Dogsbreath Devereaux

Brig just performed in his first play.Kaleb, Kai and I went to his first performance which was for the seventh graders. It was a lot of fun to hear the -Woo Woo's- when he walked out on the stage.
He played an orderly in a melodrama. He had really great facial expressions and hand/ body movements. It was a lot of fun to see him in a new element.

Clearly-he had a lot of fun with the cast.

I asked him if he was going to be in the Spring play. His response- "No way! Its a musical!"

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts.
William Shakespeare

Hello Baby.....

GIRL!!!!!!!

To say we are "Super Excited" would be an understatement! We hope to welcome her around February 24th. Katry was literally crying tears of joy! Yea!!!

Field Trip

Seth's Fourth grade class headed over to Ely Apple Orchard for a field trip and Kaleb and I tagged along.We left from the school and hiked a mile up the road.
This happens to be an apple orchard that we looked into buying. Not to go into the apple business- but to develop for building a home on. Of course we would have kept as many apples as possible- but I am glad it went to someone who wanted to run an orchard.

I like the way they prune the apple trees so that you can reach the tops of most of them with out a ladder. They have 350 trees and nine different kinds of apples. We got to pick Cortland apples and they were crispy and flavorful.

We hiked a mile back to the school and ate our apples with caramel dip. MMMM!!!

We have had such beautiful Fall weather the last few days. It has been gorgeous. Lots of bike riding, soccer playing and digging in dirt. I hope your day is lovely!

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy!

No More Metal Mouth & Carrots

Seth got his braces off last week. He was thrilled. He had a lot of metal in there with his arch expander combined with the braces. Now he is getting used to slick teeth again. This was just phase one- he will have to wear braces again in a few more years. I searched for a before picture and came up empty handed. He had some teeth that were turned completely perpendicular.Seth pulled this purple carrot beauty from our garden today. I think it was left in the ground a little long and it looks like about 7 seeds combined to make it, but at least it looks kind of like a carrot as opposed to this...
which looks like an alien carrot. It was also several carrots grown together. I guess that is what happens when you don't thin them out.

Bear Scout

Seth received his Bear Scout Badge at pack meeting two weeks ago. He also received a gold arrow point and three silver arrow points.
Way to work it Seth!

Conference Weekend

The kids had Thursday and Friday off of school so we debated different family trips we could take. Since we always seem to be on the go- we decided to stay home and just enjoy our beautiful home and each other. We worked in our garden and laid ground cover. We also had friends over for a movie party and went swimming. Friday night we had a pizza party. The kids made their own pizzas and we played a romping game of Settlers of Catan.

Saturday we enjoyed conference. Brigham and Brig went to the Priesthood Session and then out to dinner. The rest of us went swimming. We enjoyed great food all weekend and loved to listen to our church leaders. Here are some of our favorite quotes.

"Love ought to be at the center of everything we do. It should be our walk and our talk.
"President Uchtdorf

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, God loves us perfectly. Though we feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us."
President Uchtdorf

"Try until that which seems difficult becomes possible, and that which seems possible, becomes habit." President Uchtdorf

"You can feel the approval our your Heavenly Father when you do what He asks. I hope you will go out today looking for opportunities to do as He did."
Elder Eyring

"Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose in life. Giving service can, in effect, save your life."
President Monson

"Father in Heaven knew that you would be faced with decisions that would be beyond your individual capacity. "Our Father expects you to learn how to obtain that divine help [the guidance of the Holy Spirit] by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.""
Elder Scott

"Avoid hypocrisy by living at home and in private what you preach in public."
Elder Bednar
The talks were all fantastic. Loved Elder Holland's amazing testimony. Conference just flew by for me. I remember when it used to last forever. Now it is just a small moment in time and I wish it could go on and on.

I love the concentration on Kaleb's face. He is being allowed to cut with a knife for the first time and he was being so careful.

After Conference we made donuts. We made them heart shaped since I had heart shaped cookie cutters of different sizes. They were so delicious I think we will make them a Fall conference tradition. We had a great time eating them- especially when still warm and loved sharing them with our neighbors.

Crispy and Creamy Donuts
INGREDIENTS
2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Glaze
1/3 cup butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons hot water or as needed

DIRECTIONS
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up.

Harvest!

Remember the garden!?!Tickle the earth with a hoe and she will laugh a harvest!
Vegetable man!

Our garden gave us a lot more than we bargained for. We have been busy saving it for future use. I finally bought our first pressure canner.

We canned loads of green beans and froze peas.

We are still deciding what to do with beets out the ying yang. Most likely they will be pickled.

We have been eating tomatoes like crazy and bottled a lot of them.

This year we had green, yellow, red and purple peppers. They have also been frozen.

We took corn to everyone in our neighborhood. They were so good. We even had some comments that it was the best corn they had had all summer. Its been frozen too.

We also froze a ton of peaches, strawberries and blueberries. We made strawberry and peach jam. We also harvested from our garden: carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, green onions, spinach, regular onions, and sugar snap peas. I think that's everything. What a bounty!

Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.

~Robert Brault

Congratulations Mark and Jaleah!

My gorgeous little sister married her Prince Charming- well two weeks ago now. I am so happy for her- she was a beautiful bride and I loved seeing her and Mark so in love. A perfect love!Sadly, I had only a lousy disposable camera to record the festivities.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding.

The reception the night before was so pretty. The decorations were yellow and orange- their favorite colors. They had these amazing flower ice sculptures. I took a picture- but apparently my camera was too lame for it to be developed. It was a beautiful night- but a bit chilly for those who weren't prepared.

These are all the siblings and spouses of the bride and groom.These are my kids one year ago on the temple grounds.

And then this year- Kai is the only one who has changed much. Well and Brig looks older to me too. He is certainly taller.

We headed over to the Visitor's center to check things out.

Fourteen years and more crazy in love than ever!

I love to see the temple- I'm going there someday!

Posers!

It is astonishing how little one feels alone, when one loves!

Mt. Timpanogos Cave

While we were in Utah last weekend for my little sis's wedding (more on that next) we decided to hike on up to Timp Cave. I hadn't been up there since I was 12. The hike was easier than I expected and the cave was much better than I had remembered. These pictures are all horrible. I forgot to pack our camera and so we bought a disposable one. Alas, some pictures are better than no pictures. Anyhoo- I couldn't figure out how to get them on here after I had scanned them- so I ended up just taking pictures of the pictures.
Use your imagination-that could be a really cute picture if its in focus.

No imagination needed here- that really is a VERY cute kiddo inside the cave.

This is our "lizard" picture. We are just hanging out on an outcropping of rocks- sunning ourselves.

Caught in the tree roots.

We have been through lots of caves. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and a chain of caves (Mammoth) in Kentucky. I must say this had just as many interesting and beautiful things to see as those other famous caves. We had so much fun hiking, talking, joking and being together. I am so glad we went.