Foodie Friday - Transfer Dinner

Here is the spread that awaits our hungry Missionaries. They have usually been up since 4am, flown for 3 and a half hours, had their orientation and an interview with the President, then they come over to the Mission Home for dinner, a testimony meeting and then they are off to bed early for the last time for 2 years.

We have taco salad because I can have that ready at what ever time they arrive. They start in the back with the chips and move around across the front. Here we have tostitos chips, taco meat (in the crock pot), shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, fresh salsa, guacamole, sour cream and hot sauce. We've used this to feed as many as 26. It helps that I have a 7 quart crock pot for those really large dinners.

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia

Easter Books I Made for our Granddaughters

Here are the easter books I made for our sweet babies to look at in Sacrament Meetings. I personalized each one and this is what I did:

I purchased a $1.99 photo album from Target, be sure to get the kind that you can take the cover papers out of (not all have that).

I used digital scrapbooking items with microsoft 'publisher' to create a personalized front and back cover for each book.

I bought the "I am a Child of God" card set of Greg Olson prints from Deseret Book.

I backed each card and quote with marblized scrap paper (card stock makes it too thick).

Then I printed the quote for each picture in a cute font (quotes are on the back of the pictures).

I included some pictures of them, their family, a story about them and Heavenly Father's plan of happiness, and of course a picture of Grammy and Papa so they won't forget us.

This post continues for the next 3 posts so I could put all the pictures in.

And This...

And More...

And Lastly...

Each of their books are personalized for them and contain a story. Here is that story:

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Hazel. She lived in a beautiful heavenly home with her heavenly parents. She thought they were so wonderful that she wished she could be just like them. Heavenly Father had a plan that would make her wish come true. He made a place that all of His children could go to live. They would be able to have a body and they would be tested, to see if they would do what Heavenly Father asked of them. It would be a true test of their hearts, because no one could remember their life in Heaven.

Heavenly Father knew that they would make some mistakes along the way, so He sent His Son, Jesus to show them how to live. Jesus would also make it possible to repent and fix her mistakes. Jesus also made it possible for her to have a perfect body one day, and then she could be like Heavenly Father.

Hazel was so excited; she could hardly wait for her turn. One day an angel came to tell her that it was her turn to go to earth. Her earthly parents were anxiously waiting for her arrival. They had been preparing for many years. They had been sealed in the Temple so they could be a Forever Family.

When Hazel went to earth she was so happy, she loved her Mommy and Daddy and her new home. All of Hazel’s family was so glad she had finally come to be with them. They wanted to follow God’s plan for them, and help all of their heavenly friends to go back to live with their Heavenly Parents, and they DID live happily forever and ever after...

Feel free to use any of this if you would like.

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia

Spode, Johnson Bros. & Other Things Pink

Thank you Beverly for hosting Pink Saturday.
Here are the Johnson Bros. "Castles" salt & pepper shakers I found at Home Goods this week.

Here they are with my "Churchill" transferware from Old Time Pottery, a Pitcher I found at Home Goods that is a no name brand but I love it anyway. And the flatware was $1.00 each at Target.

A closeup

A Spode platter that I found at TJMax several years ago. I bought a few pieces of red and a few blue ones as well. I only brought the red ones to Ohio because the blue didn't go with the decor at the Mission Home.

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia

Clean Your Screen

Have you ever been cleaning windows only to discover that there is still a smudge or some dirt on the other side of the glass? Somtimes I have that problem with my computer too! Here is the newest technology to take care of those pesky smudges. http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf

2nd Time Around Tuesday-Sweet Little Dress

Thank you Diane for hosting this. How fun to see the Treasures!
I picked up these two little treasures in Fairfield, Ohio one day. This front one is my favorite because of the precious details.

The embroidery is so sweet on this one and I love the scalloped hem.

And the same scallops and embroidery with the tiniest of release pintucks on the top.

Hope you enjoyed this little dress.

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia

p.s. if you need a laugh,see the post below this one.

"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!!!"

For the past several years my daughters and I have had a "Girls Day". It started out with scrapbooking and other crafts the 5 of us liked. With the current state of society we decided that something more meaningful was needed and we wanted it in place as their daughters grew up, so it was modeled after missionary "sisters conference". With each person presenting some spiritual or practical message along with the fun. Topics are pre-assigned for the sake of balance, and may be a doctrinal topic, a preparedness topic or some other topic that they felt they especially needed. Girls day always includes food and some chic flick (usually Jane Austin). We greatly appreciate the differing gifts each of us are given and willing to share with the others.

Well, the husbands usually go do something together as well. This time they declared it "guys day" and planned their own activity. Brandon headed it because of his expertise as a mechanical engineer student. We question whether this could be a "meaningful" activity, and think they could use some work in this area still. So if you go to this link:
http://littleaudreyrobbins.blogspot.com/2009/03/guys-day.html
you'll be able to judge for yourself. Let me know what you think!?!LOL.
Have a Lovely (and safe) Day~
Alicia
P.S. It is hard to believe that their ages are 28, 28, 27, 24!

