"Giving Thanks!"

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! I love decorating for "turkey day" and have been glad to see Thanksgiving decorations catching on. This year, with the help of my neighbor and crafting "sister", Tiffany, I made a cute block "thanks" for me and a wooden sign that said "Give Thanks" for Jane Anne's apartment in Logan. Then, Janie and I both made a really cute turkey from a class held at a scrapbooking store we discovered in Bountiful called "Heartland". We are having way too much fun!

Halloween Night

Such Halloween Fashionistas! Check out my cute scarf!

Navajo Tacos with all the fixings!

Doctor with an attitude!

Halloween has taken on a different feel since we no longer have anyone that goes "Trick or Treating" at our house! (I NEED my grandchildren to move to Utah so I can enjoy the excitement that Halloween brings to little people!! Rob, James, and Jared please take note!!) We did, however, do our best to have fun! Janie and Colby came down from Logan and offered to make us "Navajo Tacos" which are scones with chili on the top! They were fantastic! And then, since lemon is one of Colby's favorite flavors, and since I had found an ice cream maker when I cleaned out my pantry, they made us homemade lemon ice cream. It took most of the night to freeze but was still delicious! Ryan and Becca came over, too, along with Janie's close friend, Aubrey Reeves and her date and they played "Settlers of Zarahemla". While Josh went to a costume party at his friends, we all watched the Will Smith movie, "I am Legend". We were wanting a creepy, scary movie and that definitely fit the bill!

Dinner Divas!

A wonderful cook in our ward started a cooking group that she affectionately named, "Dinner Divas". We meet once a month and usually make three things---two are usually entrees, while the third is some sort of bread/pancake mix. This was our second time together and we had lots of fun making Chicken Tetrazzini. We also got to take home Chicken Tortilla Soup and Whole Wheat Mix that you use for quick breads, pancakes and biscuits. It's a fun, nutritous, inexpensive way to serve your family great quick meals!!

Pumpkin Carving

There are a few things in life that I realized I didn't have to do any more once I had "grown up". One of these was riding roller coasters. (I do not enjoy the feeling of dropping---which is why airplane turbulence and I are not friends!) I also really don't like the slimy feel of pumpkin "insides" on my hands---and I have dealt with lots of gross things in my life as a mother and a nurse. But, since I don't like digging out pumpkins, I got to be the cleaner-upper and the "turn on the movie" (Indiana Jones) person while Bob, Janie, Colby, Ryan and Becca cleaned out and carved our Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns. (Josh was a birthday party for one of his friends.) They turned out great---especially since I got to enjoy the finished product without touching the mess!

Fun Week-end!

Our fun-filled week-end started off Friday night when we decided to do a "Game Night". We invited five other couples to come over and have a casual dinner and then play "Catch Phrase"!
We had such a great time that I forgot to take pictures! We really had alot of fun---it's great to see how people respond to a timer when it is about ready to ring! Bytheway, the women came from behind and beat the men!


Saturday, Janie and I went to a class at Archiver's, the scrapbook store, and we each made a cute, retro-looking recipe holder!


Later that day, we went to the BYU-TCU ball game! Don't fall over dead---I did say "we". I went to a game! Even though it was cold, rainy, windy, and BYU was pretty bad---I still had a great time with Bob, Janie and Colby. We left after the third quarter and came back and carved pumpkins---that's the subject of tomorrow's blog!

"Texas Reds" and "the Swing Girl"

This blog is about some of our food experiences while on our recent trip. We had some great steak dinners---I'm told the beef must be bigger in Texas! Both nights we just picked a restaurant from the list on our GPS system in the rental car. The first night, we ended up at "Texas Reds" which ended up being a family owned business with a real "down home feel". We met the owners, a husband and wife team and he was in his jeans, cowboy shirt, hat and boots---like any self-respecting Texan should be. The walls of the bar were covered with all sorts of animal heads that people had shot with a big buffalo head front and center. They brought unshelled peanuts to our table for us to snack on while we waited for our food. We carefully piled the shells on the table top but looked in horror at the mess that the table across the way had left---they had just dumped all the shells on the floor. I couldn't believe any one could be so rude!!! Little did I know that this is custom in some parts of the country!

