One of the "Girls"

OK, so I have been told that I have yet to put an actual picture of our chickens on the blog. This is one of the "girls" that we have. Rachel just loves the chickens. She screams if we don't take her on our jaunts out to the coop to check on the chickens. Then, if you don't catch her a chicken to pet, she is just upset with you. She just giggles and giggles to pet them, and will stand at the fence and watch them for ever. It is fun to watch her. If she is ever outside she can be found toddling to the coop to see who is out to visit with.

New Recipe

Hi all. I decided that I would put a new recipe on my blog each week, as I love to try new recipes. For now, I will just put recipes on that I have tried and then let you know whether or not they were "family friendly". I don't know if I can just put the recipes on here if I got them from a certain site, so I will just tell you where to get them for now. Tonight we had a recipe that I got off the internet from Paula Deen. You can find the recipe by searching her recipes on the Food Channel. We had Chicken Spiedini's and spaghetti squash. The chicken is wrapped around a chunk of asiago cheese and then rolled in olive oil and bread crumbs. These are great! The spaghetti squash I cooked up in the microwave and then put butter and parmesan cheese in it. I can't say that it was the best looking meal, but everyone ate it up. When feeding my family spaghetti squash, I always treat it like spaghetti noodles and serve it in some way related to the noodle and then my kids will eat it. How is that for tricky? Anyhow, give this a try and let me know if you like it.

My Little Music Director

Rachel is my one year old busy one. She rarely sits to watch TV, she will stop to laugh at something on the TV and then run off on her way. To our surprise during General Conference, she actually sat during President Monson's talk and then she led the Choir in their song. This is her leading the music, although it is hard to see anything but her flying hands. We were once told that it didn't matter if your kids went to church when they were little, as they wouldn't know any different. I beg to differ. I think that they are so close to the spirit and they can feel it. So now, when I go to sacrament meeting and wonder, "Why am I here?" while I wrestle between Izzy and Rachel for that hour, I will think of this picture and know why.

3 Generations

Last weekend my mom and grandmother came to visit. They like to be busy, if you only knew, and so I have to have projects for them to work on while they are here. There is never a shortage of projects in this house, so while we listened to General Conference they helped me finish my canning for the year, potatoes and carrots from my garden. My garden was a ton better than I had expected, as we just picked a spot, rototilled in some manure, planted some seeds, and then watered every few days. We were able to can 33 quarts of potatoes/carrots/onions and 11 quarts of beans. (This is why the hair is not so neat in the photos and the expressions slightly haggardly.) We also made bread, and my grandma is holding a jar of pickles that she canned for me out of her garden. In addition to the fact that I really appreciate these women for all they do for me, I am eternally thankful for the relationship that I have with them. Most of who I am is because of these women. They have taught me invaluable skills that I am able to use to care for my family. They are who I call when my days are long, or I am attempting some new thing that I need advice for, or when I just need someone to listen for a minute. I am also very thankful for the relationship that they have with my children. My children love them and look forward to their visits. They are also learning from them and becoming their friends. Thank heavens for family.