Our Whirlwind Summer!

The past few months have been filled to overflowing, and I haven't taken the time to record those events.

On July 14th, Krystal married Dalton Whiting in the Twin Falls, Idaho Temple.  Their sealing session was beautiful, and it was amazing to be surrounded by family and friends to celebrate their marriage.  The reception was held that same evening at our Stake Center in Nampa, Idaho.  We decorated the gym with the help of family, and it was absolutely beautiful!  I made the cupcakes (all 307 of them), and my nieces helped us decorate them.

 

Congratulations, Krystal & Dalton...we love you both!

 

 

Just a couple weeks after Krystal and Dalton's wedding, Nick got engaged to Emily Rodie.  They planned on getting married in December, but on September 7th they decided to go to the courthouse and get married.  We were a little surprised when they told us the next day, but we love Emily and are glad to have her in our family.  They will be having a reception in December.

The rest of the kids started school at the end of August. 

 

Aubrie is a Senior this year and is excited to graduate and plans on attending BSU next fall to study Criminal Justice and Anesthesiology.  We are so proud of her and the way she excels in school!

Mandi is a freshman in high school and participated in Volleyball Camp over the summer, which she really enjoyed.  She was sad to not make the team after tryouts but was able to participate as a team manager and will try out again next year.

Porter is in the 7th grade and is participating in Nampa Kids Soccer again.  He is really a great soccer player and has a goal to play in high school, college, and even professionally someday!  He is also involved in Boy Scouts and had the opportunity to go to Scout Camp this summer in McCall.

Just after school started, we took a trip to Utah to take Aubrie for a recheck of her back at Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake.  Fortunately her scoliosis is stable, and they did not recommend surgery at this time.  While we were in Utah, we stayed with our "second family" the Chlarsons.  It was so much fun to see them again.  We really miss them since they moved to Utah.  We also took the kids to Lagoon, and we all had a wonderful time trying the new rides and some of our old favorites.

The morning before we went to Lagoon, Porter was riding his skateboard outside and got going too fast down a hill.  He knew he was going to crash when he got to the bottom, so he decided to bail off his skateboard and skidded across the road.  He skinned up his shoulder, side, hip, and knees.  I am surprised he wasn't screaming when he came in the house (I would have been!).  We bandaged him up and let him rest for awhile.  I was worried he would not enjoy the rides at Lagoon, but Greg gave him a blessing, and he was able to have a wonderful day.  Because I was so concerned about getting him cleaned up and bandaged, I didn't think to take any pictures of his wounds, but they were BAD!  Thankfully he has healed up well with very little scarring and can now brag a little about bailing off the skateboard and being a tough guy.

Sadly, on August 17th, we had to say goodbye to our dog, Mia.  She was diagnosed with lymphoma just a couple weeks earlier, and the cancer progressed very rapidly.  It was so sad to watch her go from a happy, energetic, healthy dog to one who could not even get up and would not eat.  We had 8 wonderful years with her and cherish the memories.  It was really hard on Greg because just last October we had to put our other dog, Buddy, to sleep.  He was almost 15 years old.  Both of them were great dogs and had been Greg's training companions.  We will miss them!

My Daddy's Favorite Song..."My Wild Irish Rose"

Greg and I went on a cruise in February.  The last day of the cruise was a day at sea, and there was not much to do.  We happened to hear this man, Edward Clutte, who was a passenger on the ship, playing the piano in the bar. We sat and listened to him for over an hour, and I requested that he play this song.  (It is one that Daddy used to play on the player piano, and he would always sing along.)...I have to say he was the best entertainer on the ship!  What makes it even more amazing is that he is blind!

I need to stay home!

I had a job interview today...a job as a receptionist in an Orthopedic office that paid about $13 per hour...but I canceled the interview.  As I was trying to get ready to go, I looked at the piles of laundry around me, listened to my kids argue with each other, and realized my prayers were being answered.  Heavenly Father wants me to be home with my children and my husband.  No amount of money can make up for the lack of time I would be able to spend with them each and every day. 

So, as a dear old friend said, "Those huge life decisions are killers but there is so much peace in knowing that there is someone who will let us know exactly what to do and prepare the way. Or not, as He may see fit."

So we will continue to struggle right now to pay our bills until my transcription work picks up a bit and I get my new Scentsy business off the ground, but I will be blissfully happy at home with my children and husband around me, even when I have huge piles of laundry to wash and occasional arguments to settle. 

I love my family, and nothing makes me happier than spending time with them. Sure, most days are hard, but no other success in life is more important to me than my family. Someday in the future when I look back on the path I have taken in life, I hope to be at the top, wrapped in the arms of my eternal family.

