Ginger Bread Houses!!

This is Mount Vernon Done in Gingerbread by the White House Chef.

OK ladies it is time to think about our gingerbread houses!

I know what you are thinking, " I just don't have energy for that this year.... " it was because of those feelings that I devised this plan. ( You still may not want to do it and that is ok but if you sort of do here's a plan)

After Thanksgiving or before... but not usually. I would combine the dry ingredients. I have given you 2 different recipes one from Sweet Dreams of Gingerbread book, that is the one I used most often, and the other from a Make a Mix Cookery Book take your pick and put the dry ingredients together.

Other time mix the wet and leave it in the frig until you get around to rolling it and cutting it out and baking it. Then another time construct it. It really can be done in several steps. So here are the steps!

1. Mix all the dry ingredients put in air tight containers. (I do put it in the refrigerator just because I could and the butter).

2. Mix the wet~ now you could let this sit in the refrigerator tightly covered in plastic wrap (or roll it out and bake it now).

3. Roll it out (as a family home evening?) and bake it. ( I apologize to you ladies who have husbands that want to design it after the home they are living in currently, or the white house or whatever!) If that is not your lot, then there is a neat cookie cutter house makers, I got one from Mrs. Heckler that work great (esp. when your daughter wants 13 house built for a wonderful Christmas birthday party. PS our home smelled great for weeks and weeks)

4. The pieces can stay in this condition for a while until you want to build it.

So you can see how I never had one of mine fall apart. They are hard by the time one wants to eat it for a birthday, or Christmas eve or whenever.

Stories of Vonn

Tap dancing class~ Rose, their mother, enrolled the twins in a dance class. Vonn promptly put the shoes on his hands and started clapping. The teacher asked them to leave and they were happy to oblige.

Dug a hole~ Bob and Rose (the parents) put the older boys in charge of the twins while they went out during the day. The older boys didn't want to babysit and so they thought to dig a hole and put them in it. Vern said they love it. The hole was just deep enough that they couldn't get out. Then someone suggested putting water in the hole. The twins had a blast in the mud. The parents didn't think it was ok.

Double barreled guns~ the twins were always put to bed early when the parents went out for the evening. The twins didn't want to go to bed so they devised a "war" with double barreled dart guns that they loaded with crayons, several boxes, and brand new. They got behind the big white couch and fortified themselves in the corner. When the older brothers came to get them they were met with a barrage of well aimed crayons. The next morning there were crayon marks all over the walls and the furniture. The older boys scrubbed the walls and furniture and ended up repainting the livingroom.

Tractor~ When Vonn was 7 the family was visiting their uncle, Bobby Taylor. He owned a farm and a wheat grinding mill. Montel was driving the tractor around a newly plowed field. The twins were sitting on the large fenders around the wheels. The tractor made a jerk and Vonn fell off forward off the wheel. The wheel of the tractor ran over Vonn's midsection. The uncle saw this happen and ran to get Vonn and put him in the car and headed to the hospital. Vern went with them. Vonn was laying there and said to Vern, "If I die don't tell mom, she will be so MAD at me". That was one of Vonn's mishaps that gave him the "come back kid" title.

Driving Simulator~ to sixteen year olds getting a driving license was very important. Each boy wanted to get his license before the other did. Vern was the older twin by a few hours. So he got to take the simulator first. If one did well they could get the license if not they had do some remedial work and postponed the license. Vonn signed in the simulator as if he was Vern and did a horrible job of it. Because of that Vonn got his license before Vern.

Dating 2 girls~ Vonn was sharing a car at college at BYU with Vern. Nate was in law school at the U of U. in Salt Lake City. Vonn had been dating 2 girls seriously, one of them was Jani and the other lived somewhere else. The one girl, she was to remain nameless, thought if she just had a really fun, wonderful, weekend with Vonn maybe she could win him over. She was going to fly into Salt Lake for this great weekend and Vonn went to SLC early to pick her up. He went to Nate's house first. Nate was just leaving, Vonn asked in passing if there was anything to eat in the house. Nate told him there wasn't much but left over Swedish meetballs in the frig. He maybe forgot to mention they were very old. Vonn must have eaten those.

