Terrorist Moski Toe apprended sneaking across border ...

S.W.A.T. agent Miss Alyss was quick to pick up on the devilish look in the eye of Moski Toe as he attempted to cross the Canadian Border into Montana. Commendation for bravery in the line of duty is sure to be awarded in a special ceremony this evening at the Idaho Falls YSA Halloween festivities.

We are free to choose . . .

Freedom is a God given right to every one of his children. Sadly many are denied freedom in this world where evil at times prevails. Those who are blessed to live in freedom bear a sacred responsibility to their brothers and sisters around the world. We must live gratefully by promoting and defending the liberties of those who yearn for it. One of the most touching pictures from the past couple of years showed Iraqi women holding up their blue ink stained fingers. Their faces radiated with the joy of a personal vote. I am deeply thankful for the young men and women who have stepped up and volunteered in the fight for the cause of freedom.

May we do our part this coming Tuesday by informed voting with an eye on the ramifications of that vote. The Supreme Court hangs in the balance. The free market that has brought prosperity to this country and blessed us with the wealth to make a difference around the world through our charity and defense of the freedoms of others is also in peril. The right to worship according to the dictates of our own conscience is at risk. God bless us as we exercise our rights. God bless the USA and may we continue to be a blessing to those who only dare to dream of the freedoms we hold dear.

The rest of the wedding pics . . .

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1439446&id=643121783

Don't you just love a Wedding?

With all of the commotion of Alyssa coming home from Portugal September 26th, we left our camera in the car for Jaelyn and Leslie's wedding at the Salt Lake Temple that morning. Thankfully we now have some pictures to remember the beautiful day.





Jaelyn and Leslie Petrie













The Petrie Family minus Jarius who we really missed. Somehow I think Jordan was feeling the joy of the day. How we love this dear family.

The wedding party gathered on the steps of the temple.

Yummy Cake

Some of you have requested the recipe for this yummy Appalachian Blackberry Cake that I made for mom's birthday.

1/2 c shortening*
2 c sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp allspice
2 & 1/2 c sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 c blackberries, drained juice reserved.**

*I used butter instead of shortening to be a little healthier, and we used a blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry mix of frozen fruit. **Since it was frozen and not canned, I boiled the fruit a little bit to make it cooked like canned fruit would be. You can probably use fresh fruit as well--we just couldn't find any.

Cream together shortening, sugar, and egg yolks until smooth. Add dry ingredients. (It will be a VERY dry batter at this point. It looked like powder actually. Don't stress.) Add berries. Mix well. This is when it is moister. The berries are the main liquid in the batter, some berries will be mushed since they are cooked. If it is not moist enough, add some of the reserved juice. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes

There was a 7 minute icing suggested for the cake, but it was super sweet and detracted from the cakey goodness. I would serve it with either a vanilla or butter pecan ice cream instead. It's got a dry coffee cake/crumb cake kinda texture, so it would probably make a good breakfast bread/cake as well.

Thanks for the help with the questions Cam!!
Love ya from Alyssa

P.S. - This was genuinely one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. I would not have it for breakfast but you know me - DO YOUR BODY A FAVOR - LESS SUGAR!! I would enjoy this cake with fresh whipped cream. Mom :o)

I've had a wonderful day.

Thanks to my dear family and friends. I am blessed.

Proud Mama Bragging Rights

Our son-in-law Steve is known as "Vorian" in the Linux world. For those of you who do not know, Linux is an open source operating system that many use instead of Windows. Currently Steve is working in a team with five others on a new release of Kubuntu due out October 30th. The Machine Crusade added to my blog list is his "Vorian" blog. For fun you can Google "Vorian" and see what comes up.

Take Time to be Holy

I awoke early this cold, snowy Sabbath day and turned on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for a little warmth. They sang an Irish folk hymn written in 1882 by William D. Longstaff. How I love beautiful expressions of faith and this hymn reflects the song of my heart. God bless your Sabbath and fit each of you for the weeks ahead:

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

I love America!

I am disheartened by the power of money and celebrity in this country. We have allowed them to define good men and women in ways that are destructive. At the same time many fall in step as they promote those who will advance their special interests.

