Happy Birthday Carianne

Happy Birthday Carianne. I love you so much. It was so fun to see you last Friday. I have too many favorite memories to have just one-but I am still laughing over the most recent story you told us. God has held you in His hand and protected you and blessed you. I know He has a great work for you to do. I love you.

Elizabeth Smart

Sara and I went to the Salt Lake Temple this morning. Dallin surprised us by joining us at the temple, too. As we waited for the session to start, Sara whispered to me "That's Elizabeth Smart." It was. She was there to receive her endowment. For those of you who don't know she has been called to a mission in France. It made the session so much more special to watch her and think about how wonderful it must be for her and her family to be there together in the Temple. I am so thankful for the blessings of the temple and for the peace and joy those covenants bring to my life. I am especially thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and for His atoning sacrifice. I am thankful that I can attend the temple frequently with my daughters and look forward anxiously to the day when I can go to the temple with Christina. I am thankful that all of my extended family are living such good and Christlike lives.

Darrin (for Heather, Heidi, Pam and Beckie)

Over the weekend one of my daughters (I won't mention her name) dyed her hair. It turned out kind of orange and looked awful. We tried to fix it, but it still didn't look right. I called Cliff last night and he said he wouldn't be at work today, but if we went into the shop first thing this morning Darrin could fix it. I had never met Darrin before (even though he has done Annie and Julianna's hair in the past.) So, we went into the shop first thing this morning and Darrin spent an hour and a half on her hair. We had such a nice visit. He asked all about Beckie and all of her girls, including Carianne. I am sure he already knew everything, but he was just so nice. When he was done, her hair looked beautiful and then he only charged $35. I was very grateful to him.

This blog won't mean anything to those of you who have never been to Sharp Image, but I am sure the Baileys will understand.

Bobby and Danny

Uncle Bob and Dena and Bobby and Danny are visiting us today. The boys are so cute. Bobby has brown hair and Danny has curly blonde hair.

Canning

I can't stand to let free food go to waste, so I have been canning like crazy. On Friday we went to Manti and got a large box of apples from Popi's tree and a large box of tomatoes from his garden. I spent most of the day yesterday making apple sauce and tomato sauce. I got 36 pints of applesauce and 14 quarts of tomato sauce. I had never made tomato sauce before-it is really a messy job.

Other stuff I've canned:

50 pints green beans

90 pints pickled beets (I know that sounds like a lot, but Tina and I LOVE them)

28 quarts peaches (so far-I plan to do more. The peaches are the only thing I didn't get from Popi)

9 half pints pickled jalapenos

5 half pints cucumber catsup

many jars of claussen-type pickles (I will do lots more. They are EASY to make and taste great. If anyone is interested I will copy the recipe.)

Lots of people were giving me zucchini and it drove me nuts to just throw it away, but there was just too much for me to use. Then I heard that I could dehydrate it. I did this with one very large zucchini. It dehydrated down to about 1/2 cup. To use it you just rehydrate it in boiling water and use it in breads, cookies, quiches, etc. It tastes great. The problem is I didn't get this hint until I had thrown most of the zucchini away, and no one has given me any more.

Anyway, I actually love canning-except for tomatoes-and I am truly thankful to my earthly father and to my Heavenly Father for all of this good food.

Maid Service

I have never had someone come clean my house before. It is not something I have ever wanted, but I was looking forward to having it done this week. The maid service was supposed to come on Monday at 4pm, but they cancelled and rescheduled for Tues at 9am. At 9:30 on Tues the manager of the service called and said the maid was lost. My house is not that hard to find, but I gave her directions-and waited. At 12 no one had showed up yet so I called the manager. She was surprised, but said she would call back in a few minutes. She called back and said the maid had been lost, but was close to my house so would be there soon. I waited. Around 1:30 someone called who didn't speak english. I asked if she spoke spanish and she said "yes, please." So I put Julianna on the phone. It was the maid, she was in Orem and she was lost. Julianna gave her directions. An hour later the maid called again. Julianna gave her directions again and I waited some more. At about 4 the manager of the maid service showed up with the maid in her car. The maid came in and spent 2 hours cleaning the new (clean) bathroom and the bedroom. At 6 the manager came back to pick the maid up and she said I still had 2 hours of cleaning, so I scheduled for 10am today. This morning I waited until 11am and then I just gave up and went to the MTC. I have spent many more hours waiting than it actually took me to clean the house myself today. So, I am NOT thankful for maid service.

I AM thankful for the MTC, 2 daughters who speak spanish, rainbows (again-there is one on the mountain in front of our house right now), paint and windows.

A Rainbow In Our Backyard

Today it was raining really hard at our house. While it was still raining the sun began to shine. I said to Annemarie that there was probably a rainbow somewhere. It was about noon here so the sun was high in the sky. Annie looked out the window and said "It's in our backyard." I looked and sure enough there was a rainbow right in our backyard. It was the size of rainbows you see in sprinklers. It only lasted a few seconds so we couldn't take a picture, but it made me happy.

Today I am thankful for rainbows, a new bathroom, maids (I think-I have NEVER had maids clean my house before and it might be a little akward), peaches and mainly I am thankful that Christina is learning to love life and Snow College.