From the House of Phogles

Pretty Pictures!

I was invited to be the photographer at a wedding, recently. I cannot tell you how nervous I was, because I am a complete amateur, and I have never done a wedding before. *eeeeep!*

But I had such a great time. Chris and Nicole were easy-going and funny and cracking jokes the whole time. And the family is so laid back, and fun to be around. It was a really enjoyable afternoon, and I was happy to be a part of it.

Now I'm slowly working my way through the 800+ photographs, editing and culling and altering to my heart's content (you know how much I love to play with my photo files!). It will be a while before I can post the whole set to my photography blog, but I thought I would put up just two, that I couldn't help but stop and gussy up.

In Preparation

I have spent the entire day amassing a Gingerbread Army for the coming Gingerbread Apocalypse. 

What? You didn't know? Be prepared. Your gingersnaps cannot save you.

Note To Self

...I'm out of thyme.

Family Name Draw

Last night, for Family Home Evening, we tried to put up the Christmas tree. The girls were all gung-ho about it, and cleaned the living room and organized everything and brought all the Christmas boxes up from the basement. Whoa, motivation. In their mind, we were putting up the tree and decorating it and hanging all the lights and putting out the nativity on the mantle and singing carols and magically transforming the entire house into a Winter Wunderland in 45 minutes or less.

That's not what happened. Except the Christmas music; thanks to Pandora, we definitely got to sing carols. Including the songs from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Those are Christmas Carols, right? They'd better be, because we all know the words and all sang along. 

Unfortunately, however, we got hung up on getting the Christmas tree perpendicular. No one remembers where we put the tree stand when we took everything down last year, so the tree is not up. We looked everywhere. I've decided we have too many different places to hide stuff. I may end up cleaning out the attic before we find it. A normal person would just go buy a new tree stand. I'm not normal. I'm too stubborn and cheap to be normal.

Anyway, it ruined the whole evening for my poor husband, just about. He's not much for Christmas decorating, to begin with, so it doesn't take much for it to go South from his perspective. In the end, we just did the family name draw. The kids were bummed, but accepted the Pumpkin Cookies as an appropriate distraction from their disappointment. The icing alone would cheer up anyone. 

The name draw, though, that was funny. Gabba prepared the name slips, and folded them up super-tight so no one could cheat and see who they were drawing. Eliza found a hat, and walked around doffing it at everyone until we finally gave up on finding the tree stand and were ready to draw names. After the second batch of cookies was in the oven, I plopped down in the rocking chair with my notepad and pen, ready to make a record of the proceedings. Speculation was rampant. I am posting the list here because

1. I don't want to lose it (a very real possability, since Aurora is chewing on my notebook as we speak)
2. This sort of thing needs to be recorded for posterity, right?
3. None of my children read my blog, so the information is totally secure.

Here's how it played out for 2011:

• Mark drew Lucy
• I drew Hyrum
• Hyrum drew George
• Gabba drew Aurora
• Lucy drew Mommy Yvy Gabba
• Eliza drew Daddy
• Yvette drew Eliza
• George drew Gabba Yvy
• Aurora drew Mommy

Lucy is so funny. With three names left to be drawn, she asked if she could put her name back and draw someone else. I wasn't offended. Then she drew Yvy. Forty minutes later - after FHE was over - she came to me, and asked if she could trade with whomever drew Gabba. Since it was George (and he doesn't notice or care), I allowed it. 

After family prayer and lights out, as I was tucking people in, she asked if she could trade back. I fixed her with a stern look and said we would discuss it tomorrow. A moment later, she whispered, "Never mind, I don't want to trade back. I will keep who I have."

Not sure what is going on in her head, but I officially draw the line. Anyway, Hyrum is hovering over me right now,trying to hustle me out the door to take him to the store. He plans to get a Nerf sword to give to his little brother (no one is going to regret that later on, at all), so I guess we are officially underway. 

The Happy Vampire

Yeah, Yvy has mastered the art of the digital self-portrait at the tender age of five. The world is not ready for her exuberance. 

