My, a lot has happened since I lasted posted.

Way back in August Anique reported to the MTC in Provo UT and then was off to serve in the Colorado Fort Collins mission. She has now been in the mission for three months and is doing really well. She has even had her first baptism and working toward number two and three.

In September Dan took up residence in Oregon full time and the girls and I have been working to get the house on the market and join him very soon. Dan has continued to travel and work some long hours but he still misses us. Mostly.

October brought Halloween and all of the fun associated with it. Church trunk or treat, costumes, pumpkins, and of course trick or treating in the neighborhood. We also spent a lot of time raking leaves, cleaning the chicken coop and the shed, ripping apart the back deck, putting up trim, painting the school room, putting foam squares on the basement floor, filling a dumpster (my personal favorite), canning apple butter, applesauce, tomatoes, butter, peaches (although that happened in September).

 

November brought Kiah's 14th birthday which I missed because I flew out to Oregon to see Dan for ten days. It was a great trip. I went to California to help him with an install he was assigned to work on. It was fun to work with him again. Of course everything is now digital and I now nothing about it so I'm only good for putting the racks together and wire tying cords to the walls but it was good to spend time with him and just talk face to face. After we were done with the install we headed up to Goldendale WA to see family. We didn't get there until very late or perhaps I should say very early Sunday morning. We went tot church with mom and dad and then off to dinner with the fam in Hood River. It was good to see those who could come. Some of whom I haven't seen in years.  The return trip to Massachusetts was more difficult then the trip out. But I did manage to make it eventually.

 

That brings us to the end of November and Thanksgiving, we had a very quite celebration with the smallest turkey I could find and a lot of Christmas movies. We have begun the decorating and preparation of the Advent and Christmas season. We look forward to having Dan with us in a couple of weeks to celebrate the birth of our Savior and King. The girls are beside themselves with anticipation, they haven't seen their dad in several months. We have much to be grateful for and we are looking forward to the traditions we share as a family and with our closest friends. As we wind up our life in New England, we are in awe of the many friends we have made and the things we have learned. We will cherish every memory we have made.                                                                                  

Happy Chanukkah, Happy Advent,  Merry Christmas

The yard work is done...

                               for now. Hope the house sells before I have to do it again.

 Thank goodness the temperature was way cooler than the week we cleaned out the weeds.

YARDWORK...

Of course I choose the hottest week of the year to do this. Now for the mulch. I'm tired just thinking about it. We did have some great help(one you can see in the picture). It is was fun to see the sparkle in their eyes every time we found a bug or worm or frog. I could not have done it without their help. Thanks friends!

Maine

Dan has traveled a lot lately. A lot. So this week when he had a job in Maine we all went with him. We had so much fun. On the first day we dropped Dan off at the theater and headed to a beach. We went to Mt. Blue state park and had the beach to ourselves. After about twenty minutes the rain started falling and we didn't care. We were already wet and there wasn't any lighting so we kept swimming.  On our way back down the mountain we stopped in Winton or Wilton and took a picture by the town duck. The next two days brought rain and cold weather. So we spent a lot of time in the hotel swimming pool and some time in the local bookstore. Farmington reminded of Hood River. A small town were everyone knows everyone else and all of their business. We enjoyed roaming from store to store and listening to the old wood floors squeak and creak. We learned that the town had a find Waldo search going on and the girls were game for the challenge. The idea is to go from store to store on the list and find a small cut out of Waldo in each store and have them initial your paper when you find him. We found most of them and loved the used bookstore and the consignment store. We had a great visit with the lady at twice sold tales not to mention the fantastic old books we found for cheap. Reny's is an old time have everything you could possible need from sweatshirts to boots to lamps and toys, snack foods and hunting/camping gear, party decorations and much more. They also have the uneven creaky wood floors and much to steep stairs. Loved it!! I really like small old towns and their fourth of July parades.

 

Summer reading...

I recently went to a national bookstore chain to find a gift for a baby shower. On this particular trip I was all alone. That doesn't happen very often, me in a bookstore all alone. So I decided to look around and see what was new or at least new to me. I could totally get lost in the shelves of a bookstore and spend hours looking and reading, but I kept myself in check and was only there for 30-45 minutes. I walked down the center aisle when I passed by the teen summer reading section. My jaw dropped to the floor and I wondered why these books were even considered appropriate for our young people to read and think on. (Disclaimer, I have read none of these books and I am judging them by there covers and the short blurb on the back.) The general theme here is fall in love with someone not safe or not available, for a short period of time or until someone "better" comes along.

 

It seems to me that in our world today where more children are born out of wedlock and marriages are just as likely to end in divorce as to make it past seven years, where women and girls are being objectified and abused, where girls are feeling like they are less important than boys and have self image issues at earlier and earlier ages, you would think we could come up with books and stories that would be more uplifting and inspiring than this. I try to teach my daughters that if you respect yourself and others, have a true love for God and family, work on things that bring you joy and serves others you will be happy and fulfilled whether God brings a spouse to your life or not. I hope my girls will someday have the blessing of marrying and raising families but, there is so much more to life than a summer fling with your best friend's boyfriend!! It seems to me that dating is preparing our kids for divorce. I'll date you until I find someone better, smarter, prettier, funnier, smells better, stronger, has a better car, more money, will put out, whatever. Family is being undone from all sides and sometimes we don't even recognize it is being undone. I grew up knowing both sets of grandparents who had been married since the beginning of time and although they didn't hang all over each other there were little things that they did that sent the message that they loved each other more than life its self. They argued and didn't agree on everything but they never had a thought of walking away because it wasn't fun anymore. Both of my grandmother's were very strong women who had their own opinions, thoughts, likes, dislikes, desires, hopes, dreams, struggles, weaknesses and strengths. I'm positive that if they were here and I could ask them, they would say that there were things about their husbands that made them completely crazy and wish they could change. I am also confident that my grandfather's would say the same thing about their wives. However, in the next breathe they would all say that those things don't matter and they love each other more everyday.  My parents have been together for over 50 years and I think after every up and down they have lived through together they would also say that they love each other more today than when they were married and that they couldn't imagine going through all of the trails of life with anyone other than each other. We need to help our kids understand that you don't throw in the towel because it is hard or not what you thought it would be. We need to teach them how to resolve differences of opinion and how to work through disagreements. I totally understand that there are times and reasons when a marriage should end and we should rally around those who have gone through that experience and lift and support them and their kids. I also think that we as a society had better not lose the importance of the family unit or we will be in worse shape than we are already (if that is possible). The family is the central unit of society and the rise or fall of that society lies within the family. I'm eternally thankful for a husband who understands the importance of this and affords me the opportunity to stay home and raise the next generation (even on the crazy days). I am so thankful that he is such a great dad to his girls and has set the example of what a good man is and how a man treats a woman with respect and love. We can and should do better for our daughters and our sons. An easy place to start is to make sure you know what they are reading and watching. 

