Good Times!!

Rob called one night with information that he had tickets from Chelsie for us. He couldn't go but thought my mom might like to. She had plans to travel to Colorado and it seems that a woman in her eighties can't travel two weeks in a row??
Even though she REALLLY wanted to...
I didn't think I would go either, Stephanie mentioned she had a free ticket to fly.... the rest is a memory of one FABULOUS weekend.

We thought until 1:00 pm of the night of the show (Monday)that we only had 2 tickets, that is until we called Christopher Hightower and asked if he had any tips for us since they had just been there. "You do know that Chelsie has 4 tickets in total for you guys and 4 for Tuesday night also..." We needed to be in our seats by 4:00 pm we called Laura. She and Tim were miracle workers somehow they got their children taken care of and came looking fabulous. Here they are getting their wrist bands. As we went in, they took our phones and cameras and we didn't get them back until we had to go outside. They wouldn't let us back in to take pictures, so we took pictures at the back doors as the dancers went to their trailers.







We didn't really know who this guy was??











The last of the evening we wished Stephanie a very happy birthday at the Cheesecake Factory! We went there with Kathy, Laurie's sister, her daughter and son-in-law and Chelsie's Grand dad, Bro Pullen from Las Vegas. It was good to see them again.
It was a great weekend and it has taken several days to recover from the cheering and the booing at the show and the 7 plus hours of flying. FYI the seats right in front of the exit row do not recline! Not good on a long flight.
HOtWire is wonderful and there are other carriers besides SouthWest who knew though Continental does have movies, but they charge $15.00 per bag each way.

Two new Joys

These are gardenias that I didn't think would continue to grow let alone bloom. I have it in our bathroom, with a north facing window. 

There are actually eight buds on the plant so we can look forward to more as the summer goes on. They smell fabulous.  We love them.

 

This is my next pleasure. I found this fabric and made a new iron board cover. I really like to too and it was painfully easy.  There are so many fabulous fabrics out there and so little time...... 

Cookies in a Pot

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter flavored extract
• 7 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and flavorings and mix well. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to batter and mix well. CHILL 3-4 hours or overnight before using. Roll cookies out approximately 1/4 inch thick and insert cookie sticks at least 1/3 to 1/2 way into cookie. Bake cookies at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes. (Mine was a slow oven and I turned it up to 365 degrees and three on a sheet took 20 minutes.) This dough keeps well in a covered container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Decorate as desired. Display 3-7 cookies in a 6 inch clay pot (depending on size of cookie). Weigh pot down with dried beans and cut a circle of Styrofoam to fit snugly into top. Add ribbons and enjoy.

These were easy to cook. I had cookie cutters from JoAnn's or Micheals and I got shiskabob skewers from Wal-Mart they had 3 sizes and I got the longest. They were near the paper plates and bar-b-que things. I made sure they were a little over 1/4 inch thick but not 1/2, those were too heavy. I pushed the stickes almost to the top and hopefully in the middle front to back. I made 54 this large size and made 3 times the recipe.
Laura the icing went well. I made just a powdered sugar and milk, with a bit of almond flavoring because the vanilla made it a muddy color. Then I
made royal icing for the decorations. The cookies
aren't super sweet so the icing adds the sweetness.













I planted grass in a large flower pot and stuck the cookies in. That means the sticks come out with dirt on them not the best idea. Something else would have been better. I just wrapped them with saran wrap. Many sisters took several... (hadn't planned on that either.) It was very fun to do and I would love to do that again.

Bloom (wherever) You are Planted

As many of you know we went down to south Texas to visit my folks. Mom is 86 now and still doing quite well. She is somewhat forgetful but was able to learn and then play a couple of new games with us. "Up words" is one game they play regularly and bridge and of course golf. So that is pretty good.

An alternate form of transportation, but they walk at least 2 times a day. They walk quite fast and go all over the park.






Wayne plays pool every day, he is quite good and really likes it. They live within their income and are very careful with their finances.












