It's A Party!

My friend, Melanie Starr worked her magic and made an amazing scuba man cake for Ken's birthday party. Ken was so excited! I thought he would want to eat the scuba man, but he was more interested in the sharks. The cake was out of this world and I would recommend Melanie to make any cake you might need.

Yesterday, we went to the Woodward's for a homecoming party for Andon Merkley. Kirk's Mom had made these yummy tarts that Sherilee shared how to make.

Tarts

Make your favorite pie crust,(or in my case,) buy premade pie crust dough. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out several round pieces of dough and place them in the bottom of a greased muffin tin. Then add one table spoon of raspberry jam. Make sure it is in the center of the circle and doesn't touch the edges. Then make your favorite vanilla cake batter,(again in my case, follow the instructions on the box,) then spread a thin layer over the top of the jam and bake at 350* for 10-15 min. Let them cool for a few minutes then top with some powdered sugar frosting. Sherilee said you can use a different kind of jam, but the raspberry is thicker and sets up better so if you decide to use strawberry or grape add a little corn starch to the jam to thicken it up a bit.

The Frogs Have Sung!

A few nights ago when Dar opened the door to let the dogs out one last time, he heard a wonderful sound. Frogs croaking! That is the first time we have heard them since winter set in. Spring must be around the corner! With all the crazy we have had lately, I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come!

I got a new ipad for my birthday. I am so excited to try to use it with Ken, my almost thirteen year old who has a mild form of autism and who stutters. I found all kinds of applications I can download onto the ipad to help with his communication disorders. It will be interesting to see if any of them help, but it's worth every penny if it helps Ken even a little bit!

I have heard about delayed auditory feedback implants for people who stutter. They are expensive and children sometimes don't want to leave them in or they out grow them. I found an app for my ipad called, DAF assistant. When the stutter puts on head phones with a microphone and they talk, it helps the person slow down his speaking rate and trains the central auditory processing disorder which they have. Once the person takes off the ear phones, they don't have the help like the implants do, but hopefully they are learning to slow down their rate of speech.

During the past few months, I have been making the three hour trek to Salt Lake every other week to take Ken to a stuttering specialist for two hours. I feel like we aren't making any progress though. The trip to Salt Lake is a great excuse to see my family and I have been able run around and do things I can't do in a small town. But with the price of gas plus the cost of the therapy it is costing us a small fortune. As a very proactive Mom, I am willing to try anything to help my poor little guy.

Ken's IQ test results were lower than the specialist expected last time we had him tested. She said she felt like they weren't accurate because he couldn't communicate the answers, so he said, "I don't know" instead. This is a common answer when he is asked questions because it is easier to say that then to try to get all of the words out. He won't pray in church, read in groups at school or church and very rarely will he answer questions in school.

There are a ton of apps on the ipad for younger autistic children. But what about the older kids? I haven't been able to find much to help Ken in that area. I wish these applications would have been around when Ken was first diagnosed because we have struggled through everything they claim to help with. He has made huge progress since he was diagnosed, and I am looking forward to all the new developments in technology that will hopefully help him in the future!

Even though Ken has his challenges, I feel so blessed that he can see, hear, walk and talk.

His thirteenth birthday is next week. I was going to try to make him a scuba diver cake out of homemade fondant, but I don't have the time because I'm trying to burn all the weeds, trim trees and get ready for a fun spring break trip. So I asked my friend Melanie Starr to help me. She is an amazing cake decorator. I can't wait to see what she dreams up!

Here is a recipe I found for homemade fondant - one day I will try it!

Rolled Butter Cream Fondant

In a large bowl, mix together 1C. shortening and 1C. light corn syrup. Mix in 1/2t. salt and 1t. clear vanilla extract. Then gradually add 2 pounds of powdered sugar until it is a stiff dough. If you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. Otherwise, knead by hand. If the dough is sticky, add more powdered sugar until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge.

To use, mix in a few drops of desired food coloring and then roll out on a clean surface that has been dusted with powdered sugar until it is 1/8 inch thick.

Cowboy Up

OUCH! On Monday I was leading Darren's horse, Cheyenne, to the pen next to the stud to see if she was in heat so I can breed her and Lilly, the wonder dog, came from behind and did an amazing job of herding her.... right over my foot! And then to make matters worse, she came at her from the other side and Cheyenne when back over the same foot. My the side of my foot and my big toe are swollen and the toe nail is black, which means it is definitely going to fall off. The worse part about this is I just got that same toe nail to grow back from the last time Cheyenne stepped on my toe!

