Missionary Farewell

Tiffany Trejo is a dear dear friend. We meet the Trejo family when we first moved to Tucson.  Over the years our families lives have intertwined.  She was our Daniel's very first babysitter.  In fact, aside from her siblings, Daniel was the first non-relative she every babysat.  Her mother, Malia, taught preschool to all three of our children.  Oh how we love the Trejo family!!  Tiffany is heading to mission field and we couldn't be happier for her.  She'll be an amazing missionary!

Our friend, Alexa

Enjoy your college days Alexa!! 

Alexa, Bryan, Sara

We will miss you!!

 

New scarfs

Thanks Lydia & Lulu for the wonderfully warm new scarfs!!

Faithful Home Teacher

We are grateful for a diligent home teacher,
especially one that our children adore!

Phil Simon with Jared, Daniel, & Sara

Pickles!

At the end of January a friend called and asked if I'd be interested splitting case of cucumbers and getting together to make pickles.

Oh yea baby!!!  
Here's my portion of our canning.

  Yum!!

Our little fishermen

Daniel's catch

Jared patiently waiting for a bite

Sara learning to cast

Sara reeling it in

During the school break we did a little urban fishing with some friends.  Good times!

Our neighbor, our friend

The night before Chris headed off to the missionary training center, he stopped in to say good bye to the kids. It was kind of him to do that, as our children have grown very fond of him over the years.

Sara will certainly miss her personal jungle gym!

Chris was always willing to play legos or Wii with the boys.
In fact, he is letting them borrow his 'fancy' legos while he is away.
They are thrilled!!

His clothes are all labeled and packed,
he is ready to go!

See you in 2 years Elder Knutson!!

Apples, apples, apples

Janei, Lieschen, and I got together and had a little fun with apples
this week. We played with a couple of new recipes for bottling apples,
making pie filling, and apple jelly. Of course, Daniel & Janei's daughter
did an awesome job of coring and peeling all the apples.
Us moms struggled to keep pace with those two!

apple jelly

Adding apples to our stash of peaches and pears.
Canning with friends is so much better than canning alone.

Peaches & Pears Galore

A friend told me about a great deal on fruit. So, I called my pal Charlotte and together we decided to hop in on the deal. We bottled, we jammed, we buttered, we wanted to cry but didn't, we laughed & joked, and overall had a good 'ol time. Our kids loved the play dates, our husbands supported our crazy idea (& even helped!), and now we get to enjoy the yummy 'fruits of our labors'!

Day 3: Peach Jam & Pear Butter

(I forgot to get a picture of what we did on days 1 & 2 at Charlotte's.

Hey Charlotte, wanna do it again next year?

Tender Mercies

A couple of days ago Bryan came home from his presidency meeting and mentioned a video that Pres. Theis recommended we all watch. So we did. As we watched the video my eyes filled with tears as I realized, I know them! Victor and Katrina are an amazing couple. I'll always be grateful for how they touched my life when I was a BYU student.

Our cuties

Thanks Janei for a morning of picture taking fun!!

our mouse babies

handsome oldest brother

handsome older brother

the princess aka pretty girl

Chess

Daniel really enjoys playing chess. So to fulfill one of his bear requirements he and his buddy taught the rest of the cub scout pack how to play chess. Daniel and Daniel F. were both part of the chess team at school so they know the game well. They got together a couple of times to plan the activity. On the big day, they hauled all their chess boards over to the church. They had10 between the two of them! When their fellow scouts arrived, they divided them into two groups with each Daniel teaching a group. I was so impressed with they way they followed their outline and the patience they demonstrated in teaching. They did a fantastic job and every boy there earned their chess belt loop!! Way to go!!

Heart Attacked

The activity day girls from church heart attacked our front door. It was their way of showing their appreciation to Bryan. He truly enjoyed his experiences and the time he spent serving as the bishop.

Thank you girls!!

When friends come to town

We enjoyed a nice evening with Jerry & Amy at Gavi's.

The food and the company were great!

Picnic lunch/dinner up Mt. Lemmon

It was so nice to see the Biang family again.

We certainly miss them!!

When friends come to town

It's always fun when friends come to town.

Too bad I didn't get any pictures with the kids and our friends.

Oops!

Daniel, Jared, and Sara riding the elephant sculpture at the zoo.

Oh no! Sara's out of bread for the ducks.

Snow?

This morning we woke up to quite a sight....

Snow!!

Before heading off to school the boys and
Collin (a friend) had some fun in the backyard.

Jared, Daniel & Collin in front of our citrus tree.

Daniel on a snow-laden trampoline.

Poor Jared, he's SO cold. Brrrr!

A Playdate

Sara had a little friend over for a playdate

and they played so well together.

Don't these two little gals look just so cute?

They had a lot of fun checking out our neighbor's navitity.

A Pumpkin Pick Me Up

I received such a pleasant surprise this morning!!

My doorbell rang and I was greeted by a sweet gal with a delicious plateful of pumpkin bars. Yum!

Thanks Laura!! You totally made my day!!


For the recipe check out Laura's blog.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

We enjoyed another very yummy dinner in a pumpkin!!

Thanks for sharing your recipe Eva!

Pumpkin Stew

A Taste of Home, Dec 2005

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 c. water

3 large potatoes, cubed

4 med. carrots, sliced

1 large green pepper, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 med. onion, chopped

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp beef bouillon

1 can diced tomatoes

1 pumpkin (10-12 lbs.)

In dutch oven, brown meat in 2 Tbsp of oil. Add water, potatoes, carrots, green pepper, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Stir in bouillon and tomatoes. Wash pumpkin; cut a 6 to 8 inch circle around top stem. Remove top and set aside; discard seeds and loose fibers from inside. Place pumpkin in a shallow sturdy baking pan. Spoon stew into pumpkin and replace the top. Brush outside of pumpkin with remaining oil. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 2 hours or just until the pumpkin is tender (do not over bake). Serve stew from pumpkin, scooping out a little pumpkin iwth eash serving.

School Carnival

The kids had a great time at this year's carnival....

Fun times with Comet the Coyote!

During the carnival, the different grade levels performed musical numbers. Each grade did great!! Although, I must admit, second grade was my favorite!! I may be a little bias.

Daniel's favorite subjects in school are math & music. So, it was no surprise when Mrs. Murlless (the music teacher) came up to me after the event and said she loves having Daniel in class. She described him as being "a joy" to have around. We think he's pretty awesome too!!

Jenn & Jana did a fantastic job orchestrating the event. Our family loved the sign!!!