I Forgot How To Use This Thing

So my excuse before was I didn't know how to post the pictures, but then after I had pulled that off once or twice, it was like my blogger brain took a break. Now I'm back to less than square one.
Neil and I have had a fun-filled winter, fall, spring and now summer again. We added a new little grandson from Lance and Christy on May 27th and have since found out that we'll be getting another grandchild in late December from Brian and Mikol. Yahoo!!!! We love babies!! That will make eight for us. Our oldest grandchild, Kelton, received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a deacon by his dad on April 11th. His Collings grandparents were able to be there even though they had already reported to the MTC in Provo. They are now serving a mission in the Washington DC Temple. Little Daniel will most likely be blessed in August and Becca will be baptized in September. The others, Cameron, Maili, Anna and Kaitlyn are also busy in their own little worlds. We love them and their parents all so much.
My work keeps me so busy always trying to learn new things. There's a possibility I'll be coming home to set up office here. Several of my fellow-employees have already done that and are loving it. I'd rather retire, but that's not really an option yet. If they keep changing the age for retirement, it may never be an option. I've got it all pictured now.....each bed in future rest homes will be equipped with roll-around computer trays. You'll open the lid thinking it's your dinner and out will pop a lap top and a telephone demanding 10 more calls in 40 minutes all perfectly annotated before you get a single bite to eat.
Oh well, I'm glad for our health and hope all is well for all of you.
Love, Nana Russon

September, I love it!

Hasn't the weather been absolutely beautiful this month? And I feel great, too. What a blessing. Kids are back in school (well, Sandi's are year round students), but they're all in now. Little Anna started kindergarten , Maili's in 1st grade, Becca's in 2nd, Cameron's in 4th and Kelton is finishing his last year in elementary school. Unbelievable! That only leaves litte Kaitlyn as a full time stay at home kid, but then she is only 19 months and her sweet smile and deep dimples have captured the hearts of all of us. Now it's soccer season. Keeps us old people hoppin'. I can't imagine what it does to you parents. We're so proud of all of you.

Last Saturday I had my 3 sisters over for lunch to celebrate Ella's and Cleone's birthdays in September and December. Valerie and I get our turn in February! It was great. We sorted through a bazillion pictures some dating back to the late 1800's. Happy birthday, you 2 old ladies. How I love you all.

Last night our stake had the opportunity to go to the General Women's Meeting in the conference center in Salt Lake. Several of our sisters were invited to sing with the choir. Weren't they beautiful in their white blouses and corsages? And the music, WOW! They sounded fabulous. I loved every minute of that meeting. I felt the spirit so strong. You could have heard a pin drop when the prophet entered the building. I felt loved by my Heavenly Father and I felt love for the Savior and for all the sisters of the world. We are so blessed.

Neil and I are going to Marysvale later this week. Can't wait to ckeck it out. Wev'e never been there before. It's in the central part of Utah and everyone whose ever been there say it's wonderful. We'll be going without a trailer, though, since ours was unexpectedly "totaled" by our insurance company because all the internal wiring melted together after the outside cord was severed in an effort to squeeze it into a very tight camp spot; so, it was deemed unihabitable unless we wanted to blow up. We opted out and have chosen to stay in a little cabin instead. Hopefully Ill remember to take pictures . Maybe we'll get another trailer someday. I'm still having separation issues on losing this one. I begged the guys at the repair shop to somehow fix it, couldn't they see how cute it was? Oh well it was just a thing! Have a nice October, enjoy the beautiful world around us.

Left: This is a glimpse of the Teton range when are just about to enter the park.

Below: When we were out on the boat on Jackson Lake an entire little family of ducks were enjoying their space, too.

The crazy person driving this boat just loves to smile when I take his picture. After I put that face he's pulling on my blog a few times maybe he'll pretend to be more smiley.

Ahh....the beautiful Jackson Lake. It was raining and the late afternoon sun put this picture in an awesome and unique setting looking on from the shore.

Tetons, continued, hopefully with pictures!

So wait, is this Wyoming? I didn't know volcanos erupted in Wyoming, except for Old Faithful but this is one of the Tetons.

Ever been to the Tetons?

Raspberries, Raspberries, Raspberries !!!

