Flake Fun

27 Dec 2015 - This week has been very different from the norm.  First off I stayed home sick for 2 days and could have stayed home another day or two but decided there were things that had to be done before Christmas so I went in on Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday were holidays for both of us which was really nice.  We are so productive when we aren't at work!  We got the garden tilled, 4 compost piles built, did a manure run, did the annual butchering, went to the neighborhood Christmas dinner and party and got the house cleaned up. 

Christmas was a lot of fun.  We did stockings by ourselves in the morning and had a Face Time visit with the Harts.  Then we went over to Randy & Dona's for breakfast and more presents.  We were definitely spoiled and had lots of fun.  Baby Katelyn (9 months) was more interested in the ribbons and paper than in opening her presents but I'm sure that she will be more into it next year. 

The day after Christmas we drove down to Mesa for the Bailey family Christmas party.  It was fun to see aunts, uncles and cousins. 

We got a smidgen of snow both on Christmas day and the day after but nothing stuck.  It has been quite cold though and we are glad that we have our wood burning stove and lots of firewood. 

I was thinking the other day about New Year's Resolutions and such and I recalled something that I had seen a few months ago.  It might be fun for those of you who are wanting to beef up your savings accounts.  It is called the 52 week challenge (for those of you who like challenges!).  The basic idea is to save in "doable" amounts so each week you only save that weeks amount.  For example:

Week 1 = $52
Week 2 = $51
Week 3 = $50
........
Week 50 = $3
Week 51 = $2
Week 52 = $1

The reason you do it "backward" is so that the smallest amounts are right around the holidays!  Just a fun idea for anyone who wants to look into it! 

Life in Snowflake is great.  Hope that you are all in a similar situation.

Hyde Park Happiness

What a lovely Christmas we enjoyed! It was delightful to have the elders from Dad's stake join us for Christmas Eve. It was a last minute thing, so we weren't very organized, but we had a good time watching some church Christmas videos, singing and hearing a message from the elders. Lauren and Nick came later and stayed all night with us, which greatly pleased Emma!  Even without little ones here, we stayed up too late, but got all of the projects finished that had to be done by Christmas morning.  Of course, it was wonderful to have the Harts and Nilssons join us later on Christmas day and to listen to the cousins play and sing and laugh and have fun together! We all enjoyed a rousing game of volleyball - and have the bruises to show for it!!  It was great to connect with Joe's family and Jenn via Face Time.  There are some technologies I am very, very glad for - and Face Time is one of those!  Bless Apple's heart!!

Here are some of my favorite Christmas memories from this year:

 

I, for one, am looking forward to 2016.  It's exciting to think about what may happen!  I will be contacting each of the family to hear your predictions for 2016 and will post them next Sunday, hopefully.  Here's a recap of the predictions and happenings of 2015 - to get your thoughts flowing for predictions for the coming year... (who made the prediction, which predictions actually happened)

Dad:  Harts will move, Lauren married
Mom:  I will graduate with good grades (3.99 GPA), wedding or two, Flakes will have renters, two new apostles, Harts will find dream home (even though they didn't buy it, it was found and an offer was made on it!), Emma will get a ticket, more than 50% of family will travel out of country
Elise:  Harts move, Joe offered the job of a lifetime, Dad super-successful side venture, Mom deliver 30 babies (only 24 this year, 160 total)
Jenn:  at least one new baby (Henry), at least one new home (their own rental home!!), Lauren will take trip to England
Joe:  Jenn new job, Emma will get ticket (only a warning for having a headlight out), Lauren engaged, Mom paid for births, Garrett back to school, Dad nothing changes
Emma:  Lauren married and pregnant, Lauren will plan trip to So. America
Ruth:  Robert D. Hales will die, Boyd K. Packer will die, wedding or two in the family, Lauren will pass her preview, Nilssons will do a house project
Lauren:  Thomas will travel (went on a cruise, Colorado, Idaho), Thomas engaged, another major calling (Joe - elder's quorum pres., Lauren - primary pres., Elise - RS pres.), someone pregnant (herself!!!)
Thomas:  Lauren married, another child addition (Henry), Mom and Dad new car
Grace:  the cousins will go to Disneyland

Miscellaneous predictions thrown out by family members playing ping pong:
- three new babies in the family or on the way
- two weddings
- four new cars (Joe & Lori van, Ruth and Garrett van, Thomas Subaru, Alex & Elise Lexus)
- one new prophet
- two new apostles
- Grandpa Belliston on a mission
- Garrett will run another race
- a new greenhouse in the family
- Harts will have a girl

You are quite good predictors!  Maybe we should all try manifesting along with our predicting and more things will occur that we want to have happen!  For more information about manifesting, talk with Elise and Alex!

Can't wait to see those of you who will be at Carl's for the New Year's party!  For those who can't be there, we will miss you, but will be in touch.  Love you all!

Flake Fun

21 Dec 2015 - Apologies for not "blobbing" yesterday. It was most definitely not a day of rest, as I am sure most of you can relate to.  We had our Christmas program at church and I was involved with all but one of the musical numbers.  Between practicing, performing, primary and treat deliveries, we didn't have much time to sit down and relax. 

This past week was pretty typical.   I did spend a couple of days in Phoenix at a statewide exercise which was a nice break from the norm of the office.  We also had our ward Christmas party and our work party. So, I guess it wasn't at all typical! 

Scott got the tiller working which was pretty exciting!  We put a new motor on it and had to change some gaskets (or something) but it works nicely!  It is quite the beast. 

I learned an interesting lesson in gratitude this week. I was in the dollar store on Friday looking for some things and I over heard a piece of a conversation in the next isle over.  It went something like this:
"Well I called the bank to see why my card was declined and they said that they were doing a system update.  Who does that in the middle of the day?  Anyway, this lady behind me must have been in a big hurry because she paid for my packages.  She wouldn't let me pay her back or give me her address so I could send a check.  It was so embarrassing."

 I'll have to tell you the back story for it to make much sense.  A couple of weeks ago I had been contemplating what to do with Grandpa's holiday money.  We had been praying to know who needed it.  I had just left the temple and that subject was on my mind.  I stopped at the post office and noticed that the lady at the front of the line was having trouble with her card.  There were about 4-5 people ahead of me in line.  The lady stepped out to call her bank and the post office lady kept ringing people up.  By the time I got to the front of the line, the lady had not returned and it hit me that perhaps I could make someone's day a little brighter so I paid for her packages. A week later I was in the dollar store...

Why do we have such a hard time allowing people to be kind?  How can we create a Zion family or community when we refuse to allow people to help us?  When we don't let those around us know when we need help?  I am as guilty as anyone in this but this experience has really driven it home to me. 

Anyway, I'm glad that the party went well.  It was fun to attend digitally! 
Merry Christmas!

Hart Happenings

So, I was a huge fan of the Christmas party. It was a riot. The kids had a blast picking out books, making snowflakes and gingerbread houses, and acting out the nativity. And I had a good time visiting with all the siblings and their spouses/fiancées. The food was delicious and it was fun to recognize mom's achievement. I also got really excited to hear the Manning's announcement. Yay!

