My Christmas Wish

Oh, how I wish we could just focus on this at Christmastime! I am sick to death with the worrying how we will afford gifts, who will we buy for, what everyone wants.

My wish...if it could really be...is to be able to focus ONLY on the true meaning of the holiday. But no, we go to ward parties to be greeted not by the Savior, but by Santa and a line of kids waiting to tell him what they want. We turn on the tv or the radio and it's all about what to buy, what great sale is going on, what we WANT/NEED. We are stressed by getting a good family photo and writing some pithy list of the things we did during the year to make everyone envious of us. Seriously, what is wrong with us???

I know I sound like the Grinch this year, but 2010 has not been the best year for this chick and the only thing that has gotten me to today is the Savior and His love for me. It's been a year of loss for us...we lost our home...we lost a sense of security...we lost the canine member of our family, one I had by my side for almost 15 years (longer than I have been with Jim or Lucy). I think these losses have helped us focus more on what really matters. It doesn't matter that we are renters instead of homeowners...we still have a roof over our heads every night. It doesn't matter that we don't have the money to shower our daughter with a bunch of STUFF that will just clutter her already cluttered room. We can give her good, balanced meals to eat every day. We can teach her about the Savior and our Heavenly Father and the treasures they have in store for us. It doesn't matter that we don't have the latest i-toy or the fanciest car, or a boat and a motorhome and a cabin in the woods. It matters that we have each other, we have wonderful family members and friends that we can always count on in times of need.

So, once again I am relying on the Savior to help me get through this crazy time of year. And you know what...He always delivers!

Love to you all and best wishes for the best Christmas ever.

I've Got Nothin'!

I am in a serious slump these days. Don't know what it is, but I need some kind of inspiration. HELP!!!

How We Spent Our Thanksgiving Day

Baking


Cooking



Watching


Merry Making


Photoing





Relaxing

What's for Breakfast?

This morning we were all home, with nowhere to be, YAY! So I decided to make breakfast.

I tried a new recipe from my cousin, Jolinda, called German Puff Pancakes. What fun!


Here's the recipe...SO easy!
4 Tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put the butter in a 9x13 inch pan and put in the oven while preheating.

Beat together the eggs, milk, flour and salt till light and fluffy. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to put your rack down...this baby really puffs and you don't want it to hit the top rack or the top of your oven. We barely made it. Whew!
Serve it with warm syrup, or warm jam. Yummo!


This is the easiest and BEST way to cook bacon. Lay out your bacon strips on a stoneware sheet pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (a little longer if you like it really crispy, like I do). Take it out and tilt the pan a little to let the grease drain away from the meat. Then take the strips and put on a platter covered with paper towel to soak any leftover grease. Easy peasy! No splatter all over the stove. No standing over the meat and turning it to make sure it doesn't burn. It comes out nice and flat. Love it!


That's what's for breakfast today!

Miracle of Forgiveness (Chapters 2 and 3)

I've recently gotten some flak for not posting...so here goes. I haven't been posting and here is why:
1. Nothing exciting going on around here
2. Ever since having to put Clover down I haven't had much pep, and in fact, have been pretty depressed
3. Life gets busy sometimes
So, now that you have heard my excuses...

I said I would post more on what I learned in the Miracle of Forgiveness...so let's do that, shall we? Here are some of my notes, underlinings, and definitions from Chapter Two:

...our Father waits hopefully, anxious to greet his returning children.

To God who is perfection, cleanliness means moral and personal cleanliness.

...lust is not necessarily limited in its connotation to sexual desire. It can imply any fleshly or worldly appetite or urge carried to excess.

His (meaning Satan) desires to seal each of us his are no less ardent in wickedness than our Father's are in righteousness to attract us to his own eternal kingdom.

It is a smart person, young or old, who will accept advice and counsel from experienced people who know the pitfalls, the crumbling walls, and the cracking dams which bring on destruction.

Whoever else suffers, every sin is against God, for it tends to frustrate the program and purposes of the Almighty. Likewise, every sin is committed against the sinner, for it limits his progress and curtails his development.

Joseph Smith said: "If you wish to go where God is, you must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses, for if we are not drawing towards God in principle, we are going from him and drawing towards the devil."

...self control, self-mastery, can be substituted for the dominion of sin, and the sinner can move by his own agency toward God rather than under the control of sin toward Satan.

And Chapter Three:

The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none. -Carlyle

There is never a day in any man's life when repentance is not essential to his well-being and eternal progress.

If we are humble and desirous of living the gospel we will come to think of repentance as applying to everything we do in life, whether it be spiritual or temporal in nature. Repentance is for every soul who has not yet reached perfection.

jarrings = bickering (D&C 101:6)

...victory over Satan is attained only by constant vigilance.

impugn=oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity

I MISS my doggie!

Rest in Peace my sweet Clover
March 17, 1996 to October 18, 2010



I had her longer than Jim or Lucy. She was my tagalong...moving to whatever room I was in, pining away whenever I was away, always happy to see me when I returned, never judging me, always loving me. The only time in my life that I was without a dog was during my mission, but I have to say that Clover was the best pet I was ever owned by. I loved her dearly and it was the hardest decision I have ever had to make to have her put to sleep.

All three of us were with her as the doctor gave her a sedative and then the euthanizing drugs. She slipped peacefully to the other side. I don't know exactly where she is now, but I know she is happy to be free of the pain and illness she had been suffering with.

I have fond memories of my little black raisin...so wrinkly when I first brought her home. I would lay on the carpet and she would come over and chew on my hair and nuzzle in next to my ears.

She loved to run and if she got out of the fence in Castle Rock she would check out the whole neighborhood. The only way I could get her back home was to drive up next to her and ask her if she wanted to go for a ride. She loved to go in the car!

In her later years she never left my side. When I was outdoors she would be right there in sight of me, never wandering off or chasing other dogs that might pass by.




Lucy got a little frustrated with her because she didn't want to play. I had to keep explaining to Lucy that she was an old lady now and she was tired, her playing days were long past.

Lucy prays for her every night, hoping that she is safe with Heavenly Father and with Grandpa Hight. I'm praying for that too...

Gisele's Birthday Bash

Gisele turned 25 this year and so they had a fun picnic at the park party to celebrate. It was the perfect day, the weather couldn't have been better and there was just enough wind to fly kites and have a great time.




There was plenty of yummy food too!