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Showing posts from November, 2012

Friday Family History: A Letter to My Granddaughter

Dear Sweet Granddaughter, After thinking about you for months, I finally met you on Monday night.  Your mom called me Monday morning to tell me that you were going to make your appearance that day, and asked if I would come be with her for your birth.

Thursday Thoughts: Thanks for Life

Most of the time, I don't give much thought to the gift of life.  This past week, however, I have been reminded time and time again just how fortunate we are to be allowed to be here on earth.  Three events have brought this realization home:

Wordless Wednesday: Welcome to the World!

Thanks for my new granddaughter.

Blogging Takes a Back Seat

Big news:  I'm a grandma!  I'll be back to blogging, reading, and commenting in a while, but for now I'm busy with other things.  The baby had a bit of a rough time during the delivery, and will spend some time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), but I think she'll be fine.  Thanks for the miracle of birth, wonderful nurses and doctors, and medical facilities.

Sunday Musings of the Spirit: December Visiting Teaching Message

December's visiting teaching message can be found here .  I used one of the suggested scriptures for the handout: Thanks for the visiting teaching program.

Thursday Thoughts: Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought I'd share another one of my favorite songs:  Simple Gifts. It seemed appropriate today.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Not-at-All Wordless Wednesday: Thanks for Prayers

I just wanted to thank those of you who have answered my prayer request.  The latest update is that the man is now awake and can squeeze his wife's hand in response to questions.  The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers, and asks that we continue to remember them.  This scary situation is looking brighter! To borrow my friend Debbie 's phrase, "Be sure to give your loved ones a hug!"  Thanks for faith, prayers, and miracles. 

Tuesday Time to Tackle: Baby Blessing Dress

I love the look of heirloom blessing dresses, but know myself well enough to realize the amount of time I could spend trying to sew from a complicated pattern. 

Prayers Requested for a Friend

A family from our church is in need of prayers.  A father of 5 children--the oldest is 15, I think--collapsed while running this morning.  His heart arrested, for an unknown-as-yet reason. He is a cross-country coach, so this is very unexpected.  He is currently in the intensive care unit, and his wife would really appreciate prayers.  Thanks for the power of prayer.

Monday Morning in the Kitchen: Mom's Pumpkin Squares

Every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, dessert consisted of a choice between apple pie and my mom's pumpkin squares  (or both, of course--it was Thanksgiving, after all!)  This recipe captures the yummy flavor of pumpkin pie without the hassle of rolling out a typical pie crust. 

Sunday Musings of the Spirit: My Heavenly Father Loves Me

A week or so ago, I confessed that I have a hard time choosing favorites.  Let me be more clear:  I have a hard time saying that any one thing is my favorite.  I have a much easier time saying that something is one of my favorites.  

Friday Family History: Adding to Our "Remember When" Stories

Who will ever forget the time I tried to help John and ended up e-mailing his boss John's new job offer ?  Though I hope never to top that incident, "The Time We Went to Utah to Celebrate John's 50th Birthday" certainly deserves its own page in our family history story.

Thursday Thoughts: I Am Blessed

I love this message.  I know sometimes all it takes is someone to ask, "How are you?" for me to release all of my frustrations, worries, and concerns.  This is a great reminder to count the blessing in my life.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Snowy Utah Weekend

   

Tuesday Time to Tackle: Truncating Blog Posts

I try to learn from the experiences of others, and that trait carries over into blogging.  Karen, from Sew Many Ways , has taught me so much about how to set up a blog.  (She also has great organizational ideas for craft rooms, great blog hops, and so much more.  I highly recommend visiting her blog.) Anyway, when I read this post of hers about how she had entire blog posts stolen, I thought I should probably do something to prevent that from happening on my own little blog.

Monday Morning in the Kitchen: Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

While browsing pinterest, I found this recipe for baked egg cups.  I loved the ease and simplicity of the recipe, but ended up making an even lazier version--mainly due (we'll say) to lack of scallions and  cheese.  Leaving out the salt and pepper legitimately qualified as sheer laziness, however.  Anyway, this is a simple recipe that can easily be doctored up to be elegant.

Sunday Musings of the Spirit: For the Beauty of the Earth

I love traditional hymns, and this one is perfect for the season: Thanks for the talents of others, who lend voice to beautiful praises.