The girl got off the plane and expected to be met at the gate, in those days one could do that, he wasn't there. She went to baggage claim, he wasn't there. She went out to the curb and saw his car but not him. When she got closer she saw that he was there hanging out the door vomiting. He was really sick. When Nate got home later, she was pacing outside the apartment and really upset, Vonn was inside being sick. That was not the wonderful weekend they had planned. He married Jani.

Bronco Mendenhall footballs~ The Jenkins have a friend that knows Bro. Mendenhall and he told him about Vonn and his great love of the BYU football team. The team sent him a football that had been signed by each of them and the coach sent him another football just from him. Their hometeacher made acrylic cases for them both.

These are the stories, as LaVar and I remember from the funeral and they were funny being told by those who were there.

Jan Jenkins did take pictures~ Good!

Jan Jenkins, Vern's wife, did take pictures and they are so nice. Hope you can check that out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?

uname=jennygayan&target=ALBUM&id=5403058545639533841&authkey=Gv1sRgCN27x9mKj8TFngE&feat=email

Vonn Jess Jenkins

We will miss him. He had such an infectious laugh, and he saw humor in just about everything. He died of brain cancer. He had been known, they said, as “the come back kid” because he had survived so many ailments over the years. I will tell you more about that at the end when I retell some of the stories that were told about him.

Vonn was the twin son of Bob and Rose Jenkins, Grandma Cecile Huntzinger’s older brother. Vonn has three older brothers, Kim (and Jeannie, they live in Las Vegas), Montel (and Jackie live in Renton Washington. LaVar and Monty were born the same day, same hospital in Farmington NM. They call themselves twin cousins. Kim and Montel were born 11 months apart. They were in the same grade at school and LaVar rounded out the threesome.) Nate (and Carol live in Reno). Vonn Jess has a twin cousin Vern Wes. They don’t look much alike and their personalities are different too. Vonn married Jani and Vern married Jan, funny tidbit, Vern lives in Washington I think. They have a son that lives in Alexandria so maybe we will get to see them again. Many stories have been told over the years about these brothers and the mischief they caused together. On the other hand even alone Vonn could cause the shaking of the head and a giggle. Added to this family there is Neena the long awaited girl who with her family lives in Branson Missouri, Brother Dean Dutton is her Bishop and Hardy ( who with his wife Renea live in Bountiful Ut.)

Vonn and Jani have three children, Jess E. that shows some humor there because a few of us always called him, Jessie and thought that was his name. Jess and his wife Sarah have 2 children. Jess just started medical school somewhere in the Caribbean. Elizabeth is in her last semester at BYU and Allie is a senior in High School.

You will notice that Mark (Kim and Jeannie’s son) played his Euphonium. I would never know about this instrument if it wasn’t for him. I dare to say that no one else could ever play it like he can. I have been moved to tears every time I have heard him play. The first time was in our home in Fredericksburg when he came to our home to stay during auditions for the Marine Corps band, which he made and still plays in. He then played “Be Still My Soul” for a fireside that we had, he came to our home for Thanksgiving that year and played again. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was the request Vonn asked him to play. It touched many people. Mark and his wife Agatha live in Fairfax, we are hoping to get together with them and Micah and Stephanie sometime soon

Grandma and Grandpa Huntzinger are looking good and are still very much enjoying Fallon. She is still collecting fabric and gives it away generously. She is still making quilts, several a month, and enjoying it. They still have chickens that Grandpa lets out into the back of the yard everyday. He says the chickens give him a reason to get up in the morning.

