Christmas 2008

Playing Mario Carts with the kids. Even the little guys beat me.
Bowling seems to be our new family sport.

This snowman is really tall. It won't melt until July!

Jerry keeping Daniel safe. Aleisha wanted to show her siblings her new climbing skills.

We had everyone home but Michael,Carlie, Zachary and Brandon. That makes a lot of people. Twenty four if I counted correctly. We washed a lot of dishes, towels and faces; made enough food for an army and although we are not talking about it, watched football.

Jerry and Curtis playing guitar hero. They weren't bad, but Carrie ruled.

Couldn't resist putting this on. Reese and her jewelry. She was really decked out in ear rings, bracelets, necklace and and apron!

Cheryl's self portrait

I didn't take the picture. I cannot be blamed! Who is that masked woman anyway?

Wedding Bells

Yes,...Steve is getting married. January 7, 2009 in the Mt Timpanogos Temple.
Her name is Kim Mansfield. As you can see, she is a beautiful, tall, slim, blonde. We are happy to welcome her to our family.

There will be a reception for them that evening from 6:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. in the Apx Private Hanger at the Provo Airport. (1212 Flight Line Road) I know, an interesting location. Any and all friends and family are invited.

Merry Christmas from Luke

After many, many "takes", this is a video Luke made to send to his Grandma and Papa Nielson. His joy at the end is only surpassed by ours when we finally got one that worked!

SNOW!

I am so glad that in my generation there is a division of responsibility in a marriage. It has always been Rod's job to shovel the snow, mow the lawn, and take out the garbage, balance the budget, pay the bills. Those are things, that I just don't do. I guess I could do them, I just don't. Like he doesn't do laundry,clean, shop, cook much or.....a lot of other things! It helps to know just what your job is or isn't.

Rod doing his job.

Luke loves to play in the snow. He has made snow angels in the front and back yard.

Allie's Baptism

Allie turned eight on November 30th and decided to be baptized. The family gathered in Blackfoot on Saturday, December 6 to watch her father baptize and confirm her a member of the Church. Mom, Jennie had done a wonderful job of organizing with Gramps and Uncle Scott giving the prayers, Aunt Carrie as choirster, Uncle Brent talking on baptism and Aunt Amy on the Holy Ghost. While Allie was getting changed for her confirmation, we watched a video Jennie made about Allie. Everything went very nice. Jennie also had some really good soups , salads and desserts for lunch. It was a very nice day for Allie, one that she will always remember.

I remember my own baptism. I was 9 because we were living in Las Vegas when I turned 8 and we weren't going to church down there. When we moved home, I was baptized. My friend Sue Ann Banks and I were baptized in the Minersville Church. Our church in Milford did not have a font. We were baptized by Dick Walker. He was baptizing his own father that afternoon so he baptized us too. His dad was a big man. I remember being disapointed that Sue Ann and I had to be first so we couldn't watch him! We were sure the water would spalsh out of the font.

Do you remember your own baptism? Have you written those memories down somewhere? Do you have a story to tell?

Amy's Birthday Party

Amy's birthday falls on Thanksgiving quite often. She complains that it is never given it's just due as far as celebration is concerned. This year we invited all siblings in the valley to go bowling at the Wilk. As you can see in the pictures below, we had a great time. Newcomer Kim (alias Little Bo Peep) was the winner on the adult lane and Tyson was the kid winner.

Check out Carrie's blog. She should have more and better pictures.

Little Girls with Red Hair

It seems like yesterday that this little girl's mother was dancing around our living room in pink ruffles and red pony tails.

Mall Pretzel Bites

One day last week I left early to pick up Luke from school and stopped at the University Mall. I need to get started finding a dress or dresses for Steve and Kim 's wedding. I know it is going to be a challenge so I thought I would get started. As I was walking by a pretzel place, the smell was so inviting I stopped to check it out. I never buy food at the mall, but then the malls are few and far between in Delta so..I guess the temptation usually isn't there. Anyway, I succumbed to the smell and bought a small cup of pretzel bites with caramel dipping sauce. They were wonderful! I was really glad I was alone and didn't have to share.

A couple of days later, I decided that I really shouldn't go to the mall to buy pretzel bites. It is not socially acceptable for little old fat ladies to be seen at the mall pretzel place with that caramel sauce dripping down her arm so I thought I would try to find a recipe and make them in the privacy of home. You can find anything on the Internet. I found several recipes. Most were close to being the same. So I picked one and gave it a try. They were really easy to make and they don't have too many bad for you ingredients. Of course, it is my opinion that you can eat most anything if you don't do it in excess. Right? And...they are only bites not whole pretzels.
And..you don't have to dip them in caramel sauce, there are endless options. I have made them twice now and everyone likes them.

Soft Pretzel Bites

Measure 1 1/2 Cup warm water into a warm large mixing bowl. The water should be quite hot, but not boiling. If you don't warm your bowl, it cools down the water and your yeast won't rise as much.

Add 1 pkg or 1 Tablespoon yeast
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/4 Teaspoon salt
Stir to dissolve and let mixture set until it is bubbling..should be just a few minutes.

Add 4 Cups of white flour one at a time. The recipe I found said to use 1 Cup cake flour. Since that is something that I would not have on hand, I used all regular flour. It didn't seem to matter, but then I haven't tried it with cake flour so I can't compare. Add the flour gradually and stop when your mixer has pulled the dough way from the sides of the bowl and isn't sticky. You might not have to use all the last cup of flour.
Let the mixer knead for 5 minutes of so. Turn the dough into a oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. That is what my mother always did, so I do it too.