Chrissy's Wedding

This is my favorite picture of her. We had this bridal blown up and displayed it on a beautiful easel that DH and I found at Tai Pan. She designed her dress and our DIL, Tricia's mom made it. Can I just tell you all how grateful I am for all those who helped us do this wedding. We usually like to do everything, but it just wasn't possible this time and there were so many who volunteered to help out.
Here is our cute couple. They are both energetic and passionate about the Gospel. Glenn is attending BUY and anticipate going into law.

Foodie Friday-Lori's Barbeque Beef

Lori's Barbeque Beef

1 large Chuck Roast

1 envelope Onion Soup Mix

14 oz. can Beef Broth

Put all 3 ingredients into a slow cooker. Cook on low setting for 24 hours. Remove meat to a platter and shred with forks.

Add "Montgomery Inn" Barbeque sauce as desired.

Serve on buns or a slice of french bread.

This may not be fancy, but they always come back for more.

Changing Matter

Evidently Matter has changed (see:If You Could Hie To Kolob) and my brain has turned into a colander! Stuff goes in, and leaks right out the holes in the bottom.

I was visiting some blogs a while back and there was one with a piece of lace draped beautifully over a picture in a stairwell. Now it took so long for me to finally get the stuff together and take a picture and post it, that I can't remember how to get back to her again and leave a follow up comment. ahhhhh!

But here is my picture below from 'The Inn At Temple Square'. I bought this picture when they sold all of the furnishings from the inn before they tore it down. We had stayed there several times when Chrissy worked there and I loved this piece, what I love about it is that the children are all cheerfully sharing, and EVERYONE is happy. Hope you enjoy it.
Have a Lovely Day~
Alicia

Why Old Ladies Shouldn't Wear Stiletto Shoes

Last February our Chrissy returned from her mission in Ft. Lauderdale. She came "home" to the Ohio to be with us for a couple of weeks.
One day she left her 'very cute' & 'very high stiletto' shoes in the kitchen. Since we wear the same size shoe (which was bad when she was young, but I thought that it could be good now that SHE has all the cute shoes;-). Well, there we were all alone, just the shoes and I. So I decided to try them on. No sooner had I slipped my feet inside and both calves had terrible charlie horses. So I'm hopping around trying to get my feet out of the shoes, which is harder than it sounds when your calf muscle won't relax. Boy was I ever glad no one was around to see that sorry and undignified display!!!LOL.
Have a Lovely Saturday~
Alicia

FIRE IN THE (W)HOLE darn oven!!!

My foodie Friday is sadly lacking in a picture, but I haven't figured out time travel back to when I was a new wife, 30+ years ago.
Being a brand new wife at the time and wanting to impress my husband I decided to make his favorite cake, pineapple upside down cake. It all went wrong when I got distracted and the cake caught fire in the oven. I promptly went and got the fire extinguisher and sprayed it until it was no longer flaming. I managed to get the "torch in a pan" outside and opened all the windows to air it out.
Here is where the warning comes: DO NOT discharge a fire extinguisher in the house unless you are sure the entire building is going to burn to the ground! It snowed F.E. chemicals for days!!! Everything was coated and had to be cleaned, and I mean every single thing in the apartment.
I have since been more diligent in keeping an eye on what I'm making.

I had an experience to share about cleaning up those "Train Wrecks":

Several months ago I was invited by Elder A. to join them for their district meeting. Before the meeting began, Elder A. was asking me a question. He wanted to know how many times he should run the self cleaning oven, to get the soot at the bottom to leave. (I had done an apartment cleaning training the month before, but forgot to go into detail on that). I explained that it doesn't just go away but you just take a paper towel and wipe up the soot at the end of each cleaning
Then he started the meeting and the opening song he had chosen was "If You Could Hie to Kolob". We got to the verse about "there is no end to matter..." and I just cracked up. I explained that by cleaning the oven he was a witness to a "correct doctrine", there is no end to matter, you can change it but you can't create it or make it cease to exist.