Things to Cook With a Sauce Pan and a Whisk

I was working on an open house gift - a sauce pan, a whisk, and a bunch of tasty family favorite recipes - and I thought I would take 30 seconds and post these here for anyone who wants them. Some of these I have posted here before, but it can't hurt to have all this goodness in one convenient location. You may or may not be able to use some of these in the ensuing Holiday feasts.

Creamy Lemon Fudge
1 lg. or 2 sm. boxes lemon "cook n' serve" pudding
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. real butter
3 3/4 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon extract
Butter a 9x9 baking dish. Measure the powdered sugar into a bowl. In a heavy sauce pan, combine lemon pudding, milk and butter.  Cook until thickened.  Remove from heat and add powdered sugar & lemon extract.  Stir thoroughly while it’s still warm to avoid lumps. Pour into buttered pan.  Refrigerate, cut and serve.  Feel free to cut it small because it is so rich!

Gourmet Hot Chocolate
3/4 gal. milk, heated
2 C. coco mix
1 C. cream of coconut
1 pint carton of Irish cream
whipped cream
grated chocolate bar (Mom always liked the "cookies-n-mint" type)
Combine milk, mix and first 2 creams.  Heat but do not boil.  Top each serving with whipped cream and grated chocolate bar. Serves 4-6

Alfredo Sauce
¼ C. milk
¼ C. butter
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 C. parmesan cheese
pepper
In a sauce pan, heat milk and butter until butter is melted, stirring frequently. Whisk in cream cheese, stirring until well blended. Stir in parmesan cheese, and pepper to taste. Serve hot over 4 ounces of fettuccine, cooked according to package directions. Serves 2.

Buttermilk Syrup ---for pancakes, crepes, waffles, ice cream, etc.
1 ½ C. butter
1 ½ C. buttermilk (or 1 ¼ + 2 T. milk mixed w/ 2 T. lemon juice or vinegar)
3 C. Sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 T. baking soda
In large saucepan (make sure it is big enough to accommodate the syrup foaming when the baking soda is added), combine butter, buttermilk and sugar. Bring to boil, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and baking soda. It will foam up at this point, stir a little more. It is now ready to serve; keeps for at least a couple weeks…if you can manage to not use it all up sooner than that!

Cheese Sauce (perfect for fondue, baked potatoes, homemade mac & cheese…)
2 C. (or ½ pound) cheddar cheese, grated (sharper is better!)
¼ C. butter
¼ C. flour
2 C. milk
½ t. salt
¼ t. ground dry mustard (or 1 t. prepared mustard)
In sauce pan, melt butter, then whisk in flour. Remove from heat, add milk, salt & mustard, and whisk until blended. Return to medium heat, stir frequently until thick. Add cheese and cook and stir until smooth.

Date List!

This is for Carolina. I hope you get some use out of this, and may I suggest a "babysitting co-op"? At least until Sophie can put her shirt on without help. (insert surreptitious wink)

I mentioned that Mark and I banged out a list of 100 date ideas last week, as part of our ad hoc anniversary activities. We actually wrote ours each on a 3x5 card, and made a deck, so we can pick one out of the middle or off the top, and be all spontaneous and surprised by what our option is.

Since I think everyone can benefit from the free flow of idea sharing, I'm posting our ideas here for you. And I would truly enjoy any additions to the list that you can contribute, please leave your vague or specific thoughts in the comments.

Some of this stuff might sound un-fun or super boring to you, but we both liked everything we wrote down. Don't judge until you give it a shot.

In no particular order:

