Fast, Easy Bread, part II

My good friend Lindsey just made these great YouTube videos on how to make "fast, easy bread."  She did a demo in my home some years ago for my friends.  Here are those pictures.  This is seriously a great way to make bread, fast and easy and to also make pizza dough, cinnamon rolls and monkey bread.  Check out her other videos and order her kit today and get baking!  See fasteasybread.com for more information.  Way to go Lindsey!  I hope you continue to have much success with your home business!

Stadium of Fire

We enjoyed attending another great Stadium of Fire at the Freedom Festival in Provo on the 4th.  Our family loves the 4th of July!  We've had a long standing tradition of events that we follow every year and we look forward to sharing it together.  This year, our out-of-state kids couldn't make it and we reluctantly forged on without them.  My sister Carol and her family have come and shared the day with us for over 20 years and this year Carol came with a new husband in tow!  It was so fun to be with them and to attend Stadium of Fire together.  Carrie Underwood was awesome!  Seriously, her voice is so good. We loved the sky divers, the acrobats and of course the huge fireworks show at the end.  Studio C - not so much.  We know how to get in and get out of the stadium through the HUGE throngs of people that attend.  Not knowing where to park would be a huge detriment, but we have a great parking place and a great system of travel. There were 14 of us attending this year and we had great seats.  We loved taking McKynlee and DaeLynn with us this year.  Unfortunately, Lucy got sick and Dustin wasn't able to attend.  Next year Dustin!

Here are two of Carrie's new songs that I loved.  At least they were new to me.

Credits to the Daily Herald Newspaper and photographer.

America the Beautiful!

Rafe enjoying the parade with his patriotic mustache

We were to happy that Dustin, DaeLynn, McKynlee
and Lucy could come to town this year.
  Dust ran the 10k with Adam, Rick and Andy first and
 then we settled down to watch the parade in a great spot in the shade.

Cutie pies

The Smith group.  So happy they could be with us!

Andy, Chelsea and Rom.
 Why Romney needed binoculars at the parade, I don't know.  Hum...

The only shot I got of me and
 Rick...too bad about his eyes being closed :(

Pat, Romney, Bob.
 After attending the parade for so many years,
we know how to save a place, get in and get out without a lot of waiting.
  It's a fine art we've developed over years of practice. 

My friend Cydnee C.  I've been her mentor and friend
 for three years and wanted her to participate with us in a fun family day.

Aslett crew with A and C

Chowing down and having a good visit

We missed Vern this year :( :( :(

Great food, great fun, great family! Adam is the man.

Love these two! Dustin and DaeLynn

Sydney just weeks from her due date!  She is such a good sport.

Miles cooking up some good eating.
 Food, swimming, games, napping and lots of visiting!

Robert and Carol were our special guests of honor
 (sorry this isn't the best shot of him, but it was the only one I had)

Another great 4th of July has come and gone.  We love the Freedom Festival in Provo and try and take advantage of as many of the activities as we can the week leading up to the 4th.  This year we got to hear Laura Bush speak at the Patriotic Service, attend the Utah Symphony patriotic concert at Thanksgiving point (with GREAT fireworks at the end) and walk around the colonial village and food truck round-up in Provo.  I love celebrating our great country...land that I love with people that I love.

What a class act.  She gave such an interesting and uplifting speech.

Mrs. Bush with our Governor and his wife.

Food truck round up in Provo.  Amazing!

Utah Symphony at the Waterfall at Thanksgiving Point.  Great!

New baby girl Margaret

The happy family - Dave, Courtney, Charlie and Margaret

Making cookies with my buddy Charlie

Enjoying their community pool, practically right out their back door

Cooling off on a hot, humid summer day

Ummmm....

Meeting sweet Margaret

Charlie meeting his new baby sister

We got him a Mickey stuffy and he brought a Minnie for Margaret

So sweet, she is such a good baby

I loved spending a week with this great family

Our 8th grandchild.  I'm so happy!!

