There's No Place Like Home!

Last month, we were jubilant to have a visit from my parents! They have been living in Palmyra, New York, where they serve in the Palmyra temple presidency. Twice a year, the temple closes for two weeks for cleaning, so my parents always take those prime opportunities to come home to Utah to see their family and loved ones. Since Jerald and I have been house sitting for them, they got to stay with us! Or did we stay with them? Anyway, oodles of fun was had by all!

We had a Mexican fiesta for a family dinner (look at my brother, Aaron, in the yellow shirt! He makes me giggle because he always pulls faces in pictures)!

We ate like Italian folk on our double date to delicious Robintinos!
My mother and I deeply enjoyed our "Friday Lunch" at Applebees. Our tradition holds that we go out to lunch every Friday since I was in the fifth grade. Well, incidentally, living on opposite ends of the country for three years does affect that tradition somewhat, but we dine together in our hearts! And it was fun to go out for real this time. Excuse the blinding light from the window behind us - lets just decide it makes us look ethereal. No...supernatural!!

My dad was charmed by little Summer...

...and my mother had lots of sweet times with her :)

Notice Summer striking her beauteous pose...


...and then leaning in for a warm hug.

We love you Mom and Dad! We miss you and remember with happiness the merriment we had during your visit. The evening in Park City, all the hysterical laughing, the movies, the dinners out, the dinners in, your comfort and words of encouragement, and the late night talks the four of us shared while sitting on your bed. We can't wait for you to come home for good in November. Here's to then!

Tribute

My mother, Wendy, a lovely, sweet, sparkly, and loveable little girl, one day confidently stood before her elementary school class and proclaimed to her fellow classmates that she was no longer to be called Wendy, but that everyone should now call her "Wendy Wanda"! What a cutie :)

She had a gloriously happy childhood...

...and was loved and adored by her parents.

Gorgeous and talented, Wendy, as my Father affectionately says, "broke the hearts of half the men at BYU."

She met Brent Cederlof, who became the love of her life...

...and married him on August 22, 1966.


Was there ever a more lusciously beautiful bride?!

She raised five children, who love her every bit as much as she loves them.

My mother has always been my dearest friend...

...and we, in the course of a daily conversation, can giggle, cry, discuss our day, share recipes, remember happy memores, plan our bright futures, offer profound life observations, and giggle all over again.

She and my Father are currently serving the Lord in Palmyra, New York...

...and I miss her every day. But the bright future of which she and I speak, includes the happy times we'll share together. I love you, Mother. Happy Mother's Day!

Enchanted April

The month of April held two events of great importance - Easter and my parents' visit home. We documented both events with lots of photos. This post, however, will cover just our Easter celebrations because the total number of pictures would leave you "scrolling" for endless minutes, so I will save the rest of the pictures for the next post.

Jerald and I took Summer to the annual Easter cake decorating extravaganza at Bowmans, our local grocery store. Here is a photo of our masterpiece. Sadly, the cake tasted like a bath sponge with a loathesome vegetable shortening-infused frosting that HAD to have been non-biodegradable. But, hey, the fun we had decorating the cake was the most important part!

On Easter Sunday, Summer was a vision in silver-sparkled mint green. Her Grandma Wendy, as an Easter present, purchased this twinkly creation for her, and my sister, Stephanie, custom made her hair bows to match. Thanks, Mom and Steph!





The week after Easter, we celebrated with Jerald's family with a picnic in the park, followed by an Easter egg toss and an Easter egg hunt. We also played volley ball and blew bubbles!

Below is a shot of us getting ready to take turns throwing our Easter eggs. We had a contest to see who could throw their egg the farthest, without it breaking and exploding. It's childish behavior, but we embraced it.

All of the Easter festivities wore little Summer out! She transformed into Sleeping Beauty on the way home. And just like the princess herself, Summer couldn't look more kissable!

"Enriching" Recipes

Last night, for our ward's Relief Society Enrichment, we had our monthly recipe exchange. We had some great ladies over at our house and each brought copies of a recipe they loved and we all did a switch-er-oo. At each exchange night, we have a different theme, and last night's was "Italian fare". I'm posting the recipes I shared last night with YOU! The first is a truly torturingly tasty set of instructions for very fine alfredo. I learned it from my dear friend, Becky. Thanks Becky!

Better Than “The Olive Garden” Alfredo Sauce

8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ tsp garlic powder

*In a sauce pan, melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk. Add the parmesan cheese and garlic powder and stir until combined and smooth. Toss with pasta and serve with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a garnish of parsley. Serve, and weep with joy.

This next recipe is one my family and I grew up on. My mother was given the recipe thirty years ago and made some changes to improve on it. Eating it now, reminds me of my mother and how much I love her. Now, I must say, out of pride, that I added my own little addition to the stew. Corn! That vegetable/grain adds so much love to most recipes, and this one is no exception. This stew is delicious and easy to prepare! It will send you all into convulsions of happiness.

Hamburger Stew

Brown and drain:
½ lb. ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
Then add:
2 cans Campbell’s minestrone soup
2 – 16 oz. cans of pork & beans
1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce
2/3 cup corn
3 cups water
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 beef bouillon cube or 1 tsp beef bouillon granules
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

*Let this simmer for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving. I also like to add cheddar cheese cubes.

