Pricing a new stove

The one in this house has a crack in the ceramic top

Picking out a new counter for the master bath

Cleaning the lousy lou

Sharing soon to expire food

Many items to DI

Weeding out and packing

It's who ya know

Tonight David and I were in Orem signing silly papers for the upcoming
move and the kids called and asked what was planned for dinner. Well,
I'd been involved with activity day today, and then the quick trip to
Orem so I hadn't taken care of dinner for tonight. They said they
would figure something out, so David took me to a near by thai
restaurant. Laura and Steve have gone there often so I was happy to go
there. I wondered what laur and steve really liked there, so I texted
her for the information. She didn't answer right away. When the
server came I asked her if she knew Jack. She started to tell me that
she really didn't know her customers by name, so I said that Jack is a
baby. She said "Jack? Oh!! Jack! Ya! His picture is on our fridge". We
talked about how awesome he is and later the manager came out to talk
to us. She watched Laura and Steve go from newlyweds to expectant
parents to a family of three. They all love S. L. and Jack at that
place. They totally knew what Laura and Steve order, so we got the
same. We really really liked the massaman curry.

a change

Last November, David suggested we think about moving to a different place. This house really is awesome and we have loved living there. I was in no mental state to accept his idea at that time. I was actually really shocked he thought of it. He had started looking at homes for sale on the Internet.

I do admit that at Christmas, I felt a little crowded having everyone here. We just have bigger kids now and they, happily, are bringing others to the family. I remember shocking the boys proclaiming we should move to a different house by next Christmas.

Fast forward to this past late winter and early spring. Circumstances had come up that nudged the decision along. In late February and March and April and May we looked at houses. We looked mostly on the Internet, many drive bys, and eventually hooking up with a great real estate guy. We saw some freaky houses- its really odd how many weird things are out there.

Finally we agreed on a beautiful home in Highland. We wanted somewhere where the boys could still attend the same school here in Lehi. We really feel content with the decision. It will be very hard to leave the ward and the little community we have, though I know its the best thing for my family. We will still have ties here, with the boys going to LHS. And we will hopefully still be invited to weddings and showers and missionary farewells. I sometimes get really sad realizing what we are giving up here. We've lived here for 15 years. This is the only home Jacob has known, and Joseph and Aub remember.

I'm so thankful that I get to take my family with me. We will sell this house and I pray for a little family to come that will enjoy this place as much as we have. One thing I really need to adjust to is being more separated from the goings on in the home. In this house, I know pretty much what is going on. I know what is on the computer, on the TV and who is where. Those are some of the advantages of this split level. We will be in a two story with a basement. Ill be so far from my boys when I'm working in the kitchen and they are down in their bedrooms.... sounds dumb, I know.

So there ya go. The quiet plans of the summer are revealed. If all goes well, as we think it will, we will be allowed to move in near the end of June. July is a bad month to "move". Dave and Jacob to scout camp, Joseph to EFY and a long planned for paid for family trip too. I'm glad my kids are all old enough to help out. We need to fix up our Lehi house before we sell, so we are hoping to put it up for sale sometime in July, after we are out.

John Bytheway has a book I've read and one of his topics is not to complain about your blessings. I'm trying to remember that and will try not to complain during this transition, and I'll try not to cry.

I just don't like it

I'm so glad he is usually in Utah.

I'm so glad we are best friends.

I'm so glad he comes home almost every night and lightens my worries
and slays any dragon messing with me.

I'm so glad he likes me and wants to be with me.

I'm so glad I caught his heart.

I'm so glad he balances me out with his objective logical mind.

I'm so glad he is such a great father and role model for my sons.

