Dutch

Dutch and the Kitty loved each other. Kitty normally doesn't like little kids and Pammy said Dutch doesn't really like cats, but the two of them really got along. It was so cute! We loved seeing Pamela and Dutch.

Right now a Halloween marathon is running past our house. It's random, but fun to watch all the people running in costumes!

Church at Snow

We went to church with Christina today at the Snow College Institute. All three meetings were wonderful. Snow is a really great place. It is a blessing to see your kids in their own adult environment.

By the way-did you know that if you graduated from Snow your kids can go there and pay in-state tuition, even if you are out-of-state? If that had been available to my older girls I probably would have made them all go to Snow. (Not really-I know for sure that Annie needed to go to BYU-I and Sara needed to go to LDSBC.) But it is a good option to know about.

Christina went to Homecoming last night. She said she had a lot of fun. Hopefully she will blog about it and send us a few pictures.

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.