Easter

Jesse and I really try hard to celebrate holidays, but any holiday that falls on a Sunday will still result in a normal, crazy Sunday.

This year Easter just happened to fall on Stake Conference where Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke. We wanted to get good seats so we arrived at the Stake Center at 8:00 am for the 10:00 am meeting. Landon can't sit more the 2 minutes at a time so Jesse took him for a 1 hour walk. They were walking near the Stake President's office when Elder Nelson exited the room. He saw Landon, smiled and then waved. Luckily Landon wasn't as shocked as Jesse and waved back.

During Elder Nelson's talk he shared that if there is any one thing we teach our children, we need to teach them that they are a child of God and God loves them very much. He had all of the Primary age children stand up and sing "I am a Child of God"

I am a child of God,

And he has sent me here,

Has given me an earthly home

With parents kind and dear.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

To live with him someday.

We didn't have an Easter egg hunt or a special meal but we had a day full of the Spirit.

Grandpa Egbert's Weekend Visit

At the beginning of March Grandpa Egbert came for a fun weekend visit. I know what everyone is thinking, it's June, why are you telling us about it now? Well I've never claimed to be a good blogger and based on the fuzziness of all the photos I'm apparently not a good photographer either. However, I will do my best to give you the basics of what has happened since Grandpa Egbert's visit until the present. It will take a while so don't get too excited.

On March 4 Grandpa made the long journey to Flagstaff, AZ. Late Friday evening Bob flew into Phoenix, and Jesse picked him up and made the 2 hour trek home; they didn't get to Flagstaff until 11:30 pm. But thanks to Landon we all got up bright and early the next morning at 6:00 am. Thank you, Landon.

Jesse really wanted to show Bob around Flagstaff and let him see our life in a nutshell. Because I had Stake Relief Society Conference Saturday morning, Jesse and Bob went with the kids to the Seminary building and played ping pong. I left the conference a little early so we could get a move on with our day. While the kids napped, I ran, and Jesse and Bob went on the grand tour of Flagstaff. Jesse showed him his office at work and the NAU campus. Bob really wanted to introduce us to a game called Cribbage so he also got to see every store in Flagstaff trying to find it, luckily there aren't many stores here.

Because our Valentine's day dinner went so well Jesse and I really wanted Bob to try the Indian food recipes we had made. Bob and Jesse were in charge of dinner while I got the kids down to bed and sat around.

Sunday was a typical Sunday, we went to battle with the kids to get them ready for church and then went to battle to survive church. During Sacrament Landon sat on Grandpa's lap and poked him in the face for the full hour and 15 minutes. I have never seen Landon so well behaved. Sadly on Sunday evening we had to take Grandpa back to Phoenix so he could make his flight early Monday morning. We had a lot of fun playing and spending time with Grandpa.

The Blur in the top left hand corner is our dog Penny!

Thanks for coming to visit Grandpa!

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's day Jesse and I decided that since we couldn't go out to dinner to celebrate, we would bring the restaurant to our kitchen. Anybody who knows Jesse and I knows we don't like the same things: he likes Indian food and I like Chinese; he likes ice cream and I like chocolate. So we compromised and made Indian food for dinner and German Chocolate Cake for desert. Mm mm...everything was so yummy.

I made the cake and Jesse did everything else.















Jesse normally gets me flowers for valentines day but this year he let Landon choose. Landon insisted that Jesse get a beautiful butterfly balloon.

Landon was thoughtful enough to let me look at it, but he was the only one allowed to touch.

Apple Pie

If possible do not use Granny Smiths Apples; although crisp when raw, all too often they turn mushy when baked in a pie with both a top and a bottom crust.

Use Flaky Pastry Dough with recipe.

Prepare:

Roll half the dough into a 13-inch round, fit it into a 9-inch pie pan, and trim the overhanging dough to 3/4 inch all around. Refrigerate. Roll the other half into a 12-inch round for the top crust and refrigerate it. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel, core and slice 1/4 inch thick:

• 2 1/2 pounds of apples (5 to 6 medium large)

Measure 6 cups. Combine the apples with:

• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 to 3 tbsp's of all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp of strained fresh lemon juice (optional)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp of salt

Let stand for 15 minutes, stirring several times, so that the apples soften slightly and will better fit into the crust. Pour the mixture into the bottom crust and gently level with the back of a spoon. Dot the top with:

• 2 tblsp's of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Brush the edge of the bottom crust with cold water. Cover with the top crust, then seal the edge, trim, and crimp or flute. Cut steam vents and sprinkle with:

• 2 tsp's of sugar
• 1/2 tsp if ground cinnamon

Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Slip a baking sheet beneath it, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degree's F., and bake until the fruit feels just tender when a knife or skewer is poked through a steam vent and thick juices have begun to bubble through the vents, 30 to 45 minutes more. For the filling to thicken properly the pie must cool completely on a rack, 3 to 4 hours. If you wish to serve the pie warm, place it a 350 degree F oven for about 15 minutes. the pie is best the day it is baked, but it can be kept for 2 to 3 days at room temperature.