Talk in my pocket

Yesterday I was asked to give a talk at a baptism about the gift of the Holy Ghost.  The person being baptized was a 10 year old girl that my daughter has recently become friends with.  I felt a little panicky because I only had about an hour to prepare and I didn't know what I was going to do!  I ran home from church at 4pm and prepared the talk, then got back to the church at 5pm, right when the baptism began.

After the baptism, several people asked me for copies of my talk, so I'm going to post it here.  Being the internet scavenger that I am, some of these ideas came from there, some came from my experience, but mostly they came from what I could find around the house on short notice!

I got permission from those attending to sit down so I could be on the same level with the baptizee, because I wanted her to feel like I was really talking to her about the Holy Ghost and not just giving a "talk".  I started by congratulating her on making the decision to be baptized and how great it must feel, etc.  Then I told her that some people compare the Holy Ghost to the sun, because he can be in one place but his influence can be felt everywhere, he illuminates things for us, and comforts us with his warmth, but I prefer to compare him to the wind, because you can't see the wind, but you can hear it and feel it.  Sometimes it's soft, sometimes it's strong.  Sometimes it's gentle and sometimes very persistent.  You can't see it but you can see the results of it's influence (like the roads of Lakewood after a storm), etc.  Then I said that the Holy Ghost is often called a "gift", because it is something Heavenly Father gives us to make our lives better, etc.  I then presented her with a "gift", a box wrapped up and tied with ribbon.  When she opened the box, I asked her to take out the items one at a time so I could explain why I gave each item to her and how it relates to the Holy Ghost.  I also put a copy of the list in the box for her to refer to later on and be reminded of all the things the Holy Ghost can do.

The Holy Ghost can:

• Speak to you in a still, small voice so only you can hear.  (Q-tip, or wax lips)
• Warn you of danger.  (Lighthouse or lifesavers)
• Have healing power in your life.  (Band-Aid or a pill bottle filled with skittles)
• Remind you of right from wrong, good from evil, truth from lies.  (Ribbon or string tied around your finger)
• The Holy Ghost can cleanse and sanctify you through repentance.  (Soap or hand sanitizer)
• It will inspire you and light your path as you go through life and help you understand sacred things.  (Candle or flashlight)
• He can teach you.  (Ruler)
• Guide your footsteps back to Heavenly Father.  (socks or footprints)
• He can strengthen your hold to the iron rod.  (Glue)
• Let you know in your heart that God lives and that he loves you.  (Heart)
• He can help you understand spiritual things (Scripture Bookmark)
• And finally, the Holy Ghost can testify of Jesus Christ.  That Jesus died for us so that we might gain eternal life.  (Picture of Jesus)

I finished by bearing my testimony of how the Holy Ghost has helped me in my own life.

There you go, I hope you can use it if you are ever called upon to give this talk for a child, not sure it would have the same impact for adults.

Happy Easter!

Today is Easter and boy, am I tired!  I enjoy Easter, and all the other "kid holidays", but it seems that the more kids I have the longer it takes me to prepare and the less sleep I get leading up to the happy day.  This year I procrastinated making the girls' dresses until just a few days ago, so that was my own fault, but also its hard to find free time to sew with everything else that's going on around here, so maybe I'll blame it on the big family after all......

These are my Easter girls.  Since we are adopting E. and M. next month, I asked the girls if it would be OK if I made their dresses white this year so that they could also use them when we go to the temple to be sealed.  They thought that was a great idea, so I let them pick out the fabric and patterns and made colorful sashes and also white ones for temple day.  You can't see it in this picture, but they have big bows on the back that are very pretty, just like my girls!

This was the 8th Easter dress I have made for H., but only the 1st for E., since she wasn't always with us.  Is it strange that I am sad for the dresses I didn't get to make for her before?  Anyway, now I can make her all the pretty dresses she wants, and believe me, she loves to wear pretty dresses!