Raspberries! I see them in my dreams (nightmares), I see them with my eyes openned or closed, I taste them when I'm eating steak or anything else, for that matter. I smell them in the shower, which is mandatory after jam-making time to get all the red streaks off my arms. We've had them coming out our ears this year. We have had a wonderful crop and seriously, I'm so grateful. Raspberry jam and peanut butter sandwiches are Neil's life source for lunches.
June was a fun month. I know the rain got a little tiring but it kept things cool and I like cool weather. I'm almost a hermit if it gets too hot outside. Ask my neighbors. We attended dance reviews and All-Star soccer games, swim lessons and school programs, piano recitals and pre-school graduations, all of which we loved doing and know we are so blessed to be close to all our grandkids. We helped Brian and Mikol with the girls as they did the finishing touches on their gorgeous new home getting it ready for the Parade of Homes which started on June 26th and will be over July 12th. I must say, they have phenominal friends and neighbors who really helped Brian and Mikol make that house an outstanding show place. No wonder they wanted to build a house next door to themselves. Who would want to leave a wonderful neighborhood like that? Aren't we all so lucky to have friends and loved ones who all pull together in our times of stress and deadlines? They say it takes a whole village to raise a child and I'm sure grateful I live in the "village" I do. I love my neighbors! It will be fun helping them move in and actually enjoy living there. We generally keep busy, busy all the time. By the way, life doesn't slow down when you get old (wait, are we old yet?....I don't think so.)

As Mikol stated on her blog our whole little family of 14 attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house on July 2nd. It was beautiful and I couldn't help but think that this must be heaven on earth, being surrounded by all those we love so much and knowing they are ours forever and ever. The house of the Lord.....what a wonderful, peaceful place. Cameron, Kelton and Maili rode down with us. Cameron got in the car and immediately asked us if he was sealed to his parents, or not. It was a sweet question and I thought maybe the kids all thought we were headed to the open house to all be sealed together that very night. We all met at Lance and Christy's house for a short Family Home Evening where Lance presented a wonderful lesson on temples to help the kids have a little better understanding of the difference between an open house and actually attending the temple for marriages or other temple work where a recommend and worthiness are required. The temple was gorgeous with huge chandeliers that made the little girls comment that they had never seen anything that beautiful "in their whole entire lives" ! At the FHE we had a quick treat to tide us over until after seeing the temple. My boys called them fake pumpkin cookies (recipe below) Brian says it's no better than eating fake potatoes and Lance told me to stop messing with good family recipes, but they both ate several.....so if you dare try this recipe I think you'll enjoy it. It's super simple (making it fake, of course). We ate again later at a Brazilian restaurant at the Gateway in downtown Salt Lake. All the kids (expcept baby Kates) ate at a table of their own. I think we all had a wonderful, memorable time. So, thanks Lance and Christy for pulling off your first FHE with all of us in a most excellent way. We all love you so much!!


Fake Pumpkin Cookies (fast and easy) Yield: 3 dozen
1 box spice cake mix
1 egg
1 16oz can pumpkin
1/2 Pkg milk chocolate chips
Mix thoroughly and drop by spoonful on cookie sheets. I always place my oven rack in the second slot down so the cookies won't get too brown on the bottom. Bake at 375 for about 10 mins.



Real Pumpkin Cookies (not so easy but terribly delicious) Yield: A Bazillion
1 cup shortening (I always use Crisco Butter-flavored)
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
2 teaspoons EACH of the following (makes it easy to remember):
Salt, Baking powder, Baking soda, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Vanilla
5 cups flour
1 pkg milk chocolate chips (I always use Ghirardeli Milk Chocolate-Always)

375 degrees 8-10 mins

I'm adding these 2 recipes from the wedding. Thanks Christy! Did you know she made almost all of those little cheesecakes? All that delicious food was another example of a neighborhood pulling together just because we love each other and that's what we do, so thanks also to Christy's mom, Elaine, and all her amazing friends and neighbors:

PAVLOVA

3 egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ t. vanilla
1 ½ t. vinegar or lemon juice
¼ c. boiling water
1 c. whipping cream
½ t. vanilla
Sliced fresh fruit: peaches, strawberries,
Bananas, kiwi, pineapple

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring egg whites to room temperature. Line a baking sheet with foil.
In a large electric mixer bowl, beat together egg whites, sugar, 1 ½ t. vanilla, vinegar or lemon juice, and boiling water. Beat on high speed for about 12 minutes, scraping bowl constantly, until stiff peaks form and mixture holds its shape but is not dry. Spread the mixture onto the foil, by making small pies. Shape into a pie-shell form with a spoon, making the bottom ½ inch thick and the sides 2 ½ to 3 inches high. Form the edges into peaks or make a rim around the edge. Place baking sheet in center of preheated oven and turn oven off. Let stand 4 to 5 hours. Do not open oven door.
To serve: Remove meringue shell from foil and place on a serving plate. Whip cream with ½ tsp. vanilla until soft peaks form; spread in shell, reserving ½ c. for garnish. Arrange sliced fruit on top of whipped cream and add the 1/2 c. reserved whipped cream in the center of the fruit. Cut and serve immediately. Serves 6 to 8.


