Brownie Recipe

Hope you don't mind Hannah, but they are so yummy! (Shannon requested it.)

Brownies

1 c water

1 c butter 

6 T cocoa

Bring to boil

2 c sugar

1 t soda

1/2 t salt

2 c flour

Add to hot mixture and beat well

2 eggs

1/2 c sour cream

Mix last, and beat well and pour into greased jelly roll pan. Bake 20 minutes @375

Frosting 

1 c sugar   

5 T butter

1/3 c milk

1 c milk choc chips

Mix all ingredients accept chocolate chips and bring to a boil,for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Pour directly onto brownies and spread out.  

Things of Joy

The frost nuked my tomato plants.

 I could only save a few.

Don't mess with the Rosebud

"I mell fresh!"

Things that give me joy today:

1.   New sink and faucet.  After 3 days without water in a kitchen I have a greater respect for pioneers.

2.  Pink fingernail polish.  Made Rosey happy.  (not that you can tell in this photo)

3.  Freshly bathed little Boy.  

4. Homemade brownies.  (Thanks Hannah for the recipe)

5.  Granny space above my kitchen cabinets.

Nie Nie Benefit Concert

I don't know anyone that will not be moved by this clip of the Nielsen girls singing at a benefit concert by Mindy Glenhill last weekend in Mesa, Arizona.  My friend Rachel attended and said there wasn't a dry eye in the house when it was over.  

http://www.eastvalleyproductions.com/player.cfm?media=/movies/Nie/Glendhill

I wish I could have been there!  Sigh.

If you are interested in who they are, click on the "I read Nie Nie" button at the top left of my blog page.  Also, Cjane is pretty incredible too.  

Faces!

Have I mentioned how much I love my children?  

I am so proud of who they are and what they accomplish daily.

By the way, the pumpkin faces were done without any help from Mom or Dad.

Ward Halloween Party

I was in charge of our Ward's first Adult Halloween Party. I think it turned out pretty good with a cake contest, cake walk and costume contest. The pictures are of our many guests and some of the cakes of noticeable mention.

Our children were not invited, but were fascinated by the witches hats that we used as center pieces on the table.

Can you guess which cake I made?

p.s.  I am the WITCH!

Pigs n' Crackers

Ryan has reached the age of what I would call "Iamnotgoingtolikeitanywayyoudoit" stage.

Example:

I want cheese Mommy!

OK

That's not right, I want rectangles!!!

That is a rectangle, Ryan. What shape do you see?

I want a BIG rectangle.

OK. Let's try again.

That's not right Mommy, I said the Biggest rectangle.

I give up and make Pigs. He seems to be satisfied.

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was our trip to the Red Barn Farm in search of the "Perfect" Pumpkin. This is a serious task for our children and they set out on their own to claim the biggest and best. Ryan struggled in his search and became disheartened at times but in the end he prevailed.

Rosey was quick to the task and decided which one was the biggest, this is something that she is dead serious about. It must be the biggest! Daddy appreciates that as the token pumpkin carrier. She was only momentarily sidetracked by the ladybug that didn't want to tag along.

We were wowed by horses, chickens and geese after the pumpkin selection was complete. The latter was a personal favorite of Ryan. Well, it could have been the chihuahua that was a small as a rat. He found it interesting, but refused to touch it. I can't blame him really.

We enjoyed the warmth of the afternoon and especially the joy in the children's eyes. I couldn't imagine Halloween without them. It certainly doesn't share the same spirit.

Ode to Stacey

I have this amazing friend that is everything I aspire to be. We met in Bishop, California in 1996 at church and became walking buddies.  We talked about everything and in the course of all that discussion I learned how to be strong and brave.  She is Fearless!  I love that about her.  She is also spiritual on a human level.  She always gives the greatest insights to life's everyday issues.  She has a great love for her family and I watched her raise them as children of God.  Even to the extent of sitting back and letting them make their choices and live with them.  That is a true parent! 

