Valley of Fire

We spent a fun day off from school and work yesterday. Dad drove Maddie, Julie, Ally, Jimmy, Allyson, Sydney, and me to Valley of Fire in the motorhome for the day. The weather was cold and clear, the scenery was beautiful, the company was great, the picnic was yummy, the exercise was good and not TOO strenuous, and a good time was had by all!
Nobody thought to bring the baby backpack (!) so we had to take turns carrying Sydney on our short jaunts into the red rocks. Good thing she's little and there were so many willing participants. Thanks, Julie!

Ally feels victorious after scrambling up some large rocks!

Walking and exploring...

You've heard of cliff-diving into the lake? These guys are "rock jumping" into the sand. Allyson FLIES!
Little Ally takes her turn...

...and Sydney scoots off too!

Maddie jumps! (I'll probably be in trouble for posting this one. This part of the trip was quite warm and Maddie had just shed her two sweatshirts and sweater. She won't appreciated being posted in her undershirt!! Sorry, Maddie.)

We loved all the fun cubby holes in the rocks.

Julie and Ally climbed to these high ones.

Dad took us up a short but very difficult climb, through an arch, and around a bend to this really cool "stairway to heaven." This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a steep and scary climb.

Good thing we had Dad to hold the staircase open for us!

We remembered this natural stage at the Seven Sisters formation as about three times this big, but it was still roomy enough for this lovely rendition of the can-can. Even Jimmy joined in. Later he said, "I don't why I did that..." The girls enjoyed it!

By the end of the day the girls (Maddie especially) were exhausted.


They did manage to summon up enough energy for one last show with Allyson.

I'm so grateful and glad that we live in a place where we can get out and enjoy the beauties of God's creations in the middle of winter! It makes those hot, hot summers worthwhile!

Jeff Won

Okay, it may be January 20, but I still had one Christmas post I needed to make that I never got to. Jeff and I had decided that since we have everything we could possibly ever need, we wouldn't get each other any presents for Christmas. Then we relented and decided instead that we would have a contest and see which of us could get the best present for the other for under $20.

Jeff went to Hallmark and enlisted the help of Caitlin, Amy's friend from high school. They wandered around until he found the Willow Tree figurines. Since he knew how much I LOVE my Willow Tree nativity set, he figured that might be a good present. But how could he decide which one? Caitlin suggested the new ox and goat to supplement the nativity, but Dad wasn't sure...They seemed so...mundane. Amy was shopping in Henderson with a friend (we're talking Christmas Eve day here, of course!) Dad called Amy and told her his dilemma. She was on her way home, so he told her to stop by and help him decide. In the meantime he studied them all seriously. By the time Amy and Mandy arrived (and finished hugging Caitlin-all three were home from college!) Dad had already made his choice.

He showed them the above figurine. It is called "Love" and Jeff picked it out because "she will think it is sweet." He's right. I do. I love it and have given it a special place in the dining room. I think he is sweet too, and I appreciate all his effort to find something I would love. Thanks, hon.


PS-My contest gift was a weather forecasting clock for the Mt. Pleasant home. It was cool, but not even one bit "sweet." (And really, it was disqualified - because it was $29.99...)

MMMM. It smells GOOD in here!

I am baking bread this morning (along with doing laundry, cleaning house, working in the office, and visiting a friend with a broken foot at some point...) and it reminded me that several people wanted this recipe.

My friend who gave me the recipe is a Woodbury now, originally a Stewart, so if you recognize this recipe from somewhere else, it may have a different name!

I use a Bosch kitchen mixer to mix and knead the bread. I'm sure a KitchenAid or any other large or stand mixer would work. It is a LOT of dough!

WOODBURY BOSCH WHEAT BREAD

For the very best whole wheat bread:
(In Linda’s opinion)

Grind fresh wheat flour-about 1/2 of a #10 can
from LDS Cannery. (5-6 C. of wheat kernals.)

To: 4 7/8 C. water, quite warm, in Bosch mixer bowl, add

3 3/4 T. yeast
3/4 cup honey and
3/4 C. molasses. Mix and let sit until yeast proofs.

Add:
3/4 C. oil
2 ½ T. salt ( I usually use less than this.)
2-4 T. Dough Enhancer (available at beprepared.com or kitchen stores)
2 T. Vital Wheat Gluten (available as above)
12 C. freshly ground whole wheat flour,
four cups at a time, mixing well after each
addition. Add up to a cup more if dough is too
sticky. (I never add the extra.)

Knead ten minutes in Bosch. Transfer to large bowl and
let rise till double in size. Punch down. Transfer to four medium-
size bread pans and let rise again. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees,
watching carefully that bread doesn’t burn on top. Turn heat down to
350 degrees and bake 10-15 more minutes. (In my oven I have to lay a piece of foil over the tops of the loaves after the first ten minutes or they get ALMOST burned.)

We love this bread because you don't have to put anything on it to make it taste good. It is sweet and satisfying just by itself.

Also, I don't always put the dough conditioner and/or wheat gluten in it. It is a smaller, denser loaf without them, or lighter and higher (larger slices) if I use them - just depends on what we're in the mood for!

At the moment, I can't think of anything that smells better than baking bread if you are hungry!

Books I Read Last Year

Well, I've had this list posted on my blog for quite a while. Let's see how I did.

Books I Plan to Read This Year (2007)

1. The Book of Mormon (every year...)
I did read this one. I take my inspiration from my mother-in-law, Grandma S., who reads the Book of Mormon TWICE every year. My goal this year is to STUDY it too. Since it is the Gospel Doctrine course of study for 2008, that shouldn't be too hard. Our instructor has also challenged us to give a copy to a friend or neighbor this year too.