I really enjoyed my visit to North Carolina for seven days. It is such a beautiful state.  I can see why Dave and Courtney love it so much because it is a great place to live.  Margaret Veneta was due on the 18th of June and she made her arrival on the 22.  This gave Courtney and me time to visit Hobby Lobby and do some 4th of July shopping.  We all went to dinner and enjoyed some southern BBQ, swimming and some walks around the area.  After her birth, I got to tend Charlie for two days while Dave and Courtney were in the hospital. We went to church together and he sat on my lap the entire time during sacrament meeting (which his parents were surprised to hear.)  We had a lot of fun playing with his Thomas train sets, putting puzzles together, making cookies and shopping around.  He was just a little bit obsessed with my iPad and the games of Elmo and Thomas the Train that were on it.  He is my great little friend and I loved getting to know him better.  He is such a smart, fun, darling personality little guy. We went to the hospital and visited baby sister and it was so cute to see him meet her.  Once the new baby and her parents came home from the hospital, we helped cook, clean, iron, grocery shop, make freezer meals, wash windows and get everything ship shape (which is was already.)  It was a lovely week and I'm so glad I got to share it with our dear son and his little family. 

2 years ago today

So, two years ago today, I was driving to work when I got "the call."  I was instructed to go to Dr. Taylor's office and get the results of my breast biopsy.  Now. When the office didn't just give me the results over the phone, I knew I was in trouble.  Big. Trouble.  

And I was right, my life changed that day and it has never been the same since.  Facing a potentially fatal disease changes you.  It takes away whatever plan you were living and replaces that plan with different plans, uncertain plans, unwanted plans, scary plans, hard plans.  And it takes everyone who loves you along for the ride.  It takes time to adjust and rethink and to finally submit to a new reality.

Submission.  That is a loaded word, isn't it?  I had previously associated submission with the concept of giving up, of giving in, or raising a white flag and saying "stop, I want to get off." 

I use to think that Submission = Quitting. 

Now I look at it differently.  Submission to me now is an act of faith and courage and a belief that "not my will be done, but Thine."  It's a realization that the control I thought I had over my life was very fragile and fleeting.  Submission to me now is having faith instead of fear, hope instead of anxiety, courage instead of worry.  A cancer patient submits to surgery...to chemotherapy...to radiation...and through the process ends us with a different body, mind and attitude.  It's a refining process.  It's not a process I would have signed up for, but one that came my way nonetheless. The cancer patient gets to choose if their anger, fear and frustrations will overpower their desire to hope.  And hope. And hope.  After all, there is always H*O*P*E.

Still ... it is hard to let that worry go. Worry, anxiety and fear. I’ve spent a lot of time with these three feelings over the last two years. What if...  I’m also learning a lot about courage.  Courage is going on in spite of the dark and scary unknown. I’ve wrestled a lot with the concept. Every day each of us step into the void. There is no road map. We don’t know what is going to happen next. I felt that if I just knew what was going to happen, I could handle it, but life doesn’t work that way. Letting go of the anxiety and illusion of control is the only way to make room for courage and hope and to be able to press forward.

As I've mentioned before, I always felt that I would survive this cancer.  And so far, I have.  I have had blood tests, mammograms and other measurements/tests every three months this past year.  Everything looks fine.  That is such wonderful news and a sweet treat to me and all those who love me.

Now my hopes and prayers are directed towards two men in our family who have their own struggles with the unknown results of brain cancer.  I hope they (and all those who love them) find the courage and strength to dwell on the "knowns" in life and not the "unknowns."  Reviewing the "knowns" and actually writing them down and contemplating about them can bring great comfort.  I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me.  He was a plan for my life.  I know I have a family who loves me.  They support me through everything that comes along.  I know I live in a great land with freedoms and opportunities that are endless. And on and on it goes.  After all, that is what we want most in this life, right?  Comfort and peace to know that we aren't alone and that someday all the things that don't make sense will make perfect sense.  Someday.