I think its funny how I name all of the chairs that I paint. I recently painted the Sunflower chair for a friend of mine. I started the chair before my most recent car accident so it took longer then I had anticipated.
The start. I like to start my chairs with the seat..then everything evolves around how the seat turns out.
I used the tip of a pencil eraser to do the center of the flower.
Almost done!
I love doing stripes in different shades of the same color.
The finishing touches are finally done, the chair is sealed up and its all done!
Stay tuned for my next chair...it has already been named The Jungle chair. ;-)
When I was younger, my mom would make this peach cobbler on special occasions. It is one of my all time favorite desserts.
It was my turn to make the treat for Family Home Evening last week and it took me a while to find my special cookbook with THE recipe in it.
I decided to blog it so that I never have to stress over finding the recipe.
Melt one stick of butter in a 9x13 pan.
Mix 2 c. flour, 1 1/2c. sugar, 1 TBS baking powder, and 1 1/2 c. milk together. Then pour it right over the butter. Don't mix it in. Just pour it on and leave it alone.
Pour one quart of peaches right on top of the batter. Juice and all! Don't mix it in, just leave it be.
Cook at 350* for about an hour or until the top is crusty brown.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. Either is very good!
For the past 8 years we have had two toned green walls. For 7 of
those years I loved them. But this last year I have really had a desire
to change them. Finally, the perfect opportunity arose to paint them.
James
had a court of honor coming up for scouts. And when it became known
that he was only 2 merit badges away from earning his Star rank we took
action! Especially since he was already mostly done with two of his
required merit badges. For one of those merit badges we needed to do a
family project. Bingo! The project of painting the living room began!
We pulled a ton of books out of bookshelves...
Cleaned and washed the walls....Ben and Mark really enjoyed this part. I'm sure it was tears of joy that they were sharing!
Then we painted! And painted...and painted...and painted.. and three coats later we finally finshed!!
Of course, the final product I forgot to take a picture.
James did a great job organizing the project. He received his Star just like he wanted. Congrats James!
Now if we can get the project of new flooring going!!!
This semester, one of the classes that Luke is taking at the
commonwealth is Hero Project. It is a class that teaches about World War
II. One of the assignments that he had was to interview a veteran from
WWII. I knew that my grandpa was a veteran (he passed away in 2007),
but other then that I didn't know any.
From left to right: Linda our host, Garth Sawyers (WWII vet), John Spirey (Vietnam Vet and Linda's husband), Lee Waren (WWII vet), Wardell Jenkins (WWII vet).
Wardel Jenkins shot down a plane with his rifle! He also told an amazing story of the Fijian people and finding Christianity while he was there. Plus he has had 32 holes in one on the gold course!!
Quiet Garth.
Then, one day at the glorious Deseret Industries, I noticed a mini van with the bumper sticker on it that read "Pearl Harbor Survivor." Luke wasn't with me, so I prayed for forgiveness (since it was Luke's project not mine and he clearly wanted to do it) as we placed a note on the van reading that we were in search of WWII vets to interview for a school project. And thank goodness she called Luke!! She turned out to be a gem! --this helped Luke not be upset at me as well.
After Pearl Harbor, the soldiers were only allowed one telegram that said that they were ok. No other information was allowed to be given.
It turned out that Linda was the organizer for the Pearl Harbor Survivor reunions. She said that there were only 5 left in Utah and that 3 of them were currently in the area for the winter. She arranged everything. She had all three of them come, brought all of her photographs, provided lunch, and was the most gracious host for more then 3 hours as Luke learned from these great men.
I then taught Luke how to use the movie making program and he whittled the 3 hours into 15 minutes. He talks about making more of the stories into viedos as well. There were some amazing stories. They all survived Pearl Harbor and then they all survived the Bougainville campaign.
It was an amazing addition to my education as I am only familiar with the bullet points of WWII. --especially the Pacific battles.