2. New Testament - Joseph Smith and King James translations
King James? Yes. Joseph Smith translation? Only parts. That's got to be a study goal too, I guess. What can I say about this one? It doesn't get much better than this.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
I've already posted my ode to this favorite earlier in the year. Wow, what a ride!

4. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
Thanks to my good friend, Kimberly, for turning me on to VAMPIRE books! Who would think a middle-aged grandma would wait anxiously for a book about high school vampires and werewolves?I did enjoy the trilogy though and will read the next one...

5. All Over But the Shoutin' - Rick Bragg
Haven't gotten to this one yet. Kimberly read it while laid up with her broken leg and said she enjoyed it. I'll keep it on this year's list.

6. Left to Tell - Immaculee Ilibagiza
This book touched me deeply and I read passages of it to Jeff. He used it in one of his priest quorum lessons on forgiveness. What an amazing story.

7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Enjoyed this one (for the second time) as a book club selection.

8. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexander Dumas
I didn't actually make it through this book club pick. There's only so much revenge a nice girl like me can take. I do love the movie and will probably finish this one this year too.

9. Tumbling Blocks - Earlene Fowler
My mother-in-law didn't care for this latest Benni Harper book, but I quite enjoyed it. Benni is one of my favorite fictional characters.

10. Home to Holly Springs - Jan Karon
The Mitford books are my all time favorite series. I've read them twice, so I was anxiously awaiting this new Father Tim book about his return to the town where he grew up after a 40 year absence. I enjoyed his character as much as always, but didn't always like the things I learned about him!

I probably read at least thirty other books this year. I think I will keep a list of all of them this year. I just remembered I have a book journal I started last spring.

Watch for my 2008 sidebar list coming soon...

Disneyland!

We took our last trip to Disneyland (for a while) last week. Sadly our passes expire Wednesday :( and I told Jeff if he'd let me go ONE MORE TIME before then, I wouldn't go again for the rest of 2008! Boy, talk about selling your soul to the...husband....My favorite ride? "It's a Small World Holiday," of course. It was so beautiful. Is it any wonder I love it so much?
Tribute to our family brick in the entrance plaza, surrounded by fresh feet, as yet untired from our Disneyland odyssey. Notice David's foot getting fresh with Loretta's...tsk, tsk.
Our guide on the canoes. Amy spent a lot of time on this ride going mm, mm, mm.

It was a little dark when we took our pictures of the giant Christmas tree at the end of Main Street, but you can at least get an idea of how big and beautiful it was.
The castle was topped with snow for winter. And though none of us got a good picture of it, it simply DRIPPED with blue icicle lights at night.
No one ever wants to pose for the traditional group shot in front of the flower Mickey, but I think it is an important historical part of each trip! We had a really fun time and I enjoyed being with people who love Disneyland as much as I do. Thanks for going, guys!

Happy Holidays!

Maddie on her way to the last day of school before Christmas break. Her black shirt had a sparkly ornamented Christmas tree on the front so she looked very festive.

Now it has taken me so long to finish this post that I have to say - Wow! I can't believe Christmas is over already.

Traditional top of the stairs Christmas morning photo. I wonder how many more of these will have two girls in them...?

If Loretta hadn't helped me wrap all my presents and get my house organized, I would never have been ready for Christmas in time. It all seemed to go by in a blur...

It was kind of a crazy two weeks here - Amy was home from college, my nephew, Lauron, and niece, Angel, were here, visiting Grandma D. and us, and Grandma Sargeant came back with Amy to finish her move to Utah. We had Grandma D.'s Christmas party on Saturday, church on Sunday, some of the family for dinner after church, Christmas Eve Family Home Evening on Monday and dinner for more family.
Amy and Tyler at Grandma D.'s Christmas dinner party. It was a lot of fun this year, as Uncle Dave, Aunt Karen, Elisabeth, Jared, and Jacob were there, as well as Lauron and Angel. Grandma always knocks herself out for this event and it is eagerly anticipated. I don't think that she will ever be able to top this year's family gift, however. We will all NEVER forget the "ghost grandma" ornaments!!

Then we had Christmas day with everyone over at various times and spent Wednesday with Lauron and Angel - shopping, movie, "In 'N' Out" for dinner, and Guitar Hero fest till the wee hours (I'll be glad when that thing is GONE back to college!)
Although as you can see, lots of people had fun pretending to be "rock stars."

"Look, Daddy! I can play too!"

Angel liked the game so much she pooled all her money and bought one after she went home.
Looking at Lauron, you might think he was a real punk - especially if you remember his "Especially for Youth" cute little white-blond flat-top look. The funny thing is, he's still the same sweet huggy "I love you, Aunt Linda" boy he's always been. Is he just a "wanna-be punk??"

The Christmas Day soccer game players after little Ally kicked the winning goal. The rest of us were walking the track with the stroller babies, but it got too cold and they had to head home. Susan came back and picked up stragglers in two loads in her car. It was a little crowded - kind of like the car full of clowns at the circus...

It was a great vacation. I'm not ready to go back to "real life" yet...

Grandkids!

If you are not a grandmother, you may not understand that I truly have the cutest grandkids in the world. If you are, you will undoubtedly disagree...and that's the way it should be!

Beautiful daughter Allyson with cute Aubrey and darling Sydney in their Christmas dresses.

Cute Aubrey and handsome Tyler before church.

My photo-editing software is refusing to "rotate," but this picture of sweet Ally and Aubrey was so cute I knew you'd all want to rotate yourselves to see it!

Sydney at the ward Christmas party. Papa loves the space between her teeth!

Tyler in his new birthday coat.

This is Julie, the one who can no longer be called "cute."

She's simply beautiful.