I just don't like it when he has to go- at all

A little stress is no match for The Chocolate

After a few stressful events Laura Aubrey and I, along with Jack,
ended up at "the chocolate". It is a place in Orem that serves cake,
cupcakes, a little vanilla ice cream, or milk and also hot chocolate.
They also have lemon bars, a few cookies and a few other like items.
The three of us had spent the morning together and after a large-good-
iced-drink spilled in my car, Laura tripping (without dropping baby
boy) and ripping her Vanity jeans in the knee and lots of bleeding,
and the overall naggin' stress of a probable up coming event, we knew
the answer would be found at The Chocolate. Now I gotta get serious
about The Gym

I called his mom

I called his mom Another year passes and I of course remember the day my friend died on his mission. I am an old, very happily married lady, but each May 13, I remember that heartbroken 17 year old girl I was. I've had more than a few sad dreams about that time so its easy to recall the
sadness. I also think of this missionarys mom and wonder how she's
doing on this date.
I mentioned something about it on a facebook page "people who miss
elder Kent Williams" and was invited to call Kents mom and let her
know I was thinking about her. Wow. I hadn't thought of doing that.
The last time I saw her was at the graveside service in Vegas in 1981
So I did it! I called her and she did have a good day, well she had
foot surgery- but from a sentimental perspective it was good. I was so brave to look passed all the years that were between us. We
had a nice little visit. You all know I'm a wimp so I hope you are
as impressed with my courage as I am :)
Connie

May 18

May 18

Today for our sisters activity we played with food. We made chicken
cordon bleu, enough or us to each take some home. We also made a
double batch of some homemade Oreos. This all started with a gift
Laurie got die mothers day. Her daughters in law compiled and had
printed a cookbook of family recipes. (I'm hoping to at least get the
recipes by email or something). We have a great group of four
generations including cousins and adopted in proxy daughters. There
are a few tinys and more littles in the group too. Pickles have
somehow become the traditional snack--- don't know why. Anyway enjoy
the pictures. It was a great time.

Connie

a really fun day

Fun times with Jack.

As you may know, Little Man Jack comes over evey week. He is typically
very happy and easy to entertain. He eats just about anything, so when
Aub broke out the jello the other day we decided to let him try it. At
first I held him on my lap at the counter. He did really good
cinsidering how slippery jello is. We ended up using the high chair
for awhile and then the party ended in the traditional bath in
grandmas kitchen sink. What a little love he is.

Basa body stick ala coconut oil.

One of the things I really like about spring and summer is that there
are so many cute shoes to wear. This leads to cute nail polish too.
And more reasons to get the foot massaging pedicure. :). But sadly
wearing the sandles and flip flops leads to a bad thing- rough ugly
feet Not This Year! I hope

My little sister Krista married in to a family that is really very
charitable. Her in laws have been helping some people in Africa for
years. (they also own the human slingshot in springville- google it)
The in laws are actually living in Africa right now. They live every
day helping the African people. I don't know all they have done, but I
do know they provide "micro-loans" for some very poor people. Another
one of their ventures is selling coconut oil that is ahhh? ...
produced (?) in Africa. I recently got the two items available. I'll
tell you how happy this one makes me. It's the pure coconut oil stick
Every night I put some on the rough parts of my feet and put little
cotton footies on on top. So far my feet have avoided the typical dry
edged cracked skin. (I hope wearing the socks to bed aren't too hard
on the marriage)
I'll keep ya posted how the skin softening part is working as
I'll start to wear the cute feet-exposing-shoes more and more for the
next 5 or 6 months. I hope it works. Maybe I'll still get the
dremmell to sand my feet smooth.

Ah come on

Look what came in the mail today. Can not believe it. All I can day is
we are not signing up.

I'm still a wimpy crying mom

Today had a few surprises in it. One of which was going over to the old Albertsons, for the grand opening of the new FreshMarket. Joseph and the percussion section of the Lehi HS band were going to play there. Jacob and I just finished a surprise scout physical and went over to see Joseph. They had a little ribbon cutting, and Jacob and I were sure to be on the outside of the official ribbon, so we didnt look like ribbon jumpers. The cutting went along without a hitch, and then without much warning the drummers came in playing really loudly. When I saw my boy, the tears started coming but I squelched them pretty well. It was really pretty dramatic and loud. I caught a little bit on tape, but it really doesn't catch the whole feel of the event. (I mean the drumming event, not the ribbon cutting for a store that has been open for about six months.) Later the teacher had them play a little bit outside and Joseph had a surprise drum solo. He tryed to get out of it, but then just went for it. He ended up busting one of the drum heads. (A drum head is the tight top of the drum.) He started cracking up when that happened, as well as the other drummers, and happily so did the teacher. That was the happiest I have seen him while playing drums. It did my heart a world of good.

