Fill your cup

I felt: encouraged, loved, filled, taught, motivated to good works, calmed, reassured, the desire to improve and be better, cautioned, spiritually fed, inspired, moved to tears.

Watch or listen to the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints online here.

Good-bye ER

So, I thought it ended well.

Check out the ER site here on NBC. It's got some pretty good stuff to see and read if you're an ER fan. I took the trivia quiz and got 9 our of 10! Wow, I don't consider myself THAT much of a fan. Anyway, I've watched pretty faithfully for the last 13 years, less the last 2. It's been an interesting and captivating show to watch. Great acting, good story lines, wonderful guest appearances, shocking in some places, scary in others, funny, sad, crazy, informative, and a very well done compelling drama.

I use to watch it with Jordan and Claire, mostly Claire. Claire and I will never forget the episode when Lucy and Dr. Carter get stabbed by the crazy guy. So totally unexpected and scary, we screamed our guts out. I remember picking the girls up from Timp Bookstore after they got finished working at 9:00 pm and tearing home to watch the new episode. It wasn't on the Internet to watch past episodes like it is now, and the only way to record an episode was to use an old VHS tape. We've come a long way in those 15 years.

The casserole chronicles

I got a great laugh from this article in the D News yesterday. Take 10 minutes to read it for the laugh of the day. Also read the comments people sent in, they're pretty amusing. There are some scary things served at the dinner table in some homes.

What memories do you have of "hated" casseroles served when you were growing up? Which ones do you serve that your kids love or hate?

I don't remember our mom serving too many things that I didn't like (other than Brewer's yeast at breakfast.) Somehow I just got in the habit of eating whatever was prepared. To this day there aren't any foods that I don't like. I'll try anything once.

Not true at our home. Our kids had their different likes and dislikes. Claire was the most finicky with Andy coming in second. Jord and Dave were pretty good eaters. Claire would sometimes eat cereal for dinner because she didn't like what was being served. Mostly the kids didn't like anything with cooked tomatoes in it, especially soups with stewed tomatoes. Not gonna happen.

We all love Hawaiian Haystacks, although the article points out that this dish really isn't a casserole. I also make shepherd's pie with left-over mashed potatoes, broccoli and chicken casserole, Spanish rice, enchiladas and taco casserole to name a few as I recall. What memories do you have of good or bad casseroles?

Croshaw's Gourmet Pies

While we were in St. George last week we made a fattening discovery - Croshaw's Gourmet Pies. Help me! My friend Victoria was in St. George as well last week with her husband who coincidentally was attending a conference of his own. She and I had a great time together, going to Curves in the morning and then heading to Croshaw's for pie. Something is wrong with this picture! She introduced me to Croshaw's which unfortunately was only 100 yards from our hotel. Anyway, the place is to die for, especially if you love pies (which I do.) Over the course of four days we sampled lemon creme, chocolate silk, raisin cream, blueberry, fresh strawberry and pecan. The menu contains at least 20 more choices, including rhubarb. Ummm, ya I know. Sadly, I gained two pounds, but it was worth every scrumptious bite. If you're in St. George or passing through to Vegas or CA, the store is located just off Bluff street. The crust and fillings are all made fresh daily. It was pure indulgence (and pure weight gain....oh well.)

week in St. George

We spent four great days in St. George last week while Rick attended a conference. We've gone there for these conferences most years through the last 25. It's always nice to head to warmer weather after a long Utah winter. Last week was no exception. While Rick attended his meetings I got busy on several of my own projects. Last year I took my sewing machine and made a quilt for Dave and Courtney.

This year I took down ALL 25 of our family photo albums and continued the long process of labeling the photos and putting them in chronological order. I've been in the habit of taking lots of pictures through the years and I've been pretty good at getting them developed and then putting the photos in books. Some pictures have been taken out of those book for various reasons and not put back. I spent hours getting all the books labeled and numbered and getting the photos put back in the right places. In the process I made a "key" of all of the photos by event. It was so fun to see many of those photos again. They made me cry more than once just recalling those wonderful memories. I have a TON of family pictures, seriously 1000s of our family, extended family, friends and important events. If you ever came near me over the last 30 years, I probably have a picture of it. Some of the pictures are priceless. I told my kids that if the house were to ever catch on fire, that they were to grab the family photo albums before fleeing the house. Some of you may want to peruse my "key" sometime and see if you would like copies of some of the pictures I have in the books. Now that I have a scanner, sharing pictures and preserving them is even easier. Smile!