Bill returned safely home on Friday. We are so glad to have him with us. He was gone for two weeks and we were worried he would have to stay in England longer due to the volcanic ash from Iceland. I'm very grateful to have Cindy Carver living with us. She has been a blessing to me. She does all the dishes and laundry before I can get to it. Plus, she's very patient with the children and they have lots of fun with her. I have to admit I get jealous sometimes because she is doing all the things I should be doing but can't. She has a possible job opportunity caring for an elderly lady and, although I would like to have my family and home to myself, she will be greatly missed.
Our back yard has been improved with raised planters and brick work. It's amazing how much bigger it seems. A lot of the renovation was done while Bill was away. Cindy and Mize, my elderly neighbor, are good workers and worked for two days shoveling dirt into planters. Mize is retired and when he saw us shoveling, asked if he could help. I'm very blessed with good neighbors on either side.

I am going to start working on getting my Young Women medallion...finally. It wasn't important to me when I was young, although I probably earned it. I just didn't bother to keep track. My goal is to read the Book of Mormon, of course, but also to focus on aquiring new skills that I can use as a mother. I have a feeling I will need to sew better since my girls will be tall and will probably have a difficult time finding modest clothes.

My brain is not functioniong well. By this I mean that I am more forgetful than usual. I went grocery shopping on Saturday and must have left my wallet in the shopping cart because I have not been able to find it anywhere. All of my credit cards, debit cards and checkbook were in it as well as my drivers license, hospital volunteer ID, new library card (the other one is lost) and health insurance card. I'm so mad at myself. I have such a sweet husband, though, who just squeezed my hand and pointed out that we don't have any money anyway because of hospital bills and backyard remodeling. So whoever took my wallet is going to be disappointed!

This was a discouraging week for me because my endocrinologist told me that I have two suspicious looking lymph nodes in my neck that might possibly be cancer and that I have another nodule in my lung that could possibly be valley fever or cancer. I just keeping putting my trust in Heavenly Father. I know He has a plan for me. I just hope it involves me seeing my children grow up.

Favorite Recipes

Picnic Pretzels ( Great activity for little kids)

1 envelope dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 C. warm water
1 tsp. salt
4-5 C. flour
1 egg, beaten
coarse salt

1. In a large bowl, mix the yeast and sugar in the warm water, let sit about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the salt and 2-3 cups of the flour to make a soft batter.
3. Keeping your hands dusted with flour, knead in additional flour to make a dough stiff enough to roll out.
4. Take a lump of dough about the size of a lemon, and roll it between your hands to make a rope about as thick as your finger.
5. Twist the rope into a pretzel shape, heart, alphabet letter or whatever shape you want, place on greased cookie sheet, brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with coarse salt.
6. Bake at 425 deg. for 12 to 15 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown.

These are our daughters. Savanna (5), Brooke Lynn (4), and Eden (22 months)

This is a new experience for me. I have to admit that I am not secure in my blogging skills and I am still extremely intimidated by computers. This blog is mostly to keep my family and friends updated.

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