Learn a new game
Do something silly
Write poetry together (good or bad)
Cook a new recipe together
See a new movies
Go out for ice cream
Try something new
Have a long talk (pick topic in advance, or just let it flow)
Visit lonely people
Read a book together
Service project
Penny walk
Write a short story
Plan a vacation
See an old movie
Talk a walk
Go someplace new
Help someone else have a night out (babysit for them or whatever)
Dinner with friends
Go out to dinner
Moonrise or sunset
Take a hike
Research something together
Read & discuss current events
Read & discuss patriarchal blessings
Picnic
Brainstorming
Visit an art gallery or museum
Do something we've been putting off
Paint something (either art or furniture or whatever)
Write letters (missionaries, our future selves, our children, parents, whatever)
Take a nap together
Attend a play
Attend a concert
Go for a scenic drive
Visit friends
Making out
Camping out
Dinner theater
Craft or shop project
Work on the vehicles together (so I can learn more stuff about cars, plus I like working w/ my honey)
Poetry reading (with or without the bongo drums)
Hunting or fishing
Learn phrases in a new language
Plan a project
Surprise someone (presumably with a good surprise)
Visit an historical place
Go to a bed & breakfast
Fix stuff together
Meditating
Write personal history (either joint or separate)
Read jokes and maybe learn some new ones
Yard work/landscaping together
Design something
Contact old friends
Meet new people
Explore a new technology
Play in a fountain
Visit the city (pick a city)
Take a class
Home improvement "window shopping"
Choose & study a gospel topic
Shooting guns (yes, I would enjoy that, actually)
Temple night or weekend
House planning
Day dreaming
Listen to music
Nature walk
"Five Facet" review for each other
"Five Facet" review for the children
Problem solving (personal problems, world problems, everything in between)
Massages
Organize something
Backyard fireside time
Fondue (cheese or chocolate, alone or w/ friends, at home or at a restaurant, whatever)
Yard planning (landscaping! I'm kind of obsessed with it, can you tell?
Read about sex together (hey, we're married, we have seven kids, don't be so shocked)
Listen to a General Conference talk or a Devotional
Star Gazing
Deep cleaning project (sometimes it's more fun to do it together)
Make a treat together
Bear testimony to each other
Learn new nutrition information & concepts
Sing together
Budget evaluation
Do genealogy together
Financial planning (long term, monthly budget, how much to spend on Christmas, whatever)
Midnight rendezvous
Menu planning
Study early Church doctrine
Random act of kindness (planning randomness = irony?...possibly)
Teach each other something new (be a good student, and take turns!)
"Pay it forward" (whatever that means to us on that given day)
Dancing
Worst case scenario contingency planning
Learn to sing specific harmony together
Work on our web pages together
Game night with friends
"What if" speculation
Make art at a studio

There you have it 100 date ideas brought to you by the heads of the House of Phogles. Anything to add to the list?

Smile, Sniffle

I grew up in Utah, on the Wasatch Front. I came of age steeped in Mormon culture and cliches and traditions. It didn't take me very long to get cynical and jaded. I remember as an older teen, rolling my eyes at what I thought was cheesy and syrupy and narrow...Lex de Azevedo, Janice Kapp Perry, Michael McLean; all totally overdone.

Today, I pulled up YouTube, and have been revisiting my Mormon syrupy roots. Each of these songs makes me smile, and some of them make me tear up, and I love it. I want to introduce each of these to my kids, and play them over and over. They're classic. I mean, I can still remember the over-played, over-done phenomenon, but I can see more clearly why people wanted to do and re-do and over-do the songs. Maybe it's because I don't live in Utah anymore, and I have to actively seek this sort of thing, as opposed to having it crammed down my throat. Whatever it was then, whatever it is now, this music makes me feel warm and fuzzy and good.

So, I'm listening and sniffling, and loving every cheesy moment of it (listening, mind you, not watching the videos...I can't be held responsible for someone else's schmaltzy slideshow).


"One of the Ninety and Nine" by Michael McLean


"The Test" by Janice Kapp Perry


"Names" by Cherie Call


"No Ordinary Man" by Janice Kapp Perry


"I Heard Him Come" by Afterglow


"You're Not Alone" by Michael McLean


"It Passes All My Understanding" by Cherie Call


"Oh, My Soul Hungered" by Kurt Bestor


"I Cannot Find My Way" by Micheal McLean

(and, pretty much all of the Forgotten Carols)

"A Child's Prayer" by Janice Kapp Perry


"Be That Friend" by Michael McLean

And I can't forget this one:


There. Now you can have your own little sniffle fest. Or roll your eyes. I don't care. I'm enjoying myself

Made the Cut

Aurora cut her first tooth today! I mean, her teeth have been coming and going for weeks now, but one finally made it through. So, hooray for Aurora. And no more chewing my chin, sweetie. Here she is, with her own personal iceberg of custom crushed ice (thank you, Hyrum!) to soothe her poor gums.