A childs work is play

Many moons ago when I was in high school, taking child development I
was told a truth I have always remembered. A childs work is play.

Sidenote
I had an assignment in that class to finish the following sentence.
"The greatest thing a father can do for his children is....". I wrote
in something I had always heard my own dad say- and now I think it's
really from one of the church leaders. I wrote the greatest thing a
father can do for his children is to love their mother. This was at a
HS in southern Cali and my teacher was very impressed with the
insight. Sidenote over

Our little man Jack comes to see me for just two or three hours
every week. I try and make sure he works very hard! Today while he
was sleeping I thought how thankful I was to be able to watch him. For
him to have to be in any kind of day care would certainly break my
heart. I think of day care as a situation when tiny kids have to take
care of themselves, kinda be on their own. I've never had a problem
with this possible part of grandma hood. I saw my own mom help out
with all of her grandkids. My sisters have all watched their
grandkids. It's just one if the perks of the calling ;) I am thankful
he comes to see me. He keeps the uncles in line.

The telemarket call

While joseph was "putting the chicken away" he answered a call from an
obvious telemarketing company. He was very kind and happy and
enthusiastic with the caller. Then he moment came he was waiting for.
No he was not the adult male of the house, nor was he even 18 years
old. As for the caller jacob would say "fail!" I was really
surprised to see his side of my jokster son.

Another new recipe

Costco snagged me with a sample of the pandaexpress orange chicken
sauce a couple weeks ago. I bought the sauce.

So tonight I cut up some chicken, cooked it through on the stove top
then poured some of the sauce on top. As I slipped it into the oven to
keep warm, I realized what I had prepared would probably not be enough
for my three guys. I quickly started to defrost and cook up more
chicken. I also started the veggie part of the meal. I prepared the
thai peanut sauce with the coconut milk, and pored some on top of some
sauté ing mixed veggies. The veggies turned out really well. Jacob and
Dave had two servings. Joseph had none- huge surprise ;). Overall the
two dishes we received very well. Next time I'll use less sauce on the
vegs. The boys finished eating before David and I, so I asked Joseph
to put away the extra chicken and Jacob the extra rice. They both
chose just to finish up the food rather than put it in a ziplock--
funny boys

My newest project

Back in January I went out to one of my favorite fabric stores in
Draper. They were set up with all the new for the year classes. I saw
a quilt block made up of some fabric I liked and saw that it was a
block of the month type offer. (BOTM). It was $10 a month for the
material and the instructions to make 12 different blocks through the
year. If you actually made the block and brought it into the store,
the next botm kit would only be $8. I thought it was a good project
to join - so I signed up. The financial insentive to knock out each
botm was a great plus for me. Plus! All the fabric was pre selected!
(kinda tricky for me) Plus! It was fabric I really liked. So I got my
January kit home- looked through it and realized all the instructions
were based on using a template kit! Cheesh! (Templates use a little
cut-around piece of plastic instead of cutting each piece to a certain
demention like a 2 inch square, does that make sense?). I think
templates used to be popular, but not so much anymore. I go back to
the store and they are out of the templates.... What? Anyway I just
picked up my March kit at the end of last month and am working on
block #3. It won't be done for 9 more months. I'm sure to have a few
projects come and go before I can show you this finished baby.