I missed going to my Mom's house for Easter this year, it is always good to get together with my family and catch up while sharing the holiday, but most of the kids are grown up now and Mom is very busy, so we went to Tom's parents house instead where we had a very nice Easter dinner and family birthday party.  Between H., E., M., J.B., P., and B., there are plenty of little kids there to celebrate with!

Lisa's Whipped Frosting Recipe

Since my last post, several people have been asking me for my whipped frosting recipe (that I used on the Duckum's wedding cake).  People who don't like cupcakes couldn't stop eating these because of the frosting.  Some people even thought it was whipped cream.  This seems like the best way to get the word out, so if you are interested in an easy frosting recipe that tastes light and creamy and not too sweet, give it a try (and let me know what you think).

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 Cup whole milk
1 TBSP all purpose flour
1 TBSP corn starch
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 Cup unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (or other flavoring)
1/4 tsp salt
color as desired

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine milk, flour, and corn starch.  Cook and stir until mixture thickens, then cover and refrigerate until thoroughly cooled.  Then, in a stand mixer, cream together sugar, butter, and salt.  Add cooked milk mixture and vanilla and whip until fluffy.  This is the most important step!  Whip this frosting on medium-high speed  for at least 10 minutes.  If you test it and it's not awesome, that means you haven't whipped it long enough.  Keep whipping!  Also, you can make this the day before, but you will have to re-whip it before frosting a cake or cupcakes.

My Baby Sister is Married!

I have been very busy over the last 4 weeks helping my sister Emily prepare for her October 2nd wedding to Michael Duckum.  The wedding was in a beautiful setting (my parent's back yard).  At first the weather was "iffy", but then when time for the wedding came (3pm), the sun came with it!  It was awesome.  Doesn't my sister make a beautiful bride?

I was priviledged to be her Matron of Honor, while her 18 year old son, Taylor, was the Best Man.  I wish I had more pictures to show you, but I am still waiting for more to trickle in....

The decorations were beautiful, the weather cooperated, and the day was a complete success!

My Mom and I and an army of helpers did all the food.  We had a very ambitious hors d'oeuvres menu which consisted of hot and cold items.  On the hot side we served: teriyaki chicken skewers, bleu cheese tarts, jalapeno poppers, bacon wrapped chicken packages, lumpia, mini crabcakes with roasted red pepper aoli, oysters on the half shell, and steamed clams.  On the cold side we served shrimp coctail shooters, smoked salmon canapes, roast beef and artichoke canapes, pinwheel sandwiches, bleu cheese stuffed grapes, and sweet cream cheese stuffed strawberries.  Everything was so yummy!  If I get any pictures, I'll post them later, because it all looked beautiful, too.

Since Emily and Michael were on a tight budget, my Mom offered to pay for the food as part of her wedding gift, and I offered to make the cake as part of my gift.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, as I've never attempted to make a wedding cake before, except that I knew that she couldn't really afford to buy one, and that cupcakes were a popular option right now.  Armed with that knowledge, I supposed I could figure it out and talked her into trusting me....Then here's what I decided to do:

I went to the hardware store and bought a 4X8 piece of 1/4" maple plywood and paid them to cut it to my specifications (they were not happy with me!).  Then I drilled and nailed together 5 boxes that rest on top of each other like this.

Emily wanted chocolate cake, so I made chocolate devil's food cupcakes, and a small cake for the top (they wanted to be able to "cut the cake").  My Mom begged me not to use buttercream icing, because she hates how sweet it is, so I spent 2 weeks developing a recipe that tasted light and creamy, but not too sweet, and that was stable enough to hold up during the festivities.  I was happy with the result, until the sun came out and smiled on the cake, at which time I started panicking because I really thought it would melt the icing off, but to my surprise it didn't, and everyone said it was delicious.  Whew!  What a relief!  Here's the finished cake:

There were 94 cupcakes and about 60 guests.  At the end of the day, we only had about 20 cupcakes left, so somebody must have liked them!  You can't see it in this picture, but since she had a "sea" theme, I made little seashell candies out of white chocolate and put a purple one on top of each cupcake, and I made white ones to put on the top cake.  You can see them better in this picture:

As part of my gift, I ordered the cake topper and presented it to the couple before the ceremony.  I had planned to put it on top of the tower, but the top cake was too soft and it started to sink, so I had to place it on the second tier.  Here's a picture of the topper:

Here are a few more pictures from the wedding:

Mom, Emily, and Me.  What a team!