It was nice to relax after a crazy week. We decided to set up Alex's parent's house as an Airb&b location so we had to stage the whole thing and do some cleaning. Mom, you blessed us all with high standards in the cleaning department and in this instance it did not serve me well. It turned into a monumental project. But it looks nice and clean now. Still some things to do but we have it booked for weekends all through January 3rd. 

Things are nice and cold here. We spent the evening walking around the neighborhood caroling with some good friends of ours. It is a fun tradition that we look forward to. 

Not much else to recount. Just doing all that fun holiday stuff. 

Sure love you all. And my apologies to Nick for not wishing you a Happy Birthday. I had no idea you even had birthdays!  Now I do and I can put it on my calendar. I hope it was a wonderful day!

What a great family Christmas party we had!!  We missed Jenn and Scott terribly, but were glad they could join us electronically for a few moments.  I have some photos that I will try to get Dad to help me put up when he gets home.  I must look into the app that Elise has that makes it easy to do that...

 

My very favorite part of the party was being at the bookstore with the grandchildren.  I loved watching them look for books, read them together, give each other ideas, show aunts and uncles their choices.  It was sweet to see Elise reading to Joe and recommending books to Emma.  It was fun to watch Joe and Lori chase the twins around and doing "Jack in the Box," with squeals each time Jack jumped out!  It was delightful to hear darling little Eliza adamantly state that she would only settle for a book about monsters (she finally chose one about a pig).  Thank you, thank you for allowing me such a wonderful time with the children. I really hope it can become a tradition!  We loved spending time at the church, too.  Fun, fun times.  Loved every minute of it :)

 

And thanks for your kindness to me.  I feel officially graduated now!  Thank you for the flowers, the oils, the support and patience.  I'm grateful for the experience and all I've learned. It has been a life-changing experience for me.

 

Now, on to the next phase of Christmas.  Emma is about finished collecting money for her private "sub for Santa" effort.  She tries to find some very needy people and usually goes to Angela (Ashcroft) Hansen for ideas.  Angela is the RS Pres in a ward by Willow Park where there are some very intense needs.  She is always so grateful and says the people are very humbled and grateful to receive any help.  For perspective, I've pasted a copy of her email here.  These are the kinds of folks we feel very good about helping.

 

"Robin and helpers,

Here are some people. There's quite a few. Don't feel obligated to do them all. Pick the ones you want.  And thanks so much for helping! You make a huge difference!

Any type of gift would be great for these first few families.

Gentile's:

    Brinlie - age 9

    Gauge - age 7
    Elliana - age 6
    Max - age 3
Bunkall:
    Kyle - age 10
Done:
    Zachary - age 14
    Kyle - age 13
Wilkins:
    Corey - age 10

For the families below I have a few suggestions:
Mathison family: They have 1 son named Oscar - age 7 or 8. We don't have him on our records for some reason (probably wasn't blessed as a baby) so I can't look up his exact age....  His family is very dysfunctional - but leaps and bounds more functional than the families his parents grew up in. So they are doing well...sort of. They are all addicted to their electronic devices and all go to separate rooms to watch TV, play video games, and Oscar watches movies and you-tube videos most of the time. They never eat dinner as a family and their meals consist of hot dogs and chicken nuggets - stuff you can heat up in a microwave. Then they carry it to their rooms and eat alone while they do their games and stuff. I would recommend some thing they can do as a family like board games, etc.
Bro. Carlson - age 59. I recommend some kind of care package. He had a brain tumor years ago. When they did brain surgery it left one side of his body not able to work - kind of like someone who has had a stroke. He is very poor and is only able to work 4 hours per day at the DI. I know he doesn't eat well because he can't really cook one-handed and it's super hard for him to even open a can. He recently quit smoking and went through the temple this year for the first time! He comes to church an hour early and waits for ward council to get out so the men can help him put on a tie, tie his shoes, and button up his shirt. I'm sure its a hard task to get ready every Sunday morning. However, lately he hasn't come at all for the last 5 weeks. We are all very concerned about him. We're concerned he feels he's a burden to everyone. :(
Helen - age 47. She recently got out of jail and moved into a camper trailer in the trailer park in our ward. She is doing great - comes to church every week without fail. She's working hard to change her life. She's going to start working at DI this week. She could use some curtains or fabric to make curtains or a propane tank to heat her trailer (about the size of one you'd use for your grill).
Sis. Cox - age 75 widow. A care package would be great for her too.

Thanks so much for all you do!!!!!"

Have a lovely Christmas, you wonderful family, you!!  I hope you find joy in helping some people who need a lift this season.  Like Emma said, "Why is it only at Christmas time that we think it's the 'season for giving'?"  She's certainly right - we can determine to give more generously all year long! That would be a great New Year's resolution...

Speaking of New Year's - we talked with some of you about Carl's invitation to have another party at his house on the first day of 2016.  If you are interested in attending, please let us know right away!

Hyde Park Happiness

Whew!!!  What a week!  Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragement so I could finish my classes. It feels kind of weird to think I don't have to read textbooks, write papers, take tests, etc. any more.  I don't really know what I'll do with myself now, but there are plenty of things to choose from!  It is a great relief and I'm very grateful to Dad and Emma especially for putting up with my absenteeism for the last while.  They've been beyond patient and have taken over what I should have been doing.  I think it's been worth the effort.

We drove down to Layton yesterday to see Addy perform in her Christmas dance recital, which was really fun.  They did dances to Nutcracker music, which I love!  Addy's becoming quite graceful and danced beautifully.  Dad stayed with sick Emerson and Eliza so their parents and I could watch Addy.  It was nice to be there.

One or more of us have been to three Christmas parties lately and we're invited to another one tomorrow night.  I guess the season is in full swing.  Emma is doing her annual neighborhood sub-for-Santa effort, mostly by herself this year.  It's always a wonderful experience.  Thomas is in Colorado at a training for mascots.  He should be home tomorrow, just in time for finals!  Nick and Lauren were here tonight to celebrate Nick's birthday.  I'm not sure he enjoyed the celebration much until he finally won Rack-o!  It was great to have them here.

We can't wait for our family party!! We're very excited to see all of you and are looking forward to a delightful time together.  It's going to be strange to just be together for one afternoon instead of planning three days worth of activities and food! :/  We have some fun things planned and will have a great time next Saturday!  See you there....

Flake Fun

13 Dec 2015 - First off...Happy Birthday to Nick!  Congrats to Lauren on her new calling!  My advice is don't forget to laugh!
This week was a long one but we survived and had a great weekend! We decorated for Christmas on Monday.   Friday morning we helped with TJ's house.  It was pretty windy but luckily most of the roof is on and the walls are up so we had some "indoor" things to do. 
We woke up to snow on Saturday and it snowed off and on for the rest of the day. It was beautiful.  It is the heavy, wet snow and it is still hanging around today!  The forecast calls for some pretty low temperatures this coming week so I guess winter is here. 
I think that is about it for us!  Hope everyone survived finals week. 