Dear Aunt Connie,

Dear Aunt Connie,

I had the best dream. I dreamed that I was at the utah airport and I
walked out into the parking lot and saw you and aunt Laurie and aunt
Kari and aunt Krista all standing there SO happy to see me. I realized
how much I missed you. Then today I found a birthday card you sent me
on my first birthday and I almost started crying. Not many girls love
their great- aunts a s much as I do. Hope to see you really soon. Love
you

Em

I got this email this morning it made my heart sooo happy. My sweet
great niece lives a few states away so i hardly see her. I miss her
and miss seeing her grow up. Thankfully she has a blog as well as her
grandma, so I get to see little bits of her life. She is an angel and
a true princess.

Like I said, I am so blessed to have so many awesome people in my
life

Connie

The two birthdays

I have two younger siblings. Jim is 3 yrs younger than me and Krista
is 9 years younger. They are two of my beat friends in this whole
World. I love them so much. They are both so great and fun and
strong and great examples to me. And! And! They are very funny and
quick witted. We three went few some hard times when we lived
together- things that really knit us tight.
Krista and Jim have birthdays right by each other, March 28 & 29.
We had a group party lunch today. It was lots of fun as always. I am
so lucky to have so many people I love near by and in my life.

Sisters day and cookies

As you probably know, I meet with my sisters, friends, cousins, nieces
and my Mom at least once a week. We are always looking for new ideas
to learn. I have messed with the whole smooth frosted cookie thing a
few times, so tomorrow I'll show what I've learned. I'm still very
very inept, but a little experienced so hopefully it will be helpful
to share. I quickly worked on these today, to practice for
tomorrow. Some of the cookies look a little 3 yr oldish, but my good
husband was very impressed with them all.
I'll try to post pictures of what our group comes up with tomorrow!

A mighty army of elect daughters of God

Tonight I am alone david is out with the scouts for the evening.

I flipped the channels on the tv and came upon the rebroadcast of
the young womans conference. I knew some of the girls in our ward
would be in the choir, but I was very surprised at my response. I saw
some girls up there singing that I had seen grow up from the time they
were tiny. Some girls I knew from the Jr high. My heart was so
touched, tears quickly slid down my cheeks. They haven't stopped
yet. They are so good. The world needs to take a good look and take
a lesson of true power, true courage, and true strength, and true
beauty. They are truely a royal army. I know there are many many
young women of the church that are exactly the same, and also part of
Gods mighty army. My own courage is strengthened at the thought of
this wonderful truth.

Six thumbs up or thumbs up all around

You may know already, but for the last several years we have
"Tex- Mex Tuesday" almost every week., for our dinner. We usually
have, in decending order- enchalada burritos, soft shell tacos or
crockpot salsa chicken.

I recently decided to have
" breakfast-for-dinner" on Mondays. Here's a recipe I saw and tasted
at a Maceys cooking class.
Stuffed french toast.
2 loaves of cheap squishy bread
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c white sugar
A little vanilla
And
Your favorite mixture for french toast, like eggs milk and vanilla.

Combine cream cheese sugar and vanilla. Mix well.

Put a few tablespoons on the center of a few slices of bread. Top each
with another slice of bread. Use a cookie cutter or a little sandwich
maker to cut the crusts off the bread. You could use a fork to crimp
the edges if you want. You want to seal the edges of each little
packet. Dip each packetpocket in the french toast egg mixture, and
cook up in a skillet just as you do regulate french toast. I kept the
first few warm in the oven. I served them with warm maple syrup much
to the delight of the men in the family. Everyone votes I make these
again.

My warm heart from Megan

I recently got this text from my sister. While I struggle with a certain worry, this comment from Meggie did me a world of good. Their family was recently blessed with a second batch of baby kittens. I keep it here so I can read it over and over. You just have to read it once ; )

Sorry I missed your text earlier. I want to come next time! Tonight we were talking about why we can't keep all the kittens. Ang said we can't keep them all or we will end up with tons of cats like Connie. Meg said so ernestly I want to turn out like Connie! It was so sweet.

