New Years Eve 2011

It is New Years Eve 2011.

The kids are in bed and I am relaxing watching a movie and writing this blog.

This year has been good for the most part.  We did have some deaths of family members that we miss dearly, but we know they are with our Heavenly Father and we will see them again one day.

We are excited for the New Year and we feel like it will be a good one!

Here are some pictures of our New Years Eve Celebration with Sweat and Sour Meatballs and Rice and cake with Candlelights.  The kids were singing Happy Birthday All through dinner and were excited to blow out the candles at the end of our celebrations.  And we played the wii and build with legos today.

Tomorrow we will get a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Burke.  We are excited to get to see them since we don't see them often.

Happy New Years Everyone and We hope 2012 treats you all well!

Christmas 2011 Pictures~ Slice of Life # 80

Here are our pictures for Christmas this year!

"Burke Christmas 2011"

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Slice of Life # 71 Festive Fall

I love fall, I enjoy Halloween.  We don't decorate or do much for it, I do enjoy going to my sister's house.  Her husband decorates all out.  Maybe when we own a home we will do this too.

Dan and I were married Oct 29th so I tend to really enjoy fall and decorating in the fall colors, even though you wouldn't know it right now, but one day when I have a home of my own and can start decorating I am hoping that it will reflect this taste of mine! :)

For Thanksgiving growing up I remember all of my Dad's side of the family would gather together at a scout camp, we could snow show, cross country ski or just play in the snow and come in and play games and such.  Now that we are all married and have in-laws to spend time with too, we just have scaled back to just one party for everyone that we call a Winter party.  For my family who ever of my sisters and I can come and spend it with my parents do. 

One thing we do each year is each of us brings a dessert.  This carry's over from the big family get-together's from years ago.  I am not much of a pie person, but I do make a pie once in awhile.  Last year I took an Oreo pudding pie.  

This year I am going to make a dessert from my kids Favorite book right now.  We got this at a thrift store from Grandma Nova for an early birthday gift.

My kids have really enjoyed this book.  I am going to check with my library for others in the Albert series.

In this book is a recipe for Pumpkin Pizza Pie.  My kids have asked me to make it so I have decided to make it for Thanksgiving.

Have fun and Enjoy your Fall Everyone!

Here is the Pumpkin Pizza Pie recipe if you want to try it out:

Albert's Pumpkin Pizza Pie

(Makes 3  12-inch Pizzas)

Ingredients:

3 Pounds sweet Pie Dough (recipe below)

3 cups Mashed Pumpkin or 1  29-ounce Can Pumpkin

3 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar or Honey

1 Tsp Pupkin Pie Spice

1/3 Cup Wipping Cream

Pinch of Salt

1 Cup of Whipping Cream Whipped with 1-2 TBSP Sugar and 1 SP. Vanilla  (or use 1 can of Whipped Cream)

1/4 Cup of Each for Each Pie:

Chocolate Chips or Butterscotch Chips or Mint chips or White Chocolate Chips

Candied Nuts

Raisins

Mini Marshmallows

Method:

Divide Dough Into Three Pieces and on Was Paper roll each into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick.  Put on a baking sheet or Pizza Pan.  Next, In a bowl Mix Pumpkin, eggs Sugar, Spice, Cream and Salt until well blended.  spread 1 cup on each pizza dough, leaving about 1/2 inch from the edge.  Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.  When it comes out of the oven and cools slightly decorate with whipped cream, chocolate chips, candied nuts, raisins and marshmallows.

Albert's Pumpkin Pizza Pie Dough

(Makes 3 Pizzas)

Ingredients:

3 Cups all-Purpose Flour

1 Pound Butter or Margarine

2/3 Cup Sugar

3 Whole Eggs or 6 Yolks

Method:

Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar in a mixing bowl, blending well.  Then add the eggs and slowly mix the flour and salt a little at a time.  Mix until a smooth dough is formed.  Chill for a couple or hours or overnight.  This dough can be made in a food processor.  (It also freezes well, but divide in three pieces before freezing.)

*Pumpkin Pizza Pie was created especially for Albert's Thanksgiving by California Chef Wendy Brodie.

Slice of Life # 70 ~ Ugly Duckling

When I read this title I thought of this story!