So much for having beautiful pedicured toe nails this summer! I have been limping around the last two days so now my calf is sore from walking funny. I would love to just crawl back into bed and let it heal, but there is too much to do so I guess I have to cowboy up!

Tuesday was my birthday and I received so much love! It started out with breakfast in bed. Dar had run to 7-11 and bought me a cake doughnut with sprinkles and pink frosting and then put candles on top. Dar took me to lunch and shopping and then for a two hour horse ride in the fields around the house. It was a little breezy, but the sun was shining so it was wonderful! That is the first long ride I have been able to take Rebel on. I got him during the middle of winter so we have had to just ride in the arena. He was absolutely amazing! Cheyenne kept spooking, as she always does, at rocks, fences, holes in the ground (you name it, it scares her), but Rebel was steady and sure the whole time.

That night we had our parent camp meeting so I spent it with the young women. I received several packages with sugar cookies and cokes - (Do my friends know me well or what?) and then Jenny Peterson led everyone in the birthday song. I kept thinking, "Can't we just skip this part of it?" I hate to be sung to! On Monday, my presidency took me to a little Mexican restaurant called, Don Pedro's, for a birthday lunch. Thank goodness we didn't have to endure the big sombrero and song then! They have the best refried beans there. I could just eat the chips, salsa and beans and bag getting a meal! Someone (I can't remember who,)gave Dar this recipe to make refried beans like they do:

Refried Beans

Open a can of your favorite refried beans and put them into a pan over medium heat. Add in a spoon full of Mexican lard (or you can use regular shortening.) I personally like to stir in a tablespoon of butter because I usually don't have Mexican lard. Heat until bubbly and then sprinkle with chirozo cheese or crumbled goat cheese.

We're Off To See The Wizard!

For girls camp this year we are going to take the girls to my cabin above Park City.
I'm excited because we are going with the Wizard of Oz theme which ties in great with the thirteenth article of faith which is the mutual theme this year. We are seeking to find a way to our Heavenly Home.

The first day of camp we are going focus on how Dorothy was seeking to find her way home while following the yellow brick road and each of the young women are seeking to find their way to their eternal home while following the path that our Savior laid for them to follow. We are going to Salt Lake to visit one of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's General Young Women's board and they can hopefully tie in how each young women is a daughter of God. Then we will tour temple square and have a picnic at the park near the church office building. Because we live three hours away from Salt Lake, a lot of the young women in our group haven't ever been able to see temple square, so I am very excited! Then we are going to possibly tour Welfare Square and do some kind of service project.

The next day, our focus will be on the tin man and we will talk about how we need to be able to have a bullet proof testimony to stand against the adversary. The way to gain that is to develop love and charity towards others. We will spend most of the day doing camp certifications and pass off the hikes and cooking requirements. I'm excited to do the hike because I think we will do some kind of a Wizard of Oz obstacle course on the way back to the cabin. The girls will encounter situations that will require help from each of the young women values to make it home.
We are also going to decorate flip flops that day with silk and organza flowers like the ones I found on this fun blog: www.craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com.

The girls did a spaghetti dinner fund raiser and silent auction a few weeks ago and earned enough money so on Wednesday we can spend all day at the Park City ski resort playing on the alpine slide, alpine coaster and the zip line. They will need to have courage like the lion to try hard things that day. That night will be the skits, bishopric's night to cook us dinner and have testimonies.

The last day, we will go to Brigham Young University and visit with President Cecil Samuelson. Then tour the BYU campus. This will tie in with the scarecrow and represent the knowledge and wisdom the girls will gain as they work through life. Like the scarecrow, they are filling their brain one straw at a time with things that they want to excel at. I know three young people, (and I am sure there are more) who are getting married right after they graduate in June because they think that is their only option in small town life. I want my girls to know they should try to do good in school so they can get the best education they can and experience life before they get married.

We will end the girls camp by celebrating at the Brick Oven Pizza place in Provo for lunch. (That right there is worth the trek to the big city!)

Tomorrow night we are going to have a meeting with the Youth Camp Leaders to finalize our plans and I am going to make them some suckers because they will be the "Lollipop guild" and be responsible for making camp fun. This is the best sucker recipe because it is so easy! A few years ago I got some sucker molds at Orson Gygi's in Salt Lake so they will be perfectly round.

Lollipops

Over medium heat, combine 2C. sugar, 2/3C. light corn syrup and 3/4C. water in a sauce pan. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook until the temperature reaches 260* (with a candy thermometer,) then add a few drops of food coloring. Keep cooking until it reaches 300* then remove from the heat and add a few drops of the desired flavor. Pour quickly into greased sucker molds on a greased cookie sheet and add sticks. Do not remove the molds until the candy has completely set up.

