Family Night

On Monday nights we have Family Home Evening and I tell you Max LOVES it! We have a short lesson, sing a couple of songs, read a scripture and of course have some sort of treat! He usually asks to have family night every night! This past week we talked about tithing and how important it is to give back to the Lord 10% of our earnings. I used a couple of different ways to explain it to him ... first, we used popcorn. Everyone was given a bowl with a small amount of popcorn and I had one bowl that was empty in the middle of the table. I asked Max, Grandma & Grandpa if they would be willing to contribute any of their small amounts of popcorn to the bowl and if they said yes, then I poured more popcorn in to their bowl ... enough to almost overflow the bowl. Of course then explaining that when we give, we receive more blessings than we know what to do with. Then we counted 10 pennies each and gave one penny to tithing, 2 or 3 pennies to future missionary fund and the rest went to fun money (of course to buy more gum!). We went over the tithing envelope and that we give our tithing to the Bishop at church and this in turn is keeping a commandment that Heavenly Father has given us. I also had picked up a cute bank at Deseret Book so that Max could keep track of his "treasure" that is for tithing, missionary fund and fun money. He had a great time. Our closing song each week is Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes ... so here is Max and Grandma having a great time singing and doing the motions. Grandpa missed out on this video version but, each week we all do this several times before we call it a night.

Swim Level I Complete

Last week Max completed the Swim Level I class at our local indoor pool. He is quite comfortable floating, putting his head under the water, kicking, jumping in to the instructor, crawling along the wall, etc. He will start Level II next week. Congratulations Max!

Certificate of completion along with some Laughy Taffey from the teacher!

This is how the instructor would take the kids through the deep end.

Max is on the left.

Max jumping to his instructor.

Military Photo Humor

These pictures were sent to me recently and I thought they were pretty funny so I thought I would share them with you. I guess on occassion .... there is some down-time!

Families Are Forever!

This past weekend I have been so grateful for the knowledge that our families can be together forever! There are so many people in this world who do not have this knowledge and it makes me sad for them. I guess this should really inspire me to share the gospel knowledge that I have with those who want to know more.
Mom, dad, Max and I went hiking up Snow Canyon again this past Saturday. As I was hiking and taking in some of the breath-taking views of this area as you can see for 100's of miles, I was grateful for the freedoms and comforts we have in our lives. The freedom to simply get in our cars and go where we want to safely, to hike in and on the mountains without the fear of any bombs or enemies trying to take us as hostages, taking pictures at will and to simply come and go as we please. What great privileges we have and really in my opinion I know I take for granted. Mark's everday life right now of worrying about safety in EVERYTHING that he does, makes me so grateful for what we have. One of the many things I am grateful for is our freedom and of course those who serve to keep our freedom.

Thankfully we have the freedom to choose our religion and I am thankful for the knowledge that I have of the restored gospel here on the Earth, with a living prophet who leads and guides the church on Earth, for Jesus Christ who lead the way for us by example, for a loving Heavenly Father who loves all of us and is aware of each of our needs. How truly blessed we all are!

Time to Say Goodbye...

Ever have the most favorite t-shirt that you just can't give up? Well, this t-shirt is at least 15 years old and boy does it show! Holes in the front, on the sleeves, in the back - just about everywhere but, I still love to wash and wear this shirt at night or when I have been sick, etc. It is definitely a comfort of mine. The other day I went over the Polo Outlet store and bought me a new one ... and although it was not been washed 1000 times YET, I have hopes that it too will bring comfort and joy over the next 15 years.

Seriously ... I know I am not the only one out there with a shirt that has holes in it ... and you still have it because you LOVE it!

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Maxs' first day of preschool at Dayspring Montessori here in St. George. His class is from 8 to 11 am so we are up, eating breakfast and ready to go by 7:40 in the morning. Max was a little sleepy at first but, then he realized he was going to school he got so excited and yelled out ... "I'm going to school, hooray!"

I took this picture of him before we left and of course he had to be holding the halloween witch. When I dropped him off he wanted me to stay with him for a couple of minutes and then he gave me a hug and kiss and off I went. When I went back to pick him up, I said did you have fun and Maxs' reply was "Can we do this again?" I told him you bet, we'll come again tomorrow. When I asked him about his morning, he told me that his teacher said to him, "Max come sit down, Max come sit down." Not a big surprise since he was so excited and had so many things to see and do. School is Monday through Thursday and we still have swim lessons in the evening. He is in his second week of Level I class and it wraps up on Thursday night. I watch his lessons from lobby with all the parents and I see his teacher saying more often than not, "Max come back ... Max come back" as he loves to wonder off and play in the water when he is not getting individual attention. Otherwise, he is floating well, putting his head under the water, kicking and learning to bring his arms around. He is quite the little fish!