Have a Lovely Day~
Alicia

Jill and Her One Eye

Do you have GPS unit? We do. Her name is Jill and she is a one eyed wonder. And what I wonder is why I ever listen to her. There have been more times that she has gotten us where we needed to go than not. However, she has also tried to KILL US!
Once while driving over a trestle bridge in West Virginia, she told us to turn right... in the middle of the bridge... which would have resulted in being plunged to our deaths hundreds of feet below.
Another time we were on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river and she told us to turn left onto the pier and take the ferry across the river. There was no pier in sight and certainly no ferry. There was however, a 10 foot drop off into some dirt and weeds below. Fortunately we didn't listen to her that time either. It does keep you on your toes. No mindlessly following the instructions here.
She also has an attitude! There is just a certain tone in her voice when she says, "recalculating", when ever you don't make the turn she instructs you to take. Sometimes I like to act like I'm jealous and ask DH if "we HAVE to let Jill go along"? Once I did that in front of the assistants, Elder C. said, "Sister Robbins I think you should get a GPS unit, and you can name him Frank". I just had to laugh!
Have a Lovely Day~
Alicia

See The Beautiful Temple in Curitiba, Brasil

If you would like to see what the inside of a Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints looks like, you can view the Brasil, Curitiba Temple open house video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-WFX6ZXMLg

To see a film explaining why the LDS Church builds temples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8

I am thankful for the Temples that dot the entire face of the earth, because in them we can become eternal families. I'm thankful that in a time when things are uncertain here on the earth, I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him. Because He loves us the same way we love our earthly children, He has given us commandments to help us be happy and keep us safe from harm. He provided this earth for us through His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer. Because of Jesus' perfect example and His atonement, we can all return to our Heavenly Father. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration, that all the ancient priesthood keys were restored through him. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testiment of Jesus, His life and His atonement. I am grateful for living Prophets to guide us in latter days just as those ancient prophets did. This is my testimony in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a Lovely Day~
Alicia

Audrey's Blessing Ensemble

Here's our Little Audrey on her big day. She is also the baby on the left in the picture at he top of the side bar. Our Audrey was only 4 lbs. 14 oz. when she was born. She is 7 weeks younger than her cousin Hazel.
Her full dress. Mommy picked out the design of the dress, bodice with lavender embroidery, sleeves with smocked gathers, and the fancy band with lavender ribbon.
The fancy band with 5 pintucks, entredeux, lace insertion w/ ribbon, swiss insertion, lace insertion w/ ribbon, entredeux, and swiss edging.
Close-up of embroidery & pintucks

Her smocked bottom with lavender ribbon Bloomers and her booties to match that I made for her.

Hope you enjoyed these.

Have a lovely day~

Alicia

A Tisket a Tasket, a Bootie Filled Basket

Well I finished 3 pairs of girls and 3 pairs of boys booties and they are ready to go! Just in time too, because our office couple just became the grandparents of another sweet baby boy. They can hardly wait to see him. Alas, they will do that soon because they will be finished here at the end of the month. (I wonder if they'll stay if I throw myself at their feet and beg!?! No? Ok, it wouldn't be enough to keep me from my grandbabies either ;-)

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia

Sooooo tired of winter!!!

OK, so I think we've all had about enough winter. I tried dressing for spring, it doesn't work! So I started looking at my yard pictures. AHHH Green! I started this yard renovation in 04 and worked on it until 07, when I turned it over to our son and his wife and we left Utah and came on our adventure to Ohio. So here is the front yard with the new plantings, a cedar, red osier dogwood and bridal veil are in the kidney shaped planter close to the sidewalk. The tree by the front door is actually a sand cherry bush that I trimmed into a tree, because I wanted something there that would only get that big and had some color.
Here is the close-up as it all started to bloom. The bleeding hearts are a mothers day gift from the kids.
Here is my refuge where I go for some "swing therapy". You know I can never hear the phone ring when I am sitting there ;-) Love Love Love the smell of the Lilacs!!!
Here is my herb garden just as the perennials are coming up. Still needs lots of annuals to fill in. This is just to the left of the swing. Isn't the Lollipop crab apple topiary cute? Another Mothers Day Gift from the kids.

A side picture of the front porch. Chrissy begged me not to trim he ivy back, but it was taking over the porch and starting to reach out and grab people! OK now I'm feeling better, hope you do too.

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia

Silver Sugar Bowl Pincushion

Dear Friends I fell in love with Dawn's little pincushions in baby shoes and then I was out taking in some eye candy in Fairfield, Ohio and talking to my Chrissy daughter on the cell. When this little silver sugar bowl jumped in my cart and said it wanted to be a pincushion. Chrissy said "That sounds a little odd, but go for it!" She inherited my sense of creative possibilities, so even though she couldn't see it in her head, she has a trusting heart and gives good feed back.

Except for the time Becky and I planned an activity to welcome the Young Women into Relief Society. We thought we would approach it 'welcoming the Young Women to Old Women. We had walker races and a bed pan toss and other inappropriate things to make fun of ourselves. The Young Women loved it, decided we weren't so boring after all and threw a 'Teddy Bear Tea Party for us'. Chrissy and Becky's daughter stood on the deck observing "Our mothers are so weird!" That may be... but I'm willing to do whatever it takes!

From One Kindred Spirit to Another, Have a Lovely Day,

Have a Lovely Day~

Alicia