273-(6864) First Snow on Maple Mountain

Our storm arrived right on schedule... "Fritz said it would be like this!". The snow line is hanging about 1000' above the valley floor looking very much like someone VERY large had fun with the powdered sugar.

Isn't it interesting how we become very possessive of things? This is *my* Maple Mountain! In the few short years we've lived here I've come to love her deeply. I heard sisters talking at the Temple today about how they knew they would be able to see snow on *my* mountain... I suppose I will let them look!

I am so grateful for this connectedness that I feel here in Springville. In so many ways it has been like moving back to Greenville. The weather is so similar. I know that some people get aggravated with the sudden changes in weather that we experience here... but it is so familiar that I could dance with glee!



Another of the Lord's tender mercies.

** So are you still wondering about my title? Who can tell me about the additional numbers? I'll tell you tomorrow if you haven't figured it out!

272- Storm's a'Comin'

Today, right now at 6:19pm Mountain time it is 78 degrees... ahh, but that storm's a'comin'! Temperatures tomorrow are predicted to be 30-35 degrees cooler than today! I think fall is going to swoop in all at once tonight...

In anticipation of said storm I went out and did some yard work; including raking up soft-gooshie fruit that has lain on the ground for two weeks while I've been gone. Mmmmm-mmmm... DON'T get a spoon!

After some back-breaking work I took a break on the deck and looked up to find these beauties... the precursor of the storm.



Now I am sitting in my perch of a playroom and am watching the storm creep up *my* mountain. I just love to watch the storms move in.

271- Ick-Lick

Last evening when I was cleaning up after dinner I was putting away the leftover Yummy Easy Chicken (recipe to follow). This is one of my favorite dinners; lots of yummy chicken gravy to have over rice, UMMM-umm! When I picked up an empty 1-liter water bottle from the sink and threw it away in the recycle bin I notice had a spot of chicken gravy on my finger. I quickly licked it off...

ick...ick...ICK... ICK!!! Grab a tissue, wipe furiously at my tongue, ick, gag, ick-ick, gag-gag... run to the bathroom!!! Whew, rinse, brush the poor tongue, rinse again! Deep exhale... sigh... It wasn't my yummy chicken gravy... IT WAS A BLOB OF PINEAPPLE HAND SOAP! (Shiver!)

Exhibit A

Yummy Easy Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
1-2 Tbs butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup (or 1 c of c and 1 cream of mushroom)
1/2 can water
various herbs (it's different every time but I like: sage, poultry seasoning, thyme, or an herb blend)

In a large skillet brown chicken pieces in butter on both sides. Add soup, water and herbs. Cover and simmer about 15-20 minutes. Serve over steamed rice (my favorite is Jasmine rice!)

270- The Windows of Heaven

Most of you know the scripture in Malachi 3:8-12 where the Lord promises that if we pay our tithing he will "open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

I'm here to tell my Windows on Heaven story tonight. Way back in 1997, at the bottom of the housing crash in Palmdale (Palmdale has a very volatile housing market with high peaks and "way down in the valley" lows) we were able to purchase this lovely house. We felt so blessed to be able to afford it, as we had been hit very hard by said crash. We lovingly restored our house with paint, carpet, landscaping, trees, more paint, wood floors, paths, more landscaping... etc. There was a lot of love and sweat in this happy house.


(our old Palmdale house today newly loved and painted by the newest owners)

I never thought I would leave Palmdale. We'd raised out *little* family there. We had dear friends and we'd put down deep roots in our 23 years. But then some of our dear friends announced that they were moving to Utah! Wait... how could that be? They were just as connected and rooted in Palmdale as we were. But Nancy explained that they were following the Prophet's counsel to get out of debt. I realized that our wonderful *blessing* home had become even more of a blessing since it had tripled in value! We, too, could sell our home that we loved, go to a cheaper housing market, buy a modest home and have it nearly paid for with the equity! After 18 years of paying child support I never thought we would ever get a paid for home. But here we are... nearly there. We owe less on our present home that many people rack up in a month on credit card debt!