Rosemary Peasant Bread

We made this yesterday for our Sunday dinner and had it again tonight for my dad's 72nd birthday dinner. YUMMO! I highly recommend this recipe and it is VERY simple!

1 packet dry yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp)
2 Cups warm water
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
4 Cups flour
1-2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary - plus more for topping
Olive Oil, corn meal, melted butter and salt

I made this in my mom's bosch machine ... but I'm sure it would do just fine in the kitchenaid.

Dissolve yeast in the warm water and sugar. Add flour, salt and 1-2 tsp. rosemary and stir until blended, do not knead!! Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until double in size. (I left mine in the bosch during this hour and put a wet paper towel on top to keep moist) Remove dough (it will be sticky... I put oil on my hands to handle which made it easy). Place dough on a greased cookie sheet that you also have put corn meal down on and form 2 rounds. Cover with a towel or greased plastic wrap. Then let it rise another hour. Remove plastic wrap and brush each round with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with rosemary and salt. (I used regular salt but sea salt would be great) Bake at 425 for 10 minutes then reduce temp to 375 for 12-15 minutes more.

Cool slightly then cut ... dip in your favorite olive oil / balsamic vinegar and it is delicious!!!

PS - Anyone cooking in the south should add 1 1/4 cups extra flour to make it turn our just right due to lower elevations.

I found this recipe at www.makeandtakes.com/rosemary-peasant-bread

Enjoy!

Mark's New Picture

Kind of hard to see ... this is the picture that Mark just posted on his facebook account. There are more trees in this picture than I had thought there was in all of Afghanistan.

We miss you Mark .... Christmas is not that far away!

PS - Mark writes a weekly update on his life in Afghanistan. If anyone reading this would like to read about his weekly tales, let me know and we'll get you on the email list!

Spiderman is Ready to Go!

Max is more than ready for Halloween! He has been "trick or treating" all week! Happily he will be become "Peter Parker" at any given moment. Off and on ... off and on ... I figure we are getting our money's worth with this costume!

Did Santa Come?

This morning the first words out of Maxs' mouth was:

"Did Santa Come?"

I said, what? Dazed and confused .... no Santa did not come last night.

Max: "Why not?"

Mom: "Because Santa is still busy making all the toys!"

Max: "Maybe he can go to Costco!"

Hmmmm..... Max did have a good time at Costco yesterday looking over all the toys that Santa could bring. Oh boy ... Christmas will be so much fun this year. Truly magical - especially with Mark coming home!

St. George - We Are Here!

After getting two snow storms in Star Valley, we decided to pack up the house and head south to St. George for the winter! We had no trouble getting down here and found the house to be in great shape. There is some maintenance to do around the house and yard but, we are here and happy to be back in the 80 degree weather. Fall is definitely my favorite time of year and St. George feels like "The Big City" compared to Star Valley, Wyoming. We took Max over to Sand Hallow indoor swimming pool last night and he swam for two hours! At 8:30 pm we had to drag him out and get him home so the pool could close up! He loves to swim and play in the water. I signed him up for swimming lessons which will start next Monday evening. I'm so glad that he loves the water and is not afraid of it. I think the lessons will be fun for him.

On a different note, I have discovered Vince Flynn ... my new favorite author. Mark discovered him some time ago and it took me a little longer to read some of his books but, I am on my third book and it really keeps my mind occupied. If you are looking for a read that includes Washington DC politics, terrorists, CIA, FBI and the White House, I highly recommend his books. Of course I may be telling this to all of you who already know about this author but, I must confess I have stayed up to 2 am reading this past month or so just to make sure I know how it ends!

If anyone has another great author they love, let me know. As one who does not do a lot of extra reading ... I usually stick with John Grisham books but, I am happy to add another author to my favorite.

Fun Pillow Case

Mark received his first package that I sent to him for his birthday today. We thought it could take 3 or 4 weeks for him to get any mail but, surprisingly he received a package in about a week and a half. Amongst some chocolate, peanut butter, microwave popcorn, cards, and broken cookies ... we did make this pillow case with fabric paints for Mark. We traced Maxs' hands on it, put a birthday message on it, a flag, and of course a prediction for the upcoming Bronco season of 16-0-0! Mark was happy to receive his package and told me this morning that he screwed his pillow case to the wall for some decoration in his room. Since sending his first package, I have since found out that the US Postal Service has a box that we can use for APO addresses - which will hold up to 20 lbs and only costs $11.95 to ship. We sent off a 2nd package this week and hopefully the first letter we sent will arrive shortly as well. We love you Mark and happy birthday a little early!