APPLES

If you haven't tried a Honeycrisp apple, it's high time you did! They are so amazing and our favorite. You can get them at Costco but the best ones are grown right here in Utah and you can find them at Allred's in Provo. Hurry before they are all gone!! (We won't be sharing ours!!)

Apple Brickle Dip

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened (do not use fat-free cream cheese)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 package Heath English toffee bits (10 oz.)
3-4 medium tart apples, cut into slices or chunks

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugars and vanilla. Fold in toffee chips. Serve with apples. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 2 cups (From Kim Walus)

Apple Bars

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter
  
• 2 egg yolks -- beaten
• 4 medium apples, pared, cored and sliced -- (4 cups)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 egg white-- slightly beaten

Directions:

1. Combine the 2 cups flour, the 1/2 cup sugar, the baking powder, and salt; Cut in butter till crumbs are the size of small peas.
2. Stir in egg yolks.
3. Divide mixture in half.
4. Press 1 1/2 over bottom of 9x13 pan.
5. Combine apples, remaining sugar and flour and cinnamon.
6. Arrange over bottom crust.
7. Crumble remaining dough over apples.
8. Brush egg white over all.
9. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.
10. Cool.
11. Drizzle with thin powdered sugar icing if desired.
12. Cut in bars.

Makes 4 dozen bars. (From Sandee Carson)

For Mark and Tiff...

Day Old Child

My day old child lay in my arms,
With my lips against his ear.
I whispered strongly, "How I wish--
I wish that you could hear,

"I've a hundred wonderful things to say,
(a tiny cough and a nod),
hurry, hurry, hurry and grow
So I can tell you about God."

My day-old baby's mouth was still
And my words only tickled his ear,
But a kind of light passed through his eyes,
And I saw this thought appear:

"How I wish I had a voice and words,
I've a hundred things to say.
Before I forget, I'd tell you of God --
I left Him yesterday."
--Carol Lynn Pearson

Conference Weekend

We love conference weekend and Sunday morning we always have a BIG, yummy breakfast... it's a tradition!

This was the 180th Semiannual General Conference of our Church. In the Saturday morning session, President Monson announced that the Church would build five new temples. The new temples will be built in Hartford, Connecticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Tijuana, Mexico; Urdaneta, Philippines; and Lisbon, Portugal.

My favorite talk was given by President Monson. He said that gratitude is divine gift...

“Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love.”

Clean...

"I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain
and ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away,
and I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again."

~ (When I Am Baptized, Nita Milner)

October 4, 1980... Thirty years have passed and I still feel such gratitude for my baptism and confirmation into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the spiritual strength and guidance the gift of the Holy Ghost has given me throughout my life. I am thankful for my sister, Roseanne and for good friends like Judy and Richard Brown who impressed the significance of baptism upon me. The memory and feelings of that occasion have had an enduring influence throughout my life.

And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

~Mosiah 18:8,9,10 UAdd a Note

I will always be grateful for the missionaries who came to Cheyenne

and for Richard and Judy who invited me to their home on numerous occasion. They also taught me important gospel truths. I knew they loved me and we are still good friend after all these years!

Lucky me!!

Lisa and Hayden had a wedding they wanted to attend on Thursday so I got to play with Beckham and Ellery!

They were sound asleep when they arrived and...

two seconds later they were awake. We played for awhile and then...

they had a little lunch.

When they both want the same thing at the same time you just have to improvise. They seemed very happy to hold their own bottles!

Snug as bug in a rug!

Is she yummy or what?!!

Ellery was so happy when she woke up from her nap!

What a face!

Lisa and Hayden have their hands full and they are wonderful, loving parents. I enjoyed having a day with Beck and Elle. They are so darn adorable. Thanks and let's do it again soon!

A day with Cash...

is a day well spent!!

Shhh, Mommy's sleeping!

Cash likes it when Grandma comes for a visit!

I don't have a picture yet but Cash has dimples. My Dad had dimples, I have dimples, Mark has dimples and yes Cash has dimples, four generations of dimples!!

I just need to unwrap him for a minute.

I love to see him stretch!

Tiff trimmed his fingernails but he can still scratch his face.

I love this little guy, another perfect day in Grandma land!

Thanks Brooke!!

It's no secret that Brooke is an excellent photographer. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to take pictures of Cash.

She is so tender and knows just what to do. Brooke had a heater going and we also used a blow dryer to keep Cash warm.

Cash did not like the whole process. But he was brave and we can't wait to see the pictures.

OK, we're done!

Minie and Poppy woke up from their naps and asked for the chalk. They were busy drawing rainbows and dragons. No time to look up at the camera! Darling girls!!

Ooooooh, I love Fall!

I love the seasons in Utah especially the Fall. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking of the crisp air, the cozy sweaters and marshmallows in a mug of hot chocolate. I think I am actually more motivated to set goals in the Fall than I am at the first of the year.

Tim and I took our annual drive up American Fork Canyon this weekend. It was a perfect Fall day.

And then there's Cascade Springs, so beautiful!


Grandpa Tim wanted to bring this caterpillar home and show it to Cash!

20 things I love about fall:

1. chilly mornings
2. acorns falling on our deck
3. pumpkin muffins
4. sipping hot chocolate
5. morning walks with leaves crunching underfoot
6. sweaters
7. jackets
8. conference
9. honey-crisp apples
10. homemade soup simmering on the stove
11. red, orange, yellow, brown and green
12. extra blankets on the beds
13. mums
14. pumpkins
15. the harvest moon
16. fresh from the garden tomatoes
17. peaches
18. scarves
19. decorated porches
20. raking leaf piles to jump in

Five years...

For the past five years I have been serving at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

Winter

Summer

Spring

and Fall you can find me at the temple on Tuesday.

I love the sisters I served with. It's a privileged to be there each week. I have also been serving as coordinator on my shift for a year now.

Along with my wonderful assistant Susan, we prepare the schedule. We have about 65 sisters who serve on our shift. We also try to make sure those who attend have a wonderful, peaceful experience. It is a good feeling at the end of the day when things go smoothly. When problems occur, we have been blessed to find quick solutions and have seen many miracles.

President and Sister Brown are currently serving as temple president and matron. They are at the temple everyday except Sunday and Monday. They are amazing examples and I have learned so much from them, especially Sister Brown.

One of my favorite quotes about temples comes from Elder Boyd K. Packer:

No work is more of a protection to this Church than temple work and the family history research that supports it. No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of righteousness.

Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both individually and as a people.

So come to the temple—come and claim your blessings. It is a sacred work.

For more information on LDS Temples, click HERE.

Quote for the Week - Trials and Experience

"President Brigham Young offered the profound insight that at least some of our suffering has a purpose when he said:" 'All intelligent beings who are crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives must pass through every ordeal appointed for intelligent beings to pass through, to gain their glory and exaltation. Every calamity that can come upon mortal beings will be suffered to come upon the few, to prepare them to enjoy the presence of the Lord. . . . Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation' (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A Widtsoe [1954], 345). "We have much reason to hope. Joy can be ours if we are willing to sacrifice all for the Lord. Then we can look forward to the infinitely priceless possibility of overcoming all the challenges of this life. Then we will be with the Savior forever and, as President Brigham Young also said, "anticipate enjoying the glory, excellency and exaltation which God has prepared for the faithful' (Deseret News, May 31, 1871, 197)."

~ James E. Faust, 2004