We are Moving!!

Most of you know by now that we are moving to Star, Idaho a few days after Christmas.

I have mixed emotions about moving, so here is a list of things I will miss and things I definitely won't miss about Florida.

Top 5 things I WILL miss about Florida

1. All my friends I have made. Especially Grandma Ophelia

2. Sunshine most of the time.

3. My new house and pool

4. Beautiful beaches and Collecting Sea Shells

5. Disney World

Top 5 things I will definitely NOT miss about Florida.

1. FIRE ANTS!!!!

2. Humidity

3. Scratchy St. Augustine grass

4. All the Bugs and Did I mention Fire Ants!!

5. My Water Bill

(I know there is more but I have just listed the top 5 reasons)

Good-bye Florida- We will come back to visit!!

THANKSGIVING IN FLORIDA

This year we decided to have a quiet Thanksgiving for three. I didn't want to cook a big turkey for just the three of us so I cooked a whole chicken. We also had ham, yams, green beans, sweet potato pie, rolls and cranberry sauce.

We sat by the pool and enjoyed our lunch. It was'nt until a few days later that I realized that I hadn't made stuffing. I love stuffing. That is one reason I love Thanksgiving!

It is all about the stuffing. Oh well- maybe next year!!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

WARD PARTY HALLOWEEN PARTY

WHERE'S WALDO AND LITTLE LAURA

WALDO AND CAT IN THE HAT EATING DINNER

A vacation (ha ha) to Utah

I went to Utah to help Rachel with a new baby and send Andrew off on his mission. What I got was much more.... Fun!!

The first thing I did was help Rachel can 70 bottles of tomatoes. This was fun for me because I don't can anything in Florida.
The next thing fun for me was I got the opportunity to substitute teach in my old classroom. Yes I went to work on my vacation. But I don't work in Florida so this was real fun for me. I felt like a movie star!! All my old students were so happy to see me. Next we welcomed little Quinten into Rachel's family. I love being a Grandma!! The FUN got even better when Heidi surprised us and came up to Utah for a few days. It was so fun to see little Henry again. We had a great time seeing all our friends and family at Andrew's Farewell. To top off the three weeks I was in Utah we took Andrew to the MTC. The new "drive through" method worked really good for us. No time for tears!!! I loved all the FUN I had in Utah... I can't wait to return and have more FUN!!

Oh yea- I was told I am the worst blogger ever!! I will try to do better!!

GRANDKIDS ARE GREAT!!

Rachel brought Annaka and Bridger out to see us. We had a fun filled week at the beach and swimming in the pool. I think Bridger liked playing in the Legos without having to share them with his brothers the best. We all had a blast. We loved having the kids here. Thanks Rachel for bringing the kids to visit and THANKS Brent for taking care of the other three boys at home so Rachel could come visit. Here are a few pictures of all our fun.

Our lego boy!

Swimming in Grandma's pool


I have my net, where are all the fish?



Mote Aquarium



Look at this BIG leaf



Can I take him home Mom?



Splashing in the water

Maybe if I hold really still I can catch a fish!

Learning about sea life

So Cool!

Fun With My Friends

I had a wonderful time with my friends from Utah the second week of June.

Some of my "teacher" friends came out and visited. We had a blast!!!Tauna, Peggy, Jeanie and Debbie


We saw real live alligators

Can you see his nose? He is one big alligator.

Debbie is either really brave or crazy, but she wanted to pet an armadillo, so I stopped the van and she jumped out and was able to pet some baby armadillos. Everyone else stayed in the van laughing and taking pictures!!

Walking through the "jungle" to see the alligators



Can you see all the moss hanging from the trees. I see where they get ideas for scary movies.

We did a lot- I mean A LOT of shopping. We shopped at the beach shops and the outlet malls and even the flea market. We bought so many pairs of shoes I think they were going to open up a shoe store when they got back to Utah.

This picture is looking down from the look-out tower.

Can you see us on the tower- This is real exercise getting to the top!!

We made it to the top!!! What a view. Who knew Florida was so flat I can almost see Texas.



When we weren't shopping, we were at the BEACH. Beautiful white sand and blue, warm water made for great days to sit around at the beach.


Fish and Chips at the Beach

(Sorry Jeannie, I guess that is what we get when we ask someone who doesn't speak English to take our picture)



Friends that play together stay together! Let's do it again!! I can't wait until next year!!

LOS ANGELES HERE HE COMES

Andrew received his Mission call to serve in the Los Angeles California Mission- Spanish speaking. We are so very proud of him. We know he will be a great Missionary.

He will enter the Mission Training Center on

September 9, 2009

(9-9-09, Cool huh?)

His farewell will be on Sunday August 30, 2009 at the Huckleberry Ward in Syracuse Utah at 11:00 am

1273 South 2500 West

Everyone is invited!

Come early for a soft seat!

What Is All That Noise??

If you lived on a farm, you would hear the roosters crowing in the morning but in Florida almost every morning I hear a noise that sounds like a roster with a megaphone. The Sand Hill Crane is a very large bird at makes a very loud sound as it walks through your yard and even a louder sound when it flies over your house. Think of a pterodactyl on a horror movie. That will give you an idea of the sound I hear in the mornings.

So much for sleeping in!!

(The pictures are kind of blurry because I took it through the screen on my porch)

Sunday in Florida

Just us dressed in our Sunday best.

Wash and Wear???

Last week I tried something new!!

I washed my cell phone in the washing machine.

OK I really didn't mean to do it but needless to say cell phones don't work very well after a lot of soap and water gets into them. We even took it apart to dry it.

Oh sad day for me.