Thursday Thoughts: Tag--You're It!

OK, so it's not quite tag, but it's the closest I could find.        Debbie from ::Our Old Homestead::  surprised me recently by tagging my blog.  Having never played blogging tag, I needed an explanation. So like usual there are rules;   - every tagged person has to tell 11 things about themselves - the person who tagged you asked 11 questions, answer them - ask 11 questions for the 11 blogs you're going to tag (the people you tag should have fewer than 200 followers) - mention the blog that tagged you but don't tag back  So . . .  Hello, I'm Kristi, and: I have a hard time choosing favorites, which made answering some of the following questions a bit tricky. I hate to cry. Every spring, I sentence more raspberries to death by optimistically trying to get them to grow in my hot, windy backyard.  (No need to remind me of the definition of insanity.  I know, I know.) I love old Craftsman-style houses. I on

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Backyard Visitor

Can anyone identify this bird from this blurry photo? Thanks for the beauty all around us.

Tuesday Time to Tackle: Voting!

For my friends in the United States, don't forget to vote today! Thanks for our system of government and the freedoms we enjoy.

Monday Morning in the Kitchen: Bake and Freeze Apple Pie

Thanksgiving dinner requires a well-choreographed kitchen dance:  peeling, chopping, cooking, baking--timed so that everything appears on the table at once.  I always try to prepare as much as possible ahead of time.  This year, I'm baking apples pies early, freezing them, and just warming them up on Thanksgiving. Follow that link for information on how to freeze many different foods. And if, like my mother-in-law, you subscribe to the saying, "Pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze," you might want to check out this link to read how to freeze cheese.   Update:  I would suggest warming the pies at 200 degrees, but checking them after 1 hour.  Warming for 2 hours resulted in a fairly crispy, tough crust. Apple Pie                     (adapted from Apple Pie by Grandma Ople )     Pastry for 9-inch double-crust pie (see recipe below) 1/2 cup butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup

Sunday Musings of the Spirit: I Think the World is Glorious

This simple children's song goes along well with the video from Thursday about the importance of noticing the beauty in everything around us.  I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the birds, bees, blossoms, teachers, parents, and God.

Saturday Sundries: Happy Birthday, John!

I won't say his age, but here are 50 reasons I love him: 1.        He treats me as an equal. 2.        He doesn’t get upset with my mistakes. 3.        His smile warms my heart. 4.        He takes me seriously. 5.        He knows how to have fun. 6.        He’s super smart. 7.        He’s a great dad. 8.        He humors my strange requests (Yes, even when I asked for gardening compost for Mother’s Day.) 9.        He always assumes the best. 10.    He’s a true gentleman. 11.    He shares the same values as I do. 12.    He loves the Lord. 13.    He’s a hard worker. 14.    He’s generous. 15.    He knows his way around the kitchen. 16.    He asks me out every weekend. 17.    He holds doors for me. 18.    He asks for my advice, and values my opinion. 19.    He’s full of surprises. 20.    He’s trustworthy. 21.    When he’s around, I never have to kill a spider. 22.    He remembers all the important days. 23.    He

Friday Family History: Thankful Stowe

What better way to start November's family history posts than by introducing Thankful Stowe, my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandma? I first learned her name when I was a child, and I remember thinking, "What a funny name!" Now that I'm older, though I still think it is a quaint practice, I recognize the appeal of giving a child the name of a desirable trait.   As was often the case back in the 1600s when Thankful lived, everything that I found recorded about her was in relation to a male relative. In Thankful's case, most often she was mentioned as being the husband of John Pierpont, or the mother of James Pierpont, one of the founders of Yale University. However, I recently learned she was related by marriage to a woman whose name I recognized: Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin .   Harriet's husband, Calvin Ellis Stowe, was the g-g-g-g-g-grandson of Thankful's father. Using this cousin calculator, I learned that Calvin and I are

Thursday Thoughts: An Attitude of Gratitude

November has come around again, and thoughts turn toward Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving;   I love being able to gather with loved ones, and I love having a holiday where the focus is on being grateful for all that we have.  This short video explains that sometimes we become so accustomed to our surroundings that we fail to truly see the beauty around us, and encourages us to develop the ability to always see the good in the world.  I might have shared it before, but I think it deserves repeating.  Thanks for November, when it is so easy to remember how blessed we are.