Here is the video that Luke made. I can't wait to see what we learn next!
My only regret is that I didn't get a picture with Luke and these amazing men. Hopefully we will see them again!
This story feels like deja-vo. A car accident and then surgery. Where have I experienced this before?! Wait..in the middle of February? I've definitely heard this story before.
A refresher of last year.. Last February I was in a car accident that left me with two broken feet. I was unable to walk for 2 months and then I had boots on for another 6 weeks. It was not fun. At. All. The accident was on Sunday and the following Monday and Tuesday I was in surgery. I wasn't even released from the hospital until Thursday! It was a long week.
Earlier this month my foot doctor told me that he was unable to help my left foot until we removed the plates that were put there to replace my bones. Now that the bones have grown back the plates are no longer necessary. the pain in my left foot had been increasing and I found myself using a lot of over the counter pain meds. Not fun! Surgery was scheduled for February 22. Last year, my surgeries were on Feb 20th and the 21st!
Cory and I set up a plan to make things the easiest for me after the
surgery. I made a meal list, chore list and all the things I wanted to
get done before I was unable to. I was doing all of this and then my
little boys and I headed to Costco to get the groceries. Well..I was
driving down the street and approaching an intersection. A car in
oncoming traffic was at that intersection and decided to turn and cross
in front of me. Well..I braked as hard as I could but alas, we hit. I
really do not like the smell of air bags. My car was totaled. Thankfully
my boys were ok. I needed some x-rays on my hand but it turned out
everything was ok. It was a long few days being in a hand brace and a foot boot!
Surgery was still a go for the next day. We arrived bright and early and everything went pretty smoothly. They even sent the plates and screws home with me!!--I think a necklace of some-sort will be in the works with them! They left the pins in since they were so deep.
I went in a few days later and had the stitches checked. Everything looks great! They even used the SAME scar! NICE! --now for some feet pictures. Oh yeah!
I wanted to share what we have added to our Family Home Evening. Cory and I noticed that prayers in our family were getting redundant. They went something like this "Thank thee today was a good day. Please help us sleep good tonight. Please help tomorrow be a good day."
I really hope that we're not the only ones with family prayers sounding like that!
Our Family Prayer board helps us to remember what we're thankful for and blessings we are praying for.
Last fall at my retreat that I host, one of our presenters spoke about keeping track of what you wanted to pray for. Her memory is something like mine. At 3pm I would think of something that I wanted to pray for but by the time evening prayers come around, I would have forgotten. She suggested a notebook for personal use to keep track. I decided to use this with my family.
I purchased a picture frame, with glass, from the DI. Then I printed a simple page to be placed in the frame. I also found some dry erase markers to write on the glass. I love it when its simple!
Now, during Family Home Evening, we discuss what we would like on the prayer board. We can add anytime during the week. Then, at prayer time, the board is placed by whomever is saying the prayer. They take a moment to look over the list and then the prayer is said. We're even ok if they have to peek a little to help them pray. Its not a deciding list of what we pray for, but it is helping us think of other things to be said in our prayers.
Anyhoo, I just thought I'd share!
This past weekend one of my favorite friends agreed to let me tag along with her on a day trip to Salt Lake City. A favorite of hers was getting married in the Draper temple and she didn't want to travel alone. I love a quick trip, so I begged and pleaded for her to let me tag alone.
At the crack of dawn, well..maybe a little earlier then a crack, we scurried off on a 4 hour drive to the Draper temple. I had never been to the Draper temple and so I was very excited to go. I was also looking forward to spend most of my day giggling with my friend and her family.
The temple was completely rewarding. The peace that I find inside gives me strength and courage to tackle my trials. We also visited with her sons, who were completely awesome and I hope my boys love me like that in 5 years!!
After the whirlwind trip, we arrived home in time to tuck in my boys as they went to bed. I felt recharged and I loved the new insights that I gained from the temple, new friends, and all of those fantastic giggles.