What makes all of this so poignant to me is that the Palmdale-crash-cycle has continued. Less than a year after we sold our Palmdale home it had quadrupled in value!!! Some poor soul bought it and then the bottom dropped out of the market and they lost all. My *happy home* sat vacant for over a year. But it was just sold in July at one third of the market high! I hope that *my* happy home continues to be a safe haven for its current occupants.

Do I think that all of this was just a coincidence? Not in the least! The Lord honors his promises. When we obey He is bound to bless us! Will the blessings come right away? without any trials? Probably not, but when we do what is right and are obedient the Lord truly does open the windows of heaven and pours out a blessing that there is not room enough to receive. How grateful I am for that principle. How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father.

269- In-n-Out

FIRST... HERE IS MY DISCLAIMER... I DIDN'T TAKE THIS PHOTO... I GOT IT here from Flickr images!



I should be flogged for not getting MY OWN photo of In-n-Out! I ate there THREE times (and took Spencer once when I didn't eat!) while I was on vacation. I just love In-n-Out burgers! My favorite is a #2- cheeseburger with grilled onions, fries & Dr Pepper. Occasionally I will get protein-style, no bun and wrapped in lettuce. It is very tasty and leaves me more room for the fries. I have to be STARVING to be able to eat ALL of a #2. I know that lots of people think this is silly... all this hype over a hamburger restaurant (hats off to Harry Potter for that name) and that hamburgers are created equal... NOT SO! It is one of those places that just makes me happy to eat there.

The happy, but not new news, is that we are getting our very own In-n-Out in Orem at the corner of University Parkway and State Street. It should be finished in December.

I also found this Awesome photo of In-n-Out, but it is copyrighted. Click on the link if you want to see it. I think this is the Las Vegas Tropicana store. It looks just like where I had lunch on my drive home yesterday.

268- Spencer aka Chester

Spencer came over tonight for a visit. We were sitting around visiting and reminiscing about when Spencer lived here with Auntie P. We got to laughing about all the funny things that happened but the one that stuck out in my mind was when Edna forgot Spencer's name and started calling him Chester.

Edna would yodel out, "Ches-TERRRR!" Finally *Chester* would come in to see what she needed; usually a blanket or she couldn't find the TV remote. My happiest memory was one time when I was here. Edna says, "See that handsome young man? Have him come and and say good-night to me!"


(Spencer- age 25)

267- Joanie @ PCH

We had such fun the day we went *down-below*. Besides the aforementioned activities (Bishop's Store house, Cielito Lindo & Baby Zoe) we went to the beach. I've had a hankering to go to the beach for a couple of years... and since we were right there and had time to kill we took advantage of a trip down to Santa Monica beach. I'd forgotten how long the walk is across the sand at Santa Monica! They've also added pedestrian bridges to cross Hwy 1 aka Pacific Coast Highway. Before you'd take your life in your hands to cross.



I love how P captured not only me, the highway, beach and ocean, but if you look in my glasses you can see the five plinths erected to honor the California soldiers lost in war.


(marsupial-pcp)

Of course I had to dabble my feet in the water... with only slightly better results than the pool at Bek's house. This time I had on some French Terry capris; even though I rolled them up to my knees the waves got me and the terry pants wicked the sea water up to my mid-thigh... the good news? I was hot so that felt good.

266- Auntie P Gets A New Title

For years my best friend/sister-by-choice, Pauline aka Auntie P, has been a wonderful Auntie P to not only my children but countless other lucky little kids (and Mommas). Auntie P was only able to have one child of her own and I've reminded her many times that if she'd had her allotted 3-6 children there would have been so many of us who would never have been the recipient of her administrations and love.

But all of that ended 5 weeks ago. Auntie P got a new title... she is now Grammie P! This is Grammie P and her little baby Zoe. I don't think little Zoe even realizes what a lucky baby she is!!!!!!!

265- Cielito Lindo

Ahhhh... get out your memory-foam shoes because I'm going to take you for a walk down my memory lane...

Ages ago when I was in Spanish 1 I learned the song Cielito Lindo. That song has stayed with me all these years and it runs through my head periodically... ESPECIALLY when I am taking a trip to my favorite Cielito Lindo.



This has to be one of the finest taquito cookeries on the face of the earth. (Just go to their website... they are world famous!) Taquitos are just happy food in my book. (I just went and searched my blog because I was sure that I'd blogged about taquitos before... but I hadn't. I suppose that will be another post for another day.)