We went to Reno to the house Brad and Kate own for their business and had a family get- together. That is where Jani and the kids are staying. They served very good and wonderful looking food. I couldn’t decide whether to eat or talk since they weren’t consistent to do both. So some of the food I didn’t get to try but the coconut macaroons were very good. Grandpa was ready to go before anyone else was so Brett wrapped him in bubble wrap to keep him warm while waiting.

We all rode from Fallon to Reno together. Brad had asked Terry if she would help Jani with the casket spray of flowers. Because she wanted to we all stayed and hopefully helped. It was a beautiful arrangement of blue hydrangeas, roses, ivy, fern, protea, lilies and a wonderful mix of wild flowers. It was a gift of love from Jani to Vonn. It didn’t seem appropriate at the time, but I would have loved to have pictures of these people greeting each other, the wonderful stories they told and the enjoyable experience it was even in the sadness of the time. It was great to see this wonderful out pouring of love from the family. All of Vonn’s brothers and sister were there, all of their spouses and many of their children, Vonn’s nieces and nephews. Hardy had all of his 8 children and grandchildren there from Utah. Many of them came long distances. In the Relief Society room before the service there were perhaps more than 50 people, many standing filling the room. All related in one way or another. The chapel was filled to the back with relatives, friends, law associates, and members of their wards.

I want to remember the scene of Jani in her beautiful cream colored suit, hugging each distinguished looking brother after they lifted Vonn’s coffin. She seemed so small compared to them and yet it was her and her husband that were the peacemakers among the group.

All of Grandma’s children were there except Tammy because they were on their way to Tim and Tricia’s for the birth of their second son. Terry had heard that Vonn was failing but hadn’t heard that he had passed away until she called that Saturday afternoon and LaVar answered. He told her why we were there. Terry and Linda got on the road right away and were there before church let out on Sunday morning. Bryce (Cecile’s brother Dan’s son) came right after the wedding of their daughter on Friday in Arizona. Dick Wilson who is Lynn’s son is in the picture. Lynn is Cecile’s sister, Lynn passed away July 4 this year.

It was wonderful to be with so many family members. See the relationship and hear their memories. These are the things I wanted to share with you and remember. Since this is such a long blog I will write the stories others shared about Vonn tomorrow. That is what I wrote on the back page with Neena’s poem.

Tap dancing class

Dug a hole

Age 6 double barreled gun/ crayons

7 yrs. Tractor

Driving simulator

Vonn dating 2 girls

Bronco Mendenhall~ footballs

Be Aware of the Smallest Thing

This is a small note that I found in my scriptures:

"Lord counsels us not to murmur because it is then difficult for the Spirit to work with us"

Sister Parkin then encouraged us to, "Be aware of the smallest thing which gladden our hearts with their message of God's love."

Good thought for this Thursday morning!

ONe GrEAt MemMory

One day before we left Norfolk Helena Andelin invited me to come to her house for breakfast. This house belonged to a 103 year old lady that Helena left Salt Lake City to come and care for. Helena's sister and her husband Bob went on a mission for the church, and he needed someone to come and watch over his mother. Winnie died last October and Helena has remained in the house fixing it up and keeping care of it. Helena is originally from Finland.
The yard is fabulous. It has rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and beautiful trees of all kinds, pine, dogwood, redwood and I can't remember what else. It backed onto a wonderful pond, a finger of the Elizabeth River. That morning there were water fowl, ducks and geese. Helena fix us an omelette and orange juice. The only thing was it was early in the morning in early October and I was dressed for the beach, of course, so I was a little chilly. Helena went inside to get me something to wear, she brought back this fabulous fur coat and we both got a good laugh at that! I was more comfortable of course.

Thanks you Helena for the beautiful breakfast and the wonderful memory!

ad~JUST~ments

I thought "Liberating" would be spelled "Relief" but right now if feels more like "Loss".

