Happy Birthday, Simon!

Friday was Simon's first birthday! Aack! I still remember the day he was born, and I am certain it hasn't been a year! I went up to see Amber in the hospital the day after, I think. She was up and dressed, hair and makeup done and I vowed never to visit her in the hospital again. Just kiddin' , Amber. As I sat there holding Simon, I was overcome with emotion thinking of how recently he departed our Heavenly Father's presence. I always loved to be near him because he brought those feelings so poignantly to me each time. Thanks, Amber for all the times you let me snuggle him in Relief Society and steal him away from your house!

I had a lot of fun making this cake. Amber found a picture of it on coolest cakes.com. One of my favorite places for inspiration. The cake was yummy, too! The bottom is Grandma Mary's chocolate cake with German Chocolate Filling. The top is a white vanilla with frosting. The only part that is fondant are the giraffe spots and the zebra stripes. And, it's not store bought, nasty fondant, it's my homemade chocolate marshmallow fondant. Tastes like a tootsie roll! Yum!

This little lion was Simon's cake to devour himself.

I just love making cakes! It stresses me out, and I LOVE IT! It's the good stress kind of thing, like shock therapy, I guess. If any of you need cakes, let me know!

I tried to catch this cute pose, but of course it took me too long to get the camera out, but they were so cute just sitting there watching the opening of the gifts!

Bow Party!

Thank you to everyone who came to the bow party, and a HUGE thanks to Jessica and Jolene for doing it!

It was so much fun to just visit with everyone and eat mint brownies!!! It was the first time I've planned a get together and had a good turn out! I feel empowered to have some kind of holiday party.... with the help of Amber the party guru. They did an awesome job and Kaylee and I love her new hair bows!!! I will have to post some pics of the bows I got for her. I had two sets of bows custom made and they look great! I got Kaylee 4 sets of bows and one stretch headband and paid under $8!!! Sweet deal! If you want a great deal on bows, host a party!

What a Night!!!

On Sunday, following the crazy day of fun, I got a phone call from a family in our ward. The wife was going in to have her baby! The have two adorable twin girls and I told them to bring them right over! We had a fun, adventure-filled night that reminded me of many nights with Kaylee and Charles when they were younger. During the night both the girls woke up, but at different times. The first one woke up and I tried my best to keep her happy and calm her back to sleep, but to no avail. Finally she was crying and crying and didn't stop until Louis came out and held her. She clung to him and calmed right down. He held her until she fell asleep, and she stayed asleep all night. The next morning, she was very sad when he left for work without her! But, she was a trooper and enjoyed our walk with Kaylee to the school. On the other hand, her sister would have nothing to do with Louis and restored my sense of self-worth by clinging to me when she awoke. We stayed up visiting with Charles for about three hours before falling asleep. I had to leave for the crosswalk and when I came home Louis let me know my absence was noted! We had a lot of fun with the girls. Charles especially enjoyed having someone to play with for a while. The girls were so good and it was really funny to watch them try to climb in this car together!

So, can anyone tell me how to get this to accept the picture I saved of it rotated already? It undoes my editing when I upload. Hmm... well, just turn your monitor over for a minute, ok?

What a Day!!!

Do you ever have those days that are JAM-Packed!!! Anything that should happen needs to happen, and usually during the same three hour time frame! I had one of those days on Saturday, last Saturday. We began the morning with a baptism!!!

What an awesome opportunity I have had to befriend an investigator and be there for some discussions and see her baptism! It was wonderful. I am so excited to get to know her better.

While Charles and I were at the "baptize 'em" as Charles says, Kaylee was at the Primary Party. We waited for her to finish while we ate some lunch and then...

Next on the agenda... a quick trip to Salt Lake. I was trying to make it down for a baby shower, but since I had to stop on the way with two children and pick up the baby gift, because Logan doesn't have a Target, (I mean really, can we please have a Target?) I missed the shower completely.

Thank goodness Megan still agreed to meet me somewhere for a late lunch. :) Megan is my good friend from High School. I wish she lived closer, but alas. This is her first baby, and it's a boy!!! She is due in the next week or so. Doesn't she look so cute?! Why is it that other women look cute when they are pregnant and I just look fat? Hmm.