This promotion is clever. Good people are not willing to know substantively what stands the candidate will take. Some just want to "love and be loved". We allow ourselves to be carefully led down a path to the destruction of our liberties and freedoms.

There are three candidates from the two major parties in the race for President and Vice President who seem to me to be very honest. The fourth has been protected and covered for - promoted heavily by many in Hollywood and the liberal media - those who "really know what is best" for our country. There is no doubt who they want for our President. Are we not painfully aware at how these same people degrade and demoralize our values and liberties.

We can choose substance over celebrity!

I Remember: Blast from the Past

My niece JoDee just experienced one of those near panic situations with a missing three year old. Of course the child was enjoying herself thoroughly while momma was desperately searching. Reading her experience brought back a memory from my
young mom days.

When Carey was very young she seemed to disappear. I had been folding clothes on the kitchen table and had walked back to the bedrooms to put things away. When I came to the front of the house she was gone.

I looked everywhere in the house twice over and called for her repeatedly. To that point she had not been able to open the front door but all I could think was possibly she had figured it all out and was gone.

After what seemed an eternity I called Claigh at work and mobilized the few neighbors who were at home in the middle of the day to find her. One had seen an unfamiliar beat up van drive through the neighborhood.

When I went inside to call the police, I first knelt down in the bedroom to plead with Heavenly Father to help me know what to do. As I got up and walked down the hall to the phone, I had a strong impression to open the closet door. This was a small linen closet, shelves filled with linens and packed full. I opened the door and there she was with her hand on the inside door knob, big blue eyes looking up with glee. Really there was just enough room for her body to stand upright smashed between the door and the shelves AND she had been still there for so long! Carey was thrilled at her "hide and seek" success and I was tearfully relieved.

Children are a worry and a joy.

Back home from Salt Lake City and Ready to Get Busy -

We had a whirlwind couple of days in Salt Lake City and I am definitely ready to get on top of things here on the home front. It was good to meet two more of Alyssa's former missionary companions, Emily Olsen and Christina Early who are now attending BYU. We also got to do a delivery to Arminda who moved to Salt Lake City from Portugal recently. She and her husband Tom are expecting a baby girl in February. What a delightful woman! And her two daughters Vanessa and Nadia are every bit as beautiful as their mother. I marvel at how well they are learning English. Thanks for the bolo Arminda. A visit to the Petrie's was delightful as usual with yummy soup and bread and fresh peaches to boot. How we love this family. Unexpectedly Great Aunt Jessie and Kathy hadn't left for Canada yet and so we were blessed to have a little more time with them. (The time at the wedding was limited.)

Amazingly we did accomplish all of the "need to's" and now Alyssa has her temple clothes, a cute new outfit and new skirt and we were able to run all of the errands (which were many including purchases and gift deliveries) for those left behind in Portugal. Thankfully Zion's Bank was able to do currency conversion and we were able to find exactly the shoes one of the sisters wanted Alyssa to buy for her. Alyssa was particularly happy to find a Hindi bible for a friend whose current bible had a mix of Hindi and Sanskrit which made it difficult for her to understand. Now Mandeep will have a bible in her native tongue to enjoy. Alyssa was also able to get a Hindi Book of Mormon for a man who is Hindu that she met on one of her flights home. We covered a lot of ground for a 24 hour period of time. We were grateful Claigh was also in Salt Lake for business so we had a nice hotel room to crash in.

Sadly, even though I did remember to bring the camera, I forgot to get it out and take pictures. :o( There was just too much packed into a very short time but the memories are wonderful.

Will we ever catch up on sleep?

It was an exhausting weekend and yet absolutely wonderful! Saturday was full with preparations for the Sabbath. We had to rush out and get Alyssa something to wear for church as her luggage has yet to arrive. Thank-goodness for Kohls! Early that evening Alyssa and I went to the General Relief Society meeting and "Chocolate Extravaganza." It was wonderful to hear President Uctdorf speak. He is a favorite of Alyssa's. The wide variety of chocolate treats was incredible.

Later that night the door bell rang and at our bidding, Alyssa went to answer it. Surprise! There was Alyssa's former missionary companion, Shannon Egbert from Preston, Idaho. Shannon spent Saturday night with us. The girls stayed up late talking and playing "beauty shop." Shannon is a marvel at doing hair. Alyssa now has a cute cut and highlights. Once again we were short on sleep but what a way to go!