My most favorite quality she possesses is her humor.  We can not talk for months and the minute I pick up the phone we are laughing and talking as if it has been but a few moments.

She is my HERO in so many ways.  I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that knew I needed her as my friend.  Thank you Stacey for being there through it all and being honest with me through it all...you are truly a friend indeed.

She sent me this quote of the day yesterday.

 

Whatever you give a woman - will multiply.

If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.

If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.

If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges whatever is given to her.

So, fair warning ... don't give her any crap.

Blast Off

Mommy, it won't blast off!

What won't blast off Rhyney?

My rocket ship.

(You thought it was just a crutch, didn't you?)

Ouch!

Where to start...I am notoriously uncoordinated.  Shocking to hear, isn't it?

I was at a friends house helping with minor finishing touches to a home they have been remodeling for some time.   Brave woman!  Ralph would lose him mind when we were house hunting and he would hear "We could just knock out this wall".  Never mind, remodeling a home while living in it.  That is why we purchased a new home, not without it's problems, but I didn't need to knock out any walls.  Anyways, I digress, as I was leaving her home to pick up Rosey from school with Ryan on my hip, I stepped in a divet on the lawn and heard a loud pop.  I felt warm in the face so I put Ryan in his car seat and as I leaned over to buckle his car seat, I felt like I would pass out.  As a mother everyone knows there isn't time for that.  As I was laying on Ryan's lap, I hear "Are you o.k. Mommy?, it's going to be o.k.".  What a sweet little guy, he is always concerned about me.

I said a quick prayer and asked Heavenly Father to let me get to Rosey's school as she was due out in 5 minutes.  With the faith that he would help me, I drove the mile to her school feeling as if I would lose the chocolate cake I had eaten for breakfast at any minute.  As I entered the school parking lot, my ears began to ring and I was feeling very lightheaded.  I was grateful to see Amy (Jacob's mom) getting out of her car and quickly asked her to go in and get Rosey for me.  By then the ringing in my ears was impossible and I was turning a true white.  When she went in I found myself laying on my steering wheel unable to move for a few minutes.  I was fighting nausea and drank what was left of Ryan's orange juice in his sippy cup.   (A shining moment for me.)  But, that seemed to help.

Amy brought Rosey out of school and commented on how white I was, stating that she thought I was white before.  Even my full ruby red lips  Ha! (I have always liked the size and color of my lips) were white as chalk.  By then I felt much better and after another 10 minutes of sitting, felt good enough to go pick up my dear friend Margaret, who felt sorry for me and spent most of the day keeping an eye on me.  She knows I won't sit still!

Anyways, it isn't broken, just pulled a few things.  The doctor say I have to use the R.I.C.E. method?!  Are you kidding me, most days I can barely remember my name, let alone an acronym for something medical.  Rest, ice, compress, and something else that I can't remember.  Thanks to medication, it is feeling much better.  Oh yeah, she says not to lift anything heavy.  LOL  She has obviously forgotten about Ryan!

Chalk it up to being a complete Klutz.  

p.s.  I think the "E" in R.I.C.E. is elevate, seems to make sense to me as Ralph keeps telling me to prop my leg up.

Leg Pits

Tickle me in my leg pits Mommy! giggles Rosey.  

Your what?   I ask.

Right here in my leg pit.  You know--behind my knee.

Makes complete sense to me so I quickly oblige.  Peels of laughter follow, always.

Fall Colors

The Woods behind our house If you look closely you will see legs sticking outRalph put toy legs in to freak me out!

Impatients...a flower after one of my traits The lone survivor...a friend gave me two of these ferns

Due  to the hurricane rains we received, the Fall colors are beautiful, not to mention that our grass is still green and my tomato plants are going nuts (they could have done that earlier).

I Love  this time of the year!  It is nice enough to sit outside if the Dude would let me.  We have started calling Ryan, "The Dude", it just seems to fit him.

