A message of hope

Thomas

Little Thomas was born on 11/12/13 to Jordan and Jacob.  He had three anxious big sisters waiting to greet him at home.  He will be well cared for and his momma and daddy are so proud of him.  I love it when new babies come.  I really enjoy going to help out the family with their new little one.  I spent a whole week with this darling family and had a great chance to help them out for a few days.  I got to drive the girls to and from school, make lunches, make dinner, bake bread and make cookies with Ada, pick up toys and lend a hand whenever it was needed.  Of course we got some sewing projects in as well.  Jord and I even went to see Catching Fire and Jake took us to lunch at at fantastic restaurant where I was introduced to guacamole with pomegranates in it.  Wow! 
I got to see my brother Paul and his wife DeNae, shop at Last Chance, take the girls on an outing to pick out fabric for Christmas pillowcases and to eat out with them for a school fund raiser.  I went to eat school lunch one day with Ellie and another day with Lauren. I even witnessed an indoor snowstorm and got to help clean it up afterwards. I got to hold Thomas and rock him and smell his fresh newness. I loved to look at his perfect little body and be present for his first bath and unfortunately for his circum...... It was a joy to be with this sweet family and I love them all so much.  It was hard to say goodbye and there may or may not have been some tears.  Until next time my dear ones...

Lion House Rolls

I've always loved Lion House Rolls.  On Thanksgiving, I mixed up a batch, but I wasn't quite sure how to roll them out to get the same size and shape of the famous Lion House rolls.  Then I discovered this video!  Hooray!  They are fantastic rolls and not that hard to make if you know the trick shown in the video. 

Lion House Dinner Rolls

• 2 cups warm water (110 to 115° F)
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
• 1 egg
• 5 to 5 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

In large bowl of an electric mixer, combine water and dry milk powder, stirring until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff, and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand.) Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix again until dough is soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour.) Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil; work oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out.) Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Sprinkle cutting board or counter with flour and place dough on floured board. Roll out and shape as desired. Place on greased or parchment-lined baking pans. Cover lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until rolls are doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Bake at 375° F for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Brush with melted butter while hot. Serve with honey butter or raspberry honey butter. Makes 1 1/2 to 3 dozen rolls, depending on shape and size of rolls.
Note: You can freeze shaped rolls for later use. Simply double the amount of yeast used when making dough. After the first rise, shape the rolls but do not rise again. Instead, place rolls on a baking sheet and immediately place in freezer. When dough is frozen solid, remove rolls from pan and place in a plastic bag, squeeze excess air out of bag and seal. Rolls can be frozen for 3 weeks.

Janis Kapp Perry

The power of her simple songs cannot be understated.  She doesn't pretend to be anything other than what she is...a humble writer of simple songs with a message that people remember. 

At our last women's gathering (Cleofon), Janis Kapp Perry was the speaker.  She came and shared the stories behind her songs and how she got her start.  She is a prolific composer and has written over 50 albums.  She has written some (most) of the most beloved of all LDS children's music.  Check out her web site to see ALL the music she has written in her life.

She told us the stories behind two of her songs.  One is called "The Sisters of Zion." She has taken the music to "As Sisters in Zion" and has made it into a song just for sister missionaries.  It is wonderful! 

She also told us about the experience she had writing the music to the a hymn written by President Gordon B. Hinckley called "What is This Thing Called Death?" that was sung my the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at his funeral.  What a sweet experience to write such a simple melody to such powerful words.  Here is a link to Janis' own words of how she came to write the music for the song and an actual copy of the song written by President Hinckley.

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?

What is this thing that men call death?
This quiet passing in the night?
‘Tis not the end but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light

O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change
With recompense for vict’ry won
The gift of Him who loved all men
The Son of God, the Holy One

Since I have served with the Young Women of the church for so many years, "I Walk By Faith" has been one of my favorite songs that Janis wrote.  I hope that it will be sung at my funeral!  It summarizes what I believe.

Fall gatherings

We've had a number of fun fall gatherings with family and friends.  We started out having a big gathering of Rick's family the end of September to celebrate his mother's birthday. We can seat 22 people at the two tables and we used every spot with our nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters.  I followed that hosting an etiquette dinner for the Young Women the next week and we learned about proper manners while eating in a restaurant and at home.  Then we had some of our friends over for a fall feast and great conversation as couples. It was such a lovely evening and I loved hearing their perspective on life. A few weeks ago, we had my cousin Janis and her family of nine over for Sunday dinner. It was great to visit with them and get caught up on their lives.  Last Sunday we had two young couples over who are childhood friends of Andy.  They both have new babies and it was so fun to see them as parents and to catch up on what they are doing.  Andy and Chelsea enjoyed seeing their friends again and holding their darling babies.
We love our dining room and use it as much as we can.   There's nothing better than good food, good conversation and just being together.
I love the flavor of pumpkin and nothing beats a good pumpkin bread in the fall.


Pumpkin Bread
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 3/4 c. pumpkin
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 t. ginger
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. allspice
1 t. soda
1 t. baking powder

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Beat well with electric mixer.  Grease two load pans.  Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.