Manning Musings

This last week of school was packed full! But we both survived. Nick had the harder end of the deal because he was teaching seminary on top of final concerts, papers and projects. He worked so hard on those lessons and it ended up being a really good experience. Thanks for your prayers!
Today is Nick's 27th birthday and that has been fun. He is the best 27 year old I know! I got called to be the secretary in the primary so Jenn will have to teach me the ropes. We have a unique and fun primary because we have the Spanish and Chinese kids too.
That is about it for us. We are looking forward to a break after this week of finals and lots of grading. We hope to see you at the family party!

Hart Happenings

Thanks for posting that recipe, Mom. It just sounded so good yesterday. I was torturing myself by perusing my fully illustrated cookbooks on Fast Sunday (does anyone remember doing that as kids?)and I started remembering that stemmed pudding and couldn't find any complete instructions. I think it will be our FHE treat tonight. The missionaries are coming over to teach one of their investigators at our house. Patricia and her daughter Olivia. They are lovely! 

This week was great. Alex and I actually got the majority of our Christmas shopping done right after Thanksgiving so we have been just enjoying the season. We got out Christmas tree on Monday, went sledding on Tuesday, Ian's concert was on Wednesday (which was so fun!), we've been enjoying our advent calendar every day, and we went to our favorite glass blower's workshop open house and watched him blow his glass ornaments and picked a new one out to add to our collection. We spent an evening with Alex's business partner and his wife at their home eating and watching a Christmas movie. Our ward Christmas party was on Saturday and it was fantastic! So much fun and a great turn out. We got all the poinsettias delivered and set out at the mall, we've made tons of snowflakes, and I was able to enjoy a craft say with some of my favorite friends. Then we topped it all off with a houseful of lovely people who joined us for cookies and milk and the Christmas Devotional. It's been a great start to the season!

Can't wait to see everyone again in a couple weeks!

Requested Recipe

This post is per Elise's request. I don't know if any others of you remember eating steamed pudding, but it was one of Dad's favorites growing up.  Give it a try if you want something really yummy!

Marcelle Belliston's Steamed Pudding

1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated potatoes
2 cups raisins (I usually add a little less)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp each of salt, cinnamon, soda, nutmeg
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix ingredients together.  Grease 2 - 3 large peanut butter jars or wide mouth quart jars.  Put a cloth in the bottom of a pot that is tall enough to put a lid on with the jars inside. Put 3 - 4 inches of water in the pan and place the jars inside.  Turn heat on medium and put the lid on the pan.  Bring water to a boil and let the pudding steam for 2 - 2 1/2 hours until carrots and potatoes are soft.  Watch to make sure the pan doesn't boil dry. Add more water if needed.

It's more delicious with the sauce!

Steamed Pudding Sauce

Melt 3 Tbs butter in one cup of boiling water.
Stir together:
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. cinnamon and nutmeg
Add to hot mixture. Cook until thick and clear.
Add 1 tsp. vanilla.
Serve on hot pudding.

Manning Musings

It was so great to be with family over Thanksgiving. We have such a good family! It was wonderful to be with the Mannings on Thanksgiving Day. There are a really great group and so fun! This week is the last big marathon race for school. And just to make it fun Nick is teaching seminary this week and is being observed to see if he can student teach. Lots of prayers would be appreciated! He is such a great teacher and he loves the students but he wishes there was more time to prepare the lessons with all of his school demands and teaching. But whatever happens will be good and it is all in the Lord's hands anyway.
My music class students have been doing final projects where they present on something they have been researching or they can perform something. It has been pretty fun and there has been lots of creativity in the topics.
Thanks for all your prayers and concern for my health. I am doing much better and am very grateful for that!
Nothing too out of the ordinary this week except that Nick became buddies with Kurt Bestor. Not really, he just played in a concert with him! Looking forward to the break and more time with family and friends!

Nilsson News

This week was our sick week.  On Tuesday, Eliza came down with a fever and stomach bug.  It lasted two days and Henry caught it.  He seemed to throw up just about every half hour, poor little guy!  This is the first time he has ever been sick and what a way to be introduced to the realities of mortality.  Saturday night, Emerson began complaining of a stomach ache and he also threw up all night.  I am sitting home from church with him as I type this.  I guess we teach our kids to share with each other, but I wish some things they would keep to themselves.  It was fun to have Grandma here on Friday evening.  She was so kind to watch the kids so Garrett and I could get out for a few minutes.

A funny thing did happen amidst all these germs, the kids were getting bundled to go and play outside. A few minutes later, Emerson came running in to tell me there was a pig outside.  I wasn't sure if he was seeing things because in Layton nobody has a pig.  I walked over to the window and sure enough, a large, black and grey spotted potbellied pig, was sniffling around the mailbox!  How random can you get?  I started to call around to some neighbors to see if they knew anyone with a pig.  The neighbor on the corner just had to find out who it belonged to and soon discovered our neighbors across the street had just bought it a couple days earlier.  They have six dogs, five boats, and ten cars, why not add a pig to the mix?  It definitely added some excitement to the kid's day.

Like mom mentioned, we finally went and bought a Christmas tree.  It isn't as thrilling to go choose a tree at the tree lot, but when I think about taking all our littles and going on an excursion in the mountains, I suddenly don't mind the tree lot.  We settled on a tall and skinny tree.  For the first time in the history of our Christmas trees, this one looks loaded!  When you only have ten branches to hang ornaments on, it fills up rather quickly.

We hope all is well with all of you and hope you are enjoying this holiday season!

Hyde Park Happiness

It was a busy week around here, again!  I helped with the Relief Society Christmas program, which ended up being very nice thanks to all of Dad's help. The spirit was rich and uplifting and I think the sisters were inspired to reflect on Christmas in a more meaningful way. We were sorry to miss Ian's concert because both events were on the same evening, but he may favor us with some of his music at our family Christmas party!

Dad's been working hard to get approval for the ward boundary changes he already made in his stake. A YSA stake/ward functions so much differently than regular ones that it's tricky to get needed information and approvals. The big, new student housing building will open in January and the residents will be incorporated into Dad's stake, which will be interesting. He's trying to help get things ready for that. They have to wait to see how many active members it will involve before they can create another ward and find another bishop. Lots of exciting changes!

We set up our Christmas tree, the best we've had in a long time, thanks to Emma and her friends. We've also started reading our favorite Christmas books. I hope you all have the "old favorites." If not, let me know and I'll do my best to find them for you.

Emma has been in high demand lately. Friends are constantly inviting her to watch movies and hang out. Sometimes she goes. Sometimes she doesn't. She was thrilled when Lauren came the other day and stayed to watch White Christmas with her. I think she'd watch it every day if I'd let her! She's still having pain in her foot, though. I had hoped it would improve after marching band season, but when she gets cold, the pain increases. We'll have it looked at soon.

