A Season of Thanks: NOVEMBER 2009

We made a point to go into NYC just a few minutes away. It was Weston's first time and we had a blast just walking around...on black Friday...We also went to go to the Manhattan Temple which was the highlight for us.

Central Park made it into our "top 3" of things to do/explore in the city. Beautiful and fun! We're excited to go back.

The weirdest thing seen was a Persian cat on a leash for a walk, wearing a sweater. I don't think it was very happy though because it tried to take sudden jump off a bridge! Still, impressive.
Times Square
Hurray for M&M's! I wanted to pull every lever!
Manhattan Temple (right across from Juliard!)A ride on the carousel--a piece of history--with the family! Spencer cried the whole time! :)
An unquenchable love for soft and squishy animal toys!
The name speaks for itself..we just had to peak and see what all the hype is about...
One of our favorite buildings (also VERY historic): NY Public Library! Inscribed on the wall was, "A good book is the precious life blood of a Master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life"
St. Patrick's cathedral. A beautiful place to stop, think, and rest our aching feet!

Hurray for big trees at the Rockefellar Plaza!
Weston and I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and are grateful for a season that reminds us to of the many ways that God has blessed our lives. We had the opportunity to go to New Jersey and spend the holiday with my sister Linda, and her family! It was completely delightful and they were so good to us.

Too good. Scott and Linda refused to let us sleep on an air mattress. Check out the our "Chateau 193 Suite" they made--portable DVD player, gourmet chocolate, tourist info., amenities, and refrigerator included!


Weston was given the carving privilege...wow!An incredible Thanksgiving feast--can't be too bad when your bro-in-law is a chef!

My AMAZING and darling nephew, Spencer. We had a great time together!
Weston played some Turkey ball with Linda and Scott's home ward and other friends. I was the proud wife of a '2 touch downs' player :) The wet grass was a great athletic equalizer and made watching a lot of fun!

Happy Day, EASY BREAD!

Dear friends of domestic enjoyments,
Please enjoy the easiest (and very yummy) bread recipe I recently discovered from a woman in my ward. I've made many different recipes, and this is so simple!! No kneading required! It's true. Much less messy! It's one of my Christmas miracle. :)

P.S. This doesn't take as long as the directions look. Don't get intimidated!

Use plastic bowl if available. Makes 4 large loaves (white or multi-grain)
5 cups hot water
2 T salt
2/3 c. sugar (or about 1/2 c. honey)
2/3 c. oil
1/2 c. bread flour
STIR 1 MINUTE
3 T yeast
STIR 1 MINUTE
10 c. bread flour
---if doing a multi-grain bread--i.e. whole wheat, cracked wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, wheat bran, barley flour, mashed potatoes, etc.--use any combo but be sure 5c. of the 10 are bread flour.
STIR UNTIL MIXED
RAISE in warm place for 20 minutes
DUMP dough onto an oiled counter and divide into 4 parts and squish briefly into cucumber shape
ROLL very flat (about cardboard width) on oiled surface (with oiled rolling pin). It's best to start in the middle and do 1/2 at a time, going length-wise
ROLL up the dough like a cinnamon roll
PLACE in sprayed loaf pans with seam down
RAISE 20 min. at lowest oven setting
BAKE at 325 for 30 minutes
REMOVE bread from pans
COOL bread on towel
CUT with electric or good serrated knife

Hurray for bread-making...and eating!

Here be one of the most beautiful Fall trees that I have ever seen! So beautiful! It put me into my over-enthusiastic raptures of nature, so we FINALLY stopped to take pictures. Unfortunately, I tried using a film camera, so here are some that turned out on Wes' camera.





Ah, the bliss of Fall! Here are a few pictures to make you happy inside.Our friends Amber and Kevin Mizell have been so nice at welcoming us to the area! They invited us on an impromptu hike to Bald and Rocky Knob. Here, Kevin is with his ADORABLE hiking buddy, Oskar. It's impossible to get too many pictures of that insanely cute baby boy.

Behold, The Oskar. As one so well put it: It looks like he's trying to hug the whole world! And, it does. He's a gem.

Endless green, rolling hills, farmland, trees, silhouettes...[sigh]

FALL FESTIVITIES

Sandwich bread, or brick laying? Amazing what an extra 30 minutes in the oven will do...I was baking bread for the week until 2am and fell fast asleep (even through my backup alarm) on the floor. Oi.
HALLOWEEN! A bunch of couples in the ward were invited for a night of games and treats. I was a repeat costume--Funshine Bear! Why? Carebears: They care. Felt is cheap and does wonders. Weston was...well, you'll see.
Just an ordinary, awkward boy...or...
dun du DAAAAAA, da da da DUN da daaaaa!
He's too good at this... I knew it!

SEPTEMBER 2009: Lessons of Liberty!

OUR FIRST, HISTORICAL Adventure: Thomas Jefferson's, Monticello. This was his favorite place in the world. He grew up here as a boy then eventually decided to study architecture a bit so he could build his own house. This more well-known view is the back where guests would roam the lawns and gardens.


After a short video, we chose to walk 0.5 miles up to Monticello. The trees were so dense, old, and felt full of history! An enchanting walk.
Thomas Jefferson's head stone--I love how it was the brightest one in the sunlight! He is surrounded by family members and friends

This man studied much more than I knew. The thirst for learning is inspiring. Jefferson had gardens galore! Here's an attempted photo. This garden was wide and about 1/4 mile long at least.
Ah, how lovely and romantic is a LONG trelace of beautiful flowers and sweet peas?

An overlook built along the edge of the garden into the valley below.
A better view of where Weston was sitting
The back porch of Monticello
A favorite. Weston and Monticello reflected in the fish pond (catch a bunch of fish, stick them in a pond close to the house, then get the one you want for dinner! Brilliant! Now-a-days that's a 4-star restaurant)
AT LAST, our first trip into our Nation's capital: WASHINGTON, D.C.! We took the opportunity to extend our temple trip and train it into the city the following day. It was so amazing and we can't wait to go back! It would take weeks to really see the "ins and outs" of this inspiring place.

The Washington Monument pictured behind the beautiful WWII Memorial
Hmm, until the kids are grown or people are close by, most our pictures will look like this. Weston's really good at getting the object behind our hugemangous noggins.
Learning from Amelia Earhart
The Spirit of St. Louis! This tiny thing flew non-stop across the Atlantic--without cruise control.

Wow, how things have grown!
One of my favorites. The Lincoln Memorial was a reverent and inspiring place. It was easy to feel and see the Lord's hand in instituting this Nation for His eternal purposes.
View Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument
At last! The White House! There was some kind of even going on it seems, so of course the tent was bam, right there :) We could see the bee hives and garden that Michelle Obama put in. Pretty amazing to be there!
The World War II Memorial was another very inspiring place to be. Some veterans of that war were visiting the same day. Very touching.


The Sculpture Gardens. This serious bunny-thinker was my particular favorite there. Ah, it makes me happy!
WOW oh WOW!! We had no idea the Art Museum at the National Mall was so HUGE and contained so many incredible works of art. Weston, the painter, was in art history heaven. We could spend hours there, so we just stayed in the French art section. MONET--"I've seen paintings of that painting"--here it is!
One of my favorite Monet's. A cottage in early morning. Beautiful flowers. Country. A pregnant wife saying goodbye to her husband for the day. Beautiful!