The next night, after going to the temple, we went to the "Old San Francisco Steak House". We were greeted at the door by a pretty blonde girl in a red satin dress that ended at the top of her legs which were covered in black fish net stockings. She had a flouncy little walk that even Josh commented on and I wondered, "Oh, no, what have we gotten ourselves into?" The dining room was a huge big room done in rustic wood with metal signs everywhere (like the baking powder ad signs from the early 1920's). Then there was a stage with a grand piano and a swing hanging from the ceiling. (There really are such places in the world?!) Apparently, the regular hostess was sick and so we were greeted at the door by the "Swing Girl". We were not able to see her in action as she had finished her routine for the night. I didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved since I had my teen age son sitting next to me and was across the table from my Stake President brother-in-law. The recorded music was WWII era which was fun and the live music was a old woman belting out different random songs in a deep throaty voice. She even dedicated Kermit the Frog's song, "It's Not Easy Being Green" to Josh who was wearing a lime green tie. (See what I mean about random?) Suffice it to say, it was an experience we will long remember!

"Temple Envy"

Friday night while we were in San Antonio, we all went to the temple. Bob's twin, Dick, also came with us. Our neighbors, the Hopkinsons, who lived in San Antonio for several years, told us we HAD to go to the San Antonio temple---that it was one of the five "destination" temples in the world. (We figured that Salt Lake and Nauvoo must be two of the five with San Antonio being the third---but the other two???) Suzy Hopkinson told us we would have "Temple Envy" after seeing this temple. Anyway, we brought some family names for Josh to do baptisms and the rest of us did sealings. The temple inside is GORGEOUS!!!! There are many beautiful full length stained glass windows of different trees from the Garden of Eden. The most prominent being the "Tree of Life". The front doors to the temple are just such windows and the celestial room has three walls totally in stained glass. It really is amazing! Our Provo temple, which I dearly love, is nothing like this!

"Only in Texas"

After a crazy night at the hotel, where our smoke alarm decided to "chirp" in the middle of the night, two "engineers" and two trips to our room couldn't figure it out, and a hurried move in our pajamas with everything flung into our suit cases, the hotel graciously gave us all a free buffet breakfast. (It was the least they could do, we really wanted a free steak and everything dinner!)
Imagine my surprise when I went to get a waffle and found it was in the shape of Texas! I feel safe in saying that I don't think any other state in the union has waffle irons made in the shape of their state! I would wager that probably some enterprising person is now much wealthier for coming up with this idea and that every hotel in this fair state has one! And we know by the size of Texas that that must be lots!!! P.S. It was a delicious waffle!

"In the Hall of the Mountain King"

"Emerald Lake"


"Nativity"

"In the Hall of the Mountain King"

On Thursday afternoon after Bob finished with his medical meetings, we all went to Natural Bridge Caverns. This is a huge underground cavern that has amazing stalactites and stalagmites and other rock formations. The portion we toured was about two miles long and we wound our way down narrow tunnels deep into the earth. All the while we were walking, water was dripping from overhead and it is this water that has formed these amazing caves. It was awesome to experience and not nearly as strenuous as hiking Timp caves!

San Antonio and "Remember the Alamo!"

Lucky us!!! Bob had medical meetings in San Antonio exactly the same time as Provo School District's Fall Break! So, Josh, Colby, Jane Anne, and I flew with him to Texas on Wed. afternoon. We were struck by the humidity as we exited the plane. The next day was almost 100 degrees and very humid! So much for a good hair day!!!

The first thing we did while Bob was in meetings was to go literally across the street to the Alamo. For those of you who aren't really up on Texas history like me, this is the site of 180 brave men trying to fight off dictator Santa Ana's 1000 Mexican troops and defend their right to liberty. They all met their death with the cry of "Victory or Death" on their lips. Davey Crockett and Jim Bowie were two of the famous men who died there. Just a few weeks after this defeat, General Sam Houston was able to crush Santa Ana in a battle at the Rio Grande river with the rallying cry of "Remember the Alamo".