We haven't seen much of Thomas lately. I'm pretty sure that when this semester is over, he will sleep for three days straight! Poor guy... Trying to balance school, work, coaching, wedding planning, etc. is exhausting!

I sent in my Graduation Application to Midwives College of Utah this week. I have 3 more papers to write next week and then I'll be finished with all of my class work! I can't believe it! It's been a long and satisfying journey, but like having a baby, I think the most challenging part has really just begun. I attended a birth on Friday night at the birth center in Ogden and was grateful to be able to crash at Ruth's house afterward. It was delightful to stay with Henry the next morning while the rest of the Nilssons went to find the perfect Christmas tree. I have another mom due here who has been having signs of labor for a couple of days. After that baby arrives, I'll have a break for a few weeks. It will be nice to feel like I can travel out of the valley without worrying about getting too far away!

Watch your email for news about the upcoming Belliston Family Christmas Party!!!!!!!

Christmas thoughts:

http://bcove.me/e6r6tf96

“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.”  President Hunter

A Great Christmas Story

I'm always touched by stories of love and sacrifice. Life is pretty tenuous (as evidenced this morning when an ambulance came to take Brother Purser to the hospital) and we all try do to what we can to relieve suffering and help others. Some are able to go above and beyond the call of duty....

"My Uncle Ed has always had an infectious love of life. Unfortunately, he also had a deficient pair of kidneys. For several years, Ed had been staving off kidney failure through dialysis. The treatments were painful and frequent. Each treatment wiped him out until the next one, and by the fall of 1995, he seemed to be just a shell of his former vibrant self.

The doctor finally told Ed that if he didn’t get a new kidney soon, his body wouldn’t hold out much longer. Although only one kidney is necessary to sustain life, Ed didn’t want to ask anyone to donate one of theirs due to the risk that inherently accompanies any surgery. But there was no choice. Several close friends and family members were tested to see if their kidneys were compatible. Only one perfect match was found: Ed’s sister, Dottie—my mother.

On December 7, many of Ed’s friends and family joined in fasting and prayer in behalf of him and Dottie. The surgeons who performed the operation were twin brothers. Even more interesting, one of them had donated a kidney to the other. Ed and my mother were impressed to learn that with each surgery, these two doctors did all that they could and then bowed their heads and left the outcome in the Lord’s hands.

On the day of the operation, one doctor removed one of my mother’s kidneys. As he sewed her back up, his brother carefully secured the donated kidney inside Ed’s abdomen.The surgery was a success, but it remained to be seen if Ed’s body would accept the new kidney. The antibodies in his immune system were suppressed to improve his chances, so Ed had to be isolated in intensive care to protect him from viruses. Even after he was released, he had to remain isolated from everyone except his immediate family. On Christmas Eve, however, Ed received special permission to attend my grandparents’ annual Christmas Eve celebration.

Wearing a face mask, Ed walked in the door, headed straight for Dottie, and enveloped her in a tremendous hug. As they embraced each other, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Everyone could feel the love emanating from them. A sister had suffered in order to give her brother the gift of life. It was a gift of love, a gift of sacrifice, a gift he couldn’t provide for himself.

As I watched them, with tears streaming down my face, it dawned on me: this could be what it will be like to meet the Savior face to face. He did something for us that we are unable to do for ourselves. Only He, being divine, was able to endure a sacrifice so great that the law of justice would be satisfied. And only He, being perfect, was worthy to atone for the sins of all mankind so that the law of mercy could be extended to all who accept Him as their Savior.

As I savored these insights, I recommitted myself to do all I could to show my appreciation for the Savior and His sacrifice. I would strive to live my life as a disciple so that someday I might be worthy to enter His presence, embrace Him, and personally thank Him for loving me enough to make such a sacrifice."

Flake Fun

6 Dec 2015 - Why does it take so long to recover from a vacation?  This week was a long one but we survived!  On Monday we were invited to eat with TJ and Kim so we took the opportunity to install blinds in the house so they now have some privacy!  It was a great way to start the week.  The rest of the week was spent at the office. 

Yesterday we helped TJ and Kim some more on their house. We had pizza for lunch.  There was one pizza left and the box was sitting on a shelf in the garage.  I was standing on the second floor looking into the garage when I noticed Reynolds, the golden retriever, sneak into the garage, snatch the pizza box from the shelf and saunter off.  I think that if I hadn't raised the alarm, no one would have been the wiser.  I just thought it was so funny that I had to tell Scott and it was overheard...Hilarious!!!!

Last week was pretty cold but this weekend has been beautiful and we are enjoying sunshine.  Hope everyone has decorated for Christmas and is enjoying the holiday season! 

I don't know if anyone likes jalapeno poppers but I found a delicious jalapeno popper casserole recipe. It is more of an appetizer/chip dip but oh so yummy!

P.S. From Hyde Park

Dad and I took our donations to the Center for Pregnancy Choices yesterday and had a wonderful experience as they gave us a little tour of their space. The people who volunteer there are all good, Christian folks.  They provide services to women who find themselves with an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy and pray with them and try to help families come together. They receive donations of clothing, blankets, diapers and other supplies that they provide to new mothers. The women can also "earn" additional clothing and supplies as they attend classes to help them with parenting. They are  reaching out to the community and providing classes in some of the high schools (Cache High and Fast Forward) about abstinence.  We felt really good about their program.  They were very grateful for the donations and said to tell our family thank you very much. We have a baby bottle for each of you to fill with coins and will bring them to our family Christmas party - as soon as we get it planned! Thanks again!

More From Hyde Park

Thanks to Emma for submitting our last post. I didn't realize how tired I was at the end of our celebrating together - I just collapsed by Sunday evening (after a day of two Sacrament meetings, tithing settlement, teaching primary, home teaching with Dad, and a rehearsal for the Relief Society program I'm helping with this week)!

But it is December now and I'm all recovered :)  Here is a little story to help get/keep you in the spirit of Christmas:

“One year come December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive shopping, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row- center
stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W". The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W". Although many teachers tried to hush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it
together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: "CHRISTWAS LOVE" And, I believe, He still is.”

A sweet story with a true message.  I hope our family will not over-extend ourselves during this wonderful season to the point that we totally forget why and what we are really celebrating. I hope we all have eyes to see each and every day that Christ was (and is) love.  Merry Christmas!!

(I may share more stories now and then, so you might want to check the "blob" more frequently!)

Hyde Park Happenings

Thank you all for coming! I know it's tight, and thanks for putting up with the crunched quarters! It was great to see everyone taking care of everybody else's children! You guys are just so great!
          Thomas gave a wonderful talk in his YSA ward on Family History and Temple Work.  Then he and Emma sang in our ward.  Lauren wasn't feeling well so Sister Bennett saved the day and accompanied them at the last minute!
          We're getting excited for our Christmas gathering which we will be letting you know more about within this week.  We'll let you know the where, when, how, why, how long, who, etc etc etc.
          Thanks for doing the music.  It's always so good to here and Emma absolutely loves it when she gets to sing with her siblings.  Thanks again for putting up with the very small space:) we really love it when you come! Dad liked the food, visiting, football, and of course ping pong (I don't think he'd like it so much if he'd lost;) Mom's favorite parts were holding babies (no shortage there!), playing heads up seven up (?), pie night, oh and the cousins Christmas Concert! It was awesome!

