Another President Monson quote from his biography...

"All of you are teachers, no person can escape the influence of his own example...a mediocre teacher tells, a good teacher explains, a superior teacher demonstrates; but the great teachers inspire."

Happy Birthday to Becky and here is that recipe!

I have a dear friend from Michigan, Becky and it is her birthday today!  No she does not look like a chicken but she wanted me to share with her one of our favorite recipes that we make with "rotisserie chicken". Since I don't have a pic of Becky and her adorable family close by I found this picture of the chicken!


Becky I really do hope you have a wonderful day and know how loved you are around the country!  I think she has moved more than our family! I have so many fond memories of Becky and her sweet family.


                  Rotisserie Chicken


cook some rice (you can do brown or white)
heat up some black beans and sprinkle some garlic powder into it
shred up your chicken
shred up some cheese
sour cream
salsa 
cut up cilantro
whatever you like on a burrito you can layer your ingredients on top!  But the secret ingredient is lime   You cut the secret ingredient in half then squeeze it over your creation.  It really is yummy and an easy dinner!
We got this recipe from the Sorensen family in Enumclaw.

A Saturday morning with Julie Beck...

Those of you who are LDS know who this amazing woman is. Julie Beck is the president of our church's women's organization called, Relief Society. She lives around the corner from me here in, Alpine and was the guest speaker at a neighboring stake women's conference. As soon as I heard that she was speaking at my Mom's stake I decided I had to be there.
I wanted to share with you a few of the things she shared with us. 

1. Blogging can be an influence for good!  Share the gospel with your blogs....
2. Relief Society is a life of discipleship.  We follow Christ and His teachings.
3. Women today would do well to simplify.
4. Help in prioritizing:   There are the Essentials ( prayer, scriptures, attending church & the temple) then comes the Necessaries ( cooking, cleaning, laundry, work, etc.) then we have the Nice to Do's (all of those fun things we enjoy like our hobbies).  When we put the Lord first everything else will fall into place and into order.  I find this to be so true!  I wish I would have followed it more when I was a young mom.
5. We need to be precise not perfect.
6. Learn never to suppress a generous thought.

There were many things I learned and wrote down from this inspired leader.  I feel so blessed to live here in Utah where the opportunities are all around to be uplifted and to be strengthened by the good word of the Lord.  Hope these few thoughts will lift and encourage you.

The Month of March is special....

The month of March is special for many reasons. One can eat corned beef and cabbage all they want....to celebrate St. Patrick's day!

One can wear green and not be pinched....

One can look for shamrocks and make a wish...

One can be amused by all the March Madness that flood's the TV!  I have so enjoyed watching the games and especially watching BYU and their explosive ways.  Jimmer and Jackson playing their little hearts out with the other's on the team!

I can't wait to see them play Florida on Thursday!

But, for me the most important part of the month and always will be is the birth of our third child.....Kelsey Anne~

She came to us in Enumclaw, Washington.  I remember dropping off Kurt & Jamie at Babette's house so they could be taken care of and Rick and I went off to the hospital to have this gorgeous dark, curly haired baby!  She was my biggest baby at almost ten pounds and the nurses kept telling me that she was one noisy little bundle of joy!  We all instantly fell in love with her and her big brother and sister loved to play with her.

She has been a blessing to all of us who know and love her.  She will soon set off on a new journey as she will be a college graduate in just a few weeks with her bachelors in Communications.  We will welcome her home with big, outstretched arms and know she will find a great job!  Dad & I love you Kelsey and are so proud of the amazingly talented and God loving girl that you are.  You bring so much joy to all of our lives and I know Rexburg will not be the same without you!!!

Nie Nie speaks...

Last night our stake had a special fireside with the guest speaker being Stephanie Nielson. Those of you have read her blog~Nie Nie Dialogues know what an amazing girl she is.  She and the Mr. were in a small plain crash a couple of years ago and she told us her story of hope and love.  It was very moving to hear her struggles as she was burned over eighty percent of her body and was in a coma for three months and was not able to see her four children for six months.  Can you imagine?  But her faith in Christ got her through her darkest days.
Two quotes I'd like to share are....Own the trial and go through it with grace.