Cielito Lindo is situated at the east end of the historic Olvera St in downtown Los Angeles. They serve their taquitos with what they call avocado sauce, but is really tomitillo sauce... yummy! My favorite is to get them with a side of beans and cheese! Oh my... it's a little slice of heaven! It is right up there with a trip to Disneyland on my fun-o-meter!



Who could resist this plate of yum-ness!? Certain not Auntie P and I!



When we were leaving Springville, a week and a half ago, for our road trip down here we made a quick stop at Taco Bell and it made me think that I would be able to go get taquitos at Cielito Lindo! I started singing Cielito Lindo for Camille and Stuart. Camille made me repeat it several time trying to figure out what it said...

I Googled to get the lyrics-

De la Sierra Morena,
Cielito lindo, vienen bajando,
Un par de ojitos negros,
Cielito lindo, de contrabando.

Estribillo: Yeh... this is the only part I remember!!
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
Cielito lindo, los corazones.

Refrain:
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
sing and don't cry,
because singing gladdens,
pretty sweetheart, one's heart (Just for you Camille-y)

Pájaro que abandona,
Cielito lindo, su primer nido,
Si lo encuentra ocupado,
Cielito lindo, bien merecido.

(Estribillo)
Ese lunar que tienes,
Cielito lindo, junto a la boca,
No se lo des a nadie,
Cielito lindo, que a mí me toca.

(Estribillo)

Si tu boquita morena,
Fuera de azúcar, fuera de azúcar,
Yo me lo pasaría,
Cielito lindo, chupa que chupa.

(Estribillo)

De tu casa a la mía,
Cielito lindo, no hay más que un paso,
Antes que venga tu madre,
Cielito lindo, dame un abrazo.

(Estribillo)

Una flecha en el aire,
Cielito lindo, lanzó Cupido,
y como fue jugando,
Cielito lindo, yo fui el herido.

(Estribillo)

264- Pinecone

One of my favorite things about visiting at Bek's house is the smell of the pines. I reminds me of when I grew up and the wonderful spicy smell that would envelope me when I walked outside. What wonderful memories...

263- Isn't That Just Like a Boy?

My title is a slight twist on Miss Cornelia's favorite statement "Just like a Man!" from Anne of Ingleside.

I realized that I've been here eight days and still hadn't captured Tadhg on film! Lasterday, after working all week at odd jobs, Tadhg bought himself a new deck for his skateboard. When he went outside this afternoon I thought this might be the perfect time to catch him...



Now, I ask again... Isn't this just like an almost 13-year old boy? Telephone, skateboard... in his own little world.

I also tried my hand at some panning... I can see that I need LOTS more practice. But this one was ok... I'll need to ask Lillie for some pointers when I get home.

262- Another California Sunset

Tonight Bek and I went out for a twilight walk! We were treated to another beautiful CA sunset for our troubles.


(marsupial-pocket camera-phone photo)

When we got back it was still hot (in the 80s) so I went out to dabble my feet in the pool. Only one problem... I misjudged where the step was and when I stepped in, in the dark, I went down with a ginormous splash! All I could think of was, "AHHHHH, SAVE THE CELL PHONE!! I'm not sure how I managed it but I fell with my left hip up out of the water. Bek came and got my NEW phone; fortunately it was dry. Since I was already wet I sat in the pool for about half an hour. It sure did feel good. We watched the beautiful stars that are so bright here at YLP with no artificial light. I saw two shooting stars and one fast moving satellite.

The next funny came when Tadhg came out... "Are you guys skinny-dipping?" I retorted, "Not on purpose!" He turned and headed for the door as fast as possible. But we stopped him and reassured him that we were all dressed, albeit wet.

261- Chi-Tu TIRED!

Sweet Caden! He got home from school and was so tired! First he fell asleep on his bed and when we called him to dinner he moved to a chair in the family room. He was actually in the chair but by the time the rest of us finished dinner he'd melted onto the floor. Poor tired boy... I helped walk him to bed (much to big for this Grammie to carry anymore) After a big drink of ice water he was out for the night.