Note from Em (cuz I didn't want to write one by myself): Thanks for coming everybody! Skits were super duper fun! Y'all did so good! The food was awesome and I loved having you guys here! Thanks for putting up with me sometimes! You guys are pretty much my favorite ever! Come again, okay? I kinda like that;) I liked pretty much basically all of it! Black Friday shopping was awesome, pie night, games, putting kids to sleep etc etc etc;)

Flake Fun

29 Nov 2015 - Well we made it home safe and sound.  Glad to hear that everyone else did as well. 
We had such a great time this week with everyone! Good food. Good company.  Just a good week overall. It was rejuvenating  Now it is back to the grindstone!

Hart Happenings

Jack thinks this week's post should say: "We're having crepes for dinner, bye!"

In reality, Thanksgiving was wonderful! So good to be with our favorite people on the planet! And the snowstorm just topped it all off. It really put us in the holiday mood and the kids and I have been decorating for Christmas all afternoon. Our little elf on the shelf re-appeared while we were gone and the boys love trying to track her down in the morning. 

Thanks to everyone for being so great and for treating our kids so nicely. They are your biggest fans. 

Hyde Park Happiness

Apples, tomatoes (spaghetti sauce), making a video for RS, calling people for a RS program, finishing my very involved research project, lots of prenatal/postpartum visits, and battling a silly headache for several days consumed the week.  All are finished, except the apples, and we are ready to get ready for the BIG day (weekend)!

Emma's date turned out well, despite her off-the-charts stress level (or maybe because of her stress level). I think they all had a great time! It's so satisfying to see the caliber of friends our children choose. I've very grateful for that. Not a worry at all to leave them here for a few minutes so Dad and I could go to Lauren's and Nick's for dinner. They very graciously invited us when I told them we were going out somewhere since our kitchen had been taken over and there was no food for us! We enjoyed a very yummy dinner with them and some inspiring conversation. Lauren is looking more robust all the time and seems to be feeling sick less often. How nice! She even played racquetball the other day and has been using the little trampoline.

On to a few days of trying to get the house ready and loose ends tied up before you all get here. Which I am looking forward to more than anyone else!!!  Happy Thanksgiving to us all!!

Em's Exciting Existence

Remind me I never want to plan a girls choice dance ever again in my life.  It was fun but golly moses, I was nervous nothing would work out! So, we went up to Idaho to get our tree for our day date! How cool is that? mom came up with that! She's awesome! You really should've seen their faces when I suggested we go hunt christmas trees.... That was a very new experience for all of them! Harley Cragun is one of my most favorite people ever! She took Nathan Hunzinger and I took Devin Potts (one of the redhead bunch;) It was a good thing Harley and I didn't go alone.  We had no clue of direction in the snow and mountains but the boys got us out all right! We got a really large tree, about twelve feet tall maybe but we cut it in half so that we could fit it in Harley's truck.  It's a very nice tree and we all smelled like evergreen for the rest of the day:) It was awesome! then we just had some hot chocolate (also mom's brilliantness coming into play) and chatted for a long time.  Then we loaded back up and drove back to our house.  We proceeded to make crepes (again, thanks be to wonderful mothers who relive their daughters extreme stress by setting the table, getting fresh fruit and fancy juice) and they were wonderful! We made a double batch and gobbled all of it! then we cleaned up and listened to music.  We chopped of the very top of our tree so there was a little tree left over from that, and we took it to Harley's house.  We decorated it with homemade decorations and took it to Mr. Geddes's house (he's the favorite teacher at SV and he teaches Psych) and doorbell ditched it.  It was legit cuz I was the getaway driver and we peeled out and went screeching down the subdevision (don't worry, we didn't really peel out and go screeching, but it sounds better that way).  Then we went to Harley's house again and decided to culture me with a bit of Star Wars which was AWESOME! Although my favorite character died super unexpectedly, it was great! I'm real upset about that actually but I'll get over it.... someday.  Anyway, remind me not to be home late ever again because getting the look from dad is absolutely the worst ever.  Yep, bad idea.  Y'all know what I'm talking about don't you? I hope I'm not the only child that's got that look before....
Well, love you all and can't wait to see you guys super soon! Tell Gracie that it's fine and she can totally sleep in my room again! ;)

Hart Happenings

Well, we didn't get that house. I guess the cemetery district wanted it too and it's hard to outbid an entity that has unlimited cash at its disposal. Alas. This house finding thing is quite the process. It was nice to talk to Joe about it and realize that they looked for about 8 months before coming across the place they're in now. I just get impatient. 

It snowed this week. For real! The boys had fun playing in the snow with the neighbor boys.

Ian sang at the Festival of Trees which is a fun local even organized to benefit adults with disabilities. Different businesses decorate Christmas trees and donate them and then people can buy them for their personal Christmas tree. They are all GORGEOUS!

We hosted our Super Saturday at the church this past weekend which was fun. I made rice bags for all the kids. So now there are enough to go around and I can have mine back!

We toured Albertson's with our homeschooling group on Friday morning which was really fun. But one our best friends texted while we were there that she had gotten into a crash on their way to the field trip! We went out to visit them afterward and everyone was okay but that first snow storm of the season always does a number on drivers as we try to remember the driving in icy conditions rules. 

We also had a great time doing Thanksgiving crafts with our neighbors on Wednesday. The projects turned out so cute! I never do that kind of stuff with the boys so it was extra fun. 

We're super excited for this week! Can't wait to see you all!

Hot chocolate season is here! It is Peter's preferred beverage these days. 

Jack lost a tooth too!

Although you can't tell it from his face, Peter was thrilled to see Santa ("Ho-ho") at the Festival of Trees. 

Peter trying to get his hair to lay down flat. 

And that is our silly, lovely life. 

Nilsson News

We had a most amazing Stake Conference!  I have given up trying to take notes when I have little people to look out for so I was doing my best trying to take mental notes.  My mental capacity was fried up during the first three talks!  So much was said of faith, missionary work and having the guidance of the Spirit in our lives.  Elder Warner of the Seventy and his wife, were attending our conference.  My favorite talk was by Sister Warner.  She was explaining how in London when you are getting on and off the subway, there is a message that comes over the speakers that says, "Mind the gap."  This is to warn people to pay attention to the gap between the subway and the platform.  She related this to the own gaps in our lives; ones that may be confusing and prohibit us from getting from where we are to where we want to be.  She kept emphasizing the importance to pay attention to them, learn to embrace them and not fear them.  They are there for a reason that we may not understand, but when we look at them from the grand view of heaven, they will appear only as a mere fissure.  Her experience with this was when she was wanting to be married and it just wasn't happening.  She began to think that perhaps it wouldn't happen in this life.  Finally, she met someone in her ward that just so happened to be the boy who grew up across the street from her.  She said, "You may be wondering why I hadn't paid attention to him until now.  Well let's talk of a literal gap.  When I was leaving for college, he was just starting first grade!"  Anyway, she was 37 and he was 25 when they got married.  Now she understands and embraces that gap.
Another thing I took away from our conference was to not make a "big deal" out of things.  Not many things in life are "big deal" so stop making the small things into a "big deal."  My life has been reformed and now I just need to make it apparent!