I went almost a week with out a cell phone and I thought I was going to go nuts. The reason why... is all of my phone numbers are stored on my cell phone. I had to look up every number I called. Yes, I am lazy. What did I do without a cell phone?? Now that I have another cell phone to use- I still don't have all the numbers on my old phone. My advice to everyone.

#1 Don't wash your phone- they don't wash and wear very well.

#2 Write all your contact information done somewhere else besides on your phone.

(Yes, I know I can go down to the phone store and get everything transferred but that takes time and effort- we live a long ways from the cell phone store.)

Our Quick Visit To Utah

We had a great time with family and friends in Utah a few weeks ago.
We came to Utah for Henry's blessing and Corbin's Baptism.
Our trip was only a few days long so we didn't get to see everyone we wanted.
The weather was a little cold for us Floridians but we kept warm with all the hugs and kisses from our Grand-kids.

Here is Corbin and his Dad, Brent at his baptism.

We are so proud of you Corbin.

This is Rachel and Brent's cute family. They are growing up so much!!

Noah lost his front tooth while he was brushing his teeth. I think he just didn't want grandpa to pull it out!! (and Grandpa wanted to real bad)

We tried to get a family picture taken while everyone was together. It looks like a nice, sunny day but it was so cold and when the wind blew, it was miserable. We are not really smiling, we are grimacing from the cold. Now as I look at all the pictures, none of them have everyone with their eyes open or everyone smiling or even happy but that is life I guess.


Holly and little Henry



Peek-a-Boo
Annaka is at such a fun age.

This is a picture of Henry after his blessing with his three Grandpas

On the airplane to Utah, Henry learned how to stick out his tongue. Here he is showing off his great talent. He is so cute and fun.

Here is some cute boys!!

Sorry there is no pictures of our gut wrenching laughter at the Barker's house or Henry & Sue or any of our other friends, but we have those memories in our minds and hearts.

It is always hard to leave everyone behind. We love and miss all of you!!

Come see us any time!

Move over Martha Stewart

I have been trying out new recipes that I have found in all my magazines. Thanks to Holly for sending me a bunch of great magazines. I don't remember what magazine I got this recipe out of but it was GREAT!!! Chicken Pot Pie

This is what it looked like before I cooked it. I didn't get a picture of it after it was cooked because by the time I came back from my Relief Society meeting it was almost gone.

Here is the recipe I used. I made a few adjustment from the original recipe. It is really easy to double the recipe and freeze one of the pies or give one away. (That is what I did) Also add some rolls and it is a very inexpensive dinner.

Chicken and Vegetable Pot Pie

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Cooked and cubed.

1 Tbl. olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 carrots, sliced thick

2 stock of celery

2 large potatoes

3 Tbl. flour

1/2 c. chicken broth

2 cups milk

8 0z. frozen peas

1 Tbl. fresh thyme (I used 1 tsp. dried thyme)

Salt & Pepper

Pie Crust

Heat Oven to 400.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until tender. (Not too soft)

Add potatoes and cook for a few more minutes. Potatoes will still be firm.

Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring for 1 minute.

Add broth and cook until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add milk and simmer until sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in Chicken, Peas and Thyme. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Transfer to a shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish.

Lay crust on top, press to seal to dish. Cut several vents in the crust. Brush with milk. Place on baking sheet and bake until bubbling and crust is golden. 30- 35 minutes.

Note: I like all my vegetables and chicken cut chunky, using more veggies than chicken.

Pie Crust ( You can use a store bought crust but I made mine from scratch)

1/4 cup butter

1 cup shortening

1 Tbl. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbl. nonfat dry milk

3 cups flour

1/2 cup cold water.

Mix dry ingredients together with shortening and butter until crumbly. Add water a little at a time. Mix well. You may not need all the water. Flour the table before rolling dough out.

Make two pie crusts

Note: the sugar in the pie crust really add to the over all flavor!!

YUM YUM ENJOY!!!!

THE MANATEES ARE HERE

As most of you know Florida has had some very cold weather in the last few weeks. The farmers have had to work endlessly to keep their crops from freezing. They keep the sprinklers on all night to coat the trees and plants with ice and that prevents them from the frost. The oranges and strawberries made it through the cold weather but my grass and bushes did not. I hope they come back in the with the warm weather.

But the cold weather also bring a delightful sight!! The manatees!! They come close to the shore to get warm when the water temperature drops below 68 degrees. Take a look at some beautiful manatees. A mommy and a little baby

Today on the news, they said that this year we have had the biggest sighting of Manatees ever.
Over 300 and still counting.
If you would like to watch the Manatees for yourself. Go to this website http://www.tampaelectric.com/manatee/funstuff/webcam/
It is a web cam at Teco Power Plant's Manatee Visitor's Center.
You have to be patience and watch for a few minutes and you may see a nose, a tail
or even a whole head peeking out of the water.
The rest of the website is very interesting too.
Enjoy the Manatees of Florida

HOWDY TEXAS

A few weeks ago, I went to Texas to visit Heidi and Dan and their new baby Henry. I have never been to Texas so this was a fun trip for me. The best part was to hold little Henry. The weather was a little cold. But we did have a chance to go down to the ocean. We went to this pier that has lots of stores and few rides like a mini-mini amusement park. A lot of the pier was under reconstruction from hurricane Ike. Even with the cold weather I had a great time visiting!!


Here is cute Heidi with little Henry!


Henry is peaking out of his car seat cover-up that Jan Barker made him.
It sure came in handy on those windy days. Isn't he cute?


Cute little baby!!

I couldn't get enough "kisses". Henry was probable ready for me to go home and stop kissing him.

Miracles really do happen- just look, his name is Henry!!