We weren't too worried about him missing dinner... he'd had FOUR bowls of Reese's Puffs Cereal for an after school snack (yeah, Grammie bought it for them...)

Hope.

260- The Path Less Traveled

I'm feeling just a little philosophical tonight. I started the day with a walk around the main lake at Yosemite Lakes Park (fondly know as YLP to the locals) while Rebekah and her cohorts were kick-boxing (No, I'm not going to kick-box and I promise I won't take embarrassing photos of you again!)



I love to walk alone in the woods and this is a pleasant little 1 mile hike. I saw an elderly gentleman, feeding the ducks. I suspect he may have a daily ritual of this. I saw other walkers and one jogger ("All my friends that jog are dead!" Gordon B Hinckley). I thought of all the times as a child that I would take just these kinds of walks... cool shade, warm sun, powdery dirt under my feet and in my flip-flops (except back then I called them thongs... I don't dare say that today... gross!)

Rebekah warned me that there were a couple of places where the path forked and told me which way I needed to go. I thought about that proverbial "path/road less traveled". It was so easy to see which path was less traveled. I was in no danger of being lost. I could see the weed on one and the footprints on the other.

It made me think about the paths of life. Today we have so many *BAD* well traveled paths that I have to desire to follow. The good news is that I do have the a good road map for my life. The perfect example who is the way, the truth and the light.

259- Brock's #8

I was browsing through my photos and saw that I had some awesome photos of Brock on his birthday. I just love the continuous shoot feature! I just hold down the shutter and away it goes. I have the cutest *penny-arcade* of Brock blowing out his candles. It only took him... guess how many? Yep, 8 blows to get them all. That last one was a torch and wouldn't go out. Sweet little boy!

258- Kickin'

Yeah, this girl is kickin' booty and takin' names... you don't want to mess with her! Bek does kick-boxing 5 days a week and teaches Yoga 2 days a week. What a gal! (I used to be that young once!)

You go girl!


BRUSHES- Worn_HighRes003, Script_Brushes_by_LadyVictoire, RhonnaFarrer_2ps_SnapShotFrameKit, FONT- Angelic War, Felix Titling ACTION- DPMoms Perfect Workflow, TEXTURE- Experimental Grunge

257- Caden's Success

First off I have to say that if I leave this house one more time without my camera I may just have to give myself a whoopin'!

Tonight Caden and Brock had a Chi-Tu Do (martial arts) performance and awards night. At the end it was time to let all the students try their hand (bwahahahaha) at breaking boards. Caden got up there and smashed his! (And there is just no substitute for my wonderful Rebel XS with my camera phone... but that's all I had.) I was lucky enough that it decided to snap the photo just at the precise moment of breakage! Way to go Caden!

256- Brock's Special Day

Today was a doubly special day for Brock! Not only was it his birthday, but it was his baptism day! What a special treat! Not too many people can say that they were baptized ON their birthday!

After the regular church meetings today many of his friends stayed to witness his baptism. Brock even invited some of his friends who don't belong to our church and they came. I was so proud of him that he would want his friends to be there and realize how important he feels this day is to him.

We had a beautiful meeting and the Spirit was strong in testifying that Brock was making the right choice. During the closing song I could feel Tony, Amanda, Grammy and Grampy there with us for this wonderful family experience. I am so grateful to know that they are still so close loving and supporting us from the other side of the veil.

254- Sunset Fountain

I was looking for something on my new phone and found these photos that I took of the sunset last week as I was leaving the Temple after ward Temple night. It was just beautiful. Can you believe these are from a phone? Yup, that was one of my requirements for a new phone... it had to have a good marsupial-pocket-camera!

You all know that I am a sucker for a sunset... but this one was particularly nice.



Maybe someday soon I will do a blog post about my new phone...

253- Yellow Dahlia

This spring I planted a bag of mixed dahlia bulbs. Only about a third of them even grew, but those that did... wow! Most of them are a reddish-pink but I have this one pale yellow that is growing in the backyard. It is just lovely but not as large as the others.



This is always one of my favorite times of year. All of the summer flowers are at their peak and thick in their borders. I wish there was a way to lengthen out this time just a little. But all too soon we will have a killing frost and all I will have is lots of dead vegetation that needs to be pruned, pulled out and recycled.

