So much good food

Growing up in central Idaho far from the coast, seafood was never a common food staple.  It is still odd while living in a fishing community to consider sea food a common food source.   One thing we have found a liking too, sushi!  Now that was unexpected!  In the week up to Christmas chad and I had lunch at The Powerhouse, one of two sushi places in town.  We met up there with the other contractor that Chad works with, this was the Christmas gift from Dell.    The next day I found myself there again with some of the girls from church.   After that Chad was interested in trying to make sushi ourselves at home.   The day after Christmas was our first try. 

The attempt was a success and we have made them again several times since then.  We haven’t tried anything too crazy, just crab with avocado and cucumber spears wrapped in seaweed and rice.  A touch of wasabi and soy sauce makes a great dip.  We convinced all the kids to all try a taste of wasabi and Kaylin was the only one who came  back for more.
A couple of days later I gathered with a couple with Shelly Black, her daughter Kayla, Gertrude Roy and her daughter Rea to make a mountain of lumpia (egg rolls)and a      pansit (noodle stir fry).  I love getting together with friends to make fantastic food.  I have made lumpia and pansit a few times, but it was always great to cook with friends.  

Now I have a couple of bags of lumpia stored in my freezer, but it is not nearly enough.  What a great time we had laughing and playing with the younger girls as the mountain piled up.  We ate through over 1/3 of the pile that night once Chad and the kids showed up.  

Christmas Morning

Pictures say it best. 

Eclipse

Did you see the lunar eclipse last night.  Amazingly enough there were no clouds blocking our view of the heavens.  The kids were so excited they were running to the window every 5 minutes watching for a change in the moon.  Chad spent some time fiddling with the camera to get a good shot.   He is a lot more patient and knowledgeable about photography to work to get a good picture.  I am the the point and click kind, so I am usually disappointed in the photos that I get.  I am also not one to sit for any amount of time editing my photos.  I can crop and that is about the extent of my editing ability.  So with my lack of expertise I was really happy with the way Chad’s pictures came out.  
  

I was not expecting to see the small streaks of the stars moving.  Leaving the shutter open long enough to gather the moonlight picked up the faint movement of the stars above our heads.

Remembered

I am thinking of my grandma tonight.  Dad just called to tell me that grandpa is gone.   He was diagnosed with lung cancer last spring.  I don’t think anyone thought it would be this fast.  I had been hoping to see him next summer when we make it down south again.  Now that chance is lost. 

After I hung up with Dad I had myself a good cry.  I realized I was not weeping for him, he is free of pain and in a better place.  I was weeping, sobbing really, for myself.  He has been on my mind for so long, and I have composed dozens of letters in my head, but none on paper.  There was never the time, and when I took the time I would get lost in the memories.   I am also heart broken for Grandma who is now alone after over 60 years of marriage. 



Grandpa and Grandma have been in the same place since before my dad was born.  After serving in WWII grandpa entered his name for a plot of land from the Hunt Relocation Camp, where they built their home and raised 6 kids.  Grandpa had grown up on a farm near Rigby, Idaho and farming was always in his blood. 
When I was a kid I spent lots of time on Grandpa and Grandma’s farm.  They lived just three miles away and Mom was often needed to help Dad on our own farm.  I stayed with Grandma while Dad and Mom worked, and I loved Grandma’s house.  There was always a full candy dish and ice cream bars in the freezer.  Grandpa had built a swing set in the back yard, an old fashioned thing that could swing really high.  Grandma always had an amazing flower garden all around the yard.   Summer days were the best with cousins around.  With toy tractors, bulldozers, and dump trucks we would create roads and constructions sights around the edge of the garden beds. 

They had a huge old apple tree in the back yard, we could all climb almost up to the top and there were so many branches that we could each take our pick and eat apples until we were full.  Starting around the first part of July we would start tasting the apples to see if they were ripe.  We ate many too early and grandma worried that we would be sick.   Sitting in that tree was one of my favorite places on the farm.  It was the perfect hiding place because even standing at the base of the tree no one could see us through the branches at the top.  I loved sitting there and looking out at the fields below.  I especially loved to see the wheat turn gold, and watch the stocks waving in the breeze. 

Sometimes as kids we would play hide and seek in the corn field.  We were not supposed to be out there where we could get lost.  I never understood how we would get lost.  All we ever had to do walk down the corn row until we came to the end.  We were always very careful to make sure that we didn’t break off any of the stocks, that was money down the road.  But we could walk out a ways and lay down in the row and hide pretty well.  

When the fields were off limits we would play in the barn and the sheds.  There were so many great places on the farm and we found them all.  The dusty shed where the saddles were hung, and grandpa’s old motor bikes.  There was the little old trailer where grandma kept the old toys, the crochet set (that we had to set up several times during the summer), her empty canning jars, and anything else that she felt needed to be packed up and put way.  It was full of all kinds of treasures to see.  We played cowboys and indians, or cops and robbers, or spies.  There were always the good guys and the bad guys, but it didn’t really matter what side we were on as long as we were having fun.

Holidays were a big deal.  That is what I miss the most since getting out on my own.  At nearly every holiday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, 4th of July; we would gather as grandma’s.  There was always a ton of food, and as much dessert as we wanted.  The grown ups would stay late playing Pictionary, Pinochle, Oh Heck, and many other games and I would sit and watch until I was finally allowed to play.   Most of the time all the kids would gather in the TV room to watch movies.  Grandpa had a better selection that we had at home and Grandma always made sure that there were plenty of kids movies too. 