If you have not read it check it out of the library!  My kids and I have loved this book.  It even came with a cd to hear the story being told.

I have always felt like the uglified ducky because of my hearing disability.  Even now I sometimes feel like I am the uglified ducky.

But I know who I am and slowly I am learning how to be the Moose that I am and not the Ducky!

Slice of Life # 69 ~ Following Directions

At some point we all have to follow directions if we want to get to were we are going.  In school we follow directions in obeying the teacher and doing our homework.  In life we have to do the same thing at work and such.

Also we give directions to people to help them find places they want to go, and hopefully we don't get them lost.

I am one of those people that likes to plan and then get there with time to spear.  Yesterday Texasblu called and needed directions to my house as they were needing to come and drop off a few things for me to work on for them, before they got here I printed them directions to their next destination from my home, the Zoo.  I thought since they were not as familiar with my area that they might appreciate it.   Today, I left to go shopping with my sister at a mall I had never been to 40 min from my home.  I decided to leave early so that if I screwed up the directions (which I have done before) I would still have time to get there.  I had no problem finding it and was there 30 min early!  I had fun with my sister and her family and left them to stand in line to meet Jimmer Ferdette (a basketball player).

I love reading the scriptures.  Both Bible and Book of Mormon.  I feel that it gives me direction in my life as I strive to become more Christ Like.

I hope that we can all learn to follow directions so that we can all make it to were we want to go, wither it be in our work, family, vacation, or in our spiritual lives.  It is important to follow directions even if we don't want to.

Until next time!
Netty

Slice of Life #68: Beautiful YOU

This seems to be a tough one for my wife. Then again, it could be a tough "Slice of Life" for me as well on most days. A lot easier it seems to do what you do great and think of what you do wrong. So you see your faults and what makes you great is just lost in the clutter of life.

"How are generations later going to know about your terrific-ness if you never tell them?"

I must answer this first question with a simple answer. So the first thing that makes my wife beautiful is that she is a mother. A mother of four beautiful children. When I look at our children, I see evidence that they have a beautiful mother, even when she does not see it. From how they treat each other with please and thank you (when they aren't fighting like children do), to their beautiful eyes, healthy hair, and active bodies. And for each of those pregnancies, she has been quite healthy. For example, during the twins pregnancy, I suspect the doctors may have been willing to let my wife go to term without any panic, except Ruth was breach as the first baby. Some law or regulation or whatever dictated that they deliver a breach baby c-section.... So other than a breach baby, my wife had a very healthy pregnancy with twins no less while others we knew were being monitored closely with risk of bed rest. I think that healthy pregnancy speaks volumes, but that is just her loving husband writing here.

"What are your best features? Your eyes? Your legs? Your hair?"

If you ask me, I would say all of the above are great features of my wife. Sometimes I like to smell her hair. I realize that is the perfumes in her shampoo or conditioner, but that still speaks of the care she gives her hair. Not just a dandruff shampoo and done like I do. As for the other two features, please just take my word on it....

"What makes you stand out in a crowd? Is your laugh contagious, your smile warm, or your hugs sincere? Your ability to quiet a child in a grocery cart?"

Does four children in a grocery cart count? That does tend to stand out when so many others have only one or two.

"What tastes do you have? Is it your taste in music, your love of art, or picking good books to read?"

Romance. Definitely romance. Though, you must add in Harry Potter. We read those together. My wife had read the books that were out before we dated and married. She was collecting them. We then read them together as a couple, and it was a great experience to read the books as husband and wife. She also listens to books on CD. One such that isn't quite the romance is centered on some characters that are supposed to be Navy Seals. And, yes, there are some of her romance books on CD that I have enjoyed listening to. But I don't think I have ever listened to the entire one of her books from beginning to finish. So I mostly recognize the stories by fitting the characters and current plot line into the puzzle pieces I have previously listened to.

Almost forgot the LDS themed series, such as Faith of our Fathers and The Work and the Glory.

"What talents have you acquired (or would like to)? Cooking? Running a business? Home decor?"

