Trip to New Mexico via Colorado

A week ago I flew from Salt Lake to Colorado. Chris, I and the kidlets then headed down to New Mexico and the Brewer Family Reunion. Kara, soon to add child #4 to the family was unable to go so I went with Chris to help wrangle his kids. They actually took little or no wrangling. We had a lovely time in New Mexico and then returned to Colorado. All of my kids (except my missionary) were there as were all of my siblings. Fun!!!!!!!

Jacob

Jacob's mission president and his wife have a blog in which the share some of the activities of the Elders and Sisters and some of their own thoughts and activities. In a recent blog they published this photo from a zone conference. Red must have been the color of the day. The comment in the Oregon Eugene Mission Blog"
"Elder Hereth did a 'rap' about missionaries in the OEM. It was pretty good. We were all amazed at how well he did because he is so soft spoken. Those quiet elders are always full of surprises."

Summer vacation - a time to catch up.

I have been in my little home for over a year now and am finally getting around to doing my bedroom. I am almost there...

Jenny made the curtains.

A fun day with Grant and Hunter

Jennifer and Tyler went to the theater today so Em and I took the boys on an outing to Jungle Jim's. We had fun and they had fun. To top it off, the kid's meal toys at Burger King were Ironman figures. What could be better?

Honey Wheat Bread

I don't know who originally shared this recipe with Veronica but I thank you and her for sharing it with me. It is the best wheat bread recipe that I have ever come across.
Honey Wheat Bread

3 cups warm water (110 F)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T active dry yeast
Combine honey, brown sugar, and warm water in a large glass or plastic bowl. Add yeast and let sit for 10 minutes or until frothy
Add
4 cups whole wheat flour
Stir until no dry clumps remain. Cover and let rest for at least 10 minutes (20-30 is best) or until bubbly.
Add
2 tsp salt
2 T vital wheat gluten
2 T dough enhancer
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 cups flour (use either whole wheat flour, white flour, or any mixture of both).
Use Auto Knead function on mixer and knead until smooth (about 8 min). Cover and let rise until double in size. Punch down and form into 3-4 loaves. Let rise again until doubled.
Bake at 350 F about 30 minutes.

Cousins

This afternoon we celebrated Joshua's birthday - 4 - can you believe it? After the celebration we looked out the window and saw Hunter (Jenn and Tyler's son) go over and sit right next to Lyla (Walter and Vero's daughter). Sweet photo.

Science Fair.

Belen and I worked together on Monday to do a science fair project for her school. She did a simple project on Magnets. 1. She made a list of object to test with a magnet. 2. She made a guess as to which ones would be attracted to the magnet. 3. She tested each item with a magnet. Her conclusion was that magnets are attracted to metal but not all metal - not pennies and dimes. She won first place for Kindergarten. That isn't too hard when you are the only Kindergarten to enter a project but the judges were impressed with how well she was able to explain her project to them.

Thanks Jenn and Tyler

Elder Hereth with President and Sister MacDonald

The newest group in the Oregon Eugene Mission

I have been waiting more than three weeks for this picture to post. President McDonald had surgery in early Dec and has had to take some time to recovery. The result was a lag in the Blog posts. Jacob is on the far left hand side of the picture. It must have been a particularly short group of elders, he almost looks tall next to some of them. To see more - see the link to the Oregon Eugene Mission.

Activities of the past week

This past week has been a flurry of activities from Maggie's wedding to making cookies, sipping cocoa through a straw, and visiting Santa.

Winter has arrived!

This is what we awoke to this morning. Not a lot of snow but a very pretty winter scene. Happy surprise to learn that Walter had stopped by on his way to work to remove the ice and snow from my windows. I'm very grateful for that kind act and for the suggestion from his wife that motivated it. That only goes to prove that the right woman makes a good man better.

Elder Hereth

Today was the big day. Jacob came bouncing into my room at 6:30 a.m. (sharp), reminded me that I was his companion, and brought me to the living room for companionship prayer and scripture study. Wally, Josh, and Lyla joined us for breakfast. Walter then helped him pack those last items. We drove to Provo (Jenny's family and Em went with us) where we had a quick lunch at MacDonalds and and even quicker good-bye at the MTC curb. We left him very excited and happy to be there.

Deception Pass

Would you believe that I only took one photo on my trip? It is true and this is the photo and it was taken with my phone because I never remember to take my camera anywhere.

I Love Fall!

I was so disappointed to come home the other day and find that the leaves had all been cleaned up in our complex. I had so enjoyed walking through them. Fall is my favorite time of year! With the leaves gone and the trees bare it feels like we are moving into winter.
What a great Oct we have had. I had a couple of weeks off track. For the first week Kara and the kids were here. (Chris was only able to stay a couple of days.) The cousins had so much fun playing together and all of my children were able to be in the temple with Jacob. It was super special. The next week Jake and I spent in the Pacific Northwest. Had a great time with Louie and Darci and with the family just north of Seattle.

Vacation

Jake and I are having a lovely time in the Pacific Northwest. We are being tourists and visiting family. Pictures when we return.

Old slides

Lyle's mother took a lot of photographs. The only problem is that most of them are on slides. Jenn found for me a "Slide Digital Converter". This gives me the chance to put a few of my favorite slides into digital format. Here are three that I have been playing with. The top picture is of Emilie in preschool, we then have the temple on my wedding day, and last of all a photo of Lyle and I shortly after our engagement.

Called to Serve

Jacob has been called to serve in the Eugene, Oregon mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will enter the Missionary Training Center on November 18 where he will be for approximately three weeks. He is very excited about his call. He has been busy with shopping for all that is required to enter the MTC. He has found that a two years supply of suits, shirts, ties, etc. is a fairly big investment.
I am also very pleased for his call. Oregon is a lovely place even if they do believe that their speed limit should stay 10 mph lower than anyone else. (I only noticed this because of how it bogs down a trip from here to Washington).
I suppose it is a mom's job to be just a little sentimental as her last fledgling leaves the nest. Even I, who have found it useful to keep sentiment to a minimum, have indulged in a few moments of "but this is my baby!".