We enjoyed a visit from Emma and Grandma this week which was a welcome delight.  Emma needed to go shopping for some things, so I took her to the mall.  Let's just say that when you take one person that is not good at shopping and combine her with another person that claims to be unsuccessful, you pretty much get a disappointing result.  We at least had a fun time together!  Anyone up for Black Friday shopping?  If you don't want to find anything, come join me!
On Friday, we had a birthday party for Hyrum and Joseph.  Garrett had to preside at a funeral the whole morning, which was a little challenging for him, but we got to spend the evening together.  Balloons, pie and ice cream and singing all made it great.
We are looking forward to next week with all of you!  I have to apologize to Ian though.  We don't get around to watching very many Studio C episodes (okay, truth be told, we don't ever watch it. Please don't disown us!) so we hoped it would be okay if we made up a skit of our own?  It won't be as entertaining as a Studio C production I'm sure, but hopefully you can be kind enough to endure it with us.  See you all soon!
p.s. I think Garrett said he was wanting to bring yams and marshmallows for his in-law contribution to the meal.

Manning Musings

Well, the semester is getting to crunch time! Nick is super busy but always cheerful about it and he has been able to play in some fun concerts lately. I am learning what a skill it is to write a good test! I think I worry about my students' grades more than they do!
But life is great and we are looking forward to Thanksgiving this week! Can't wait to see all of you!
Nick had the opportunity to teach a seminary class for a day a couple weeks ago. It was a good experience and we are waiting for the next phase which is teaching for one week. It is an exciting time!
Today in church was our primary program. We have such a fun dynamic in our ward because the Young Men/Young Women and the primary combine with the Spanish ward and the Chinese branch that are in our building. So there were a ton of primary kids but it was a great Spirit and lots to smile and laugh about.
That is about it for now! See you all soon!

Flake Fun

22 Nov 2015 - This week was a long one as far as work goes.  I helped to host a Behavioral Health After Incident Exercise, a flu shot clinic and a military tent set up. It was nice to stay busy though.  Scott has also kept quite busy with work.  We are looking forward to a short work week and a visit to Utah!

Yesterday we helped TJ and Kim put up the trusses at their house.  That is a long project that doesn't appear much improved when all is said and done.  I think part of what makes it hard is being so high in the air and taking precautions to not fall off of the roof.  There is still a lot to be done but things are moving along.

The weather has turned really cold and we have starting building fires every night.  We have a thick frost each morning but no permanent snow.

Well, I think that is all for this post.  Not much went on this week.  If anyone can think of anything they would like us to bring up with us this week, please let me know by Tuesday evening.  We are hoping to leave first thing on Wednesday morning!  Can't wait to see all of you! 

Flake Fun

15 Nov 2015 - Well, we had stake conference too but we were at a missionary homecoming but I'm sure it was great.  The homecoming was wonderful.  There was a sister leaving, an elder coming home and the high council man.  Take away messages: don't forget to fellowship and be grateful!

We had Wednesday off for Veteran's day and we spent the whole day at TJ and Kim's new home putting up exterior walls and a few interior.  On Friday we put up sheeting around the garage.  Now it is looking like a house without a roof.  The trusses are supposed to be coming on Saturday so that is probably where we will be.  Scott has become quite an expert framer.  It will be great to have them back in the neighborhood...in March or so. It seems like a long way off. 

Our new rental is coming along but we will be stopping most major projects here in a few days so that TJ and Kim can move in.  It seemed a waste for us to have an empty 5 bedroom house while they were living in a camping trailer.  So we came to a mutual agreement and they will be there until their house is done.

The weather has been beautiful of late.  We got a truckload of mulch and Scott is working on getting the tiller running (it's been sitting for 10 years or so).  Hopefully we'll have a good garden prep so we can have a fantastic garden next year.  

Glad to hear that the Hart's have an offer in.  Glad to hear the Nilsson's have a bathroom in...kind of and that they survived Eliza's grumpiness.  Sad to hear that Lauren is still not feeling well.  Wish there was something we can do...if there is, let us know! 

And that's it for us! Have a great week everyone! 

Hart Happenings

Happy Stake Conference day! I know it was for us and Dad and Mom anyway. The president of the Idaho Falls temple spoke (how would you like to be the president of a temple whose use is "temporarily discontinued"?) He talked about how they had to dismantle and pack up all of the chandeliers. The one in the Celestial Room alone had 23,000 individual crystals that they removed, cleaned, and packed individually. Any that had been chipped were set aside and labeled so they could be replaced and the new ones could be placed exactly where they belonged. Sheesh! He then challenged us, while the temple is closed, to take inventory of our lives, piece by piece, clean it up, and set aside any parts that are chipped or damaged, and put it back together in better condition. I thought it was a unique illustration of a really great principle. We have another year to work on it before our temple is rededicated, so we're going to get cracking. C. Scott Grow was our visiting authority and he spoke for the majority of the meeting about pretty much whatever came into his head. It was delightful and quite inspiring. Ian, Alex, and I all sang in the choir which is always a great experience. Ian especially enjoyed himself. He says it was awesome!

We spent a lot of time this week out at a property that we actually made an offer on. Yikes! Yay! Yikes/Yay! It's kind of scary and exciting all at the same time.We should  hear back from them by tomorrow night. So next week's post could contain thrilling news or absolutley nothing. We're on tenterhooks here!

It was so fun to have mom come up on Wednesday. We can never quite get enough of our wonderful grandma! It was nice to have some fun girl time getting her hair done and shopping and the boys loved a rousing late-night game of musical chairs. She said she hasn't slept as well as she did that night for a long time. That's what three boys will do for you!

The kids got to play with their friends while their dad was at the priesthood leadership meeting last night. It is such a blessing to have good friends!

We enjoyed some good outdoor time this week too. The weather in the latter part of the week cleared up and the sun warmed us nicely so we explored a new park and revisited some old favorites. I can handle Novembers like this!

Hope all is well with the rest of you! We're huge fans of this big, crazy family of ours!

Nilsson News

I was going to edit my last post when we were informed that the doctor had misdiagnosed Eliza's kidney infection.  She did not have a kidney infection and that would explain why she wasn't responding to the antibiotics.  She had what was called adenovirus which is very similar to influenza and sticks around for a good, long ten days.  Anyway, what really matters is that Eliza is doing much better.  We all survived her bout of grumpyitis and we are smiling.