  

Temple Site

My friend Alisa called me tonight to tell where the new temple is being built in the "Greater Kansas City Area".

Drum roll please...

Shoal Creek, Missouri.  This is on the way to Liberty.  About 25 minutes from my house.  I am so excited to think that I can be to the temple in such a short time.

Here is a link to the community:  http://www.shoalcreekvalleydev.com/community/

For those history buffs, this is in Clay County.  

The Buzz

The Buzz around town is about the announcement of the Kansas City Temple.  I had calls from as far away as California wanting to know if I had the inside scoop on where it might be.  I wish I was in the "In" crowd, but I will have to wait along with the rest of the Missouri Saints as to where it will be built.  

The selfish part of me thinks Platte City would be perfect, but that's what dreams are made of.  Who knows, it could be Independence, since they did say the Greater Kansas City Area.  That opens up a plethora (that's for your Nader) of possibilities.  

Wherever they put it will be grand as Winter Quarters is a whole day trip for us.  Those with little children don't get the opportunity to go often and now we will blessed with being able to go more often.  We will certainly get to see if we are truly committed to Temple attendance when it is closer.

I loved General Conference.  This the first time in a looooonnnnnngggggg time that I have committed to sitting down and watching it all and not waiting until the Ensign comes out.  

I even got a call from Kara, my mission companion.  It 's always fun to get her take on the Conference.  It was a great day.  Hey, we even had a picnic in the family room.

Fall and Boo Boos

I truly believe Fall has arrived.  The nights are very chilly (50 degrees) and the days are in the 70's.  We really didn't have a summer, so Fall is welcome for a change.

The kids were a little stir crazy the other day so I took them outside to play.  They immediately started in on me to put up the slip n slide.  Are you crazy?!  It wasn't that warm, but there comes a time as a Mother when you just don't care.  Let them have their fun!  I don't remember being that cold when I was young and summers didn't get as warm as they do here.  So out went the Slip n Slide.  They had fun for about 40 minutes and then the lips got a little blue, so we packed it in.

By the way, the kids get their fair skin from me.  After a summer outside they still look white.

The end of Summer....sigh....skinned elbows and knees.  (did you notice Ryan's elbow?)

Billy Idol

What happened to my little boy?  He woke up one day a little man.

I remember the day he was born.  I was so nervous about having a C-section.  We arrived at the Hospital at 6:00 a.m. as ordered, where I ran into Sister Jacque Hollars as she was getting off night shift at St. Lukes Maternity Ward.  She dropped her purse at the nurses station and said she would get me ready.  What a blessing that was to me!  One hour later at 7:17 a.m. Ryan Wellington came into our world.  As they dunked him over the curtain for me to see, all I could think was, "Hey, he looks like Billy Idol!"    Platinum blond hair and bright blue eyes that I prayed he would keep, even though every person known to man at that time said they wouldn't stay...all babies are born with blue eyes.  Really!?!?  (Rosey's were steel gray and darkened immediately), so I was holding out for this little guy.  The tears started to flow, which I wasn't prepared for.  Maybe it was knowing what a miracle it was to have him here with us.

I had Ralph follow the nurses (I didn't want him out of eyesight) as they took our precious little boy to check him over and then when they had finished with me I was taken to my room.  As I laid there waiting for my husband and baby to come back I was overcome with the whole experience.  I don't remember having such deep thoughts with Rosey, but then again I didn't do 17 hours of labor with Ryan and wasn't tired.  

Finally, I could hear the sounds of the baby cart coming down the hallway.  I was desperate to hold that little guy in my arms.  He smelled heavenly to me and to this day, the top of his head is a source of joy for me.  I can't even describe the smell, but it is my Ryan and no other has that scent.  Looking into his face I knew I would remember that moment forever, but as I looked at him Sunday morning all ready in his best clothes I had another moment where I was overcome with the whole experience.  My little baby is growing up and I can't go back and hold that sweet baby anymore.