And here she is (a couple of days prior) having her first go at vanilla pudding. She started out with a bowl and spoon, but pretty soon she was eating it with both fists. More pudding made it to the tray than her mouth, so she tossed the bowl (and spoon) and just played in it, licking her fingers frequently for good measure. She laughed and wrinkled her nose and snuffled like she does when she is very pleased with herself.

The other children were laughing so hard they almost forgot to eat their own pudding. Almost. She started laughing back at us, and rubbing her hands on her face and in her hair (she likes to pose when she knows we are all paying attention to her).

I had to put an end to the good times when she started enthusiastically smacking her pudding puddle and splattering everything around her, specifically me. It's kind of sad that she's almost ten months old and this is about only the fourth or fifth time she's had to play with "people" food and try out its skin care qualities. I'm so negligent. Breastfeeding is just too easy.

Anyway, we plucked her out of the pudding, and hustled her upstairs for a bath. She was mad, though, hollering all the way through her bath. Either it was really close to nap time, or she didn't want us messing with her vanilla-coated goodness.

But yes, a new tooth. Congratulations, Aurora. Have some more ice.

ANNIVERSARY!

OH MY GOODNESS! Has it really been fifteen years? It really has. I think the time-space continuum is broken. Sometimes it crawls along at a barely discernable pace, and sometimes it just whooshes past, too fast to even blink.

On Wednesday, Mark and I celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary. It's a busy time of year at work for him, so we couldn't just take off and hole up in a b&b somewhere, like we wanted. But he took an extended lunch break, and we drove out to the country with our Chinese takeout.

And we had a picnic. All by ourselves. No toddlers or teenagers. Or even the obligatory "how is everything?" from the waiter. Just shade and song birds and schmoopsey us. It was perfect. 

No sweet and sour sauce, though. This is Mark testing the duck sauce, to see if it will do in a pinch. Apparently, it tasted amusing funny. 

And would you believe that in fifteen years, we've never done the cliche took-it-ourselves couples portrait? Well, we fixed that.

And then it was back to work for him, and domesticity for me. 

But wait! He completely surprised me by playing hooky from Mutual activities. He kissed me good-bye and took Hyrum to the church, and just as I had given myself over to running the home on my own for the evening, he walked back in the door. Ha! I didn't even see it coming.

We left Gabba in charge, and left. What did we do? Nothing daring or phenomenal. We ran a couple of errands, saw a couple of friends, watched the clouds and the sunset. And then ended up at Sonic for shakes.

It was a beautiful evening - especially for August! No bugs, balmy breezes. We sat and held hands and made jokes and talked shop and reminisced. It was wonderful. The truth is that I don't care what we do or where we go, just as long as I get to hang out with him.

Also, we bought a pack of 100 blank 3x5 cards, and daydreamed up our own "date deck," which is 100 different ideas of what we can do on a date. I was impressed, because we didn't have to really strain our brains until after the first 60 ideas. And it didn't get hard until the last fifteen or so. 

So now we have a stack of fun and interesting things we can do on a date, because Friday often finds us totally wanting to go out and do something, but too brain dead to figure out what "something" is. You should try this. It's fun. And if you want our list, I may just post it in the near future...nothing too personal to share. I mean, come on. We've been married fifteen years. How risque can it be? 

Because this is completely risque, right? Here I am, modeling the shake lids from both our drinks. There were two of them, and they fit very nicely over my ears, so I thought I would try them on.

Do I spend too much time around little children? It's possible. Who cares, we enjoy ourselves. Even if no one else gets our jokes, we think we're funny. And here's to, like, eighty-five more years being silly and schmoopsey. I love you, Mark Galbraith!

Duct Tape Butt

You know that adage? "If it moves but shouldn't, use duct tape. If it should move, but doesn't, use WD-40." What catchy little proverb can you come up for when you're doing a service project with the youth and the entire right half of your pants seat gives up on you?

It's very generous of Sister Atkin to provide the duct tape. That stuff is expensive. Too bad she didn't have it in zebra stripes.