BOO!

I love decorating for Halloween and love making things. This week-end I tried decorating wood blocks with scrapbook paper and embellishments and had so much fun. Jane Anne and I are really enjoying this craft---more cute holiday sayings are planned!

Quilt #3!

Last night we invited two of our favorite families over for dinner and to help Josh tie another of his Eagle Scout Project quilts. The Willeys and Harmons came and we barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs, had corn on the cob and home grown tomatoes, and chocolate cake for dessert. After dinner was through, everyone helped on the quilt. It seemed like it was completed in no time! This is my favorite of the quilts so far. The flannel print will be so fun for some young child and it is so soft and cuddly. Sammy really LOVED quilting and already has plans to make a quilt for his new room when his family moves to Midway! The kids had lots of time for other fun and the adults sat around and laughed at Jeff Harmon's jokes. (In his former life, he must have been a stand-up comic!) Take it from a mother of five boys and five Eagle Scout projects---this is a FUN way to do a service project!!!

Check out these moves!

Josh, Carl, and Braydon syncing away!
Jeff Hill, Bob and Aaron Stewart with canes and a crutch!



Becky, Suzy, Barbara, Linda, and Chris get into the swing of things!

Last night, Bob and Josh were in a lipsync program for YMYW. Neither were very excited to have to perform in front of people, but good sports that they were, they were amazing. Josh and two other priest age boys performed to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Josh really got rockin with his Wii guitar. Bob's group chose "Twist and Shout" and pretended to be really old men dancing in slow motion. Both numbers had lots of laughs and applause. The YW leaders did "Leader of the Pack" and it was hilarious, too. What a fun activity!

Conference Eagle Scout Quilt

We are working on Josh's Eagle project again---tying quilts for Primary Children's Medical Center. Quilt number two is almost finished. We worked on it during the Saturday conference sessions. Ryan, Becca, Bob, Jane Anne, Colby and I all helped Josh. As you can see, the fabric has some sort of Golden Lab or Golden Retriever on it. We hope that some child who has just such a dog will get this quilt by "divine design" and love it even more because it reminds them of their cherished pet! We ended up tying lots of ties, and ran out of yarn. So getting creative, we tied the outer edges with cream, the middle section with navy blue, and the center with white yarn. It actually looks kind of cool!!!

Love that Priesthood Session of conference!

When the men all go to Priesthood meeting, we women make cards!!! This October conference we had Janie, my niece, Amy, Becca, her mom, Debbie, and Becca's two sisters-in-law, Shanna and Crissy come to create cards! We had so much fun! Amy, Becca and I had both designed some cards for everyone to make but the real kudos go to Tiffany, my neighbor and dear friend, who gave us all the supplies to make several cards she had designed. Afterwards, when the men came home, we had dessert with home made oreos and Grandma Jackson's apple torte cake.
What a great tradition!!!

"How about dem apples?"

This is one of the Jonagolds next to a regular sized apple!

For our applesauce and apple pie filling project, we got Jonagold apples from Allred's orchards.
Some are the size of grapefruits---these are apples on steroids!!! One sliced up will feed the whole family! We have also used them to make Grandma Jackson's apple torte cake which is delicious! Here is her highly sought after recipe:
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. applesauce
2 eggs
2 t. soda
2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
4 c. grated apples
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
2 t. vanilla

Cream sugar and butter. Add applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Sift all dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Then add the apples and nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. (We use cinnamon and sugar to coat the pan after greasing it instead of flour.) Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Test with tooth pick to see if done. Top with lemon sauce and whipped cream.

Lemon sauce:
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
dash salt
dash nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together and gradually add 2 c. boiling water and 1/4 c. butter. Stir constantly on low heat until thick and clear. Then blend in 3 T. lemon juice.

Enjoy!!!