Garden Update

You say "tomato"...I say "what the heck is this?"

Wierd things are growing in our garden...

Most of our seeds germinated and corn, squash, peppers, and tomatoes are growing... still waiting on the rest...

I'm sure this is a rather pathetic looking garden for all you green thumbers out there!

No nuts at our house!

My kids were deprived... deprived of one of childhood's most-beloved foods! Oh, the horror! (My son at BYU-H informed me of this last night on the phone.)

I never made one for their lunch box. I have never bought even one jar of the creamy stuff. I've skipped that aisle in the grocery store for the last 25+ years.

My kids watched other kids bite into the gooey brown stuff and smack their lips with delight... while they quietly ate their ham and cheese sandwiches wondering what they were missing out on!

Yes, I'm talking about PEANUT BUTTER! eeww..I can hardly even type the word without getting hives and my mouth starting to itch!!

It is lethal to me... one little bite and I'm into antiphylatic shock. Grab the epi-pen, find the benadryl, call 9-1-1... I even have to call ahead when I fly to make sure they aren't serving peanuts on my flight. And boy, that's embarrassing when they announce it's a peanut-free flight and you hear the grumbling from the other passengers. And as I'm slithering down in my seat, I'm thinking, "Gosh people, get a grip! It's only a little salty nut! Have some pretzels instead!"

Our house has always been a peanut-butter-free zone (and all nuts for that matter). The only way they ever got to eat pb&j sandwiches was to sneak it at a friend's house. Josh said he used to raid his friend's pantry for a jar of the brown stuff. And it's the standard dinner entre for most missionaries (when they don't have a dinner appt) but for my boys it's like eating sushi or some wierd foreign food. And my hubby knows not to eat it if he ever wants a kiss!

So, yes, Matt says that since he's 3000+ miles away from home he can finally enjoy the delectable stuff whenever he wants! And since he doesn't like to cook, I'm guessing he's probably having it for dinner every night!

A Perfect Cookie

I wanted to be the perfect cook (like my mom) when I got married. But, unlike my mom who spent hours a day in the kitchen, I wanted to make everything fast and easy! It took me years to finally make the perfect pot roast that tasted like mom's. You know-- the juicy and tender meat that melts-in-your-mouth kind of pot roast. I learned it had to first be seared and then cooked very slowly for many hours in liquid. The longer it cooked, the better it was! I learned that some perfect things take time...and patience... something I don't always have a lot of.

I've baked lots of chocolate chip cookies through the years... trying dozens of recipes in my quest for the perfect one! I know... everybody's got their favorite way to make them... their family's top secret cookie recipes... But finally... after "tweaking" several recipes... I have one that bakes up nice and chewy and holds together while dipping it in milk... and it's become our family's favorite!

So... Life (and my cooking) may not always be perfect, but at least a cookie can be!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 extra large eggs
2 tsp real vanilla
1 TB water
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 12 oz package Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla, and water until creamy. Sift together flour, soda, and salt and add to mixture. Stir in oatmeal and then chocolate chips. Place rounded tablespoonfuls of cookie dough on ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degree for 8-10 minutes or until just lightly starting to brown but still slightly doughy. Makes 5-6 dozen.

The heat is on....

What happened to spring? Forecast for tomorrow: 101 degrees!! Wait... it’s still April!

And, of course, our air conditioning in one of our cars conked out on us…right on cue…the first day of really hot weather!

Life changes when the thermometer hits 3 digits!

You gotta get up earlier to do a few things...

Watering the garden…I think it’s going to need a shade cover to survive…

The lawns and plants need to be watered at night or the little drops of moisture will just evaporate into thin air…

Walking the dog must be done before 8 am or after 8 pm… And she wants to be indoors most of the day which means more dog hair to vacuum up… Time to get the dog’s hair shaved off…

No more lounging out by the pool without lathering up on the sunscreen… Ha! Ha! I had to throw that one in! Who has time to do that??!!

No more going out to get the mail barefoot!!

No more feeling guilty for not taking that long walk or jog...thank goodness for our basement gym!

Why didn’t I get my spring cleaning done a little earlier??? Now all those crates that need cleaning out in the garage will have to wait another year until the daytime temps are back below 75 degrees! (What’s another year when they’ve been out there for 7 already?!)

And then there are other nuisances associated with the heat…

Feeling like you are in a sauna when you get in the car... the steering wheel is way too hot to touch...and so are the seat belts for that matter... and the kids are screaming that their shorts-clad legs are burning against the heat of the leather seats...

Scorpions…need I say more? Katelyn and I both had the unpleasant experience of getting bit by one last year... not fun! We now have a better bug company servicing our home and yard.

And crickets chirping at night…the loud ones always find a way inside and drive me crazy… Can we pray for a few seagulls to come our way and eat them up like they did for the pioneers??

But, hey, we love the desert! We left Southern California 17 years ago and have never looked back! I spent many weekends of my childhood in Palm Springs (and Mark lived in Palm Desert for a couple of years as a child)... so we knew what we were getting into... and we will take the heat any day over living in the cold, frozen north!

So crank up the a/c... say good-bye to our lower electric bills... see ya in November.

Catching up...