Grandma and Grandpa kept all seven of us kids when Mom and Dad were down at Primary Children’s Hospital with my sister Toni.  She was born with Trisomy 13.  We knew when she was born that something was wrong, and they spent five days down in Salt Lake while the doctors ran their tests.   On Saturday Grandpa loaded us all into the car for the 4 dour drive down to see her for possibly the last time.  The doctors were sure that once she was taken off the oxygen she would be gone, but she lasted for another day and a half.  I went home with Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma took the other kids.  She past away early on Monday morning.  Grandma and Grandpa brought the kids over before school to come and say good by.  I stayed to help Mom and Dad, but they later dropped me off at school.  I understand now that they needed their time alone to grieve.  I made it through the morning, but couldn’t go on after lunch.  It was Grandpa who came to pick me up.  He wrapped me up and took me home. 

He was always quiet, not a man of many words; but he showed he cared through his actions.    He had a deep heart and a true commitment to family.    In his quiet way he was the back bone of the family, the patriarch, and was respected for it.  He was not always active in church, becoming active in my late teen years and returning to the temple on my wedding after over 50 years of absence.  My wedding was made more special by that fact.  

I didn’t get a chance to say good by, but I feel so comforted knowing that I will see him again.  He will be with Grandma again.  Now he is healthy and free from the pain of the last several months.   Grandpa was one of those salt of the earth farmers, dedicated to his land, his crop, and his family.  He was a great example and he is going to be missed.

Remembering the Reason

This afternoon was our primary Christmas activity.   We wanted to have an activity that would be simple and meaningful for the children, so we planned to have the children act out the Nativity. 
We dresses our lambs,

and a donkey
 
and angels.
  
Our wise men were looking good and sporting modern conveniences.

Then we assembled on stage.  Our lambs sat quietly to hear the angles message.
 
The angles assembled in the sky to herald the birth of the Savior.

Then the lambs gathered in the stable to see the baby Jesus.   Little Kaci Martin was a perfect choice for this part.  She is a precious little 1 month old in our ward.



After the show the kids gathered around the table to create their own little nativity scene out of popsicle sticks.  While they were busily building we had a special visitor, and the kids left their projects to visit with Santa.  There were special moments, shy smiles, and conversations kids can only have with Santa. 
 
 
 

But in the end, I hope that the kids felt the true spirit of Christmas and will remember the part they played as we reenacted the Christmas story.  It is not the season of flashy lights, endless shopping, and the hussle and bussle filling each day.  With a big roll of paper, a hand drawn scene, cotton balls, fabric scraps, and tinsel we did just a little bit to bring Christ back into our Christmas.

A sweet treat

Today I had another cake order.  I don’t do many of these because I have a ridiculously tiny kitchen and I end up taking up the whole thing when I do a cake.   This means everyone had better not want anything from the kitchen until I am done. 

I started this cake last night and was really excited to see it coming together.  It was for a 12 year old girls birthday and I was told she did not want anything classic or cutesy, but something with lots of colors and shapes.  

 

I started with the candles.  They were the most fun to make, large pretzel sticks cut in half and dipped in white chocolate.   I rolled out yellow starburst candies to cut the flames, then attached them with more melted chocolate.  The effect was that it looked like melted candle wax dripping down the candle.   I made a batch of marshmallow fondant to cover the cake and Alyssa helped me cut stripes and polka dots to decorate the candles.

I had enough cake batter left to make a cupcake that I wrapped in fondant for the cake top.  Once the cake was all assembled I attached the candles with more melted chocolate, and sprinkled chocolate shavings as confetti all over the cake. 

    

I was pretty happy with the way it all turned out, and I hope that sweet girl had a great birthday party.   Even though it took a lot of time, and caused my kitchen to explode, I loved making this cake. 

Oh how they grow!

December has just flown by, and I can’t believe that Christmas is in just 10 days.  Still we have had a great month so far, and have taken advantage of the time at home to do things together.
Alyssa loves to bake, and she has recently tried her hand at cinnamon rolls.  With very little instructions from mom, she made the dough, rolled it out, formed and cut the rolls, and got them ready to bake.  All mom had to do was put them into the oven while she was at piano lessons and drizzle on the frosting.

We made gingerbread housed this year for our December Relief Society Enrichment meeting.  The kids were bummed that they did not get to help so we made candy trains for Family Home Evening to set out with the house.  I had a great time decorating the house myself this year.  Usually I just supply the frosting and clean up the mess when they are done, and that is pretty much how it went with the trains this year.  Chad even joined in on the fun and worked with Kaylin to create a pretty awesome train.  He had an ice pond where Santa fell through the ice and just left his face sticking out.  He also had Santa run down by the train leaving him in two pieces in the back of the train.  Sam and Connor thought these were a great idea and quickly made their Santas match.  Alyssa was horrified that they would do that to Santa, and thinks that they will not get any presents this year from him.



Alyssa had her winter orchestra performance last night.  It was great to hear all the kids and they played very well.  You can tell that they have all worked really hard and we enjoyed the whole concert.  We were disappointed in the students and where sitting around us.  We had to remind them all a couple of times to be quiet as they were talking to each other, on the phone, and cat calling the kids on stage.  It was very disappointing to see that they have no idea how to be respectful not only to the kids preforming but to those sitting near them as well.  Despite this we all had a great time and were very please with Alyssa and the hard work she has put into her music.