Signs of Spring 2011

This morning I woke up to a gentle rain. We've been having a lot of those here lately. The good news is that our water sheds, for the first time in years, are above normal!!! Yeah! We will have plenty of water for the farmers.

The raindrops were so prettily strung on the branches of the willow tree. The buds are coming out, maybe soon we will have leaves on a few of the trees. They come very slowly in Cache Valley....

The few daffodils we have are blooming. The tulips are up, but no buds yet. I love the spring bulbs!! It means that springs is actually on it's way. We're waiting for the sun, haven't seen it much since...I don't know when.

Canyon Lands North and Dead Horse Point...

Stan and I had a wonderful long weekend vacation the end of March, first of April. On March 31, we were able to see several National Parks. I've traveled the road from Farmington, New Mexico, where I was raised to the Salt Lake, Utah area many times, but never had the time to "Stop and smell the roses", or rather visit the beauties of nature, along the way. We planned time that we could visit several places and then spend General Conference weekend with my dad and sisters in New Mexico. I don't think it could have been any better. The sun had been hidden for so long in Idaho, but we hit a perfect window for the drive. These pictures are taken from the Northern end of Canyon Lands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. I hope you enjoy them, but they are nothing to what we were able to see up close and personal.

I love the layers on layers of mountain ranges in the picture above.

We have always wanted to take "Stella" on a road trip. It was so much fun. At some points went far too fast! But you can't have a car like this and not test it at least once!

WOW! We finally got the pictures...

Richard is finally doing what he has wanted to do since he was 15 years old...under water welding. I've wanted pictures for a long time and I finally got them. He does a lot of work in the muddy rivers around Pennsylvania and New York. The smile on his face truly says it all!

The flags are dive flags. The equipment shown, shows how deep he is and is also how they communicate with each other. There are microphones and they can talk with each other. This last picture shows him under the water, all of the bubbles are from the work he is doing. The water is cold, and they have warm water circulating through the suit to keep the divers warm. At least one time, they called down to ask him if he wanted go come up for lunch. Richard asked what the weather was like, windy and cold. He told them that he would for go lunch to stay warm, he was under water for over 8 hours. What a life! He loves it.

My long term project!

Since I am only working two days a week now, and don't have many quilt orders, I am going to do some projects for myself. I have wanted to do an appliquéd quilt for a long time. This is the one I have chosen to do. It is a Texas Star variation. The center is 36 pieces sewn together, it is then appliquéd to the block base. The tulips are appliquéd next. I guestimate that this took me 12-14 hours to do! Only 24 more to go, then the borders! I am wanting to be finished with it by the time the county fair comes in August.

Snow day for the ugly child...

Nicole has been in Kentucky for the last few days and we have been taking care of Bert, Nicole's baby, who we love, but he doesn't have the cutest face in the world. We had a really big snow storm the other day. Burt LOVES fresh powder! He will run and run and run...then dig in the snow. he is a hoot to watch! He's been a lot of fun and NOT a lot of work!

/div>

Got....chicken????

There was a great special on boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.29 a pound, which for me means CANNING TIME! Stan set out all the bottles, got the pressure cookers set up and ready to go, and when I had the jars full, he put the salt in, cleaned the top of the jars, sealed them and put them in the pressure canners. We bought 80 lbs. With that, we put up 19 pints (that's all we had), and 21 quarts! We still had chicken left, so I marinated it (about 15 lbs) while Stan set up the grill and started the charcoal (which I like SO much better than propane).

We still had charcoal left, so we got 8 lbs of hamburger patties from the freezer and grilled them as well, cooled them, put them in the food saver bags for the freezer. I have to tell you that the marinated breasts are really delicious! Quite a productive day!

Nicole came while we were finishing up and decided that she would like me to teach her how to can chicken. So the next day after I got off work, she came over and we canned 40 lbs, 36 pints for her! She was so excited to have this to put in her storage! It was a lot of fun. I really enjoy sharing my knowledge with others, especially when they want to learn.

Canning meat is SO easy. Fill the jars with the raw meat, add 1/2 teaspoon salt to pints and 1 teaspoon to quarts. Do not add any liquid. Wipe the tops of the jars, put lids on that have been boiled for 3 minutes, screw the rings on. Put in the pressure canner, when the steam has escaped for 10 minutes, put on the 15 lb. weight, when the pressure is up to 13 lbs time it for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts. Let the pressure cooker cool down to 0 lbs. pressure, without releasing any steam, remove the lid, beautiful canned meat for a fraction of the cost you would pay at the store!

We had a great day today in Salt Lake City with Brian, Stan's brother, Amy, Nathan and other extended family. In this picture is the family on Amy's side that was able to come and share this special day. Amy had a couple of other sisters here, but they had to leave. Uncle Richard and Aunt Cathy, Uncle Paul and Aunt Marilyn, Rachel and Endrit, and Nicole were also able to be there. Nathan received his mission call to the San Salvador El Salvador mission. We all met in Salt Lake to go through a session in the Temple, Nathan going for the 1st time.

Amy said that this separation won't be as hard as when they dropped him off at college. All of them are a little bit used to being away from each other. They will head home, then in 3 weeks Nathan will fly back to enter the MTC in Provo. These are the milestones that shape all of our lives. In the temple today, I remembered the first time I went, which will be 34 years ago next Wednesday, February 23, 1977, which was also the day I got married. It was also in the Salt Lake Temple. Today was only the 3rd time I have ever been back through a session here. Todayshould have been my parent's 63rd anniversary. It was 6 years ago today, or tomorrow, that Rachel went to the Temple for the first time in Logan, UT. Setting there in the temple, looking at Uncle Richard and Uncle Paul, I thought about Stan's dad, who passed away 13 1/2 years ago and his mom who passed away 12 years ago...how they would have loved to be there for this milestone.

There are all kinds of milestones that shape our lives. I know that setting in the temple today, thinking about this day, and other days in the past, I know that being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the thing that defines me the most, it is why I am who I am today, and why I hope to improve and grow...until I am safely dead.