Speaking of Eliza...I was able to substitute in primary today.  Our ward does something where they ease the kids graduating from nursery into primary.  They start bringing the "moonbeams" into singing/sharing time a little at a time.  Well, Eliza was called on to pick something out of the bag during sharing time.  She grinned when she pulled it out.  Most of the kids looked puzzled and asked what it was.  Eliza with a little giggle that suggested, "doesn't everyone know what this is," said, "It's a pomogwanate."  I have to say it was pretty adorable.  She has a new love for these fall fruits.

Well, progress is slowly being made on the bathroom.  I just discovered how much Garrett despises projects.  He took this training and test that evaluates a persons's abilities and their strongpoints.  Well, he doesn't just not like projects a little bit, it is like a hiss and a byword to him!  I never knew because he never complains.  And I am such a project person!  Opposites definitely attract but it is crazy how that works.  Anyway, I'm happy to report that all the walls are up and now we just need a door...and tape and mud, and paint and tile, and a faucet and then I think it will be done!  I'm realizing how controlling of a person I am and that I need to just be grateful for the help we get even if it isn't up to my standard.  Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if I didn't have an opinion about things.

I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving break with all of you wonderful people.  We won't be able to come up until Thursday because Garrett's family will all be at our house for Thanksgiving.  Everyone baled on going down to St. George, so they are coming here.  It's a good thing I'm such a spontaneous person;)

Happy in Hyde Park

Well, Dad's stake conference went well yesterday and today - good spirit, good speakers, good messages. One thing that was said struck me: "Good is the enemy of great." Interesting statement. So, I guess I should say that the spirit, speakers and messages at the conference were Great!  Those meetings are truly uplifting and motivating.  We just hope the "water got to the end of the row," so to speak.  We hope hearts were touched and members were inspired to go and do.  I was!

I enjoyed a day in Idaho Falls, spending time with our favorite Harts.  They ended up with an appointment to show their house, so we had to make ourselves scarce.  The fellows endured spending time at the mall shopping with Elise and me.  They are such good sports.  We also looked at some property that they are interested in. We'll have to see what happens with that.

We are so glad Eliza is feeling somewhat better.  Wish the same was true for Lauren. Well, I guess she's feeling somewhat better, most of the time, but when she has a bad day, it's really, really bad. We keep hoping things will improve.  The bad days are getting farther apart, which is nice. Hope they completely disappear sooner than later!

Every time I talk with someone in the family, they ask what we are doing for Thanksgiving. I hope we figure that out really soon :)  Watch for an email about what to plan on. I hope to send it out in a day or two.  Just so you know, Jeremy Carlsen and his family may also be here, and possibly Grandpa and Christie.  We've looked at using Dad's church to have our dinner at, but it's reserved so we are trying to find some other options. Someone suggested setting up tables in the garage, but it's mighty cold out there!  We'll figure it out and let you know soon.  If nothing else, we'll be thankful and we'll be together! Only 10 days or so....

I've been memorizing the Sermon on the Mount for the Family Challenge - well, the first part of it, Matthew 5.  I continue to be impressed with the things the Lord wants us to focus on in our lives and how He looks for ways to bless us. Truly incredible. Watch for that in your own life. It makes a real difference.

Nilsson News

What a week! I don't know how much info mom gave you about Eliza so I'll just give you a recap since that is what this week entailed.  Beginning with Monday, Eliza began to say that she didn't feel well and then she would run off and play so I didn't think much of it.  By the evening though, she came down with a fever.  I thought she was coming down with a bug since it is the season for that and prepared to be out for awhile as all that kids would get it.  Well, she continued to have a fever and laid on the couch all day, every day.  Medication did not seem to do anything for her.  I was really perplexed as she continued to have a fever without any other symptoms.
Finally, on Friday, when she was looking very unwell and had a fever of 103.4, I decided to take her to the doctor.  He did the vitals on her but was also very perplexed that she didn't have any other symptoms and that the medicine I'd give her didn't work.  He ended up doing a nose and throat swab, which was awful, and sent me home with some things to collect a urine sample.  Once we got that done and tested at the lab, it showed Eliza had a kidney infection.  Luckliy, we were able to start her on an oral antibiotic, rather than an IV, which we had been told was a possibility.
Her fever is gone, and she isn't out on the couch all day, but she still isn't back to normal.  It really knocked her out so I reckon it will take a bit to get back.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
A side note, Henry is crawling all over the place and loving his new found freedom!  It is hard for the kids to remember to keep small items picked up off the floor.
My ponderizing quote this week is from Elder Maxwell:

"We can say, 'I know God loveth his children, nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.' We have had and will have times in each of our lives when such faith must be the bottom line.  We do not know what is happening to us or around us, but we know that God loves us, and knowing that for the moment, is enough."

Happy in Hyde Park

Well, 'tis the season for leaves (as well as Elise's comfort foods)!  That was my family challenge exercise for yesterday - and will probably be my exercise for the next few weeks.  It seems like it takes forever for all of the leaves to fall off the trees.  It would be nice if they all fell at once, but that just never happens.  It's sure lovely weather for raking, though!

The other exercise we're going to get is turning the handle on the Victorio strainer to make applesauce.  We still have a dozen or more boxes of apples in the garage.  It's been tricky to find time to cut them up, cook them, strain them, put the sauce in jars and process them.  It shouldn't be so hard to find that time, but it is.  Hopefully this week we can make some progress on that job.

We enjoyed attending the baptism of Evan and Christy's daughter, Abby, yesterday.  They also blessed their baby, Wyatt, at the same time. Well, they waited until after the baptism and confirmation, then blessed the baby.  It was fun to see Anne and Wes and to be there with Ruth, Addy and Eliza.  Little Eliza is feeling enough better to have a good case of grumpy-itis.  But that's better than just laying on the couch doing nothing.  When we got there yesterday, she was outside trying to herd the chickens to the back yard.  But she tuckers out quickly and still doesn't feel really great.  She is glad to take the medicine that helps her feel better, but only takes it once a day and is quite worn down at the end of the day.  Hopefully she'll be back to normal before long.  We'll all keep praying for her, and for Ruth (who hasn't had much sleep for a long, long time).

I was called to a birth early this morning, which I was glad about, even though I missed hearing Thomas teach Gospel Doctrine.  It was this mom's 11th baby.  Amazing. I never tire of seeing these sweet, precious babies come into the world. There is something especially sacred about attending a birth on the Sabbath day. It's a sort of sacrament. A true sacrifice of love, pain, blood, water, suffering and rejoicing. Beautiful.  Mom and baby are well and happy and in love.

Hart Happenings

Life goes on here in Idaho. Some weeks you enjoy just the usual, nothing out of the ordinary. And that was this week for us. Nice and slow and laid back. We went to the library, had a friend over for dinner, spent some time in the yard, trimmed trees at the mall, and house hunted. The latest place we're drooling over is on 17 acres with an incredible view of the mountains and.....wait for it.....the cemetery. Yes. That's right. 

