One Friend

As many of you know we have been struggling with Justin to go to class at church on Sunday since he was going to nursery. Joe and I have been telling him that he needs to go to class so that he can meet and make some new friends. On Sunday I was out in the hall with Jade and he had came with me. We were sitting on the couch and he said that he didn't want to go to class. He said that he didn't need any new friends. That he already had one friend and that was enough. He said that Braden was his friend forever and that was enough for him. :)

Red Neck

Today we went to a real southern BBQ and total red neck. A member of our ward invited the ward to attend. They BBQ ed a pig and everyone was supposed to bring a side dish, or dessert and their lawn chairs. Well they used the trampoline as the table where everyone dished up their food. Everyone had their chairs scattered around in the trees, and around the trampoline. Off to the side they had the pig cooking. Now we can say we have experience total "Red Neck". Just had to share.

Dress Up

Shaunee and Jade have been playing a lot of dress up lately. It seems that as soon as Jade gets up she picks out a pair of dress up shoes and away she goes. She loves to clunk around the house in them. I am forever picking up dress up clothes, but it so fun to watch Jade and Shaunee play in them for hours. I need to find some more, so that they have more to choose from. On this day they invited Justin to play dress up with them.

Foospiration June 25, 2008

Thought:
The Lord gives us a spirit of hope and a feeling of comfort and confidence that we can overcome the obstacles we face. He has shown the way to gain strength during our struggles. With His assistance, we have the ability to succeed. Listen to His words of counsel and comfort: “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world and none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.”
–L. Lionel Kendrick,

Recipe:
Seven Layer Tortilla Pie

•2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
•1 cup salsa, divided
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
•1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
•1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
•7 (8 inch) flour tortillas
•2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
•1 cup salsa
•1/2 cup sour cream
•DIRECTIONS
•Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
•In a large bowl, mash pinto beans. Stir in 3/4 cup salsa and garlic.
•In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup salsa, cilantro, black beans and tomatoes.
•Place 1 tortilla in a pie plate or tart dish. Spread 3/4 cup pinto bean mixture over tortilla to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top with 1/4 cup cheese, and cover with another tortilla. Spread with 2/3 cup black bean mixture, and top with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layering twice. Cover with remaining tortilla, and spread with remaining pinto bean mixture and cheese. Cover with foil, and bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Guitar Hero!

Yesterday morning we had the missionaries over for breakfast. It was their P-Day so they didn't have anywhere that had to be other than the library. Ever since the missionaries came and helped us unload our moving truck, Justin has been begging for them to come eat with us.

Anyway after they ate, we starting playing guitar hero and had a lot of fun. Elder Jensen, Elder Oomrigar and Elder Sabastain. Pictures to come

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"Bo Bos"

For the last couple of days Jade as been saying, "Bo bos", and we have been trying to figure out what it is that she wants. We would make suggestions as to what we thought she was saying and could not for the life of us figure it out. Well this morning she got up at 3:30 am Central Time and kept saying, "Bo bos" and I told her to show me what she wanted. Well low and behold......"Bo bos" means the movie "Hairspray" and she is trying to say, "Be Bops". Yes, at 3:30 am we watched "Hairspray" because I was too tired to fight with her.

For those of you who don't know, Jade loves music and is very opinionated about what she wants to listen to and if you are listening to something she doesn't like it, she will let you know. We think this is why she loves the movie "Hairspray" so much .

Frustration!

Well I am very frustrated! As many of you know, we now live in the sticks. Maybe not the sticks so to speak, but out in the country where if you blink you miss it, and so far out that they do not have cable TV or any high speed internet. We have been able to get high speed internet through a satellite, which is as slow as dial up pretty much. LOL Well because it is through a satellite you are only aloud a certain amount of mega bites a day and then your speed turns into slower than a turtle, and you can't do anything. You are afraid to do anything in fear that if you do, it might shut you down. It is very frustrating that here we spend so much money to have internet and then you are limited to what you can use. I just want to go home!!!!!! Sorry, just venting. LOL

My Girls

I woke up this morning and found Shaunee and Jade asleep like this on the couch. Too Sweet!

I Don't Wanna Grow Up, I Am A Cartoon Kid!

This is so hilarious, last night about midnight and all the kids were in bed, Joe and I are sitting on the couch watching cartoons and eating popcorn. It's pretty good, here we are in our 30s and we still LOVE to watch cartoons. We are cartoon lovers at our house! I can remember when Tegan, our first baby would be in the hospital, and we would always have cartoons on in her room. People would comment and we would say, "Yeah we don't get this station at home, so we have to watch it here."

Too funny! Had to share.

Nature!

There is such beauty to be found in nature. As we have entered a new part of the world from what we are accustomed to, we have had the opportunity to see new things. It isn't uncommon to meet at least one of these along our path as we are traveling to our various destinations.