Let raise for 1 hour or until double in bulk. You can tell if it is double if you poke your finger in the dough and the hole stays.

While the dough is rising, dissolve 2 Tablespoon Baking Soda in 2 Cups of warm water. I also use this time to clean up so when you are finished baking, all you have left to do is the baking sheets and you are finished.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Roll into a rope. You can twist the rope into a pretzel, or do what I do and cut the rope into 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Dip the pieces or pretzel into the baking soda water and place on a greased baking sheet. Let rise again for about 15 minutes and

Bake in a 450 oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
Brush with butter and sprinkle with coarse salt. OR..cinnamon sugar or....whatever you think you might like.

These would be a great after school treat for my wonderful grandchildren. Be brave, use those KitchenAid mixers.

I know, I should have taken pictures like the Pioneer Woman, but since not many people will be reading this, it probably isn't necessary, but next recipe, I might consider it!

Never before seen photo of Ted Price

Select MHS Alumni on my blog list below right and select telephone company and then select ...Milford Potato Pits 1940 from the list on the right. Scroll down to the third picture and the second guy from the right is my dad. The first two pictures might be from the 1940's but I am sure the one with Dad in is from the early 60's. He didn't start growing potatoes until we lived at the experiment farm and that was from when I was 9 to 15, so 1959 to 1964 or so. He loved growing potatoes. I remember the first field he grew was on ground that he leased or rented. It was on the east side of the highway. He brought the first shovel full of new little potatoes home to show us. After that success, he convinced Mom to let him buy a farm. Dad was still working on the railroad and that meant he would be gone sometimes when he needed to change the water. Mom would take Jo and me with her. Sometimes it would be in the middle of the night and it meant setting the syphon tubes which wasn't easy. You had to suck on one end until the water came up and hurry and let it down into the ditch. Mom was a pro. I don't think Jo and I did very well. Dad loved farming and always said he was happiest with bugs in his teeth. He meant driving the tractor in the wind. His tractor didn't have a cab. He had a potato pit in town across the street from the new LDS Chapel. I don't know if the picture was taken in his pit or not. I don't remember much about that pit except it's smell. We all spent time in it when it was time to plant or sort and bag potatoes to sell. I remember it being really cold in there in the winter. I don't remember what happened, but it burned one night before we moved from the experiment farm. We still own the land it was on. If you know anyone who would like to buy a city block in Milford let us know!

The Fort and Deck That Steve Built..or is building!

I know these pictures are bottom to top ..I just can't seem to figure out how to move things around. If you know how, please help! Stay tuned for the completed projects.

Working on the deck

Notice the car race track to the left of the stairs...very nice! and there is a slide, just not finished yet.

Getting up the courage to jump

Working by the light of the moon

Giving the neighbors the first tour

Getting out the big tools

Scoping out the job

A Bit of Home

Pre School Field Trip to Mr. John's Farm

It was only 32 degrees out, but the kids in Luke's preschool class were having a great time this morning. They got to ride in BYU vans to Springville to visit Mr. John's farm. Mr. John had horses, chickens and RABBITS. Luke knows all about farms, so he wore his boot shoes and was ready for anything and that was good because we both steped in it. He petted the rabbits, sat on a horse, and yelled at the turkey. It was a big tom turkey all ready for a Thanksgiving dinner table. But I didn't tell Luke that of course.

Visitors to Springville

Easton came to visit while the rest of his family went to Disneyland. We tried to give him a comparable vacation, but we probably came up short. There is no Mickey Mouse or Tigger here. Easton is a good Tigger mimic though, he can jump on two feet for hours. We had fun with him. He is a funny little guy.

We made cookies one afternoon and the boys from across the street came to help decorate and eat them. The little blonde guy is Luke's best friend Kai.
Saturday, Amy came with Lucy to watch the BYU - New Mexico game and take Easton home to meet up with his family on Sunday morning. Luke and Easton chased Lucy until she hid from them. Easton really likes her. He will let her lick his face all over, smiling all the time she does it.
Carrie and her gang came to watch the game and eat some soup and cookies. Note Cameron's new glasses!
Reese had been to the Myers beauty shop with foam rollers and bows. She is such a girl!

You will notice that Carson is missing. This is the best shot of him I could get.

Cougar Luke

Luke is enrolled in the BYU Child and Family Studies Laboratory Pre School. He is one lucky guy. There are 20 children, 10 boys and 10 girls. Four students under the direction of Miss Dorrie do the teaching. , The director Miss Ann, is Sara's neighbor. I go a little early each day and watch him through an observation window. He is doing great.

When he goes in the morning he has to find his name on the table. His favorite teacher, Miss Laura is watching.
This is Miss Dorrie asking Luke the morning question.
The fort. It is whatever they want it to be and there is a chest full of dress ups in it too.
Sometimes he doesn't want to go home with me he is having so much fun,.

Outside playground
There is a big sand pile with lots of Luke's kind of equipment in it and behind the big play toy there is a grassy hill that has a grid under the grass that lets the kids slid down on sleds with wheels. Luke really like to go down on his belly.
Of course, he loves the trikes and sometimes he attaches a wagon to tow. Great fun!
If I am remembering correctly, this is Snowy the bunny. He is available to check out and take home, but we haven't done that yet. There is also a tarantula called Webby.