Well, I guess you all have your menus for the rest of the week now. Try these entrees if you want to, and let me know what you think!

Hey, It's OK!

In every issue of Glamour magazine, there is a page under the Life & Happiness section that is titled, "Hey, it's OK!" It's a list of things we as women do that could, perhaps, by snooty snoots, be considered a bit on the dorkier side of the quaint and quirky. For the rest of us - it's OK! So here is a list of my OWN perplexing peculiarities:

Hey, it's OK!

... that I can openly admit to subscribing to "Glamour" and "Allure" magazines. Seeing those shallow monthly beauty gazettes in my mailbox is like Christmas morning!

... that I feel a warming stir in my heart at the weather forecast of precipitation. Let it snow, let it rain, let it sleet!

... that I always keep my fingernails short, sweet, and to the point...or should we say rounded edge? Nail polish always. Daggers? No!

...that I have no qualms at all about throwing an apple away after the first bite if the texture is at all mealy, mushy, or mucky. It's an insult to the human palate! Give me crunchy, cold, and crispy ones with a rosy flush to its skin - along with a side of sharp cheddar cheese. That's just poetry!

...that I feel I must deep clean the kitchen before even attempting to cook, bake, blanch, boil, simmer, or sizzle any foodstuffs. If a mess at all exists, I may as well tear out my hair in frustration and cook that for dinner, because I simply cannot concentrate on my cooking if surrounded by clutter and chaos!

...that I have to turn out the light before leaving the room and have the closet and kitchen cupboard doors shut. Hey, the light thing saves energy, and the cupboard thing, well, that affects no one but me!

...that 99% of the shoes I own are high heeled backless sandals. I wear them with with pride year round!

...that I'm an unapologetic milk snob. I only drink the organic variety because it's healthier and it tastes sweet, clean, and fresh - minus that nasty, sour aftertaste that plagues the ordinary milk on the store shelves. Also, it must be served on ice because no one wants to be reminded through lukewarm, ripe, soiled, and beastly taste, that the beverage being consumed once resided in a cow!

...that I ended every list item with an exclamation point. It quite dramatically drives each element home. Don't you THINK?!

A Pocket Full of...POSES!

Here is some word alliteration usage for you - a post of pictures of poses! Each shot is of us hamming it up for some photographic fun.

Summer is the princess of posers. These two "denim" shots were taken at church during her nursery class.

Look - in the picture above, she even has the Christie Brinkley pout thing happening in abundance!

Summer and I were heading out for a run-of-the-mill errand to the grocery store, but she looked so vastly darling, that I HAD to have a mini photo shoot with her on the stairs. Oh, how I love her!

In March, our ward Relief Society had their birthday celebration for Enrichment. What an exciting night it was! We had a dinner and fashion show with the young women of our ward modeling dresses that belonged to their mothers or grandmothers. I had so much fun being the emcee for the show with Jerald there to provide hot eye candy and piano loveliness. I modeled a beautiful dress worn by my Grandma Bubbles in 1973! She passed away in 1998, but I felt very close to her that evening.

Jerald took the microphone and described the dress to the audience as I posed away.

Jerald's piano playing was, as always, melodious and harmonious!

Oh. My. Gosh. Jerald is SO hot and dapper in this picture! He mastered the whole "casual-with-hand-in-pocket" style of pose that is so arresting! I so loved having him there with me that night. xoxo

We had three display tables of the ladies' momentos from the past. We showcased more of my Grandma Bubbles' dresses on mannequins and in the above shot is a beautiful gold-framed picture of her in a fur coat.

We also displayed my mother's fox coat, which I couldn't resist trying on. Being in New York, she couldn't attend and everyone missed her, but she was definitely there in spirit! Hmm...behind me is Jan Pack from our ward looking FIERCELY disinterested :)

My sister, Stephanie, came that night and it was wonderful to have her support and someone to giggle with :) She and I are always poised for a pose!

TRUE Romance

There are many actions from a man that are considered romantic, such as bouquets of flowers and boxes of truffles. I've had many of those niceties from my Jerald, but yesterday, he showed his love for me in the tenderest way a man ever could.
Let me start by saying I was icky sicky in a strikingly violent way, due to side effects from some pain medication. I enjoyed dizziness and nausea, with severe stomach cramping. I vomitted into the bathroom sink because I always refuse to disgorge into a toilet. It's too dry heave-inducing with all of that dank and cold toilet water glaring at me. I threw up an apple I'd just consumed, and I must assert that we could speculate and theorize MANY metaphors of THAT rough and chunky mixture. Ugh! Anyway, a woman never feels her most desirable when she's gagging. There's just no graceful way to do it! Jerald, though, stood behind me as I "liberated" that apple laced with bile and held my hair back, rubbed my shoulders, and told me he loved me. He caught me as I collapsed. He held me as I cried. He looked at me as though I were beautiful. He carried me back to my recliner chair. He gave me a Priesthood blessing of healing and comfort. Yes, it was the truest love a guy could ever give a girl. Romance in its sincerest and most softhearted form. I was sure to kiss my thanks - after I'd brushed my teeth, of course. XOXO