and took us to the local Panaderia where we picked out our favorite pan dulce. Kinda like this...

There were conchas, cuernos de azucar, ojarascas, Moni's favorite- maranitos, and my favorite- empanadas filled with pumpkin. We took them home and dipped them in Mexican hot chocolate and ate to our hearts content.

So instead of wallowing in self pity, I whipped up some of these babies and let my thoughts get lost in the dough. I filled them with pumpkin just like I loved them as a child and delivered a few to an unsuspecting doorstep. And just like that all was well with the world. At least until tomorrow.

Proposal

My kids often ask me when I'm going to have another baby (as if 6 isn't enough). My response usually points out that I could be a Grandma in 5+ years (heaven forbid). Sammy, who loves babies more than any child I know, falls to pieces when I tell him that the only way he can have babies of his own is to grow up and get married.

"But girls are gross! Why would I ever want to kiss one anyway," he says.

"You will", I reply. "You will."

So yesterday, as we were driving around running errands he pipes up out of the blue and says, "Mom, will you marry me?"

"Why Samuel, I would love too. But I'm already married to Dad," I replied.

"Aw, come on. Please!"

I just chuckled. I'd never been proposed to from a guy in a booster.

favorite things

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the chance it gives us to step out and greet our neighbors.


To do something nice for someone else...


To be silly,carefree and creative and show my kids that I can be fun too...


To hang out with some of my favorite people...


And eat yummy food and share stories of embarrassing moments...


To watch Uncle Funky make silly poses and listen to his crazy talk of settling for being a ministering angel and blah, blah, blah...


And most of all, to watch my beautiful nieces and nephews and sisters and kids...


make fun, lasting memories...


together.

Gardner Village

Halloween wouldn't be complete without a visit to our favorite witches at Gardner Village. Brett and the boys went on a scavenger hunt while the girls got their nails done. We all met up later for donuts. Yet another reason to love Utah in October.







Little Jonah just stared out the window of the bakery in shock and whispered, "Oh. My. Gosh."