During all this running to visit people, I kept thinking of all the other people I could go visit, Lacey, Laura, my brother, etc. Fortunately, Josh and Heather were up from Provo, so we got to see them without the drive. Of course, I was sort of hoping for an excuse to go down and then check in on Melissa and see if there was anything I could help with on the Orem end since I had to bow out early the night of the big move. Sorry guys!

The kids had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house while I was galavanting around SLC with Megan. I came home to this art display. Pretty good, huh? Kaylee is quite detail oriented. Notice Jasmine's shoes, and Tinkerbell's intricate details. In case you can't tell, she drew all the princesses: Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Ariel, and Tinkerbell. She was trying to finish Snow White when I announced we had to leave. I was totally impressed.

Next and last stop before home...

We were supposed to try and make it to peach days in Brigham City, but it just wasn't going to happen. I learned something, though. If you go to Peach Days, you don't get peaches. If you don't go to Peach Days, you get peaches! So my sister was kind enough to pick up peaches for me in the morning and hold them until I could come get them LATE that night. I also lucked out and got to spend a few minutes with my cousin and her family. We used to have lots of fun playing together as kids, and it's still fun to get together. Thanks, Jenna!

Although it was a bit hectic and I came home completely tired, it was well worth it!

Escape

The first week of school wasn't as smooth as I had hoped. The mornings are a crunch with me at the crosswalk and Kaylee needing her hair done once I get home and still trying to walk. Thank goodness Louis fixed her bike! Now it's not a problem really, because Kaylee is FAST on her bike. At any rate one school morning Kaylee and I butted heads and she went to school in tears (which ruins my day because I ruined her day) and I left the school angry and in tears. Yes, my five year old is very talented at making me cry. I took the day off. A friend of mine agreed to pick Kaylee up and let her play with her daughter until I decided to face life again. I went to my sister's house for a surprise visit. Charles was thrilled!!! The final outing before I decided we'd better get back home was a trip to Perry Park. It's my favorite park now. Even more so than Adam's Park. It is entirely shaded!!! Here are some cute pics of Charles enjoying his day with Tressa and mom.

Steve's "First Dam" Birthday

I know this is way old... but we have been having major computer issues. Louis decided to build my computer and we have had several bumps along the way, but it will all be worth it in the end. anyways.... here are the pictures from Steve's birthday celebration up at first dam. They provided a delicious picnic dinner of egg salad sandwiches and of course, delicious grasshopper brownies. Thanks guys!

This is a picture of a student we were behind on the way up. The sign on his back says, "My family was killed by ninjas. Need money for karate lessons." Louis thought it was funny and pondered on whether or not the young man would earn enough money to pay for school.

Steve's cards from the kids.

Steve opening his gifts. We let the kids pick his present.....
Oreos!!!! What else? We wanted to get one of each variety, but some stores just don't have the selection they should!!!The Spread! Yum!!!

The kids had lots of fun running around and feeding the ducks.

I have to tell you that I don't like this picture of me. I put it on because everyone says there aren't any of me. Well, Donna is so stinking cute, and then there's me. Blah, I should stand next to someone else next time, or perhaps do my makeup and hair. That is a novel idea!

Charles just killed me! He was yelling, "Fly, Fly!" at the ducks. It reminded me of The Wizard of Oz when the Wicked Witch of the West calls to her flying monkeys!

Why, yes! I can!

Everyone will want to sit down for this post. I am officially domestic. Yes, that's right! I can CAN!!! Before I get carried away, I will state the facts:
Today, after six years of saying that I wanted to and was going to, I canned peaches, ALL BY MYSELF! I do need to admit that I had a tutoring session last year from Jessica, and then another step by step run-down yesterday from Katie and several phone calls to Katie and the extension today. But, I was alone in the kitchen and I now have eight beautiful bottles of peaches! Whew! This is a HUGE deal for me, so please don't ruin it by thinking to yourself, "peaches are so easy!" I've heard this already! But it's not easy for me. Let me explain.... When I was up at BYU-I, I took a class called "Practical Homemaking." I was banking on Louis proposing and figured I'd better fine tune some skills. Acquire them is more like it. We learned several useful things and I discovered that I really already possessed some skills that interested others. (i.e. hair and skin care; I can hear you all, "gasp! SHE does hair? Why doesn't she do her own?" I know, but it's another post for another time.) We learned how to make pie crusts, bread, meals, pillowcases, jelly, and we even canned stew! It was all yummy, and I was NEVER able to replicate ANY of it!!! We had an entire section on preserving and canning. I paid close attention, I thought. I should tell you, though, that I failed my canning test which gave me a "B" or maybe "B-" in the class. So, Louis was warned! I was so distraught and assumed that it meant I'd kill everyone if I ever tried. The one thing I learned is "botulism." That stunted my growth in the canning department, but now I have proved that wrong! Well, OK, we haven't actually EATEN the peaches yet, so I suppose that declaration will have to wait until all the jars are empty!
All day as I was going through this.... process, I was bloggin' in my mind. I told Katie today about half way through that I wasn't sure yet which blog to use... the "Introducing the New Mrs. Domestic USA" or the "Canning for Dummies is a myth." I have decided on a middle road.