Ah, but that also means the leaves will start to turn and there will be that snap in the air! Yes, I do like the changing seasons... but for now I will enjoy summer's last hoorah!

252- Kill The Squeak!

I don't think I've ever met a dog with as much personality as Harley! He is definitely a B-O-Y dog, if you get my drift. I've said before that whereas Buddi was a fur-covered sack of love, Harley is a fur-covered sack of trouble! Well, not so much anymore... but it's still fun to say.

This dog loves his toys and he understands that they are HIS toys... his property. Whenever he gets a new toy his first objective is to seek and destroy the squeak! The funny thing about Bunny is that he has had it for several weeks, but because it was stuffed so tightly he couldn't really get to the squeak. Usually he has that squeak out and dead in a matter of minutes instead of weeks.

When I bought Bunny I chose it because it had so many appendages for chewing: four legs, two ears, a nose and a tail... what a cornucopia of chewing fun! Harley first chews through the fabric, spitting out pieces as he goes and then starts pulling out the stuffing... again with the spitting. Camille cracks up when she watches him at this. Tonight he hit to pay-dirt! The stuffing was fairly flying out of Bunny! Harley could actually make Bunny squeak... well, do I even need to say... it was only a matter of minutes before the squeak was dead? Harley is now taking a nap after all that exertion! Funny-boy-face-dog!


BRUSHES- Worn_HighRes003, Script_Brushes_by_LadyVictoire, RhonnaFarrer_2ps_SnapShotFrameKit, FONT- Angelic War, Felix Titling ACTION- DPMoms Perfect Workflow, TEXTURE- chaotic soul

251- Sweet Babies

A few days ago sweet Baby K made her debut on my blog. Today I was back for more photos of her and her darling cousin. They are only a few weeks apart. The *Mamas* wanted to have their images captured (sounds so old fashioned, doesn't it?) in their blessing dresses to use for an invite for the event later this month.

This is my favorite. I added some typography art along with the personal information that I won't show on my blog. All you get to see are the sweet babies...

250- Willow Sunset

Sometimes I can hardly believe that we have been in our home in Utah over four and a half years. My home feels like an old friend. I love my somewhat east facing bedroom window. I can see Maple Mountain in all of her various states of glory and on summer evenings the canyon breeze comes gently in. When I walk in to our bedroom the big chair just welcomes me and vies for an opportunity to be used for reading instead of my comfy bed!

Then there is my somewhat west facing *play room* window. This is where I spend most of my time. I love the view from my window. I can see the neighborhood, my front yard, the mountain range just north of us where all of our wildlife come from, AND my lovely globe willow tree.

I feel in love with this variety of tree almost 30 years ago. I love the way the branches reach upward and in a gentle breeze it looks like a ladies skirt swishing. This time of year the sun sets directly behind it. What a beautiful sight.

249- Raisins- Part Trois

I know you can hardly wait for each new day and the progress I am making with my raisins! Perhaps you would be as excited as I am if you ate them every single morning in your oatmeal! (Yes, that's me. I love my porridge every morning... with raisins, brown sugar and cooked in soy milk... sometimes apples thrown in for good measure!)

Several years ago I attempted raisins, but I was not too happy with the results. I think that I harvest the grapes too soon and the resultant raisins were rather tart! Yeah, what's up with that? I also read at the time that you should blanch the grapes to speed up the dehydrating time. What a hassle.

So here is the first batch of raisins... not blanched and not harvested too early... yummy.



It takes about 18-24 hours to dry a batch (apparently the blanching DID NOT speed the drying time). Batch number 2 is almost finished (I have two dehydrators and one is significantly faster than the other). I estimate I will have about 5 more batches. I'll come back and let you know the final count.

Since not all grapes are created equal some are drier than others. I've found that if I put them all into a container the moisture content evens out. The other thing I do is store the bulk of them in the freezer, filling up my canister as needed. Where that might not be technically necessary, I don't want to lose my raisins to mildew or any other ick after all the work that goes into making them.

248- Raisins- Part deux

OK... well, there was one of the shortest lived experiments in my life! I woke up this morning at dawn to find that it was sprinkling! Maybe that is why the idea of Utah Raisins has never caught on!! I guess you just have to have that wonderful Central Valley climate to make good sun-dried raisins.