We have worked at getting rid of stuff for eighteen days now and there is still, too much for this small space. We have a storage unit stuffed full also so it's not that we are nearly finished. I mentioned what we are trying to do, to get rid of stuff, to our Bishop and he was amazed to think I would not understand people here need stuff. He took an outdoor table and chairs somewhere and seemed happy to have them. So that is the emotional part of it. I have known people to have their things sold at auctioned in their front yards to pay debts. I have heard of a guy that just called the Salvation Army to come and get all he didn't want to move "one more time". I heard of a family that had a large truck backed into their garage and the thieves took everything. A neighbor lost everything in a fire, not to mention the DeHarts fiasco with their fire..... I think we have the best of all worlds with giving it away, thanks Stephanie and Micah, but I guess this adjustment is just what I need to let go of all my "precious lovelys".

Our next move will not be 14,500 lbs and take a semi. That's a good thing right? I tried in Fallon to be surrounded by only the things "we loved" well that is now a step farther, giving even the loved things away. M&S said they are only storing these things for us and we could have then back anytime, that is a nice way to think about it.
I have loaded these pictures backwards. Well starting from the hallway, it looks like a nice hotel hall but people have personalized their doors with wreaths, door mats and some decorations that is kind of fun.

Our Bishop/Real Estate agent and LaVar
View from the front windows. The fountain runs all the time making a peaceful sound. LaVar woke up one morning thinking it was really raining hard to realize he was hearing the fountain. A most pleasant place.
These are very small but HORIZONTAL spin ( my favorite!) washer and drier. The washer takes only 10 articles, or it will not spin. Huh, they are like toys, but do the job.
Just to get an idea of the size of the living room. Kitchen has granite counter tops also our favorite. All wood floors except for the bedrooms are carpeted, and bathrooms are tiled.


The papers are our attempt to get the movers to place furniture where we had planned. In the end we were just glad to get it in at all where ever. Without a plan though maybe that wouldn't have been possible.

This is what was worked out.

Jim Dodd sat at one trailer watching the loading, we hired two guys from the ward to help. Stephanie was the director and LaVar loaded the Penske truck for the storage unit. That stuff never needed to touch the ground they took it from one truck to another. Guess they have done things like this before.
Our friend Sandy Dodd helped unpack the kitchen which looks horrible now but without that head start we wouldn't have found anything and would have not been able to move around, not an exaggeration really.

However, in all this chaos the Lord still was able to work a miracle. One of the movers saw an article I had set out for Sandy to read if she had time, "Lessons from the Liberty Jail" by Elder Holland ( a wonderful article by the way!). Nothing about "Mormon" or Joseph Smith on the cover, so how did he know?? Anyway he asked Sandy if we were Mormon or Jewish? She answered him and he told her that he had been dating a member and he had been trying to get someone to come and talk with him about the church and couldn't find anyway to do that. So the Lord helped him. By the end of the day we had given him a Book of Mormon and I got his information to give to the missionaries. Missionary opportunities come at the most unexpected times. We knew where the Book of Mormon was because Micah had asked for one I had to give a co-worker and Stephanie had it in the truck. Just a series of orchestrated miracles that leads us to see a bigger picture.
Pictures of our beautiful foyers, they have heavy potporri (that's close to the spelling). That can be good and bad, but I am saying they work at trying to keep it nice.

Our doorway with a call box something like Seinfeld's only you scroll to find the number it calls me and I push 9 on my cell phone to let them in. Actually I could be in some place else and still let someone into the building.
Grand front of the building I don't know if anyone uses this entrance. I think it is beautiful.
This is a school that is right out of the garage and we see it as we go out and think of our precious grandsons. Hey, Sam and Tucker this is for you!

So all in all we are adjusting and making strides with arranging things. LaVar really likes his 10-15 minute commute to work.

I see that I have to make a catch up blog with the last visits in Norfolk and some fun pictures from Corpus, Fredericksburg and Michigan.

Until then, still looking for the liberating feeling............. maybe its just ME needing an adjustment.