Armadillo



Firefly or glow worm. We see these in the tall grass and near the trees at dusk.



Opossum




We see turtles on the side of the road a lot!


Luna moth and they are rare because they only live about one to two weeks as an adult. They are about 3 to 4 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches long. This one was the first actually documentation of a Luna month in Henderson County, TN.

Foospiration June 18th

THOUGHT:

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." - Joseph Addison

RECIPE:

Peach Salsa

•6 cups peaches - diced
1 1/4 cups red onion - chopped
4 jalapeno pepper - chopped
*1 red pepper - chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro - loosely packed
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Simmer for 5 minutes.
•Pack into hot jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (0-1000 ft.), 15 minutes (1001-6000 ft.), and 20 minutes (above 6000 ft.).

Lost a tooth!

For about a week Shaunee has had a loose tooth. As the week has gone by, the tooth has worked its way loose thanks to Shaunee. She has been so excited that she finally has a loose tooth. Well this afternoon she was complaining that it hurt, and so her dad tried all day to convince her to let him pull it. He kept bugging her, and wanted to pull it with plyers, and string, but Shaunee kept telling him no. Well finally she let me get it out as it was only hanging on my a thread. Now the wait for the Tooth Fairy.

Baptism

Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend a baptism of a young Hispanic gentleman. Joe has been working with the missionaries and translating for them. (One of the missionaries is from Middleton, ID and had brother Angell as his seminary teacher.) It was cool to watch the excitement in my children as they watched and asked questions. My heart was full of gratitude as I felt the Spirit and witnessed Shaunee and Justin feel the Spirit.

250 Staion Rd. Beech Bluff, TN 38313

We are finally together once again as a family. Here are the details of adventure.....

We left Tuesday June 3, 2008 from Brigham City, Utah. This was a sad moment for all of us, or maybe just me as I was the only one who cried as we said bye to Jana and Karla (Joe's sisters) and Aunt Lucile. Oh we can't forget the dogs.....Harley, Izzy and Beau. (Bella has been pouting since we left. Her buddies are gone!)

We drove about 650 miles that first day and ended up in Ogalala (sp), NE. Let me tell you by the time we got there, we were more than ready to get out. Jade and I rode with Joe's parents, and Justin and Shaunee rode with Joe in the moving truck. Joe's dad got Jade to say "Enough Daddy." Wasn't that the truth, we had had enough.

Wednesday June 4th 2008 we left Ogalala, NE and drove over 600 miles again and stayed in Kingdom City, MO. For all you David Cook fans.........we drove right by his home town of Blue Springs, MO. "Go Cookie"

While we were waiting for Joe and his dad to check into our hotel, Jade and I found a huge snapping turtle in the parking lot and went to check it out. ( Sorry no pictures) Jade was all excited and wasn't afraid of it at all.

Thursday June 5th 2008 we left Kingdom City, MO and drove around 320 miles to Beech Bluff, TN. Yea we made it!!!!!!!

Well here are some pictures of our house and property (2acres)


The front of our house.




Our property goes all the way to the trees.



The road to our house.









Okay, this is how much we love all of you!!!!!! The big satellite is so we can have internet to stay in touch with all of you as we literally live in the sticks. LOL


This is called Queen Ann's Lace. It is a weed that grows around here ......Very pretty for a weed.

It is very hot here, well I guess not really hot but with the humidity it feels hot. You go outside and within a short amount of time you are soaked. LOL We have had to take our food storage out of the garage and store it in our clothes closet and it gets over 90 degrees in the garage. Out here I guess they don't believe in pantries......How do us Mormon women survive with no pantry LOL. We turned a closet into a pantry, it's not as big as we would like, but it works.

We love and miss all of you! Please keep in touch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Foospiration June 13, 2008

Okay, I have been gone for a while as we have been making our way to Tennessee. More details to come on that note. :)

Thought:

“The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike.”
“This Is the Work of the Master,” Gordon B Hinckley Ensign, May 1995

Recipe:

Quiche Lorraine

•INGREDIENTS
•1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
•6 slices bacon
•1 onion, chopped
•3 eggs, beaten
•1 1/2 cups milk
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
•1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
•DIRECTIONS
•Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
•Line pastry with a double layer of aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 4 to 5 minutes more, or until crust is set. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
•Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon grease in skillet. Cook onion in reserved drippings until tender; drain and set aside.
•In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk and salt. Stir in bacon and onion. In a separate bowl, toss cheese and flour together. Add cheese to egg mixture; stir well. Pour mixture into hot pastry shell.
•Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. If necessary, cover edges of crust with foil to prevent burning. Let quiche cool for 10 minutes before serving.