Mountains to Climb

This video touched my heart and I want to share it with everyone!

Its called Mountains to Climb, and was put together using portions of President Henry B. Eyring's 2012 April conference talk. It is special in another way to our family because, for Allie's primary program part last year, she was asked to summarize his talk and write her own part for the program. I wish I had her recorded, but she said,

"President Eyring talked to us about climbing mountains in conference, or overcoming our trails in life. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

She still has it memorized today and I hope she keeps that thought with her throughout her life!

All of us in some way or another face trials and hardships in this life.

"If the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble."

"It is serving God and others persistently with full heart and soul that turns testimony of truth into unbreakable spiritual strength."

"We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up. And he always keeps his word."

Big Cowboy says...

 Mark cracks me up. 

He talks and talks and talks and then talks a little more. 

He says the funniest things too... 

Mark: Mom you are beautiful, you are the queen. I will be the king and Luke will be the servant.
Luke: No!
Me: I don't think Luke wants to be the servant.
Mark: Okay, then Johnny will be cuz, he can't talk!


Mark: Hey mom, I've been thinking and I know what I want for my birthday.
Me: Oh, yeah, what?
Mark: A crane. Like a big crane. Not a toy crane. A big crane. A big crane that I can work on. Like for real, not a toy one. And a rocket. But one that is made out of a box. And a new hat for my Woody. And super glue it to his head so I can't loose it.


I was sitting at the computer the other day and I heard a cry and yell and then a scream. So I went in the living room where the boys were playing and I said, "what is going on?" To which Mark replied, "Luke was dragging Johnny across the room, so I had to hi-ya-ti-chop him!"

Oh that cowboy. He keeps me on my toes!

But, he can be oh so sweet!

How much!!

I stepped on my bathroom scale today, to see that I had gained 20 POUNDS since the last time I weighed. 

My heart stopped.  I cringed. Twenty pounds?!

I stepped off, checked the dial and made sure it was working properly.. then I stepped back on. 

Still I was 20 pounds heavier. Tears started surfacing...

I know I've done some stress eating this week and haven't been exercising as regularly as I was..

 But, but, but... but there was no way this could be correct.

Then I realized I was holding Johnny!!!!! 

I lug the little feller around all day and I forgot I was holding him. He's practically an extent of my hip.

Whew, I was so relived that I hadn't gained 20 pounds, that I had to eat a cookie!

Pioneer Woman Meets Country Girl x2

PW/CG 1

Lasagna

Last week, I made PW's lasagna, appropriately named, The Best Lasagna Ever. 

It was super yummy!

But because I was a slacker, I didn't take any pictures, so you get her photo.

Which is much prettier than mine anyway!

I loved this recipe for a couple of reasons.

1. The sausage! It gave it a whole new dimension of flavor. It added a zest to the hamburger.

2. The whole tomatoes and paste. Kept things more firm. Firm is good, when you're trying to scoop dinner to hungry mouths!

3. The cottage cheese. My kids think that Ricotta is "yucky". Plus its cheaper!

4. The Parmesan cheese. I love Parmesan cheese. Mostly because Grandma Shirley pronounces it "par-me-sian" .. so I love using it and saying it Grandma Shirley style!

and lastly,

5. The whole family loved it! Full bellies = happy mom.

~~~~~

PW/CG 2

Cowboy Calzones

"I had a bad experience." 

(Name that movie)

If you've been around this blog for a while, you might recall the Eggplant Parmesan incident of 2008. This in no way comes close to that. But its sufficient to say that new recipes and I DO NOT mix well. I have a hard time stepping out of my comfort zone of Mac and Cheese and Spaghetti. But every once and a while I get a wild hair, or a sister that gets to pick the recipe for the week, and all hell breaks loose!

PW doesn't have the recipe for Cowboy Calzones on her blog. Which is good because I did take pictures this time and I don't want you to compare them to her masterpieces!

Overall, the effect was there. The calzones were edible. The meat was tasty and the cheese mix was on.
But the dough... oh, the dough, dough, dough.

Let me give some advise. They say that those who can't do teach. We'll I'm gonna teach.

1. Give yourself plenty of time when trying a new recipe.

2. Try not to get distracted. Put a movie on for the kids.. paint, playdough, legos.. get em busy.

3. For this particular recipe, let the meat/cheese mixture cool almost completely before trying to put it in the calzone.

4. Give your dough plenty of time to rise.

5. Try, try again! Don't give up after your first failure. Try it again on a fresh day!

 

Like I said, the calzones were edible. They weren't pretty but we made it out alive!

Luke wouldn't touch his. He just downed the Kool-Aid. 

Johnny was content to nibble on the crust and hamburger. 

Allie's face says it all. She was not a fan. 

Mark gobbled it up after I told him it was "cowboy food"!

Dustin had a late night at the temple, but he ate two when he got home, so I assume he liked it.

Bottom line.. I will try this recipe again. I think when the kids are older they will appreciate it more.

But for dinner nights without dad, we're sticking to Mac and Cheese.

The Will of God

Monday night at family home evening, we watched this video. 

**Mark picked it because the man in the video is a farmer and was wearing overalls, just like him! :) **

I had heard the talk given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, before and remembered loving the story of the current bush, but seeing it in video form was very powerful to me.

It made me ponder how many times in my life, I've thought that I was on top of the world, only to be cut down by trials, hardships and tribulations. I've found myself asking, just as the little currant bush did, "How could you do this to me?"

But we need to remember that God is our gardener and he knows what he wants us to be. 

"Thank you Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down."

Johnny's first tooth!

 

Oh, and if you couldn't tell, he likes to feed himself.

~~~~~

To keep up with my scrapbooking goal, I decided to make a page really quick!

Design Kit: Toothless by GG Digital Designs

Template: Sarah E. Template Set 1

Text reads:

Allie lost a tooth the same week Johnny got his first! So we're all smiles around here!