A New Little Business

Tailwind Traders


While I was in Las Vegas in March, we went to a trade show so I could find purses for my little business called, Queen Bee Bagz. During this trip I found some wonderful handmade clothing from the Himalaya's that I fell in love with and decided to start a new little business called, The Tailwind Traders. I have the beginnings of a website: www.tailwindtraders.com, that shows some of the things I bought but it is just in the beginning stages. It is hard to set up an online business because the pictures don't do the clothing justice! They are so comfy and unique. (As a side note, the cute model on the website is Alex's new "friend," Tabitha. He says they are just friends but really?)

Last Tuesday, I went to the Antelope Point Marina on Lake Powell and some of my clothes will be in their little marina store in May. They are unique clothes and bags that everyone notices whenever I put them on.

That night we rushed home so I could have an activity with my Laurels for mutual. The wonderful young woman who was supposed to be in charge of the activity forgot to set things up, so at the last minute so I threw together an activity. Lori Tolbert had told me about the best fondue ever using melted Toblerone candy bars so I tried that. It was fantastic!

Toblerone Fondue

Melt one regular sized Tolberone bar very two people you are serving in a fondue pot. Add in a little half and half so it stays smooth. Cut up strawberries, bananas, apples, angel food cake squares and rice crispy treats or use cream puffs (the kind you find on the frozen food aisle)to dip into the chocolate. It was so easy and so yummy!

The Scuba Man

Last week, my youngest brought home a paper saying he needs to career shadow someone at their job for an assignment in one of his classes. I suggested he go to McDonald's or somewhere easy that he enjoys going to. But he said he wants to be a Lego designer or the scuba diving man. There are no Lego designers that I know of in our small town so we are going to have to pass on that option. We live in the middle of a desert but thank goodness there is one scuba shop in town. (How it stays in business I would love to know!) Anyway, we talked to the owner and he said Ken could shadow him. We also decided to have him do his pool work to certify for his scuba license that day. Ever since he did the scuba trial when we were in the Bahamas last fall, Ken has been bugging us to let him certify. The last two days we have gone over all of the online scuba class lessons and now he is ready to do the pool work and hopefully pass the test. He loves sharks and dolphins and maybe this could lead to a career one day. Who knows!

Dar went to San Carlos, Mexico with his Dad last month for a humanitarian trip with his rotary group and found a dolphin therapy place there. We really wanted to take Ken to do the two day therapy over spring break, but of course the facility doesn't do the dolphin therapy in April or May. So maybe sometime this summer or fall we can make a quick trip to see how it will go. I'm not sure how but there have been studies that dolphins can really help kids with autism. No wonder he always loves to see dolphins!

Tomorrow we are going to one of our good friends, daughters baptisms. I get to take brownies to the party afterwards. Brownies are not one of my specialties. Even when I add an extra egg to make them more cake like, they still turn out gooey. I found this recipe on line and hopefully it will be the magic one!

Best Brownies

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour and 8 in. square pan. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2C. butter. Remove from heat and stir in 1C. sugar, 2 eggs and 1t. vanilla. Beat in 1/3C. cocoa, 1/2C. flour, 1/4t. salt and 1/4t. baking powder. Spread this batter evenly in the pan and bake for 30-36 minutes.

To make frosting, combine 3T. butter, 3T. cocoa, 1T. honey, 1t. vanilla and 1C. powdered sugar. Add in a tiny bit of milk or half and half until it is creamy and spreadable. Frost the brownies while they are warm.

Rebel

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of my new love, Rebel. He is the most amazing horse! After I sold Lakota, I haven't really had a horse at the barn which I absolutely loved, so I haven't wanted to spend as much time up there. That is until Rebel came along! I was up cleaning stalls the other day and I told Darren, I forgot how much I love being at the barn. People think I'm strange when I tell them I love to clean out the stalls. I turn on my ipod and muck away with Rebel. It is absolute heaven!

A couple of weeks ago, I knew a friend was not feeling good and I decided to make some cream of potato soup for her family. I found a great new recipe and wanted to try it out. I had all afternoon to spend at the barn so I hurried and made it and the instructions said to let it simmer. While I was at the barn I kept having the thought that I needed to check the soup. I was enjoying the smells and the sounds of the barn and I didn't want to leave, but I kept having that thought. Finally I decided to just check on it so the thought would go away. As I walked in the door, I immediately got a whiff and knew something wasn't right. When I walked into the kitchen, I could see the smoke coming up off the pot and curling along the ceiling from my soup. Just then Kennedy, who was laying on the couch watching t.v. said, "Something stinks Mom." I yelled, "Yeah, it's your dinner! Open the sliding door so I can get it out of here!" I thought I had put the flame on simmer, but it was a full out torch under my potato soup. Thank goodness I came in when I did or we would have had a fire. I ended up throwing the pot away because it was so scorched. The smoke damage was bad enough in the house that we thought we were going to have to call the insurance company, but I bought an ionizer and wiped down all the walls, aired out the house and odorized everything. What a mess! Even though it has been a few weeks, I still get a whiff every now and then and I get a knot in my stomach as I remember what could have happened.

