Happy times since the

Idiarts pulled in Saturday night.

I'm so behind I don't know where to start . .

Carrying on the tradition.

A few of the holiday festivities . . .

Amies Toujours Christmas Party

6th ward breakfast

 Santa couldn't come because he is so busy,

but he sent his dog.

So cute!

One of Gary's students

(actually it was probably the mom), gave him a nice card and this gift.

How did they know this would be a perfect jar for the candy store?  

Of course the cookies are almost gone now.

We had such a nice Thanksgiving

at Charlene's house.  

The food was delicious, the setting beautiful, but the guests made it perfect.


Unfortunately, in all my pictures but the one below, I caught everyone with very strange faces while they were eating.   So I am being kind and not posting any.  I know I don't like it when unflattering pictures of me show up online (which is pretty much every picture I see).  I've always heard that pictures or movies add 10 pounds to your body, but I think in my case it is more like 50.  

(Yeah, sure, Annette, whatever makes you feel better.)

We had some guests for a few days.

Three of Margie and Lance's grandchildren were in town and stayed with us.  On Sunday we made breakfast (for dinner).  As I started making the waffles, I opened the waffle iron and found this:

A petrified waffle left in the waffle iron from the last time I made them.

To see if Gary would live up to his reputation of eating anything, Natalie and I decided to give it to Gary (even though it was as hard as a rock) to see if he would eat it.  At first we didn't tell him how old it was, but even after we did, we had to grab it from him or he would have eaten it.

He lived up to his reputation once again.

Here are our weekend guests.

And here is my new favorite waffle recipe:

Overnight (or several hours ahead) Yeasted Waffles--Makes about 8 Belgian-style waffle squares or 16 standard waffle squares; Note: Use a very large mixing bowl to make this recipe as the batter will double in size as it rises.

Night (or several hours) Before:

1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active-dry yeast
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups whole or 2% milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
3 cups all-purpose flour

The Next Day (or a few yours later)

2 beaten eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the yeast and the water in a large mixing bowl and let stand for a few minutes. Stir to make sure the yeast dissolves into the water. Melt the butter over low heat or in the microwave. Combine the butter with the milk, salt, and sugar (if using). Test with your finger to make sure the mixture has cooled to luke warm, then stir it into the dissolved yeast mixture. Add the flour and stir until a thick, shaggy dough is formed and there is no more visible flour.  (**My note:  If you are using double acting yeast, like SAF, instead of dissolving the yeast you combine the warm liquid, butter, salt, and 1 cup of the flour, and then add the yeast.)

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for several hours or overnight. The batter will double or triple in bulk as it rises. The next morning (or several hours later), beat the eggs together and add them to the batter along with the baking soda. Using a whisk or hand blender, beat the eggs and baking soda into the batter until completely combined.

Make the waffles according to your waffle maker's instructions, cooking until the waffles are golden-brown. Waffles are best if served immediately, but re-heat well in the toaster. Leftovers can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. Leftover waffles can also be frozen for up to 3 months and toasted straight out of the freezer. typically 4 to 6 minutes.

For the Hall Reunion

the favor was the "Preserve your Family History" jars with the questions inside.  My goal has been to answer a question from it every few days.  I  haven't quite gotten to it, but my sister started doing it on her blog, and I have really enjoyed reading her entries.  Thanks for the encouragement, Charlene, and I'm challenging Tom to do it also.  He has been a real slacker on his blog.

Today's question:  "What things do you enjoy today that you enjoyed doing as a child?  Describe them then and now."

I know that I enjoyed baking way back in elementary school.  My girls just laugh when they read in my journal that I "Went to school, came home, made a cake."   Really, just about every day.  I think I have a blog post on that already.

What hasn't changed is that I still make a huge mess when I do it.  What has changed is that Mom isn't here to clean up after me.  She was really never a baker, other than her white cake with chocolate icing and her boiled raisin cake. So when I started being interested in it, she liked it so much that she told me that if I baked, she would clean up.   Unfortunately, I don't have a fairy godmother that does that for me now.