My wife has her bachelor's degree in accounting. She is creative with preparing our meats with spices and marination, it doesn't always work out tasty but her successes far outnumber her failures. Soon as it becomes available, we are planning to purchase her a special cutting printer for crafts--I cannot think of a better way to describe it. It has a blade. It cuts out shapes. And it looks a lot like your desktop printer. And thinking of things she wishes to learn, my wife would like to go back and get a Master's Degree in accounting. Being the big, bad, mean husband that I am, I have a couple stipulations on that, the first being that we actually pay off her current student loans. For some reason I got this get out of debt bug, and I am grateful that she has been very patient with this different way of thinking. In fact, if I were to include another skill in here because her accounting, she has been very good at learning and applying a different method of money management. Under her improved skills in sacrifice, patience, and financial management, we paid off her car early and have not had a car payment since (even though we sold her car and bought a mini-van). We are paying off her grandfather. So we almost to the point that the loan we have left to tackle IS her student loan. Even when we hit a bump in our finances and I asked my wife to stay with it, that I believed she could fix the error, I was so pleased to be proven right. Not just because it brought us back current with our financial plan, but because I was pleased to be proven right about my wife. I believed she could and she DID. That was a great feeling. Now I realize that managing personal finances can be different for many of us as opposed to managing business finances. We can be great at one and terrible at the other. So I am hoping to learn to build a business. Why does my goal matter here? Because my wife told me once that it was her dream to teach future generations to be the business builders of the future (I forget what the organization was called that excited her so as a youth). See, that is the other part of why I am such a big, bad, mean husband. Not only do I insist that we pay off her student loans, but I remember her dream and I will hold her accountable for it when we have the means to make it reality. And since I envision her accomplishing her dream, I want her to be the best person possible to share and teach the entrepreneurs of the future. So I want her to achieve that Master's Degree and I want her to have experience. If I can build a business, then she wouldn't even have to wait for the kids to all be in school to start on that personal experience. Of course, being such a meany, I have no compunction against sharing one of my wife's dreams online for all to read. That way I can build a team of people to remind her that she has a beautiful dream, and to encourage her so that she holds on to her dreams.

Slice of Life # 66 ~ Under the Sea

Biking Under the Sea!

When Dan got home from his mission, everyone in his family that was old enough became scuba dive certified.  Here is a picture of one of his sister's riding a bike under the sea.

I want to become certified to scuba dive and Dan wants to get re-certified.  One of these days we will become certified and we will take a really cool trip!



This is written for Slice of Life.  Feel free to read more or join us for Here!

Slice of Life #65 ~ Eye on the Prize

Have you set a goal or dream and then worked hard to achieve it?

I have set several goals and have several dreams that I have worked hard to achieve.  I dreamed of going to collage and graduating, going on a mission for my church, getting married, having kids.  I have achieved all of those dreams!  Now it is time to set some new goals and dreams.

Some new goals to do:

1.  Organizing  and de-cluttering my apartment by Christmas!
2. Do one craft project a month start to finish
3. Read one new book a month
4. Go to the temple once a month

This is written for Slice of Life.  Join us Here!

Slice of Life # 61 ~ Grand Theft __

Have you ever had Identity Theft?  It is amazing how easy that can happen to us.

Back in 1997 I was working in the Student Services offices of DeVry University-Phoenix campus.  One day as I was helping new students get checked in and such I meet a girl with the name Ann Dillon.  My name then (before marriage) was Annette Dillon.  It turned out that we lived in the same apartment complex, banked at the same bank and went to the same school.

I first had problems with getting her email, as the schools assigned email addresses were done such that we would both have the same one, so instead of her doing anything about it, I had to request a new email address.  You would have thought since I had been going there longer it wouldn't have mattered and she would have been assigned something different.

I then would every now and then get her mail in my mail box and would then take it over to her apartment.  Then I moved to another apartment complex the following spring and things seemed to clear up.  Until July 1999 I was getting ready to go on my mission and was getting a debt card for my credit union account.  They told me they couldn't give me a  debt card because I had an outstanding balance from a Wells Fargo credit card on my credit report.  Now I did bank at Wells Fargo, but I never had a credit card with them, so I go down to the credit bureau office in Provo, UT and get a copy of the report and file a complaint. They also told me to check with the bank, so I went around the corner and talked with someone who was so rude and had me in tears and told me it was my fault and that there was nothing he could do for me.  The Credit Bureau said it should take 2 weeks to clear up which was pushing it for me leaving on my mission.  I try calling in two weeks to find out if it was all taken care of and they said they didn't know what I wanted to do, I was so mad!  I told them what had all the paper work I had filled out two weeks earlier was for.