Connie

See what happens when you are casual about math

I'm trying to finish up this quilt top. I'm adding boarders to enlarge
the postage stamp size pieced part. I was about 8 inches short on my
calculations for the red fabric-- grr. Went to the nearby quilt store
and they had never seen that print. So I wentniver the the place in A
F where I had purchased it last week. The bolt was g o n e.. Couldn't
find it. Thankfully there was one. One! Fat quarter that I snagged. I
think it will work out just fine. One more boarder to add, then the
top will be done I didnt realize how much the two boarders are alike.
I guess I like that sort off look. Ahh well it's ok i guess.

What I'm working on

Here is my current project. I am making it from one of the jelly rolls
I got a christmas. It is turning out smaller than I thought it would,
but I figure by adding boarders, I can bump up the size. Because it
uses so many fabrics, I also thought I wouldn't end up with the
fabrics lining up next to each other. Ah well.. I've decided I'm gonna
like it anyway ;)

A little trick so I don't have to play the game

I have lost my car at Walmart far too many times. I hate not
remembering where I parked. I hate wandering around like a fool.
Especially walking back towards the store with my cart full of
groceries. I once downloaded an application that was supposed to help
a person remember where they parked but it did not work so well. So I
came up with an amazing trick. Thankfully my Walmart has each row
numbered. Why I can't just remember that number I don't know. After I
park I look to see what row I'm on. Then as I walk to the store I
count each parking space I pass on that row as I pass them. I then
figure some relation of the two numbers to help me remember them.
Today I was on row 4, car space 12. I remembered 4/12 by thinking
4x3=12. Really odd that this works but when I use this trick I find my
car really fast.

I wonder if this post makes me sound more like the old granny I am,
but this works for me

Wish I could believe this

I talked myself into going to the gym today. I snapped this picture
cause it was so unbelievable. 596 calories burned in 36 minutes on
the treadmill. Hummmm.... And I have no idea what mets (the middle
4.1) means. I think I lasted for 2 miles. I'll use a different machine
next time

An idea from Jess

I was about 11 or 12 yrs old when I became an Aunt for the first
time. I loved loved loved having nieces and nephews! I did my share
of babysitting and was certainly trained up in mothering abilities by
them, and by watching their mamas. One perk of having nieces and
nephews in my life is watching them grow up and start their own
families. That is how we were blessed with niece Jessica. She is a
love. She always treats her kids as the greatest treasure in her
life. I so admire that about her. She also adores that cute grown up
kid that has warmed my heart his while life, my nephew Greg. She is
also a *runner*-- enough said about that-- actually that's something I
wish I would do.

ANYWAY we were out to lunch recently to celebrate Jessicas birthday.
I just happened to be in the line by her and we were discussing the
menu. She told me a little tidbit I thought I'd share. Cafe Rio has a
tostada that can be made better by changing it up a bit! It is
smaller and a little less expensive than the regular salad, but
otherwise very similar. Ask for a flour tortilla instead of the
corn tortilla they usually use. I had the shredded beef cause the pork
is too sweet to me-- ahh sorry again--- Krista told us they also have
a salsa besides the -pico de guy oh- so I got the salsa instead of the
pico. The salsa is a little more spicy anyway. Get a side of salad
dressing if it doesn't come with one. Jess and I also share the
annoyance and dislike of cilantro, so we pass on that. So instead of
the ever favorite huge shredded beef burrito or even the beef taco, or
the safe chicken soup, try the tostada aka the smaller salad of cafe
rio. Then you can thank cute Jess for the info too. Jess? Did I leave
anythng out?

A compliment I want to remember

In relief society yesterday, the teacher asked us to break up into
small groups of 3 or 4. The four ladies closest to me became a
"group". It was Kathleen, Jenny, Erica, and myself. Good thing Jenny
listened to the assignment for our group cause Erica and I were
whisper/talking. After the groups were all made, all four of us
instantly started gabbing. A comment was made about why men do things
a certain way, when Jenny S said to the others, "uh ho! don't say
anything negative about your husband around Connie!". I laughed and
then quickly used my stern teacher voice and pointy finger and said
"now each of you go home and tell your husband 10 reasons you love
him.". Erica said "why would i do that?" then she understood i had a
reputation for being a non- man basher and we all laughed at the whole
thing. I took it as a great compliment. One I don't want to forget.
We for sure were the funnest "group" in relief society.