I loved collecting recipes, too.  In fact, what Gary gave me for Christmas when we were 15 were two cookbooks.   I'm sure his Mom had more to do with that than him, but somehow he knew I was interested.  They were both Betty Crocker Cake and Cookie Cookbooks.  In fact, if I weren't sitting comfortably in the recliner right now, I would go take a picture of them.

I loved to read, my favorites being Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys.  I've "graduated" from that to "The Cream Puff Murder," "Dying for Chocolate," "A is for Alibi,"and any other light and fluffy mystery.   And I do mean light and fluffy.  Ashton has observed this, and in a funny way asks me what "recipe" mystery I'm reading now.  But, hey, when I'm reading for pleasure, I don't want to get so involved with a character that I feel their emotions and take them upon me.

Well, this has taken me longer than I thought it would.  I guess there is something about asking a simple question that brings up random memories.

If you (whoever you are) are reading this, share your answer to that question.

I feel like I have been

living under a cloud for the last two weeks, and that it has now been lifted.  First of all:

My heart is healthy!

But, it is interesting to see where your mind goes when you worry that you may have a serious health issue with your heart.

It all started with my legs, feet, and joints swelling very quickly. My weight went up about 10 lbs in a few days (and it really hasn't come down), and I have felt short of breath.

After being worried about it, I went into the Dr.  He was a little concerned by what he was seeing, and sent me for a chest x-ray and blood test.  Those came back fine, but just to make sure, he sent me to do a treadmill stress test.  I couldn't pass the test because I couldn't keep going and get my heart rate above 185 (and I felt like I was going to die on the spot).  But I've never had good endurance, so that is nothing new.

So because that was inconclusive, they had me get an echocardiogram, which I did Thursday.  That came back showing that my heart was healthy.  Which is really good news, because anyone who knows the family, knows of our family history with heart disease.  I also appreciated having my nephew, Bryce (who does echocardiograms) giving me some personal attention.

I haven't started getting the bills yet, so along with the tests being unnecessary, I have no doubt it will also be expensive.   But it is very reassuring.   As for what the problem is, I'm actually wondering if I had an allergic reaction to something or had a spider bite (I had a rash also), as the swelling is going down slowly and I am having more energy.

Anyway, back to what you think about when you really face your mortality.

 My first thought was that I don't want to be the cause of anyone being sad. So when my time does come, don't be sad.  Just remember how blessed I've been.

Then I thought that I need to get my house in order and all my messes cleaned up. I don't want someone else to have to clean up my messes.

Then I thought of all that I would miss with those I love.  But I also know that I will still be able to be a part of that even when I am gone.

Then I thought that there are a lot of things I need and want to change about myself before I die.    So I'm glad I have some more time to work on those.

So there are no worries, it was just kind of a wake up call.  I didn't want to worry anyone unnecessarily, and I'm very glad it wasn't necessary.    Now I just need to make good on all the things I was hoping I had more time for.

Life is good.

Here is where we are tonight.

Up in the pressbox of the U of U.  

Timpview in the state tourney tonight. 

 Right now it is Roy 7 Timpview 0.  

We'll see how it ends.

Addendum:  Timpview came back and won 28 to 7.

It must be something about the nop notch stats people.

For a weekday

Relief Society last month, we were asked to donate a service or talent that we would be willing to share with a woman in the ward.  Some of the things donated were to go on a hike with someone to giving a voice lesson.  I didn't know what to donate, but decided to give a cupcake baking session where they would go home with 3 doz cupcakes.  My friend Karen picked that one up, and we had the session this week.

What I signed up for was a hug and a flower from this cute girl.  She and her Mom brought it over last week also.

Both were very "sweet" experiences.

If you have to go to the

dentist, you can't have a more beautiful view than this.

A few of the fun photos from my trip to Oregon