Missionaries & Funnel Cakes

The "trio" Sister Missionaries

Elder "T"- He's from New Zealand and played professional rugby before his mission.

Yum, Yum,...deep-fried Oreos!!!! We need to fatten these sisters up!!!!

We cooked out in the garage!!

Greg is 6 feet tall so you can tell how tall the Elders are!

We finally had a chance to have the sister missionaries and the Elders over for dinner and funnel cakes. Only one of them had ever had funnel cakes; she's from Iowa. They loved them and we had a great evening.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This recipe is similar to the pumpkin cookies I make. It made 5 really nice small loaves and was really moist and yummy. The whole wheat flour made them really hardy. Here's the recipe:
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 oil
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
(I used 2 c. whole wheat and 1/2 c. white)
1 c. chocolate chips
Mix eggs, sugar, pumpkin & oil. Add dry ingredients. 350 degrees - 2 large loaves 1 hour or 5 small loaves 45 minutes.
Great for gifts!

Merry Christmas, Mom

This is for my mom who didn't get to see the house with Christmas Decorations when she was here for Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas, Mom! We love you!

"Our Early Christmas Present"

"The Best Thing About Christmas"

Our "cozy" living room setting.

We had over 33 sisters in attendance!

"Mary & Joseph and baby Jesus" came out at the end of the song.

Tonight I know what it feels like to be a producer of a great movie. I had an idea which came from the most beautiful Christmas song that my son, Derek wrote. Then I picked great actresses and put the idea into action, and tonight I think I won an academy award for best producer/director for an Enrichment Night. Of course, without all of the players I would be nothing!!!!

All dramatics aside, our Christmas Enrichment night was so magical. Five different sisters, (all very talented) discussed different aspects of the Christmas season; when it comes to decorating the best thing about Christmas is......when it comes to homemade gifts the best thing about Christmas is.......etc. We also had talks about food, music, & traditions. It all goes along with the song. The song is about a little girl who is enjoying all of the excitement of the holiday season with her Mother and isn't sure which part she likes the best. At the end of the song the little girl comes to the conclusion that although she loves the cookies, the decorations, the music and the gifts, the best thing about Christmas is "the manger in the hay", "that He came to earth for me, He came to save my family."

This was truly a magical night and I will be forever grateful to everyone who made the song come to life. An extra special thanks to Derek, who not only wrote the beautiful song, but traveled from Nashville to spend the day with us and sing the song tonight for the Relief Society sisters.

To hear the amazing song "The Best Thing About Christmas" go to my sons website: http://www.thehinckleysmusic.com/live/

What about Thanksgiving???

OK, I do have my tree up, but it's my Thanksgiving tree- it's decorated with fall leaves!

On Thanksgiving day we will add additonal leaves to the tree
with our blessings written on each leaf!

Sometimes it seems it goes from Halloween to Christmas- I feel sorry for Thanksgiving and wanted to give it the respect it deserves. Thanksgiving comes at a perfect time; near the end of the year when we can sit back and contemplate on the events of the year and all we've been blessed with; and right before Christmas when we celebrate the birth of the One we are most thankful for.
I am most thankful for The Savior, The Plan of Salvation, and The Family.
Isn't it interesting that in a world full of millions of people, we can all still feel special and loved because of our families. How wise our Heavenly Father is for creating the family unit. Families are central to the Plan of Salvation, and The Savior did what he did so that we could be with our families forever and ultimately live with our Heavenly Family forever. So as most of you will agree- it all comes down to family. Our Heavenly Father, His Son, our spouses, our children, our grandchildren, our fathers, our mothers, our brothers & sisters.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

"I've been wanting to go camping....

"I've been wanting to go camping......and have a big bonfire......and roast some hot dogs!!!

So we traveled many steps to our back yard....

chopped up the wood........

stoked up a fire.......

and roasted those hot dogs......

Just the two of us!!!

New Pictures from Elder Hinckley - October 2009

A recent baptism!

The 1 year mark!

The traditional "burning of the white shirts to mark 1 year!"

Is this allowed in the mission rule book?

Spencer with Mosiah doing a service project. Isn't he adorable!!!!

He stepped on a nail during the service project! Yes, he had a tetanus shot before he left!

"Christmas for Missionaries"

Here's an idea I found on line to spice up Christmas a little for our missionaries. It's called a Scripture Sock and it's filled with gifts, anything from new clothes to a tube of toothpaste. Attached to each gift is a scripture. The missionary has to read the scripture first and then guess what's inside according to what the scriptures says. Hopefully it will be fun for him and make the morning without family last a little longer. Our missionaries are still our "kids" after all.
I'm also sending a stocking full of gifts for Spencer to give out to the children he meets. Along with the little balls, bracelets, frisbees, etc. I'm including "I Am A Child of God" pencils and stickers written in Spanish. It's strange to be wrapping Christmas presents before Halloween!!!

HUMP DAY is TODAY!!!

Spencer entered the MTC 1 year ago today. Absolutely unbelievable. Spencer is such a blessing to our family. He is a great missionary and blesses our lives through his mission everyday. We love you Elder Hinckley!!!