What happened here?? Two weeks...no posts...I'm already falling behind on my goal of at least one post a week...gotta get back in the groove...Let's see what has happend...

Direct from the MTC: Josh is on fire!! His Spanish is coming along great and he says that the promises in his setting apart blessing are coming true. He was made a Zone Leader after just 2 weeks in the MTC...WOW...I knew he was a natural-born leader... He says he is the youngest in his zone of 42 Elders and 6 Sisters (Hermanas). Elder Jeffrey Holland spoke at a Tuesday night devotional and Josh was so close that there were several times he just knew "he looked directly at me when he was speaking"!! Yes, I sure miss him...but I feel such peace in my heart and our home as I read his awesome emails and letters.

Matt had a few days off between semesters and flew over to Kona (on the big island of Hawaii) with a few of his buddies. His best friend Vasu (from India) was getting married to a girl from Brazil in the Kona Temple because the Laie Temple is closed for 18 months for renovations. Matt was bummed about that (the temple closing, I mean) because he lives right next door to the Laie Temple. How cool is that view to wake up to every day!!! Lucky bum! He has promised to send me some pictures to post. He graduates the end of this year and I think he will have a hard time leaving his island paradise!

Jon is busy, busy, busy!! When he came home from his mission a couple of months ago he thought he would have a hard time finding work because of the bad ecomony/housing market. But he's doing tiling, woodworking, painting, drywalling, and all kinds of stuff...his skills and great work ethic are in demand! And he's on the RM speaking circuit in our Stake! I hope he will pause long enough to enjoy a social life and start college.

Katelyn (and 2 friends) played "Love One Another" on the violin during our Easter Sunday Sacrament Meeting. They sounded great and it was a nice addition to the piano accompaniment and choir. We were very proud of her because that's a scary thing to do in front of the whole ward! The Thursday before Easter I took her and her brother (he lives with another foster/adopt family) and her grandmother to see the Easter Pageant on the Temple grounds. (We allow contact with her paternal grandmother because she was the one constant/positive in Katelyn's early life. She came to Katelyn's baptism and we have been "gently" teaching her about the gospel.) I think she really enjoyed the pageant and hopefully went away with a better understanding of our Savior's life and ministry... Katelyn played her violin again last Tuesday evening for the talent portion of the Daddy/Daughter Night at the church. And she gave her first talk in Primary yesterday! It warms my heart to see this little girl growing in the gospel and sharing newfound talents...

Mark is putting in some pretty loooong hours at work lately! It is one of the fastest growing companies in Arizona so there is lots to do. But, he enjoys the challenge! And hey, in this economy, it's great to have a job!!! He celebrated another birthday last week...He's such a techno-toy freak (or geek?) and I'm not... so I never know what to buy him. I just put the Fry's Electronics Ad with his card and say "Go pick out what you want!" But I know more than anything, he would really love a Harley!! And I just keep putting my foot down no matter how good his argument in favor of it is....(great gas mileage, can take the commuter lane to work, fun to ride on Saturday trips through the beautiful desert highways, etc.) So last Christmas I was so tired of hearing about it that I finally broke down and bought him one...a remote-controlled Harley...he was the only one not laughing!!!

Reflections of Quietness

10 days... no doorbell-ringing teenagers streaming through the front door... politely taking off their shoes of course... no "Hey Sister/Mrs. Weathers, how ya' doing?" as they head down to the basement to hang out... no vibrating floor from the beat of their loud music...no 6-foot boys raiding the pantry looking for junk food to fill up their bottomless pits ... (my grocery bill is substantially less now)... no laughing, screeching, giggly girls and deep rumbling-voiced boys filling the house and yard and pool...

No teenagers to wait up for!! Katelyn is still 11... we have at least a couple of years reprieve. Matt is at BYU-Hawaii... what I don't know I won't worry about. And Jon is fresh home from his mission and still keeping the "early to bed early to rise" schedule. So for now anyway... the doors are locked and lights are out waaaay before midnight...WOW... I might actually get a good nights sleep... and maybe these dark circles under my eyes will finally go away...

And yet... I miss it... and them... almost as much as I miss Josh! They are a part of his life... his happy-go-lucky high school years... good clean cut kids that don't cuss...or drink... girls that dress modestly... kids that stand strong in what they believe! I wouldn't trade that noisy bunch of kids for a quiet house anytime! There were so many that I could never remember all their names. But I thank my lucky stars for them every day. We are so blessed to live in such a great place.

Yep, it sure is quiet around here... oh, and I even miss the piles of shoes...

Awesomeness

Well, Josh has been in the MTC for 10 days now. He wrote a quick note to us the first night he was there and you could feel the excitement in his words. He says he has two awesome companions... one from Phoenix and one from Mesa. So three Arizona boys together! He told me not to worry that he is in the hands of the Lord right now and that it is an awesome (word used frequently by Josh) feeling to carry Christ's name on you at all times (his nametag). A couple of days ago we got another letter and he bore his testimony in Spanish. He says he is learning so much so fast! I am not surprized. When he was set apart he was given amazing promises and blessings. He says there is no other place on the earth like the MTC! Yes, Josh is experiencing the "awesomeness" of the MTC!