Some More Wedding Pictures

 Carl and Alice Meiners (my Grandparents) on their wedding day at the Salt Lake Temple.             This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.  

A wedding picture of Richard and Margaret Brower from a scrapbook Karen made.  Recognize those good looking kids?

Weddings

                            Lorna and her Child-Groom 1981.

                             My Dad and Mom around 1958.
                         

Plans are moving along for Kevin and Malorie's wedding on the fourteenth of March. She is using black and white photos of family weddings.  We are excited for the festivities.

Thanks Mark and Lonie

Last night at about 5:00 our friend Mark Carr called and asked us if we were spontaneous and wanted to go to a Jazz game.  We did and they picked us up at 5:30.  We went to Energy Solutions Arena and up to the 8th floor for a wonderful dinner buffet (prime rib, ribs, shrimp, crab along with anything else you could possibly want to eat).  Just as I was finishing my desserts (too many) it was time to go down to the game.  All the way down.  We had seats on the floor right in the center.  I couldn't believe it.  It was so exciting to be that close.  No one was in front of us.  Andre Kirlinko stood right in front of me to inbound and I could have tugged on his shorts.  It was very interesting to see the players so close.  I learned that Deron Williams stares intensely into the eyes of his opponents.  The player's feet are huge, of course so is the rest of them.  During half-time we had more food in a special room.  Notice the cost of the tickets.  Who spends that kind of money on a spectator sport?  Plenty of people because the seats were full and what surprised me most were all the little kids sitting in those seats!  Mark Carr is a member of the Jazz 100 Club.  It was a pleasure being there and I loved seeing the faces up close but I would never be able to pay that kind of money--- no matter how much I had.

A New Addition

I got my Valentines and Birthday present.  A new Bernina 240.  I am so excited to use it. It does so much more than my old machine.   I set up Patrick's old bedroom as a sewing/ironing room. 

Rocked the Neighborhood?

I have been sick with a head cold for a week and a half and thought I was getting better.  This morning I woke up about 2:45 am and could not get back to sleep.  I saw Kevin off to the slopes at 4:45 and finally dropped off about 6:30.  I was awakened by a loud knock and the doorbell at 8:30.  I thought it was my Dad (coming to visit me while my Mom gets her hair done).  So I just threw on my warm teddy bear bathrobe and went to the door, opened it and said, "Come on in". To my surprise it was a beautiful newswomen with a mike in her hand and 2 guys with TV cameras.  I said "Whoa".  I did not let them come in.  They asked if I had heard anything at about 11:00 last night.  They told me that 6 young adult men had blown up the manhole cover to the side of our house.  My neighbor Mike had heard the explosion and called the police.  Because of his description the police found the perps in West Jordan doing the same thing.  They are now in jail.  I told the KSL newspeople I knew nothing and they seemed to want to talk for a while.  You know I can always hold up a conversation.  Later today a news crew came out and filmed the manhole cover and the street.  I was dressed but they didn't come to ask me any more questions.  It must be a slow news day.  The article on KSL.com makes it sound quite bad and said the explosion rocked the neighborhood.  This just makes me more suspect of anything I hear on the news.  I am such a light sleeper and I always have one ear ready to hear anything out of the ordinary.  I am sure I would have heard a rocking the area type noise.  They are trying to say that things must be really bad if this is happening in Draper.  I missed my one chance to be on the news for my 10 seconds of fame.  See www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148& sid=5605821

To Mark!

Today is Valentines Day.  I just thought I write a few reasons why I love my husband Mark.  