First dance as man and wife.

 Into the sunset.

Pure happiness.

"The four Emilys"

Lastly, there is this picture of the four Emilys.  As it turns out, there were 4 Emilys at the wedding.  Left to right:  (1) the daughter of a friend, (2) cousin Laleania's daughter, (3) the Bride, (4) my daughter Emily.  Both Emilys flanking the bride are actually named after her!  If you think it's funny that there were 4 Emilys at this wedding, imagine how confusing it was to also have 5 Michaels!  :)

Pulling this wedding together in 4 weeks was hard work, and I want to thank all the people who helped out, because we wouldn't have been able to do it without you!  Glad to be a part of it, and glad to have it done, I came home afterward and slept like the dead most of the next 2 days!

Next up: figuring out Halloween costumes for 4 kids......

Phone Nazi

We have always maintained the attitude that kids do not need cell phones, except maybe for when they start driving.  Recently, prompted by much whining that he is the only person on the earth without a cell phone (not true, I checked), we began to re-think our position on kids and cell phones.  We made a list of all the usual pros and cons, and then went a little deeper.

We started to look at how the world of communication has changed over the last 10 to 15 years.  15 Years ago we did not own nor think we needed cell phones ourselves, as we thought of them as more of a luxury than a necessity.  While we still consider them to be a luxury, we also recognize that a huge part of many people's social lives today revolve around having that instant access to talk to or text their friends from anywhere.  When I consult my crystal ball I see that the only thing that will stop this teenage cell phone obsession is the invention of newer, better technology.  In the not so distant future, I can picture kids walking around talking to holographic images of their friends being transmitted from who knows where, just as if they were really hanging out together.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that technology is only going to get more advanced as the years go by, and why not give our kids the opportunity to progress with it?

On the other hand, there are many good reasons we may not want to give our kids a phone of their own.  I have seen countless (really) kids who constantly lose their cell phones, or ruin them by dropping them in water, etc.  And how many times have you heard a parent complaining that their teen jacked up their cell phone bill by $200.00 worth of over-texting?  Then there's the question of cell phones in school.  I hate the idea of sending my kids to school only to have them spend their day texting instead of learning.

After much discussion with our 14 year old son, here is what we finally agreed to:

1.  D. may have a phone when he is able to pay for it.  We will add him to our plan, but he must pay $10.00 per month (what it will cost us), plus $5.00 per month to add on "parental controls".  If he does not pay his bill on time each month, his service will be suspended until he pays his bill.  The initial startup for the phone he chose was $95.00, which he also paid for.

2.  "Parental Controls".  Daniel's phone will be disabled (except for a select list of family members' numbers) during the following hours:  Seminary, school, church meetings, and after 9pm on school nights (11pm on weekends).  He is allowed unlimited texts and 200 anytime minutes per month before his phone blocks those phone calls.  He will not able to download any premium content to his phone.

3.  D. and his parents must all sign a detailed contract.  (I don't know how to post it here, so If you want a copy, please send me your email and I'll forward it to you.)  The contract lists what we expect from him, what he can expect from us, as well as all the reasons he can get his cell phone revoked while still having to pay for the contract.  It will be a challenge for him, but we hope it will also be a good learning experience. 

We see this agreement as a way to give our son something he wants, as well as to teach him a lesson about financial and contractual responsibility.  We hope that he will appreciate this opportunity and take it seriously, because if he doesn't, he will soon find that his parents were very serious when they signed that contract!