Connie

My sick boy

The situation- Joseph went snow boarding on Friday night. He was content to stay home 
and do homework most of Saturday. He did go out with some buddies 
Saturday night. When he got home at midnight he complained of bad body 
aches and having the chills. He felt feverish.  Sunday morning he 
reported not sleeping well due to his body aches. He only got minimal 
relief from Tylenol. Joseph stayed home from church. After church 
joseph came and laid down with David and I for the afternoon nap. He 
kept flinching in pain and moaning. His pain was under his ribs up 
high on the right side, about the size of his hand is the size of the 
area of pain. He still felt warm. Dave and I decide to take him into 
the ER.

The dr examined the teenager and orders a few tests including a chest 
xray and a throat culture. (Did he have a sore throat? Oh ya just a 
little one when he swollows)

The diagnosis-Strep throat and extra intense body aches especially 
where he fell when snow boarding.

The treatment- amoxicillin, tylenol, and ibuprofen, plenty of 
liquids, no school tomorrow. Lacrosse only as tolerated, after Monday.

Weird unexpected diagnosis but so thankful it was simple. After we got 
home I diagnosed and medicated myself with excedrin. Strange how the 
mama-ness can give me a headache. Hope my boy sleeps soundly 
tonight. It's been a rough day.

Connie

God made a symbol of rainbows long before anyone else

Yesterday I went to the activity day meeting. We had all the girls 8-11 there and it was a little trying. But we got through ok. I guess I feel kind of drained in a couple areas of my life to feel 100% all the time... (if you've spent any amount of time with me I'm sure I've whined about it to you). Anyway, my partner Sister Taylor and I are helping the girls prepare for an activity day recognition night. The parents will be invited to attend and it's kinda a big deal. Our theme is March leprechauns, magic, and gold at the end of a rainbow. We got most things rolling but wondered about refreshments. We thought cupcakes are kinda in their glory so we could go with that. I called the local grocery store and frosted cupcakes are $4.00 for 9. I know... Not for a dozen.... Weird. Ok we have about 25 girls, two parents each- 3x25= 75 cupcakes. Quick math tells me I could get 90 cupcakes for $40.00. I figured I could make up a couple or 5 batches of cupcakes for the recognition night, at a fraction of the cost. They would also fit the theme better if I made them awesome. So I tried my idea. Make up one white cakemix, divide equally. I figured about 3/4 c of mix per color. I colored each part and put each color into a Ziplock bag. I cut off the tiny corner of the blue bag and squiggled some blue batter into the cupcake liners. Then I layered on some green cake batter, then some yellow, orange and ended with the red batter. I baked these babies and here is the result. I topped each one with some whipped cream with almond flavoring. The boys couldnt keep their little mits off these. It was pretty cool

Another new recipe

I saw this recipe on a website called the sisters cafe. It looked
kinda fun and really different, so I put it on the list for dinner
this week.
The ingredients are
3 cooked chicken breast halves
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 container mango peach salsa from costco
Jasmine rice prepared with 1/2 coconut milk, 1/2 water

Shread or cut up the cooked chicken. Add the corn beans and salsa and
warm on low in the crockpots for a couple hours, or on high for not as
long. Or even heat up in the microwave if you want to eat right away.
Actually add as much salsa as you think looks good. I ended up using
the whole thing. Serve over the coconut jasmine rice. Wish I had Jim
and Kyle over to finish the pot ful, none the less now we have left
overs. Dave and Jacob liked it more than Joseph, though he got off on
the rice.
I was right. Kinda fun

Davids dinner

A happy feeling in my dinner