I'm grateful I kept having the thought to check the soup. I know it was the Holy Ghost prompting me to go and when I didn't listen, it got louder and more persist ant.

Here is the recipe.... just make sure you turn the flame down to "simmer" not "raging boil!"

Cream of Potato Soup

In a large saucepan, boil 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered, 1 small carrot finely chopped, 1/2 stalk of celery, finely chopped and 1 small onion, minced in 1 1/2C. vegetable or chicken broth. REDUCE HEAT, cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender. Then mash the mixture slightly. Add in 2 1/2C. milk.

In a small mixing bowl, blend 3T. melted butter, 1T. flour, 3T. dried parsley and
1t. pepper. Let simmer for several hours over LOW heat.

When ready to serve, add 1C. shredded Swiss cheese and let stand for 5 minutes.

Tortilla Soup Taco's

Sorry I have been a bad blogger Mom, I just have too much going on!

Since my last blog, I have been all over the place including to Las Vegas for a trade show. We went with our friends Dave and Amy Bain, and Richard and Lori Tolbert. They are always a blast to travel with. We laugh our guts out!

When we got to Vegas on Sunday night, Lori, who is a caterer, pulled out a whole spread of stuff so we could have an "Academy Awards Party." Pulled pork sandwiches, spinach and greens salad with apples and the best brownies and lemon bars I have ever had in my life! I tried to get the recipe but I was told they are "TOP SECRET". I will get the recipe one of these days!

Because Lori is a caterer, she is a major food connoisseur and we eat at the most amazing places. She took us to the Olives restaurant on the patio that over looks the fountains at the Bellagio one night. It was sooo.... good. If you go, order the fiery chicken sausage flat bread - it's like a pizza and the madiera chicken.

Last weekend we trekked up to the cabin so the boys could snowmobile and so we could watch conference. It was one of the best conference sessions I have ever watched. If you missed it, go to www.lds.org and the link is on the first page. If you don't want to read all of the talks, here are a few of my favorites you might want to take a peek at. On Saturday, Elder Ewrings talk about serving others really touched my heart. After going to Africa last summer and seeing first hand those who really are in need, this is a special topic to me.

On Sunday, I loved David A. Bednar's talk about the "Spirit of Revelation." and Lynn G. Robbins talk about "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye To Be?" But my favorite was Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk titled, "Waiting on the Road to Damascuas." He said, "... those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually come to know him."
That has been my goal this year. To come to know my Savior better. It was like a power of shot in the arm to watch conference this year and I loved it!

Alex went down by Green River to White Wash to ride motorcycles with his friends instead of going to the cabin with us. He and three friends slept in a big enclosed trailer and did the camping thing. It got so windy late Saturday night, they decided to go into Green River to get a room, but all the rooms were filled with truckers who were afraid to drive on in the high winds. So the boys ended up leaving at 3:00 AM and drove all night to get home. It was funny to hear their story and they were dead tired the next day.

Brayden and Ken each took a friend to the cabin and they got Ken out riding snowmobiles all day Saturday. He actually loved it! Bray and his friend built a big jump and we had a great time watching them fly over the top of it. Ken even decided to try it.... once. He came down and smacked both of his knees and that was the end of the jumping but I was so proud that he tried it!

While we were at the cabin, I made tortilla soup and Darren's Dad dropped in with a friend so I was afraid I wouldn't have enough for everyone to eat. So I pulled out the tortillas and served the soup, or tacos using the meat, corn, tomatoes etc. from the soup to make it go a little farther. Everyone raved about the tacos so we now have a new family favorite!

Tortilla Soup - Taco's

In a crock pot, cook a beef roast over night. In the morning add a can of corn, (undrained), a can of chopped tomatoes, a cup of salsa, half of a package of tortilla soup mix and simmer for several hours. Use a slotted spoon to dish the meat and other fillers into a tortilla. My family loved to spoon a little of the soup "juice" over the tortilla.

To serve the soup, crumble some tortilla chips into a bowl and top with shredded cheddar cheese then spoon the soup over the top.