Mini Plain Cheesecakes

2 8oz. cream cheese softened
½ c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs (well beaten)
Mini vanilla wafers (Elaine told me she found these at Smith's)

Whip cream cheese until soft then add sugar and vanilla mixing well. Then add eggs and lemon juice. Whip till fluffy. Line mini cupcake pan with liners then add mini vanilla wafer to bottom of liner. Add Cheesecake filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes (until almost set) then cool completely. Top with fresh fruit or favorite pie filling. (These can be frozen and saved for a later time also.)

Hi Everyone!



Yup, I'm still alive. Our lives changed so much on May 12th when Lance and Christy got married that I actually became a little depressed not to have Lance come home every night for dinner, and yes I really miss his sweet little dog, Precious. I don't miss her "puppy paws" on my hardwood floors, her licks on the patio doors or especially dog hair all over the place, but I do so miss her sweet little companionship while I'm fixing dinner and I had lots of little songs I "howled" out to her. I know I'm nuts and NO, I am not getting another dog to replace her. She was way too smart and cute to be replaced, anyway. Maili really misses her, too; they were little buddies. Preicious went to live with Christy's little 3 year old brother, Matthew, and apparently is doing just fine. Matthew kind of follows her around the yard and she barks too much, but over all, she's OK. Christy and Lance had a beautiful wedding and live in the basement apartment that her Grandfather Jones just recently finished. It's roomy and nice. I haven't heard back from Christy's mom on the recipes for the amazing food at the reception, but when I do, I'll share them with you. I made all the chocolate fudge there. Half was the hard, old-fashioned, beaten fudge and half of it was what I have referred to as fake fudge, but it was creamy and delicious, so here's that recipe:



FAKE FUDGE (This is easy!)

2 pkgs milk chocolate chips
1 pkg white chocolate chips
2 cans Condensed Sweetened milk
1 cube margarine

Combine all ingredients and melt on HIGH in microwave about 3 minutes total. If chocolate is in the microwave too long it changes into a weird conglomeration, so stir it a couple of times while cooking and stir it for at least 30 seconds after fully melted to make sure all the ingredients are blended well. Add broken walnuts if desired. Put in a buttered 9X13 glass pan and place in fridge allowing it to set up for several hours until totally cooled. Cut into squares. The fudge does not need to be kept in the fridge after the initial setting-up time, but should always be covered to keep the air from drying it out.



We've actually been able to go camping a couple of times in the past few weeks with some of our friends in the neighborhood. Cameron went with us last time and seemed to enjoy himself with other grandkids our friends brought. It's great company. We put no limitations on who can be there. We've been doing this for years and have had some wonderful times, plus there is always good food. On our first trip this summer to Anderson Cove up on the Pineview Reservoir in Ogden Canyon one of my friends, Jari Wood, made this yummy corn chip salad. She was kind enough to email all of us the recipe:

CORN CHIP SALAD (This is easy, too!)

3 cans whole kernel corn 15-20 grape tomatoes (sliced)
2 green onions (thinly sliced) ½ chopped red bell pepper
½ chopped green bell pepper 1/3 c mayonnaise (approx.)
½ bag Chille Cheese Corn Chips

Drain corn; add grape tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, & mayonnaise (to taste). Add corn chips just before serving. Serves: 8-10

To give it a southwestern flare add:

Chopped cilantro (to taste)
1 can black beans (drained)
Southwestern Chipotle Dressing (to taste)

I'll keep you posted on news from Nana's Nest. For now, all is well. Mikol is so wonderful to share the fun things in their lives on her blog. Kenney and Sandi have moved to Facebook, so check them out there, and the newlyweds haven't gotten into the blogger world yet. Did talk to Grandma (Roxie) today. She and Elmo would have celebrated their 75th anniversary today. She is doing great! Says she has the normal aches and pains of a 93 year old. Next Sunday, June 21st, she'll be 93 and Anna will be 5! Wow, how time flies! I love reading all of your blogs, so keep it up.