Beauty is being a woman of God.  Stephanie spoke from her heart and from her experiences and truly encouraged all of us who were there last night.

Another President Monson quote...

President Monson said this in front of university students, "During the last half century, there has been in this country a gradual but continual retreat from standards of excellence in many phases of our life.  We observe business without morality; science without conscience; politics without principle; wealth without works." He counseled, "Refuse to compromise with expedience. Maintain the courage to defy the consensus. Choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. By so doing, you will not detour, but rather will ever remain on the way to perfection."


I feel that this is such an amazing quote especially in the light of what is happening with the BYU basketball team this week. BYU has shown the country that our standards are more important than a ranking, that how we live our lives is more important than a possible national championship. We want to live a higher standard that will show our obedience to our Father in Heaven.  We are all son's and daughter's of our Heavenly Father and we love Him and He loves us.... BYU this week chose the harder right!

Words from Thomas S. Monson

I have started reading Pres. Thomas S. Monson's biography this week. There are so many quote's in it that I love that I thought I would share one each day with you....


"I firmly believe that the sweetest experience in mortality is to know that our Heavenly Father has worked through us to accomplish an objective in the life of another person"...


Think about it....be that person who lives by the Holy Spirit and who acts on those promptings....cathy

How does Google & Pistachio's fit?

Have you ever tried these pistachio's? Dear friend, Babette gave me a bag for Cara & my road trip back to Michigan in 2008.  We buy them at Costco and they just got them back in our store.  (Don't you wish Costco would warn you when they won't get one of your favorites products in for a few months....then you could stock up until they are stocked again?)  This item is one of those products.... Salt & Pepper Pistachio's  (ok...enough for the plug but they really are better than plain pistachio's)

On to the main reason for the post. Have you ever started eating these nuts and get to the bottom of the dish and there are those pesky one's that are barely cracked open? I usually throw those away but due to the high cost of these little treats I decided to "google" how is one to deal with this issue.  Now, a mention about google...several years ago I would google everything and my children gave me such a hard time.  Why? I still don't know because 99% of the time I would get a great & helpful answer.  So last night I went to google and I got my answer on how to open these little nuts that were hard to open.

The full pistachio shown to the left, really has a smaller opening than it looks like.  What you do is get an already opened nut and put the tip of it into the hard to open nut and BAM  there you go and you can consume the pistachio!

This shot is a little better of the nut but this little tip truly works!  I just had to share it and hopefully it helps for those of you who don't google.  Let me know if this problem has ever plagued you!!!

Alpine 8th Ward Mission Statement

We live in the Alpine 8th Ward.  We have a new bishop who is such an inspired man.  His name is Bishop Rasmussen.  He is one of those bishop's that has a heart of gold and lives by the spirit of God.  This is our ward's mission statement.....eliminate the weakness of one standing alone and substitute instead the strength of many working together.  Pres. Thomas S. Monson (prophet)


This quote exemplifies to me what it is all about.  Helping each other through the tough times we all have by strengthening each other as we carry on with life.  This journey is so much better when we have someone there to lift, encourage and help us as we endure life's trials.  I know that I could not have gotten through the last few years without the love, support, kindness, prayers, generosity of so many of you, my dear friends.  Let's all remember to not let those around us stand alone... it can be as simple as a smile or hug or prayer.  We are all here for a purpose and we need each other to reach our goals.  Thank you to all....

Busy last part of February

Kelsey and Aly came once...no twice this month!! It was great fun having the college girls visit.

Of course, we celebrated Valentine's and did it with dear friends, Cindy & Steve (friends from our Washington days) who moved to Utah several years ago!  Cindy made an amazing dinner!

Here we are on Valentine's day.....love to all!!!

I have been in this cooking craze and made my first creme brulee!!!  Can I brag and tell you it tasted as good as any of the fine dining we have ever had?  I need to make some more!  Cute ramekins....Thanks to TJ's.

The second visit from the girls they added some guy friends...Brock & Blaine.  Brock's family just happens to live in Alpine!  They had Sunday dinner with us. I made this yummy stew with our "elk" meat...

And here are some of the cute blanket's I made for new babies of family and dear friends!  They are even cuter unrolled but I thought this was clever!!!