Alyssa, Claigh and I were at the Stake Center at 7:45 for Alyssa's report to the High Council. A young elder from the stake had just returned from the Arizona Mesa Spanish speaking mission so we got to hear two reports. It just doesn't get any better. Following the High Council Meeting, Claigh and Alyssa headed home to pick up Shannon for church and I headed for my class room to set up for Sunday School.

In Sacrament meeting, Alyssa spoke on obedience, faith and power. She shared how the three are interconnected. One of her earliest experiences in Portugal strengthened her resolve to be faithfully obedient. Alyssa did extensive work with members who were less active in church attendance. This was a work she truly loved. In her first week in Portugal she and her companion had been working hard all day looking for a member who had moved. It was getting close to the time for going home and they were tired and had been unsuccessful in any way for the day. There is a seven point process they needed to complete to find the person they were looking for. It would have been very easy to just stop and cut the day a bit short but they chose obedience and decided to work till the last minute. As a result, while they did not find the person they were looking for, they found Alice who was very excited to see them and wanted to hear the gospel message. Being new to Portugal, Alyssa felt very inadequate in speaking the language but she found that the Lord strengthened her enough to meet the need. For that few moments she was able to communicate with Alice. From this her testimony was strengthened in the truth that power comes through obedience and faith. This set the tone for the rest of her mission. She also noted that sometimes obedience is a result of faith and sometimes faith is a result of obedience. However, the promised blessing is "power."

"And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them;" 1 Nephi 17:3

Alyssa and Claigh left following Sacrament Meeting to see Shannon off and I headed to teach my Sunday School class. I was so exhausted I wasn't sure that I could put thoughts together coherently. Earlier in the week there were those who suggested I could get a substitute for that day but I felt that if I was going to be there, it was my responsibility. Thanks to the teachings of my mom and dad, I just couldn't feel right about not being where I was committed to be. The result - a further testimony of that which Alyssa had spoken in church. That 45 minutes was truly the brightest of my day. I was very alert and able to present as I had prepared. Comments from the class contributed to the teaching. (We have a remarkable ward.) As the amen to the closing prayer was said, fatigue washed over me again.

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." Moroni 7:33 (another scripture from Aly's talk)

I know that our Heavenly Father is mindful of our every day needs and is ever ready to respond to the prayers of his children. I know the Savior lives. I know the power of healing in his wings. I am grateful for the gift of the Spirit. I am grateful for young people who put the world aside to serve and love whomever the Lord calls them to minister to. I am thankful for Alyssa's mission. I am thankful to have her home again.

She's Home!

Yes that is right! Alyssa landed in the Pocatello airport last night at 9:45 after 24 hours of travel through Germany, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City. The amazing thing is she looks great! Imagine - no sleep and looking fine. (As Hoops and YoYo would say - Yum!) While Aly made it, her bags never even got to Atlanta. She had many gifts from Portuguese friends packed in the lost bags and that has been her main concern. However - good news - they have just now located them and they will be in Idaho Monday. Too bad we will be in Salt Lake again on Monday. :o) We are a very happy family.

Jaelyn and Leslie's wedding in the Salt Lake Temple was a wonderful start to yesterday. Claigh and I felt blessed to share in the whole experience. And - we got to hug Cathy and Aunt Jessie who we haven't seen in far too long and Randy who I haven't seen in for even longer! It was wonderful to meet Randy's wife, Debbie and Wendy's daughter Charlene and her husband Cory. Jenna, Brad and children are a beautiful family. Jyllian and Joel are as wonderful as ever. Terry and JoAnn - fabulous. BUT the best of all were Jaelyn and Leslie. This is definitely a match made in heaven.

Celebrate Maxwell

Jump and Jive - Maxwell's Five!
Sara and Jared's youngest!
Dark Blond Curls
Blue Eyes
A smile as bright as his mother's
Great Laugh
Good Reader
Gentle Heart - Giving Spirit
Loves to tell jokes
Seth's buddy
One year till kindergarten -
Oh my - then what will mom do?

Happy Birthday Maxwell Isaiah Anderson!

Maxwell Fun