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...

In Search of the Provident Pantry

I'm not sure where I was when the church announced the shift from accumulating a year's food storage to "a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet...gradually increasing your supply until it is sufficient for three months." Somehow I missed it, though, and this fall one of my goals is to make a 2 week (and eventually a 4 week) menu that can be used to figure out what exactly I would need to buy to achieve this.

One of the first things I realized as I started thinking about this last spring is that most of the food we eat is fresh or frozen--and storing three months of that is impossible. So I started looking for recipes that we already like that could be adapted by using canned or freeze-dried foods instead of fresh or frozen.

I'm going to keep track of my recipes here on my blog, where the rest of my brain already resides. At some point I'll also embed a spreadsheet to tell me what I will need to buy to have this 3 month's supply. All of this is of course for my benefit. But maybe you'll see some good, storage-able recipes that your family would like too!

11/2: Answered Prayers

Anyone who's been around me recently has probably been able to tell that I have been almost frantically worried about Cindy Lynn. Her lung problems have been increasing for the last two months, culminating in days of terrible pain last week.

Even while she made plans to travel down to Salt Lake to try to get admitted to the hospital through the ER so that she could get the IV antibiotics that she must have to get rid of the lung infection, I still didn't have a lot of hope.

Cindy Lynn was in the hospital last Christmas, last Easter, and again in July. Each time for exactly 14 days. Never before has she been treated with IV antibiotics for only 2 weeks; at UNC or Duke it was always at least 3 weeks and sometimes closer to 4. But the Cystic Fibrosis center in Salt Lake (the only one in the Utah/Idaho/Montana/Wyoming area) does IV antibiotics for only two weeks. It is their firm policy.

And, as evidenced by the frequency of her visits, it is not working for her.

Last week I felt an almost desperate fear that she would never be able to get the medical care that she needed until her husband graduates and they are able to move away from the area. I worried about how much lung function she would lose before then.

I prayed and prayed all week and then fasted this weekend, praying that Cindy Lynn would be able to get the care that she needs. That her body needs.

And then this morning a miracle happened. The doctor came into her room and really listened to her; listened to Cindy Lynn explain that she had always needed a longer course of antibiotics, and that she felt like the recent hospitalizations hadn't been long enough to clear up the infection in her lungs. Much to her surprise the doctor agreed that she might need three weeks instead of two, and even suggested that the third week could be done at home in Rexburg. (Home IVs are also not a part of the Salt Lake CF center protocol, so this was an astonishing and very happy development.)

I am astonished, and grateful beyond words.

11/1: November's Plan

Last year I blogged for a week before Thanksgiving about things that I am thankful. I blogged about our ward's wonderful book group (still wonderful), my house, my tub, and my husband, (the house is a mess but the tub and the husband are still great), for my calling (I miss that calling!), the beach, my kids, and friends. (All still amazing.)

This year I'm taking a slightly different angle. Reading "Home to Holly Springs" recently reminded me of a quote from one of the earlier Mitford books that was very meaningful to me. Thanks to the wonder that is Google I was able to find it the other day.

"Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?"

Patrick Henry Reardon

So this November I'm going to be looking for the things that I often forget to be grateful for, but would be unhappy or even unable to live without. I think it's good timing for me to spend a month living in thanksgiving...