Come see this car in the Melba 4th of July Parade

Nick restored this go-kart that belonged to my dad.  Daddy bought it in the 1960s and drove it in the Idaho Centennial parade in 1963. 

After that, it sat in a shed for over 40 years.  Needless to say, it was not very pretty when we brought it home...

But Nick took the seat apart and recovered it with new fabric, painted the body and wheels, and cleaned up the engine. 

The only thing he could not salvage was the gas tank because it was full of rust.  Now it is beautiful again, and I am so excited that he will be driving it in the Melba 4th of July parade...I just wish Daddy was here to see it!

Popovers...Yummy!!

I tried a new recipe today.  While looking at the blog How Mom Did It  I found this recipe for popovers (I have heard of them but have never had one in my entire life.)  They looked very simple, so I decided to give it a try.   Wow! They are really good (especially with homemade strawberry freezer jam).

Wanna make some for yourself?  Here's the recipe...

But first, you need to know the secret to making popovers...

1. Get the muffin tin cold...stick it in the refrigerator.
2. Do NOT (do not , do not, do not) pre-heat your oven! I am serious. You are going to put a cold pan into your cold oven once you are ready to bake them. There is something about doing it this way that makes the popovers puff up so nicely...


Now for the recipe...


3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

Whisk the eggs and milk together then add salt and flour, and mix those ingredients together until well blended.  (I didn't take a picture of this, but I think you can figure it out.)

Spray the cold muffin pan with cooking spray.  Fill the muffin cups 1/2 full with batter.

(Yes, my muffin pan is broken in 3 pieces, but it is Pampered Chef, and I love it, and it still works just fine!)

Put the pan in the COLD oven and turn on to 450 degrees.  Set the timer for 25 minutes and then wait...DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!

When the timer goes off, remove from the oven.

Stick a toothpick in the popovers to release the steam...

Now you will have perfect little popover cups to fill with yummy homemade strawberry freezer jam and enjoy!

Make sure you bake plenty because it is easy to eat a few of these...or do like I did and eat as many as you want before you wake the kids up...I guarantee they will be gone in a flash when the kids discover them!

Next time I make these, I will put whip cream on top too! (that was Greg's suggestion, and it sounds delicious!)

Update to "It's HOT Outside!"

Is that all I need to do to get a rainstorm...blog about how hot it is?  Tuesday night about 10:30 we got a fabulous thunderstorm with thunder, lightning, and TONS of rain...HUGE drops were falling (I know...I was outside in it driving to the store).  It was absolutely crazy and wonderful!  It only lasted about 20 minutes, but it sure cooled everything down, and then it rained again about 1:00 in the morning and a little more later in the morning.  It was cool and wet outside, so I took the kids out and pulled the weeds along our road.  Rain is wonderful for making those weeds pull right out of the ground.  I even had fun pulling weeds...don't think I can say that about the kids, but at least they helped!

Anyway...I just wanted to say...I LOVE THE RAIN AND I AM GRATEFUL TO HEAVENLY FATHER FOR SENDING IT TODAY!

It's HOT outside!!!

Well, so much for our rainy cool weather...I think summer is finally here to stay!  It has been in the 90s for the past few days.  I have decided I was really enjoying the cooler wet weather (even though I complained about it a bit back then).  Now we have to crank up the AC inside and try to keep the grass green outside.

Mandi and Porter went whitewater rafting to beat the heat today.  The Boise Police Activities League does a free Raft-Along on the Payette River every year, so the kids rode the bus to cascade, rafted down the Payette, and then had lunch before they came home.  It is a lot of fun for them (even though Porter said it was "boring.")  Lately to him, anything that doesn't involve video games is boring...we definiltely need to keep that boy active!  Mandi loved rafting and even met some new friends.  She said their river guide made them all jump out of the raft and get wet.  I am glad they were able to participate in this today!

My Goal...

Helaman 5:30 "And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul."

Ah...if I could just use a still voice of perfect mildness, maybe my kids would actually listen! I default to the voice of thunder way more than I should. So that's my goal this month... I'm really going to work on that one...

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Bountiful Baskets

We bought our first Bountiful Basket today. For only $15 we got about $30 worth of produce including bananas, apples, plums, nectarines, strawberries, mangoes, limes, carrots, cabbage, celery, grape tomatoes, green onions, and swiss chard (not sure what to do with that stuff yet!) All I had to do was take a basket to the site and transfer the fruits and vegies from their baskets to mine, and I was on my way... The kids were excited to have some fresh fruit to eat (including new things to try like mangoes), and I came home and started a pot of Easy Sausage Supper (one of my favorite easy recipes). Just boil some water with chicken or beef boullion and layer in potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, and smoked sausage then simmer until it's all done...It smells and tastes delicious!