Happy summer reading...  

 

 

It came! It came!

guesses on the map

Anique (and the rest of us) has been waiting for what seems like forever for her mission call to come. Actually once she decided to move forward it went pretty fast. It just feels like forever. On the appointed Friday it was expected to arrive Dan was out of town and it was raining like it was monsoon season. Which was very convenient for me. The girls (Toran) usually meets the mailman by the side of the road to get the mail but on this day they didn't want anything to do with outside. So I put on my shoes and a hoodie and headed out to get the mail. Well low and behold there it was, just sitting in the mailbox. Anique at work and Dan in a different city, I seized the moment and hid it in my jacket and came in with the mail like no big deal. The girls were all a twitter and asking if it had come. I handed them the stack of mail and they went through it like they were looking for buried treasure. Very disappointed that it was not in the stack. Notice that I didn't say anything I just let them assume it wasn't there. I hid that letter in my room and said nothing. Anique texted later asking if it had come and all I said was sorry, again not actually commenting either way just letting her make her own assumptions. The only person I told was Jonna, we make such a great team of secret keepers. Saturday the girls were going to the water park with the Sandoval's and Dan was coming home that afternoon. We had hoped to have the Barnaby's and Sandoval's over when we opened it and since I had told Jonna she can and said that Saturday night was the best time for them. So I ask Anique if she  would like to open her call and she looked at me like "yeah, but it isn't here yet". I handed her the envelope and we started texting people to let them know we were opening it at 8:30pm. Everyone started making their best guesses and putting their post it on the map. We called papa and grandma and then the moment arrived, the opening of the envelope. She was so excited her hands were shaking. She read the letter with a very shaking voice and then it came the place were my daughter would be serving the Lord and teaching the gospel, Colorado Fort Collins. After all of the excitement and anticipation we finally knew and the excitement changed to we only have 60 days to get ready and go. 59....58....57....
I better get to reading the lists and planning the days. August 7th will be here much to quickly.

I love strawberry season

First batch of homemade strawberry jam. This is the only strawberry jam I will eat. I don't know exactly what they do to mass processed jam but it is the worst tasting stuff on the plant. I don't think I can do my usual turn the kitchen into a home production plant and make hundreds of pints of jam this year but I can make enough to get us through for awhile. There truly is nothing better that homemade bread with homemade butter and homemade jam.



Except maybe strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream.

My Massachusettes

                                                 Concord and the Old North Bridge.

March and April in pictures

Kali's 10th birthday breakfast

Kali having her nails done for her 10th birthday

Kali's candy cake

Kiah's felt garland

first banana split of the year, won't be the last

gingerbread scones, yummm

Toran waiting to get her ears pierced

Mezcal guac. nuf said

I sure hope this barn falls down before we move. I don't want to miss it.

Homemade hamburger buns

I have wanted to  make hamburger buns for a long, long time so I finally did. I found a recipe on FindingJoyinMyKitchen.blogspot.com and gave it a try. Well I liked them so much that I don't think I will ever buy buns again. As a matter of fact I have made them three times already and they have only gotten better. The recipe calls for white whole wheat but I have used my own stone ground whole wheat and they were still fantastic. I have not used just plain old white flour but if you do, let me know how the turn out. Enjoy!



homemade whole wheat hamburger buns tasty

100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Rolls
1 1/2 T yeast
1 C + 1 T warm water
1/3 C oil
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 C White Whole Wheat Flour

Begin by dissolving the yeast in the water. Let sit for 3-5 minutes until yeast is foamy.

Add in the oil, sugar and salt.

Then, add in the flour, 1 C at a time {I did this in my kitchen aid} stirring until incorporated.

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, until the dough is well formed and easy to work with. Add additional flour as needed to get the dough to become workable.

Divide the dough into 9-12 sections and roll into balls. {9 if you'd like larger rolls, 12 if you'd like smaller ones}.
I have found that we liked the size of them when we rolled them into 9 rolls.
Place the rolls on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover with a tea towel.
Set in a warm place and allow the dough to rise/rest for ~20 minutes.
I smooshed them down at the 10 minute mark to get a more flat bun look and feel. 

Then, bake at 425* for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. DO NOT OVER BAKE.
Cool on a wire cooling rack for 5ish minutes.

I bet that if you make these you won't buy buns again either.

It must be Valentines day

and here are the crafts to prove it. The candy pops will be given to friends and the art will hang in the entry. Then it will be time to start on Easter. There is never a dull moment is there.

Oh what do you do in the wintertime...

when all the world is white? Do you build snowforts and snowmen? So do I.