We are in the middle of football mania here and can I just say how great it is to have a Jack that understands football and loves watching it with his dad? I'm now absolved of all the guilt I used experience when I didn't get all jazzed to watch football with Alex. Thanks goodness for sons. And it is really fun to watch them cheering and high-fiving each other from the comfort of my reading chair and a good book. 

Jack thinks that you should all know about the white cat who sometimes changes color depending on the spray paint available to his owners that moved in across the street. It has taken to leaving dead mice in our yard. Sweet thing. 

I don't know if I'm the only one, but with the onset of this cold weather the baking bug has hit hard here. Currently we have a batch of molasses cookies on the counter and a pan of brownies in the oven which follows on the heels of homemade macaroni and cheese. Comfort food season, y'all! But it is wreaking havoc on the family challenge, I must say. 

A highlight of our week was a trip to the local bowling alley to play darts. It was intense. Peter led the whole way by a pretty hefty margin, but then Jack came from behind and swept us all! Hysterical game! Good times. 

Glad to hear Eliza has migrated from the couch and has resumed some of her normal activity. 

We are counting down the days to Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see all of you! Peter has big plans for himself and Joe.

Quote of the week from Peter: "Mom! I found a balloon in my bum! It's magic!"

Context: while getting dressed that morning he had lost the balloon he was playing with and when he ran in to use the potty and pulled down his pants, there it was! He had made it disappear and then reappear!

 

Flake Fun

8 Nov 2015 -  On Tuesday evening it was really windy and moments after I started dinner, the power went out.  We waited a few minutes and the lights were still out so we lit our stove with a match and ate burritos by candle light. The power stayed out for the next hour or so but it was fun.  Then, the next evening it snowed!  We woke up to 1/4 inch of snow which disappeared quickly but was snow nevertheless!

On Thursday night we went to inspect our new house (Lovelake) and I learned that temporary renters don't feel an obligation to keep the home clean since they are not the ones personally losing a deposit.  I spent Friday morning de-junking the house and now I think we can get started on the repairs that need to be done before we can rent it again. 

Saturday we filled nail holes at Lovelake (Emma, I missed your expertise!) and took a general look around the house to finalize what projects needed to be done.  In the afternoon we went to help TJ and Kim on their house.  It is coming together.  They now have 5 walls up and are hoping to get the rest of them up and the roof on by Wednesday.

We just got back from a wonderful regional conference.  Elder Lynn Robbin's talk really hit home to me.  It was about the joy of simplicity.  Elder Oaks was in attendance and Elder Robbins explained that when Elder Oaks calls a new stake president he tells them that while Satan most likely won't have success in getting him to commit horrible sin, he will most likely have success at getting him to becoming too busy.  "The one thing that money can't buy is time." I thought about that and the need that I have for slowing down. It was satisfying to think that while we could have spent the whole day at Lovelake, we had the time to help out a neighbor with something that is. perhaps, more important.   That was my pondering for the day. 

Love you all.  Glad that little miss Liza is feeling better. See you in a few weeks!  Oh, does anyone want some decorative cactus plants?  We found a whole bushel of them in the backyard! 

Manning Musings

I can't really think of what happened this week because time goes by so fast. One of the highlights of the week was the Latin American concert Nick was able to play in. The University had several guest artists from South America come and do various workshops, concerts and lessons. During his senior year, Nick went to Brazil with some guitar majors and we guests at a music school there. The director of the school can here for the festival and gave Nick a lesson and they played together in the concert. It was a very fun night!
I am feeling a little better lately and have had some pretty good days which has been a blessing. It was so nice to have Joe come up and teach my classes. It was fascinating and the students enjoyed it. We have a very talented brother!
Looking forward to Thanksgiving break and seeing you all!

Nilsson News

First off, Happy Birthday to Jenn!  It sounded like you were able to do a little celebrating and that is good.  Seeing the leaves falling in my yard reminds me of last year at this time when the girls took leave down to Arizona.  How fun was that?!  That was also the first time we heard about this Nick fellow.  Who knew that in a few months from that time he would be a member of the family?  Good times!

We were sorry to miss playing with the Springville cousins, especially since we don't get that chance very often, but we were unexpectedly thrown into having company.  For those who may not know, Garrett's brother Quinn, is going to be living with us for a few weeks while he attends a rehab in Ogden.  In order to make it more comfortable for him, Garrett's dad consented to helping us finish a bathroom and hopefully bedroom downstairs.  After three crazy hectic days with hosting Garrett's parents, Quinn, and Garrett's brother Chris and his two girls, we are proud to announce that we now have a working toilet, sink and bath downstairs!  Now that the not so fun steps are done, we can work on putting up walls, painting and fine tuning.  Looking at it, it seems like not too difficult of a process.  50 steps and you have a bathroom, BUT you usually forget to take into account when you mess up (like drilling into the main sewer line, hooking up the hot water to the wrong piping, failing to tighten everything so when it turns on water spews forth all over) that it takes an extra 50 steps to fix the mistakes you made.  DIY always takes a long time, but isn't it so satisfying?

It looks as though fall is in full swing.  We had our first hard frost Friday morning and the whole day was chilly.  I'm about ready to stoke up our fireplace.  (Don't tell the government officials or we may get fined or something for polluting our air).  Addy had her first piano recital with Anarie, and she did a fantastic job.  The kids had a fun Halloween and did the traditional door to door trick or treating since our trunk or treat didn't happen.  They had fun dressing up (I truly hope to get some pictures on here).  Addy was a cowgirl, Emerson a chomping T-Rex, Eliza was a panda, Henry was an O Henry! bar and I was a BabyRuth and Garrett a Garrettdelli bar.  Pretty fun!

My ponderizing quote for the week is taken from the Lectures on Faith:
"When a man works by faith he uses mental exertion instead of physical force.  Faith works by words, and with these its mightiest works have been and will be performed."

Hart Happenings

Weeks like this make me really grateful for the good health we normally enjoy in our family. Each of the boys took a turn with a flu-like bug that took them down for about 2 days each. Then came the aftermath grumpiness for a few days after that but I think we are now all in the mend. 

Alex and I got away for the weekend which was really fun. We spent a couple hours at Lava Hot Springs and then stayed in a really cool hotel that one of Alex's friends owns. The boys stayed at home with the daughter of one of my friends and had a great time. 

Everything up here froze too so I try to avoid looking out the window these days. The snow will come eventually and cover things up, but right now everything just looks so desolate. 

Things are going really well right now for Alex in all of his business ventures and it's really rewarding to see some of his hard work and efforts paying off.

Halloween was a riot! We went to the ward trunk or treat and then some friends of our came over to trick or treat around the neighborhood. We kept collecting random friends as we walked around. Our neighbors joined the party and then our old bishop and two of his kids hooked up with us. The weather was perfect and no one got cold. My favorite part was wathching Peter try to give the people who gave him candy and piece of his in return. Then he would holler "Happy Halloween!" and jump of the porch and run to the next house with his Batman cape flapping behind him. Good times.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.