11/7: Freedom

For the last few weeks I've been reading "1776" for our ward book club. Now I'm not much of a war strategist, but it seems to me like at least in the summer of 1776 the colonial army was a long shot to win the Revolutionary War. I'm not sure I can even fathom how many things in my life would be different or even not exist at all if the colonists had not won the war...

Memorable Movies: The Dish

When Russ asked me if I wanted to watch this movie I was very confused by his description and not really enthusiastic. But a movie is a chance to snuggle up beside him for several hours, and it had been a long week, so I said go for it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie.

When I was a small child my parents watched on their small black and white tv as Neil Armstrong descended from the lunar landing module and stepped onto the surface of the moon. My dad loves to tell the story that after we had watched it on the tv, he took 2 1/2 year old me outside and pointed to the moon, telling me that that man was up there on the moon.

I confidently pointed back into the apartment towards the tv and said "oh no, daddy, he's in there!"

Because of this family legend I've always known that the moon landing was televised. What I didn't know before watching this movie was how difficult of an accomplishment that was. "The Dish" tells the story of the satellite station in Australia that was chosen by NASA to broadcast the moon landing, and of the difficulties that they ended up having. It was definitely a feel-good movie with nothing to object to, and it was also really interesting to see some of the science involved with such an undertaking.

Definitely worth watching if you're looking for an excuse to snuggle with your significant other some night!

11/6: Vision

I'm grateful to be able to see. I'm grateful to have glasses to enable me to see more clearly .

I'd be even more grateful if I could find said glasses.

11/5: Tricking or Treating

Tonight I am grateful for two things. For the abundance of chocolate treats my kids scored at the ward "Trunk or Treat" and later at the neighborhood "Greet and Treat." And for the fact that said chocolate is almost gone!

Here are some pictures of our Halloween festivities this year.

I started things out by making some cupcakes. Cupcakes are all the rage now, you know, and no longer bear any resemblance to the cupcakes we made with our kids in times gone by. Now they are very fancy and often have ornate decorations on them. I didn't go to those lengths, but I did pull out the cake decorating equipment and put on the frosting that way. I learned several valuable lessons which I pass on for your benefit:

• Fancy cupcakes take much more frosting than doing it the regular way with a knife. I used two whole containers and didn't even finish frosting 1 batch!
• If you make your own frosting and your frosting isn't stiff enough the little lines from the frosting tip will disappear.
• If you make your own frosting for your fancy cupcakes and it's too stiff, you can give yourself carpel tunnel syndrome trying to squeeze that frosting out of the bag!

Rachel decided several months ago that she was going to be a black cat. She was adamant that Jenna could not also be a black cat, and Jenna was crushed. For a while she considered being a brown cat, but at the last minute Rachel relented. They were adorable. I thought the pink boots were an excellent touch.

Jared decided last year that he was going to be Wall-E, and he figured out his costume on his own. At the trunk or treat at church he also wore his roller blades and he looked pretty cool. (We put the name on his box with duct tape at the last minute at church. That's why it looks like we made the name with duct tape at the last minute.)

Jason & some of his friends decided to be characters from a video game—he got to be Yoshi. Jason was very persistent in his efforts to find parts for his costume. I still can't believe he really found a pair of green pants at goodwill, but he did!

Josh took a package of tp to the trunk or treat planning to be a mummy, but he found out what we already knew; the tp came apart too easily. Maybe he should have gotten some cheap tp and not used our good stuff.

As you can see, various costume pieces provided a lot of entertainment even when it wasn't trick or treating time.

Our neighborhood tried something different this year instead of regular trick or treating. The houses are spaced so far apart that the homeowners board decided to have everyone come set up a station in the area by the pool & clubhouse.

Some people went all out with their stations. Not us.

Some people dressed up. Not us.

(and really, as I watched the sweat drip off this guy's face onto his shirt I was pretty happy not to be wearing a mask!)

Some people spent the day dolling up their horses for the horse parade. Not us.

We did, however, carve our 5 pumpkins and take them as decorations. I was so sad because I couldn't find our pumpkin carving stuff anywhere, so we had to use paring knives, which really limited our design options. But we still had fun. Oh, the pumpkins have glow sticks in them because we weren't supposed to have flames. But the guy next to us (with the mask) had candles, and I was wishing we had ignored that rule too. Of course I might have felt differently if we had caught the borrowed hay bales on fire...

So there you have it. We survived another year of figuring out costumes, I managed to leave the candy alone before the big day but haven't been able to stay away from it since, and our floors are covered with stacks of candy. At least the kids are old enough and smart enough now to stay nice even when they eat a lot of candy. If only I were so smart...

11/4: Safety

Today there was an explosion at an oil refinery just north of Salt Lake City, about a mile from my sister's home. As soon as we heard about it I called her to see if she & her family were ok. She said that the explosion was strong enough that she thought that something in her house had exploded. Thankfully neither they nor their house were damaged.

I had a scary moment in the car with Jason recently. It made me remember why having teenage drivers makes me nervous. Since then I've been wondering how often we receive heavenly protection without ever being aware.

So today I'm thankful for that protection. For all of the times when something bad could have happened, but didn't. And that my sister's house is still sitting firmly on it's foundation.

Cheesy Potato Soup

This is a recipe that Russ's wonderful sister Marilyn gave to us years ago and I recently rediscovered. It is a hit with every member of our family, which is saying a lot! I like that the ingredients are pretty flexible — we didn't have any celery and it was just fine. I added some broccoli and it was delicious. I made a double batch the other night and we had a nice amount left. Yum!

Cheesy Potato Soup
(makes 8 cups)
2 c. cubed potatoes
1/2 c. celery chopped
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
4 c. boiling water

Put in large pot and simmer for about 10 min. or until carrots and potatoes are soft.

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. flour
2 c. milk
10 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Make white sauce. I always make mine in the microwave because I don't have to worry about anything scorching. Melt the butter, then add the flour and cook again until bubbly. Add half of the milk, wisk until smooth. Add the rest of the milk. Cook until it bubbles and thickens. (I know--I'm such a precise cook!) Stir in cheddar cheese, and add to veggie mix in pot.

2 cans corn

Add to everything else, heat through.

If you want a stronger corn flavor, like a corn chowder, add cream style corn. If you use regular corn it's more of a potato soup with veggies.

11/3: Rose Colored Glasses

I know you're wondering what on earth my "rose colored glasses" are, and why I'm thankful for them today.

Shortly before our big trip this summer my old sunglasses lost a lens somewhere and I had to get a new pair so that my eyes would survive the drive across the country.

I don't love my new sunglasses. While they don't pull my hair out anymore (a definite benefit), they also don't stay on the top of my head well at all. And you know how important that is in a pair of sunglasses!

But there is one area where my sunglasses shine. They make the world around me truly beautiful. I have noticed that even more in the last couple of weeks; my sunglasses take what is already beautiful and kick it up a notch.

The tree that is lovely yellow appears to be almost on fire once I don my glasses. Earlier today I passed a large tree with orange leaves; my glasses turned the leaves to neon. Even the marginal leaves are lovely when seen through my new eyes.

At first I felt a bit guilty about this — like I was somehow cheating by augmenting the natural colors of fall.

But I finally decided that I'm just going to go with it, and enjoy it. I'm just sorry the rest of you can't see the world through my rose colored glasses...