Things that grow in McAllen are all citrus, grapefruit(Texas Ruby Red), oranges, lemons and limes, papaya, and the favorite AVOCADOS, not to mentions figs and gardenias.













Their home looks just about the same.







The first full day after we got there, LaVar woke up in the morning saying he wanted to go to South Texas College and as them if they wanted a Economics teacher. There is a whole story with that but the short version is we happened on a guy that was elated to talk with us and yes, they were actually looking for a teacher with Dad's creditials and he gave us all a tour of the campus and told us all kinds of wonderful things about the place. I didn't get a picture of that campus, but he also told us that Pan Am was also looking for someone and we could also check them out.....






Mom went to church with us and said as she always does, that she enjoyed it..... So it seems that we feel we should be moving to South Texas, we have been working on getting things paired down yet again and plan on getting our house on the market this next week. This is a terrible time to sell, there are a flood of homes in our area that are for sale, etc. But we will see.
As I see it, if we have to stay here in this gorgious area, near the beach for at least one more year, LaVar making good money, I will not complain. You are all still invited to come, we would more than love that.




On the other hand to be with a great lady, friend, and my mom...... that would, no will, be just great!! Thus the title, wherever, we are planted.

Finding Joy In The Journey

From Pres. Monson

"If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, 'They do not love that do not show their love.'³ We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say 'I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, 'The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.'^4"

This is such a wonderful quote from our Prophet and since I let this Valentines pass without any fanfare I just wanted each of you to know how much we love you and thank you for all you are doing to help our grandchildren to grow and end up to be such loveable and loving adults. Some of the grandchildren are reading scriptures on their own, we thrill at that journey for you, some are in sports and activities to strengthen their bodies, we thrill at those successes, each is going to church and are growing spiritually that way, that is the greatest joy to us of all. Thank you, we love you, we miss our association with you regularly. We are grateful for phones, email, and now ichat. We wish we were closer, but we love you, and are grateful for you. Love Grandma and Grandad

What have we been up to?

This is the ship that we wanted to pass by while Sam and Hadley were visiting, but it maybe didn't go out during the holidays? Well, its floating now.


This is David and Linda Block that we went out to dinner with and then went to see the Tribute to Motown, that was a lot of fun. We could sing along and we did.

































Here are more pictures of a different ship, I know it's different because of the number on the back end.








Here is the "before" pictures of our garage. I don't have any "after" pictures, but we did have the furniture company that is going to repair the broken furniture from the move. It has been 6 months, we moved in August 4th. Little slow, the moving company employee has apologized several times, like it changes anything, it still not finished..... we will see.
We have also been cubscout leaders for a few weeks. They now have a couple called but we enjoyed the boys while we served there.
Next attraction.... McAllen Texas trip. We are back..... didn't have the internet for 4 days and I had withdrawls, but we found a library..... that was good.

1Mix 100 Muffins

I went on a TJMAXX trip yesterday and hung out in the clearance isle until I had seen and touched it all. I came away with a "grow" sign, its a metal words with a stake for the ground, that is for our upcoming, Relief Society Birthday Party  entitled "Garden Party". I also got a glass bowl that will work well for Lemonade. I have had so much fun thinking about the decorations for this Enrichment. More on it later, it isn't until March 10th. 

Anyway, I found this cute padded book that just may be a door prize for the birthday party. It has a basic mix and then the additions. I don't understand why cupcakes are all the rage when muffins are less fattening and have less sugar. I will start a campaign for muffins..... 

Here is the basic mix with the * ones being the essential and changes can be made. {Like using molasses, honey and fruit juice instead of the sugar and brown sugar. Applesauce instead of eggs and any variety of flour}

Could be used as a Baby Shower refreshment....

Thought I would throw this in for all you bacon lovers out there, it could be a quick breakfast that could be taken on the go. 

I have 98 more, chocolate, Brie cheese, rosemary, peanut butter, etc. If you want me to I will email these if you want something specific. 

Happy Baking!