My mother and I then went to Wells Fargo with a copy of the offending information.  This time we talked with the Assistant manager of that branch and she was so helpful, I told her what happened two weeks earlier and she then told me that the man that helped me then was no longer with them.  She looked at the info and found out that the credit card that was on my history belonged to the "Ann Dillon" that I had gone to school with and such.  For some reason when the bank filed the info with the credit bureau someone was lazy and said oh this must be the same person, lets just stick it on her info and not the right person.  This manager at the bank stayed an hour past closing getting it all worked out and correcting the mistake and giving me info to take back to my credit union so I could get a debt card.  We sent the lady that helped us at Wells Fargo some flowers the next day as a huge Thank You!

I have not had a problem with "Ann Dillon's" info since!

More recently I have to give a big Thank You to Chase Bank for catching something before it hurt me very badly!

A few months ago I went and spent the day with my kids and a friend in Orem, UT.  I did my normal Friday/Payday shopping while I was there.  The next day at 8am on a Saturday morning Dan and I were talking about what to do that day, what I still needed to get done and such when I got a call from Chase Bank.  After verifying that it was really Chase and that I was who I was, they proceeded to ask me if I had my debt card on me.  I said yes.  They asked if I was in LA, CA the previous day, I said no.  They then verified the charges that I had made the previous day to make sure they were charges that I had made and I said yes they were.  They told me that someone in LA had tried to make a $300 purchases with my debt card info the day before but since it was at the same time I was making purchases in UT they declined their transaction. They then canceled my debt card and issued me a new one.

The following Monday when I looked at my account online (I check it almost daily) I noticed an ATM fee for checking the balance.  I called up the bank right away and in talking with them it looked like who ever had gotten my card info had tried to check the balance to see what was there on Saturday, but when  I told them I had not used the card since Friday since we had canceled my card on Saturday morning they credited back the ATM Fee.  Thank Goodness for technology that they were able to verify were the ATM fee was at.

I hope never to have to go through this kind of stuff again!

Slice of Life # 63~ Games Kids Play

Well it has been awhile since I have written for Slice of Life.  I took a family vacation for a month and fell of the weekly writing experience.  So I am back!


Growing up I remember playing red-rover, London Bridges, sorry, Life, Risk, Monopoly,Candy Land, extra....
I remember getting a computer in our home when they first came out for home ownership.  I remember playing Organ Trail, and a few other games.  Then when I was 11 my family moved and my dad needed to take our home computer to his office and use there, so since it was Christmas time, we got the original Nintendo with Donky Kong, Mario Brother, Duck Hunt and later we got Tetris.  I remember spending hours playing Tetris.

We never upgraded our system, and I don't know what happened to it.  I just remember I got busy as a High school student and stopped playing.

Many years later, I meet my husband who had a PS2 and loved to play video games, but didn't have much that I enjoyed.  Then we got Lego Star Wars and I started playing.  Then the new systems's came out and they quit making games for the PS2 so a few month's ago (just before they dropped in price) we bought a Wii.  Even though we would have loved a PS3 we felt that with the ages of our kids the Wii had more games for them to enjoy too.  We have collected all of the Lego Games wither it is PS2 or Wii (we have kept our PS2 as it still works).  Our recent additions have been Harry Potter Years 1-4 and Parites of the Carribine.  I have even put down a hold for Harry Potter Years 5-7 which will be out in time for Christmas and will be our family Christmas gift this year.  Dillon is mastering all of these games, and I am slowly putting in time playing them as they are fun for me too.  We did just finally buy a 2nd controller so now we can have more fun! :)

See you next week on Slice of Life!

Slice of Life # 58~ Chocolate

Chocolate Candy I made for Valentines 2011

This weeks Slice of Life is on Chocolate....Well I love a good dark Chocolate candy or even making my own candy,  I also enjoy brownies and chocolate ice cream at times.

But I HATE Chocolate Cake!  