Guess Who Came To Dinner?

Yesterday afternoon, there was a knock on my front door. This is unusual, because everyone who knows us knows to come to the back door. We are not formal front entry people. The only ones who knock on the front door are sales people and the utility guys. So when I glimpsed a shortish, youngish man through the front door window, I braced myself for politely but firmly declining whatever he was selling.

Instead, I opened the door and found this person:

Holy cow! There was a Jacob Huyck on my front porch! I squealed (yes, I did) and gave him a huge hug. Jacob and I haven't seen each other in almost twelve years...or five children, depending on how you measure the passage of time. He and I were the best of friends all the way up until he left on a mission and I got married. I mean, we were still friends, but we didn't hang out, and then time went on and life got busy. I had children, he got married, they had twins, he graduated from college, I had more children, they had more children, they moved to Florida... you get the idea. But we keep in touch. And he's friends with my husband, and I really like his wife.

So when their summer vacation route was re-routed - the only thing for which I can thank the Missouri river flooding - right past my town, they stopped in.

It was great!. Their five kids got to run wild and free for a couple of hours after being in the van all day, we got to talk and catch up and tell old jokes. Mark ordered pizza so I wasn't stuck in the kitchen preparing dinner instead of visiting in the living room. More running and freedom. Part of me was tempted to panic and feel all self-conscious because my house is really neglected (perhaps I am on an extended stay-cation?). As I invited them all in, I said to Melinda, "I would apologize for the house, but I have seven kids, so I don't have to apologize." She smiled. As the mother of four rowdy boys and one toddler girl, I am pretty sure she "gets" neglected house syndrome. And Jacob doesn't care. He's a guy, and he came from a big homeschooled family, too.

It was so incredibly nice to see them, and meet their kids - yes, it's been that long - and just, well, visit. And already my little brain is scheming on how to go visit Florida and hang out with Huycks again.

Maximum Capacity

Oh my, how full my life is! This summer has been ... wait, "has been"? It's not over yet! How come we're already in sack cloth and ashes, mourning the end of summer? August isn't even half over. Just 'cause school is looming doesn't mean we're done, does it? Totally not.

A-hem. Where was I?

Oh yes. My summer has been so full of fun and interesting and amazing stuff. I feel like my head and my heart have reached maximum capacity, and if I try to cram anything else in, it would be messy. Maybe painful.

I have been M.I.A. in BloggerLand because I've been busy living my life. Also, I've been competing with my kids for computer time. Oh, and it's hard to type while I hold my squirmy, chubby nugget of a baby. Whatever. But today I have several things I really really want to share before they fall out of my brain. Because I have a brain like a spaghetti sieve: it holds the big stuff, but little things get lost all the time.

Anyway, here is the list of awesomeness, brought to me by so many of my amazing friends and family. Thank you all for giving me so much brain food and so many reasons to get lost on "Teh Interwebs." (commence shared link overload)

From Natalie, who shared the fabulous site I Share Printables. Oh me, oh my, I need more printer ink! My favorite one right off the bat was this one from It Works For Me!

And so you know, the enthusiastic and talented Les at {Words of Me Project} is having another amazing giveaway. Go enter it. The stuff she is handing out is glorious. You should probably follow her. You won't regret it.

Can I brag about the photographer we found for our family reunion? Well really, my s-i-l found her, because they are actual friends in real life. Samantha from Woolsey Photography was just wonderful. Being available with only five days advanced notice is the least of her qualifications. Good gracious, what a patient, talented lady! She managed to take our entire group and get us all facing forward at the same time.

Oh my goodness. And she took about 900 pictures (not an exaggeration). I can't tell you how wonderful it was to have our own personal paparazzi for two whole hours. Everyone got to play AND we have pictures to show for it. Heavenly.

The reunion was also heavenly, you should know. It's the reason I fell off Blogger Planet. But I'm back. More to follow.

Also, I made cookies today. Twice. And we ate them. All. OK, we shared with friends, coworkers and fellow board members, but still. Have you ever had Grace's Best sunflower seed cookies?

I never buy cookies at the store, but there was this one time they had them out for free samples.

