Visiting Teaching

I love how visiting teaching has changed with technology. I don't have to make any phone calls anymore! I contact my companion and our sisters by e-mail then report to the supervisor by the same means.

My current route is very easy. My companion and our three sisters are all well-established, active members. We are all similar in age and/or situation. My companion and I like to do things a little differently. Instead of going to each individual's home we take turns hosting a lunch or brunch in our own homes. It's been fun trying new recipes and using recipes I don't get to use very often.

I usually make an egg dish, some kind of coffee cake or breakfast bread and something with fruit. Yesterday I prepared a breakfast burrito bar. I loaded up my Tupperware veggie tray with three different kinds of meat--sausage, bacon and ham, cheese, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions and green peppers, salsa and sour cream. The scrambled eggs and tortillas were served on the side. I had a fruit platter and a blueberry coffee cake which was a new recipe but very good.

We always have a very good time and the kids get to play together so that means the adults get a moment to chat.

What You've Missed

I just wanted to post this picture of my friend Rachel. I wrote about the quilt I made for her several months ago. She is seen in the picture with me. She tied it with her mother and I finished the binding for her.


Life has been busy lately but I thought I better blog so I can get some of it recorded anyway. I don't know why it's been so hard for me to blog since we moved. I am blaming it on the fact that our computer is in a different place and not as accessible.


Kennedy started preschool at the beginning of the month. She is so cute and loves it. I am enjoying the one-on-one time with Tristan but it seems most days are filled with naps or busy errands. I have managed to take him tot he park a few times though.


Last week was our women's conference. I was in charge providing two quilts for the service project. My mom donated two pieced quilts and made it that much easier for me. We had an activity where several women from the ward showed up to help tie. I had two more quilting sessions at my house. They are done and they were the cutest ones (if I do say so myself, thanks, Mom) of the group.


We have finally saved up some money to buy some new furniture. Our first project is the dining room. We purchased a table and some chairs last weekend and look forward to their arrival. It will be nice to start decorating our new home that we've lived in for almost six months now!
The furniture doesn't look very exciting from a tiny picture but in real life it's really nice. Simple but elegant. I am going to have a deep red and gold fabric on the seats. Fun stuff.

Spa Night

Last night was my first big Enrichment Meeting. I only have three people on my committee so there was a lot of planning on my part. We had a "Spa" night. Our spiritual message was on "loving who you are". We asked someone who is leaving the ward this summer to do that and she did a great job.

When we fist started planning we had too many things planned for the night so we decided to double up on the classes and have two being taught at the same time, different rooms. We had four classes, skin care, color analysis, women's health issues--stress management, and hair tips. We wanted to have an exercise class and manicures for the end but that didn't work out. In then end, one of our speakers cancelled last minute. We ended up all staying in the Relief Society room for all of the speakers.

I was surprised at the number of people we had. I didn't count but I bet we had between 30-40 which is good for our ward. Our activities have not been that well attended. All the speakers we had lined up did an excellent job. Everyone listening seemed really interested too.

We topped the night off with chocolate fondue and dippers. Yum!

Pie Time

I come from a family of pie-makers. I consider my mom an expert pie maker. I especially love her apple pie and her strawberry rhubarb pie and her made-from-scratch banana cream pie, and. . . . . I could go on. My sister is also a great pie maker. She won a pie contest when she was just in high school. She still makes great pie. I, however, have not inherited the pie gene. I like to try on occasion but never really succeed. I guess I just don't practice enough.
Tonight is our ward's chili and pie cook off. Chris signed me up for both pie and chili. I went for a single-crust pie "Coconut-Caramel Pie" (recipe follows) which is a really good dessert. I usually cheat and bake a pre-made Pillsbury crust. I decided to try my mom's pie crust recipe this time. . . . . Nope, I'm still not a pie maker! I always follow the recipe but it turns out to be a gloppy mess. I baked it anyway and it will just have to do. This may ruin my reputation!
I hope the chili turns out better.

Coconut-Caramel Pie

2 Baked Pie Shells
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 16-oz carton Cool Whip
1 12-oz jar caramel ice cream topping

In a large skillet, melt butter; stir in coconut and pecans. Cook and stir over medium heat until coconut is golden, about 6-8 minutes. Cool.
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk on low speed. Fold in Cool Whip. Spoon 1/4 mixture into each pie shell. Drizzle each with about 1/4 of the caramel topping (I never use quite that much) and sprinkle with 1/4 of the coconut mixture. Repeat layers.
Cover and freeze at least 5 hours. Serve or freeze, covered, for up to 2 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 20 servings (2 pies).

Busy Week

It's been a busy week. Selling a home is no small project. Monday was the inspection and we received the repair request yesterday. Apparently our house was "backed into by a vehicle or something". It must have happened before we moved into the house but the person who inspected it for us did not pick this up. There is a 4' crack in the foundation of our garage that is visible from the inside and out. On the outside of the house the siding is bulging and the downspout and gutter are damaged. After reading the request I went out myself and viewed it. I have no idea how we could not have seen it before. This was the only major thing on the report so I guess we are fortunate.
Chris left Thursday morning for Utah. His brother Kimball is getting married. At 4:30 that morning I heard Tristan crying. I was letting him fuss hoping he would go back to sleep. I soon realized that he was trying to tell me something. I went into his room and smelled an odor that I associate with sickness. He cried and screamed but I had to change his diaper and his underclothes and his pajamas. Finally Chris came it to see what was wrong. We inspected his crib and found vomit too. Chris changed the sheet and put fresh blankets down while I nursed the poor little guy. Tristan went back to sleep quickly. Chris and I snuggled for about 10 minutes before his alarm went of and he had to get ready to go to the airport. After he left I was just starting to relax and fall back to sleep when Kennedy woke up.
I had my first Enrichment Committee meeting as the "leader". I will be working with a great group of women. Our meeting ended up being two hours. We talked a lot about each other and life in general and some about our upcoming meeting too! It was fun.