And of course at my wedding the large cake they made chocolate and the cake we feed each other was chocolate!  I wasn't the happiest about that!  But I will eat chocolate cake if it is the only thing served.

Our wedding cake

Pretending to cut the cake!

Feeding each other chocolate sheet cake since the wedding reception had not started when we did the pictures.

For me if I had my way my stress reliever food would be Swedish fishes or Cinnamon Bears!

I am glad I like chocolate and will give anything with it a try, but I don't make chocolate cake unless it is my husband's birthday and then I make him Devil's Food Cake ~ which is one of his favorite cakes!

Until next time....

Slice of Life # 57~ Moving

Growing up we moved a total of 10 times from the time I was born until I left for college.  Some of those moves were just brief stays with Grandma and Grandpa Dillon.  When I was 17 we moved to our house in Pleasant Grove which my parents stayed for 12 years until they sold it in 2006.

Dan and I were talking a few weeks ago about all the places we have lived and how many times we have moved.  When we were about to get married we started looking for a place in the Salt Lake Valley for us to live when we got married.  Dan already worked in Sandy and I was currently unemployed, but had been offered a job at Discover Card in collections that would start the Monday after we got married.  We found a place in South Salt Lake City right on the border of Salt Lake City, West Valley City and Taylorsville.  We later found out that one of my cousin's and his wife had lived in the same complex when they were first married.  Our apartment number was 911 and we had people ask us all the time if that was correct.  Dan moved in the last week of Oct just days before we were married.  I moved most of my stuff in but I didn't stay there until after we were married.

We stayed there for the 11 months and then Dan got a job in Minnesota.  I was 32 weeks pregnant and the Dr told me if I was going to go before the baby was born I had to go then or wait until the baby was born and go.  So I quit my job and went with Dan and he came back a few weeks later and got our stuff just as our lease on our apartment was up.  We stayed with his brother while we found a place.  My sister in law was great to go with me and tell me her opinion.  Dan didn't see the place in New Richmond, WI until after we signed the lease.  We lived in New Richmond, WI for 21 months and then we moved to North Hudson, WI.  I was 8 months pregnant with our 2nd child.  Partway into our lease there Dan was laid off from his job.  As our lease was ending and unemployment was ending we decided we should take his parents up on their offer and move in with them.  Just before we were to leave for Spokane, WA we found out we were pregnant and it looked like twins.  So we moved to Spokane and finally got a Dr and found out for sure that it was twins.  We stayed with my in-laws for 11 months.  By then Dan had a job and we were back on our feet and found a place not far from my in-laws.

We only lived in our apartment in Spokane for 4 months when Dan got a more steady job in Midvale, UT.  So once again we moved.  We have been here for 20 months.

So in the almost 7 years we have been married we have moved 7 times.  Crazy!  We are hoping to finally put down some roots this next year and stay in one place for awhile!

Slice of Life # 56 ~ Time Crunch

I am one of those people who hate to be late.  I am usually 5-10 min early unless something or someone has held me up.

We are one of those families that shows up to church 5-10 min early (most Sunday's).  People tell me all the time how amazing I am to have the family there on-time every week when their Sunday School teacher's are all usually 5-10 min late, which means I am late to attend my classes (We have RS/Pristhood first, then Sunday School and Sacrament Last).  I don't ever think it is amazing, I just like to be places on time when ever I can.  I get up early to get myself ready and I have things put together the night before for church so we are not scrabbling in the morning looking for shoes, dresses, ext.

I also love to plan, and I will start planning months in advance.  Right now I am starting to really get into planning mode for a trip to my brother-in-law's wedding.

The other thing I tend to plan and start doing in advance is moving.  When people show up to help me move, I always like to have my house ready for them.  I have been told a few times "Thank You" for being ready for the help to arrive to move the stuff so they were able to load, drive to the new place and unload  in 1 1/2 hours.  I still had to go back and do the cleaning, but that always goes much quicker when you have the boxes and stuff moved out.

I like to plan so I can succeed, if I don't plan nothing ever turns out right!

Slice of Life #55~Naughty, Naughty, Naughty

I know I have been naughty at times in my life, but there is only one big naughty that I remember that I really got in trouble for with my mother.