Here are some lessons I learned from today:

1. You should can your peaches VERY soon after buying them! Don't wait!



2. When people tell you "peaches are so easy!" What they mean is, "most intelligent people should be able to do this without killing anyone," This doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to jump right in by yourself! It's not like a "nature's instinct" type thing.



3. Canning peaches is "smart." (I learned this from Charles.)*see below for full explanation



4. You should really put the pectin in the syrup BEFORE you fill the jars. But, as Anna pointed out.... we've been canning for years before there was ever "fruit fresh!" But, it was worth the extra step to make sure I did it right!



5. Canning really takes ALL DAY, no really, ALL STINKING DAY!



6. Seven quart size jars of peaches displace a LARGE amount of boiling water.... so don't fill the pot too full!



7. I decided the reason it's called a water bath is because the jars get SO STICKY, they need a bath before they can be put on the shelf. (Does this process work well on children?)



8. When you call the extension office, if a man answers.... ASK FOR THE WOMAN! Mine is named, Peggy. Of course, I did feel good knowing that someone else in the universe doesn't know EVERYTHING about canning peaches!



9. It takes a lot of peaches (and work!) for only eight little jars!



10. The jars really are beautiful and there is a sense of pride looking at them!

*My conversation with Charles:

Charles: Mom, what are ya doin?

Me: Canning peaches.

Charles: Why?

My mind: Yeah, why? Didn't mom tell you it was such a big mess and really not worth it? Besides, you don't even know what you're doing!

Me (optimistic me): So we can have yummy fruit to eat in the winter.

Charles: Oh, that is smart!

My mind: Yeah, we'll see about that one!

Here is my proof!!!

Getting ready to fill the jars with syrup. Please don't notice how you can see the peach pit part. I tried my best to hide it in the middle, but peaches have a mind of their own!

Boiling the lids and making the syrup. (see the white bowl with premeasured pectin? Yeah, forgot to add it in to the syrup BEFORE filling the jars, so I had to pour the syrup back out and stir in the pectin! Blah!)

The beautiful, sanitized jars awaiting the peaches! (Actually these are the reject jars that didn't get any fruit because apparantly a half bushel only makes eight jars!) The eight beautiful, STICKY, jars awaiting their "water bath."

The beautiful jars AFTER their bath. So far, they have all sealed!!! Whew!

Now that it's all over, I am TIRED! But, I am glad I did it! Finally!!! This is kind of like running the marathon, I'm glad I did it, I really wondered if I could, and I'm not ready to answer the question, "Are you going to do it again?"

As a side note, I have to just add this. This year in Relief Society we are focusing on Self-Reliance. I chose to set a goal in the area of Food Storage. I have been very pleased with what I have done this year. Not as much as some, perhaps, but it's been a HUGE leap for me! Three MAJOR things (with pictures to prove it!)

• I grew something! 23 tomato plants to be precise! I gave away A LOT of those because Louis said we didn't have room for them on our itsy bitsy porch. Whatever! The tomatoes were small, but very yummy. I feel so motivated to plant again next year. Maybe I'll do a couple tomatoes and perhaps some peas? Ooh! The possiblities!

These aren't the best pictures of my tomatoes, since they're dying, but it proves they LIVED once!

• Canning, yes we've been over this, I know. But that is HUGE!
• Technically this has nothing to do with food, but I revived a plant! Kaylee gave me a small flower for Mother's Day from preschool. I killed it because I didn't know it was only wrapped in paper! But, I repotted it and it grew a ton of beautiful pansies, which I love!

Again, not the best picture, but there are still a couple good blossoms to see.