1.  He gives me freedom to do whatever I want and supports me

2.  He gives me stability 

3.  He is funny

4.  He is a wonderful father and loves and supports our children

5.  He has a testimony and honors it

6.  He loves to eat my cooking and is always grateful

7.  He doesn't criticize me

8.  He takes me out at least once a week, mostly twice

9.  He doesn't like to leave me and rarely travels without me

10.  He likes to talk with me and values my opinion

11.  He still thinks I am beautiful and is attracted to me

12.  He likes to have fun and is never boring

Not Funny

I just read my friend Sally's latest blog post.  I laughed out loud.  I read my cousin Amy's latest post and I laugh out loud.  I read all of Jodie's posts and they are all very funny.  Myself, I am not funny, although I find humor in just about everything.  I can laugh at the smallest of jokes.  I think my husband is funny most of the time.  I think my kids are funny all the time.  We sit at dinner and someone will be talking and someone else says a  few word phrase and the whole table dissolves in laughter.  Mostly these small quotes are from the Simpsons who have a quote for every occasion. I watch the same shows (I don't think they are that funny though) but I can't remember every tintsy, tiny line to bring up at the exact right moment.  I can't tell jokes because I ruin the punch line, so I don't even try.  Sometimes I say something I think is very funny and no one laughs and Mark says, "Did you say something funny?  Look kids Mom is trying to be funny." Sometimes they will even smile at my efforts.  I do have a few friends who laugh with me when I think I'm funny.  So why can I appreciate humor in all forms but not be able to be humorous?  I guess its like appreciating good music but not being able to play it.  So all of you bloggers with funny bones--I will laugh at your writing.  Just read mine and smile and say well she isn't very funny but she sure can sew!

Good Bye Sewing Machine

The first year we were married Mark and his friend Rex bought an insulation blowing machine and sold insulation.  They made enough money to keep us in school.  It became apparent to me that I needed a sewing machine.  The ones I wanted cost over $1200 and we couldn't afford it. Mark came home one night and said he was insulating the Pfaff store in trade for a sewing machine.  I was so excited.  My parents paid the money for the rock wool and I picked out my machine.  I made Mark a pair of pants right away and they looked very good on him (he was a size 31 back then).  I made curtains for the kitchen and clothes for me.  I was always sewing something.   Through the years my little Pfaff has been used to make clothes for most of the people I love.  I have made at least 5 wedding dresses and numerous bridesmaids dresses, prom dresses and tuxedo vests.  My children wore lots of things I made.  Natalie got the most dresses and I loved to design things for her.  I have made so many home decor items like drapes, pillows and bedspreads for every house we have lived in.  The machine has also been used to sew about 8000 safety squat straps for a product we sell.  It has been used to teach lots of kids to sew and has made many interesting projects through the years. It was always available whether in the basement laundry room, a closet or in a bedroom. It was important to me.   It has been with me my whole married life and I can think of all the things made on it and it is quite a history.  It is with sorrow that I retire this little machine.  It has been worked to death and is no longer worth fixing.  It will be around in the background and maybe a grandchild will want to learn to sew on it.

Chocolate Motlten Cakes

On Saturday night we went out to dinner with Scott and Kaelyn.  We ate at Thaifoon in the Gateway and everything was very good.  I would go there just for the Tom Ka Soup.  After dinner there wasn't time to go to a movie so we wandered around Sur La Table, a great cooking store.  I followed Scott into the test/class kitchen and they were finishing up a class with only two people in it.  The food looked really good and I asked for some of the recipes.  They had us taste stuff and gave me the packet of recipes.  So today I thought I would have a Valentines dinner and try it all out.  Now I know that you shouldn't ever try anything new when you are serving guests but the guests I serve are my kids and they are good testers. Everything was very good and got a thumbs up.  We had French Onion Soup, Spaetzle, Whole Herb-Roasted Chicken, Asparagus, Homemade Wheat Bread, and to finish it off Chocolate Molten Cake.  I bought a Spaetzle maker at the store and I have been looking for one for a long time.  I could eat it every day.  

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Molten Cakes

5 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)

10 Tablespoons butter

3 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Butter cupcake pan or 6 custard cups.  Melt butter and add chocolate and cook over low heat until melted.  Whisk eggs and egg yolks in a large bowl. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and then flour.  Pour batter into 12 cupcakes or 6 custard cups.  Bake cakes about 9 minutes in cupcake pan or 11 minutes in custard cups.

The sides should be set but the center remains soft and runny.  You can make the mixture 1 day ahead and chill.  Cook 2 or 3 minutes longer if cold.  

I hope you enjoy these.  Even if you overcook them and they are just little chocolate cakes, they are moist and taste great.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some berries, drizzle with carmel sauce.  A very wonderful Valentines dessert for someone you love!