I was 13 years old and went to a Beehive II(church youth group) group sleepover party at one of our leaders house.  While we were having a good time, we heard something outside.  We had discovered that our leaders house had been "Dotted" (paper dots taped to the house).  We figured out one of the girls who did it was from the Beehive I class (age 12).  So everyone else wanted to get back at her and they decided to toilet paper her house in exchange for the toilet paper we had to babysit for two hours free for our leader, so I went along...we went and toilet papered this girls house and the Bishop's house.  Her father was still up and saw us do it and laughed since he knew what his daughter had done. 

The next morning we went and helped both families clean up the mess and invited them to breakfast with us.

My mom was so mad when she found out what we had done that my leader never did have me come and babysit to repay back the toilet paper.  And as a result none of the other youth groups were allowed to have a group sleepover.

Not my proudest moment, but it taught me a lot at the time, and I have never done anything like that again.

So there is my Slice of Life Naughty Story.  Hope you enjoy it!

This is written for Slice of Life entry.

Slice of Life # 54~Why I Live Where I Live

This weeks Slice of Life is Why I live where I live....mmmm....Well when we first got married we just needed something that wasn't too small for both of us as we were combining things together since we had both lived on our own for so long, we both had a lot of stuff, and even then we had to get rid of some of it.  We got an apartment in South Salt Lake that still allowed us to commute to work ok and was still within a price range we could afford.

Then we moved to WI with a job change, this time we needed a 2 bedroom as we were excpeting our first child.  We found an apartment in New Richmond, WI that was only 24 miles to my sister-in-law and best friend Sarah's house.  Again we needed something that was in our price range.  It was nice without being too small or too big. I picked the place without Dan ever seeing it until we had the keys and were ready to move in.

We then moved to a 3 bedroom duplex in North Hudson, WI.  This put us only 14 miles to Sarah's house and closer to work and church.  We chose the 3 bedroom as Dan's sister Annette was living with us and we were expecting baby number 2.  This had an unfinished basement that worked great for storage and as Dan's office.

We then lost our job and moved in with Dan's parents in Spokane, WA and stayed with them for 11 months.  During this time we had the twins.  Once we had a job and were back on our feet a little bit we moved into a 3 bedroom apartment not far from his parents house.  It was close to all the shopping, Dr's and such.

But we weren't happy with having a  "Temp" job so Dan kept looking, and 4 months after we moved into our place in Spokane, Dan got a job back in UT.  He headed down ahead of the kids and I and stayed with my aunt and uncle while he found us a place.  I looked online and would tell him to check out these places.  We knew we needed at least three bedrooms, but we didn't want it to be too small or to pricey.  Several he looked  at  where in the right price range, but the space was so small and no storage.  Some were to far out we didn't want to spend a lot in gas for the same price as some of the one's closer to work.  Then I found the apartment that we live in online and set up an appointment for Dan to see it on his lunch break.  It was only 1 mile from work.  He decided this was the place and put the deposit down on it right away and moved into it two days later with the kids and I coming to join him 2 days after that.  I didn't get to see it until after I arrived.  Right now this place is great because now that we are only down to one car he walks to and from work everyday.  It makes the convenience of living here all the better.


So we both have picked places that the other hasn't seen until we went to move in.

We would love to rent or buy a house, but right now that isn't an option as the size we need is $400 more a month then we can afford.  But we will see what the future holds.

Slice of Life # 53~ Helping Hands

It has taken me all week to think about what I wanted to write.  And my mind is still really blank as to what to say.

When I think of Helping Hands, I think of giving service, and this can be in any form.  There are ways of service that Dan and I have talked about but we have yet to do them... maybe this year.  But I have helped take meals to those in my neighborhood who were ill, just had a baby or such.  I have helped with cleaning projects, I have babysat for people so they could get things done, and have told them don't pay me, it is my way to help.  I have also gave a dear friend a place to stay for a month when she had to move out of her apartment and had no were else to go.  And I have bought bus tokens for friends in need.

Sometimes we don't think of ourselves giving service when we are just reaching out and being a friend.

Let us remember to reach outside of ourselves and give to others as Christ would give to us.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I don't have a garden. We don't own any land. We live in an apartment. I would love to own some land, though I don't know if I will ever have a garden like my mother's.