Beware evil grocery store samples.

I was hooked in one bite. So, so tasty that I hate to complain about how small they are, or how few there are in a bag, or how pricey they seem to be. I've splurged on them several times, only to regret it just as soon as the bag is empty. So I read through the ingredients (uhm, they're healthy), thinking I could try to recreate the magical yumminess. But I'm just too lazy. I checked out CopyKat's recipes to see if she had anything. I ended up at Yum, where there is even more amazing stuff. I want to try all of it. I shouldn't be allowed on recipe blogs, because I go a little crazy. Maximum capacity, indeed! Anyway, Sherri from Yum has cracked the Grace's Best code, and posted it for all the world to love and binge upon. Again, I recommend you give it a try. Although, you may (or may not!) regret it.

I did learn that Grace's cookies have their own cult facebook page. I'm not the only one addicted. I just dare you to Google Grace's sunflower cookie recipe, and all manner of copycat attempts pop up. I will not try them all. I will not try them all. I. Will. Not. Try. Them. All.

By the way, happy birthday, Georgie Lynn! Love you, sis.

There is more. Of course. There is always more. But if I don't draw a line and publish this post, I am going to just go on and on forever. So. OK. Publishing.

Adorable Aurora

Oh, how I love this fluffy baby! She is such a happy, sweet person. Our lives revolve around making her smile and keeping her happy. Whenever she cries, siblings swoop in from every corner of the house, competing to see who can cheer her up best/fastest. She is so very rewarding.

And! AND! Today, I glanced over to see her trying to climb up the stairs. What? How is that possible? She's still a baby! Stop this growing up nonsense right now.

And as soon as I can get the stair video to load, I will add it.

Here it is! 

The Girls Cleaned Their Room!

[alternate title: We Were in the Newspaper...Again]

It's true. We were featured in a newspaper. Pictures and everything. It was fun! It has been fun the last five times, too.

Wait. Five times? What the heck? How come we keep ending up in the newspaper. We're just an ordinary, boring, garden-variety family, aren't we? Aren't we?

I wonder if the photographer charges for copies of the pictures he took...

Crepe Option

So, if you're family is anything like our family, the breakfast menu is limited and repeated too often: pancakes, muffins, waffles, oatmeal, french toast, repeat. About once a month or so, on the rare lazy Saturday morning, we pull out the stops and make hash browns, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, AND pancakes. Or something like that. And it takes about two hours to make breakfast, and we end up eating it for lunch. But it's so tasty, we don't care. 


But anything that adds variety to that most important meal of the day without taking forever to prepare, I'm happy to know it.


So last week, when Gabba decided she was going to do breakfast, she went riffling through my cookbooks, and found a recipe for crepes. I actually have two crepe recipes, but the one she found is the one my mother-in-law copied down. I've had the recipe since my marriage (she made a whole cookbook for Mark when he left on his mission, and I basically inherited it when I married him), but have truly never used it. Ever. 


Gabba didn't know this. If she did, she would have been too intimidated to try it. But she made up the batter, and cooked up a bunch of crepes (all on her own, I must add, with no previous experience or instruction), and they were gobbled up almost before they hit the plate. So I helped her make a second batch. Which was snarfed down just as quickly. We actually ended up making three batches of crepe batter that morning. And when everyone was done eating, there wasn't a crepe crumb in the house. So, I'm thinking: success!


We've had crepes three times since then. We double the batch, and I may need to rewrite the recipe to accommodate little chefs who can't reliably do recipe math yet. 


But anyway. Last fall, my sister-in-law, Erin, introduced me to a phenomenon called buttermilk syrup. Oh dear me. So, with the crepes going like gangbusters, I decided to combine the two. Oh heaven. Oh, tastiness. Oh gluttony.


You need to try this. Some lazy Saturday morning (when you have an over-abundance of eggs, milk and butter in the fridge), do yourself a favor and try this.


Cindy Galbraith's Crepe Recipe (un-doubled, as it appears in my cookbook in her original handwriting)
1 to 1 1/4 C. flour
2 T. sugar (optional)
pinch salt
3 eggs
1 to 1 1/2 C. milk
2 T. butter melted
1 t lemon extract (optional)
Blend ingredients. Heat slightly oiled skilled. Pour small amount [I use 1/3 C.] batter in center of hot skillet and tip to spread it thinly over bottom. Turn to cook other side.  