Another Kevin Story

I was thinking about Josh driving Kevin home after he hit a tree sledding and it reminded me of another time Kevin got hurt.  In high school he was boating at Utah Lake with a bunch of friends. He did some gnarly trick and landed on his head and sustained a concussion.  He passed out and his friends did sort of help him onto the back of the boat, but he didn't really come to and they just watched him until he seemed OK.  He didn't make sense and couldn't answer questions but they let him drive home (about 35 miles) towing the boat because he said he needed to.  What kind of friends are these?  Who would listen to a guy who was totally out of it?  He made it home OK (those guardian angels at work again) and didn't really remember even driving home.  He was still out of it when he got home.  That is why I asked who was driving our Tahoe home from Deer Valley on Thursday night.  Thanks Josh for being responsible and taking care of Kevin!

Angels Working Overtime

On Tuesday night Kevin told us he was hiking up Mt. Superior at 5:30 the next morning for a photo shoot.  In the middle of the night I woke up worrying about avalanches and other horrible things happening to Kevin.  I prayed which is the only thing I can do when he is out skiing with no fear at all.  To my surprise, he walked in at about 10:30 Wednesday morning excited about his experience.  He showed me some video on his small camera and it made me sick to my stomach. He said he had never been more scared and was shaking while he was hiking up to the very crest of the mountain mostly in the dark and then putting on his skis and skiing down amidst the rocks and very steep patches of snow.  This is the mountain across the street from Snowbird.  I didn't like it at all.  I asked him if he would do it again and he said yes.  

Last night he and Malorie, Josh and Ashley, and Denzel and Muri went sledding at Deer Valley. Kevin likes where they go and has done it before.  I was watching TV when the phone rang at 11:00pm, that is never good and I knew something had happened.  Malorie tried to talk to me but couldn't and handed the phone to Josh.  Josh said that Kevin had hit a tree and they were on their way to a hospital.  I could hear Kevin talking in the backround and I knew he had to be somewhat OK.  I asked Josh about brain damage and he thought he just needed stitches.  They finally got home at 3:00am.  He had many stitches in a deep gash right under his eyebrow.  He also has a deep bruise up and down his leg.  He looks like a one-sided Frankenstein with the swelling over his eye.  Malorie was on the sled too and she was miraculously spared from any injury.  Kevin hit one tree with his head and another bigger tree with his leg.  

I know that Kevin's guardian angels have been busy this week.  I know that they have been with him for years and they understand his need for pushing the envelope.  Every now and then Kevin needs a reminder that he is not made of rubber and is human.  I'm sure the Lord gets tired of hearing my prayers to keep Kevin safe, but he keeps answering them.  Kevin thought he was dead when he hit the trees and others have died with less impact.  I am very, very thankful!!

My New Class

I have had quite a time wondering what I would do with all of the free time I'm going to have.  Liz (my good friend) is attending the U of U finishing up her degree, so I thought maybe a Masters for me or just go with her and attend some classes that I have always wanted to take.  I looked into several programs and nothing quite fit what I wanted to do.  I graduated in Business Management and Finance thinking that would be the most practical at the time.  I have never regretted that decision, as it has been good for me to understand business and risk etc.  But......I always wanted to study English or Humanities and I have kicked around the idea for years.  I remember wanting to be a tour guide in an art museum when I was a teenager.  Well wanting freedom and having time I happened upon a great solution.  Lynn Johnson gave me a catalog of college classes on DVD.  I ordered 3 classes from The Great Courses.  "From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism" is my first class.  I also ordered "How to Listen and Understand Great Music" and "A History of European Art". They rotate the classes that are on sale throughout the year.  These are real university classes taught by experts in each field.  I really like the lectures and I can watch them anytime I want.  I don't care about credit, so here's to getting more educated!

A Little Vacation

We went to St. George for two nights and loved the getaway.  There is a relatively new development, Entrada, near Snow Canyon.  It is so beautiful.  The homes are built to fit into the environment and it is amazing.  The economy is in the tank there, so the place we stayed was cheap and very nice.  Mark golfed and I hiked and shopped.  We ate a lot of good food too.  It was just what I needed to reboot and get my bearings again.  I am home excited to do all the things I like to do.  I did see a new Bernina sewing machine at a store in St. George.  I think I will need it soon!  Can you say "Birthday"?