So I brought the whole mess inside, tarp and all. I am now in the process of picking them all off the stems and putting them into the dehydrator! What a bunch of mindless work. I have Emma on my MP3 player to keep me company, so I am giving Harry a break this time... he is in the car.

247- Utah Raisins

You've all heard of the famous California Raisins? Yup, well, these are Utah raisins in the making.



I went out tonight and picked 2.5-five gallon buckets AND there are STILL grapes left! What an amazing crop this year. I've tried raisins before... you know the un-natural kind done in the food dehydrator. So this year, with my new wonderful deck, I'm going to try letting the sun do its work just like they do in CA!

Rebekah's family goes every year to the church's raisin farm and harvests the grapes. All they do is lay them on clean newsprint paper and leave them in the rows. I put all of mine on a blue tarp... I'll keep you posted on the results.

246- Sweet Baby K...

Several months ago a friend, who reads my blog, asked me if I would do a photo shoot of her baby when she was born. I told her I would be pleased to... and today was the day! Presenting sweet baby K...



I've taken thousands of photos of my own kids and grandkids, but I've never done an *official* photo shoot before. I knew that I needed to bank on the rule of numbers... take scads of photos and you are bound to end up with some good ones.



I uploaded 338 photos files from my 8 GB card. The first time I went through them I thought, "Ahhh, these are awful!!" I don't know what I was expecting... so I gave it two more reviews before I started pulling out the ones I thought might have some promise.



I opened them in Photoshop Elements 7 and did a little fiddling and color adjusting and found that I really hadn't done so badly after all. I spent the afternoon editing 58 *keepers*. I am so grateful for all the things I've learned over at the Spraground. I was amazed what just a little of this and a little of that can do to turn an ok photo into a POW- photo. The other thing that was invaluable to me today was the Perfect Workflow action by Erin... what a time-saver!



I also got photos of big brother and sister. What a precious family.





Andrea asked me on Facebook if this was a new career... ummm, NO... just an extension of my need to create!

(applies to all photos- BRUSHES- Worn_HighRes003, Script_Brushes_by_LadyVictoire, RhonnaFarrer_2ps_SnapShotFrameKit, FONT- Angelic War, Felix Titling ACTION- DPMoms Perfect Workflow)

245- Mr Mouw

Are you trying to figure out how to say that? It rhymes with mouse without the "s" sound. It is one of Simba's nicknames. When I call him I say "Mouw-mouw- mouw-mouw-mouw!" in a high pitched voice and sometimes will even throw in "Whisker LIC-kens". The funny thing about all the meowing is that you rarely hear Simba utter a meow.

When Simba was a baby-cat brand-new at our house in March 1995 we already had our Amber the wonder-dog. We wanted Amber to be kind to our new little addition so we put Simba into Amber's bed with her. That funny Mr Mouw snuggled right in and tried to nurse on Amber. Poor Amber was so confused by that, but it was the beginning of a fast friendship. Simba's mom was Siamese and his daddy was a big orange tabby so he has many of the vocal characteristic of the Siamese. He makes squeaks, silent meows and barks, yes, barks! I like to say he was raised by wolves!



When I was out taking photos of my grapes I happened to be in the serendipitous position to capture this shot of our Nims! What a grand old-man cat he is.


BRUSHES- Worn_HighRes003, Script_Brushes_by_LadyVictoire, RhonnaFarrer_2ps_SnapShotFrameKit, FONT- Angelic War, Felix Titling ACTION- (A2D)_Lomo V_2

244- Grapes

Early this spring I posted a photo of my bare grape vines. I likened them unto the Savior, who is the true vine, from whom we receive strength and nourishment.

This year I have been blessed with a bumper crop of grapes. So far there I've picked a strawberry flat full for the grandkids and neighbors have filled 7-8 five-gallon buckets!... and there are still gobs of grapes left.

I went out this morning and got the light coming in through the grape arbor... what a beautiful sight. As I've worked on this photo (and the new Sept frame) and done housework I've reflected on how easy it is to share the "fruit of my vines" but am I as quick to share the "Fruit of the True Vine"? I hope that I am.