And - of course! - you need the buttermilk recipe. This isn't Erin's, but I can tell you one of my kids ran off with the empty pan to scrape it clean, so make your decision based on that...

1 1/2 C. butter
1 1/2 C. buttermilk
3 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla1 T. baking soda

In large saucepan (make sure it is big enough to accommodate the syrup foaming when the baking soda is added), combine butter, buttermilk, and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and baking soda (it will foam up at this point.) It is now ready to serve; keeps for at least a couple weeks if you can manage to not use it all up quicker.

Obviously, this is the kind of thing that needs to be balanced with half a pound of raw broccoli to accompany each serving, but I'm pretty sure we're going to be less broccoli and more pan-licking. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, MIL!

I really have the best mother-in-law in the world. Today is her birthday. I thought of doing a whole write-up on her, extolling her virtues and regaling you all with countless memories. But I think I'll just post a bunch of pictures I have of her from over the years. None of them are exactly picture-perfect, per se, but they are definitely "her". I love this Cindy super woman!

 

  

Excavation

So, I cleaned off my computer desk.

The sky did NOT fall.

However, I did find a bunch of art made by my Lucy, that I had placed on the desk with the intention of scanning it. And then it got buried. And forgotten. But no longer! Here it is, for your Art enjoyment: 

a lily

thumbprint merfolk

the prehistoric thumbprint period

sunflower and rollerblades in memory of great-grandma

Birthday Wake for Mary Lou

Today is marked on my calendar as Mary Lou's birthday. I know if I ask God to pass along a "happy birthday" hug for her, He will. But I want to put up some pictures. She passed away last Spring. Pretty much her entire family was able to come together and remember her and visit together and send her off at the end of a long and wonderful life.

So, in honor of her birthday today, I am putting up some of the pictures I have from her funeral, of all the people she loved best and prayed over every day, when we were together and our hearts were tender.

It's a lot of pictures. I am having a hard time deciding which ones NOT to put up. But I love this Mason clan, and I love Grandma Mary Lou. So, here are the memories in pictures from a year ago.

The pallbearers, grandsons all

Chris and his Beasey

Me and Yvette

See all those sunflowers? They are Grandma's favorite.

 Grandpa told all the girls they could have any of the flowers from the flower arrangements that they wanted. I think this is what my daughters will remember the most about Grandma Mason's funeral: all the beautiful flowers, and holding them, and smelling them, and remembering Grandma.

Adam, Kevin, Brian, Eric & Jesse

Katie and Lucy

Heather, Hannah and Becca

The lovely Heather

Sarah and Ruth (and Logan in there somewhere)

Chris and Caleb

Mason handing out flowers to Jason and Konner

Grandpa Mason and (most of ) the Galbraith grandsons

Chris and Tara and their boys

Grandpa and Katie

Grandpa Mason and all of the great-grandchildren in attendance

The Hochhalters!

Heather and her brothers

Bekah and Ginny visiting during the family luncheon

Maggie, Yvette and Ella

Eliza Rose and the rose Grandpa Mason gave her

Seth and Jarom

Brian...love this guy. You know, I've only met him a couple of times, but I really like him. Maybe it's his sense of humor.

Kevin and Andrea

Becca and Hannah

Heather and Jesse

Austin & Erin

Ginny, Mark and Cindy

Ginny, Cindy, Chet and Mark

Becca and her rose

Daniel

Matthew, Kyle and Caleb

Rex

Annie Louise and Seth

My six (at the time) kids at the end of the luncheon.

That evening, we went to Grandpa Mason's house, and visited and visited and visited some more. The younger children caught frogs in the pond, there was a bonfire with marshmallow roasting. It was so soothing and enjoyable to be together. Is it wrong that it was an enjoyable day? I don't think so. It's not that we don't miss Grandma. We do. But we are happy for her. She certainly leaves a legacy of service and love and joy behind her, it only seems right to remember her joyfully.