More cooking with the kids

Christian has been very excited about cooking lately and planning our menus. This is great because it helps with his cub scouts!

Christian helped make "Freaky Hand Sandwiches" for lunch the other day. They were fun and yummy!

Christian also made these delicious jell-o desserts.

Sisters

I've had a lot of "sisters" in my life. Through most my teen years I had 3 best friends. The 4 of us were like sisters. We were inseparable. With time and marriages we've all gone our own ways. Cristie went to Iowa with her husband for chiropractor school, Missie lives in Ogden and started a business with her husband downtown, Amber's moved a few times and now lives in North Ogden. We send each other Christmas cards and that's about it.

As soon as I started college I joined a sorority. Those too were my "sisters." We were together a lot for just over 3 years. I really enjoyed their company. Many of them attended my wedding reception but like my high school friends we've all gone our own ways.

4 years ago I joined an online community. I have forged great friendships with many women all over the US. We all belong to the Sisterhood of the Fancy Britches. They too are a sort of "sister." We share a lot of details with each other about our lives. We've watched each other's children grow up. I've met a handful of them in real life. They are all wonderful and amazing women.



At church my name is Sister Parish. There too I am a kind of sister. I join with not only the other sisters in my ward But I join with 5 million other woman across the earth as a sister in Zion. Together we stand strong and immovable in our faith of Jesus Christ, strong and immovable in strengthening our families, and strong and immovable in the relief and lifting up of others.

Most important, I am a biological sister to a beautiful woman 5 years younger than me. Her name is Natalie. She is one of my best friends. Like all sisters we've had our fights. Like the Great Curling Iron war of '97 when I uninvited her to my wedding. I don't know what I'd do without her. My life is greater because she has been in it. I love her children like my own and she feels the same for mine. I am so grateful for my forever sister.

The other day we did what sisters do best. We did something together. We decided to can grapes. It was definitely eventful.

The grapes.

Mine are drought ridden.

Hers were picked at my moms where they get lots of water.

The jars ready to go.

The juice started flowing!

The jelly started cooking.

And we thought it all was going great when. . .

No, no one died there. See that measuring cup on the bar stool? I forgot it was there. It was FULL of juice. I tipped it over. Natalie (did you notice she is 7 months preggo?) instantly slipped in it and fell to the floor. Hard. I started screaming. I tried to catch her. I instinctively started screaming, "BRANDON!" I tried to pick her up. I kept asking over and over, "Are you okay?!!!" I just knew, A, she was burned by hot juice, B, she broke something, C, she was going into early labor because of the fall, or, D, all of the above. All the while she is laying on the floor, laughing so hard she cannot breath and is COVERED in grape juice. Several minutes later she stopped laughing enough she was able to stand up.

She assures me even now she is fine. Oxy took the stains out of her clothes. And no we didn't get a picture of her on the floor or her grapey self. It is definitely a moment we will both NEVER forget. :)

The canners sealing the lids.

The Juice.

The YUMMY jelly.

And that night as we were going to bed I told Brandon how sad I am that Ella does not have a sister.

I love you Natalie!

Pillow talk with the Parish's

While laying in bed:

Steph: Did you know we get a lot of byproducts from cows, pigs and horses?

Brandon: No. Like what?

Steph: Oh. . . .crayons, make-up, plastic, glue, Jell-O.

Brandon: No WAY! Jell-O does not come from animals.

Steph: Yes is does. They grind up their hoofs and stuff to make gelatin.

Brandon: Wouldn't something like that have to be on the box or something?

Steph: I don't know. Want me to go check?

Brandon: I don't care.

Steph gets up. It is now past midnight. Goes to the pantry. By the light over the stove reads all 6 sides of a box of Jell-O and a generic gelatin dessert. Goes back to bed.

Steph: Guess what? It's not on there.

Brandon is now laughing hysterically because Steph has gotten up in the middle of the night to read if horse hooves or some other animal is on the ingredient list of Jell-O.

And in case you are wondering:

Q.
Where does gelatin come from?

A.
The raw materials used in the production of gelatin are from healthy animals and include cattle bone, cattle hides and fresh, frozen pigskins. In the North American market, these raw materials are basically sourced from government-inspected meat processing facilities.

Taking care of Daddy

Ella is Daddy's little girl through and through! She spends every second she can with him when he's at home. Daddy decided to take a much deserved rest. Ella saw her handsome daddy lying there and decided he needed a, "Hair comb." A Hair Comb is when you get your hair combed and put in pigtails or ponytails and bows.

Daddy was very patient and really awake at this point but kept his eyes closed. Ella had a hard time getting the bows to stick to Daddy.

Daddy awoke when Ella decided she needed water to comb better. She filled Parker's tiny cup he uses after he brushes his teeth and POURED it on Daddy's head. he he he!

Back in Business!!!

Filling up my ebay store again. Please buy something so I can park in my garage for the winter.

http://stores.ebay.com/Hugs-n-Kisses

AG day with the 3rd grade!

I had the fun experience of attending AG day with Christian. What a fun field trip. For those of you city folk that don't know what AG day might be. AG stand for agriculture. We attended demonstrations and lots of stations about livestock and producing things on farms. We finished the day at the American West Heritage Center's corn maze.

Christian and his friend Ryan

Lots of listening

Learning about bee keeping. That's Mrs. Cook Christian's teacher with the blue words you can't read above her head. *oops*

Spinning wool.

At the dairy cow station.

Getting lost in the corn!

The Hay Jump Notice the sign? "One at a time on the Hay Jump." Ummm ya. He He

The end!

Let it snow!

That's right we had our first snow here yesterday!

The kids couldn't wait to play in it.







Meet Vampire built with Christian's friend Benjamin.