So, after all these years of begging, D. finally has a cell phone of his own.  Does he thank me for reconsidering his plight and finally siding with him?  No, he dubs me the "Phone Nazi".  I guess we know what we have to work on next...

The KitchenAid has landed!

I have wanted a KitchenAid mixer for as long as I can remember, yet it always seemed to be just out of my reach.  I have had many hand mixers over the years, none of which lasted very long in my mostly made-from-scratch kitchen.  It is so frustrating to spend good money on a mixer only to have it rise up in revolt and try to electrocute me after only about 2 years of abuse.

Over the last few months, Tom has been hinting at getting me a KitchenAid stand mixer, but I have resisted (who in their right mind would spend so much moolah on a small kitchen appliance??).  I almost got one for my 40th birthday in March, then I almost got one for Mother's Day in May, etc.  In the end, my resistance was futile.  Through a combination of Tom's superior reasoning skills (It would really make your life easier) and flattery (plus you really deserve it), he finally won me over, and boy am I glad he did!

I am in love with my new KitchenAid Professional 600 Series, 6 quart mixer!  I have used it every day since it was delivered and have had nothing but success so far.  The first thing I made was a double batch of Tom's favorite cookies (I suspect he had alterior motives here).  In the past, I have always used my "big silver bowl" for this purpose.  You know, the one that's bigger than the kitchen sink?  The one that your kids could swim in on a hot day?  Yes, that one.  Anyway, I put my new toy to the test and I'm happy to say that it passed!  So far (to name a few) I have made 48 dozen cookies, a double batch of lemon cheesecake bars, and 9 loaves of bread with total success.  Don't worry, I gave LOTS of the cookies away before Tom even knew I had baked them!

If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer, I'd love to hear what you think of yours.  Maybe you'll even share a favorite recipe for me to try?  (hint, hint)

Now that the object of my obsession occupies a coveted place on my countertop, I couldn't possibly ask for anything more, except maybe for that Vita Mix Deluxe 5200 Blender that's been taunting me lo these many years...

Slap on the Wrist!

It has been half a year since I've updated my blog.  I didn't think much of this until today, when a couple of good friends let me know that they are tired of checking my blog only to find it stagnant.  I apologize to them and anyone else who feels let down by my blogging neglect.  I promise to try to do better in the future.

Rather than try to include everything that's happened over the last 6 months, I will talk about a few of the highlights today, leaving some info. as subject matter for future blog posts, thereby encouraging me to update my little blog more often.  Enjoy!

First of all, 3 of my kids have had birthdays.  Most notably was Mikey's 1st birthday in March.  The poor kid had to eat his cake with no teeth because he didn't cut his very first tooth until the day after his birthday!  It didn't seem to bother him, although I couldn't be sure how much of it went inside him compared to how much of it ended up on the outside!

OK, so we took a trip to Long Beach for Spring Break this year and it was a lot of fun, but it was COLD!  We spent most of our time indoors, either shopping or watching the thousands of clamdiggers that converged on Long Beach for the opening weekend of razor clam season.

In June we took off again for a Johnson Family reunion in Lake Tahoe where we camped for a week and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the lake.  I especially enjoyed the 3-1/2 hour paddleboat cruise we took that was very fun and informative.  While we were there, Me and the kids also toured some old mansions on the lakeside and learned a lot more about the history of the area (I love that kind of thing, and afterward even the teenagers admitted that it was cool.)  We did some shopping, hung out with distant family members, and had an all around good time together.

Cruises aren't so exciting for Tom.  He takes a boat to work and back every day!

Too much for Hannah!

Emerald Bay - the 2nd most photographed place in the US.  If you look carefully, you'll see Allan, Leanne, and Kira in the foreground next to the waterfall.

After a week at Lake Tahoe, we headed to Utah for more adventures.  We did a lot there and I have lots of pictures to download before I can write about it properly.  Hopefully it won't be 6 more months before I get around to doing that!