Growing up, for those prime years of my childhood, we lived on an eighty acre hobby farm. My dad commuted into the cities to work. In the evenings and on the weekends, we would occasionally have to help dad with the fields. Wheat, oats, and hay are the crops I can really recall. Now about a good third of that land was in forest and swamp, so that wasn't too bad. It provided some supplemental income I gather, or at least reduced the cost of living there. Because of it, I grew up on a wheat diet. Wheat bread, wheat in our cookies, and wheat pancakes.

Now my wife is correct that my mom did have a garden that you used the word "acre" to describe the size of it. It wasn't in back though. One of the fields off the driveway had part of it converted into mom's garden. I remember being told that before we could go to the lake that we had to weed a row of corn. We moaned about it like many kids do when told to work on mom's garden. And although we enjoyed the fruits of her garden all year (corn would be prepared and frozen so we ate mom's garden corn for many months), we would give mom the complaint "but it so long!" or "You cannot even see the end of the row!" Her garden was on a hill, so you literally could not see the end of a row of corn standing at the driveway. Corn, potatoes, beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, and even tomatoes were a few of things mom grew in her garden. The spot dedicated to watermelons and pumpkins was probably as big as many people's backyard gardens alone. And, yes, mom had a backyard garden as well. Probably still bigger than most suburban gardens, but we did live in farmland. There was a large section for strawberries. And I cannot forget the raspberries. Thinking of raspberries, I seem to recall that the raspberries were divided into several groups and not all restrained to just those two gardens. Not all the raspberries flourished while we lived there either.

I wonder how many gardens are prepared by tractor and plow instead of 'tiller.

Mom's garden may have been rather large, but now when I hear others complain about weeding gardens I generally get a good chuckle out of it. I have since learned that when we complain as children that the nature of the task is what drives our complaint and not the scale of it.

I heard that some of the neighbors wondered who was going to maintain my mom's garden when we left. Remember, that large garden measured in relation to an acre was along the driveway, a portion of a field in front of the house. So everyone around had been seeing that garden for years. My parents have moved several times since then, and my mom has often kept a garden. Though none of them on quite the same scale.

As big as my mom's garden was, I seem to have heard some stories of another amazing gardener who worked in a much smaller garden. Someone who was in wheelchair? If I got that right, that is a story my wife witnessed.

Slice of Life # 52 ~ The Book that Changed Me

I love to read, so to say a book truly changed me is hard.  I love reading the Book of Mormon and Bible.  Recently I did read a book that I did really enjoy and some of the things talked about I could definitely apply to me.  I have decided that I need to buy this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book about Larry H. Miller.  My husband worked for him for 8 years.  And reading how his life and  some of the things he did.  I think he had some good things to talk about in this book.

Slice of Life # 51 ~ How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have asked Dan to write this one, but he hasn't so far, but I do plan on having him write down what it was like to grow up on a 80 acer Hobby Farm and his mom had 1 acer garden in back, and a smaller garden in front like I grew up with in front.


I grew up with a garden.  I remember helping to till the ground, plant, weed and then harvest.  I seem to remember having broccoli soup when ever company came in the late summer.  I still like broccoli soup.  I think I should get the recipe from my mother!  I loved corn on the cob, tomatoes, peas, green beans, carrots, zucchini and pumpkin.  As I got older and Grandpa Dillon lived with us he would also have radishes too.

And now as I am raising a family of my own, I want to have a garden to plant and grow food.  Hopefully in the next few years we can do that.

Slice of Life # 50 ~ Happy Birthday

This Weeks Slice of Life is about Birthdays! I have had some fun ones over the years. In 9th grade, my group of friends left a gift for me in each class, and a big balloon boquate in my last class.
My 21st birthday I went to Hard Rock Cafe with my family.  My parents may not have appreciated that, but I sure had a fun time, and I got the sweatshirt I am wearing in these pictures there.

These pictures are from my mission. Since I love Cheesecake or angle food cake as my birthday cake, my parents sent me a no bake cheesecake mix and little shortcakes. I also got a new outfit. My companion and I went on a hike since it was our perperation day, and then at our dinner appointment that night, they had made a cake and put candles on it when they found out it was my birthday. My birthday is this next week, and we may not be doing much, but I feel loved by my family!