Passing

I'm off to the Kidney Stone Center this morning to see if this kidney stone has moved or not. If not, they want to shoot me up with a laser (my kids said that was just like in Star Wars!).

Last night my friend brought me over this care package. It all has to do with "stones." Fruity PEBBLES, Hershey NUGGETS, Pop ROCKS, get it? The water (with flavoring!) is because I need to drink LOTS of water and that can get pretty boring and the candles are just because I love to burn candles. Isn't this a clever gift? My friend Shelby is so good at clever, thoughtful gifts. She is a wonderful friend!
Keep me in your prayers today! I hope I come home without a kidney stone, but I hope they don't have to laser me. I believe in miracles.

Retreat

After having company for four days, we quickly switched gears, delivered five kids to friends and Brady and I headed to Georgia for our husband/wife conference. We were in Norcross to be exact, at the Simpsonwood Conference Center.

We had a nice time but I'm telling you, six meals of their cafeteria food was about five too many. My tummy hurt the whole way home (and that's an eight hour drive!). It's always fun to get away with my honey, cafeteria food or not.

I'd blog more, but I'm going to bed. I'm nursing a mean cold and I have to speak at our Stake Women's conference on Saturday. I'm praying my voice comes back (or should I pray for the opposite??? It's hard to decide).

Company, Part II

What a wonderful few days we had with my sister's family here. Here's a recap of what we did:

Sea World:

(all of you Hydes, plus a few Nixons are on this roller coaster. Ten bucks if you can point out your own heads. On second thought, it might be easier for Lyndsey and Ann Murray if they find their feet!)

A little friendly Wii competition:

Bonding Time:

(these two really loved Uncle Jim)

Of course, a little good food:

The Beach:

And I think Michelle spent most of her time here. (I could get used to someone cleaning up after me!)

We had such a great time with them here and we were sad to say goodbye.

Company

Today my sister Michelle, her husband Jim, daughter Lyndsey and niece Anne Marie (from Jim's side of the family) are coming to visit! They will be here until Monday and we are so excited to have some company!





In their honor, I'm making these:

In addition to welcome-to-Florida cookies, Mother Nature heard our pleas for warm weather and she's promised 75-80's this week (that's a far cry from 50's last week!).

AND, despite the fact that I have towels to wash, Key Lime Pie to make, oranges to squeeze, bathrooms to scrub, etc. etc., I'm giving you the recipe for these delicious cookies because they are so yummy and easy - my two favorite things in a recipe.

Magic Peanut Butter Cookies

Mix together:

1/2 c. butter (you want this cold or room temperature - not melted at all)

1/2 c. peanut butter (try to get the kind without salmonella)

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg (when doubling this use 1 egg and then only the yolk from the second)

Blend together and then add to butter mixture the following:

1 1/4 c. flour

3/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Add chocolate chips (you know the saying, the more the merrier). I also used 1/2 a bag of the Reeses baking pieces this time...hope they make it extra yummy! If you scoop them with a cookie scoop, you might want to smash them down a little especially if doubling due to the missing egg white (so you could also call them "thumbprint cookies").

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes on ungreased pans (be careful, I over-cooked my last batch because they didn't look done and they were a little too crunchy).

Now, how many hours until that plane lands...

Service

Last week I started working here:

Since I still have kids at home I'm classified as a "volunteer" rather than an "ordinance worker." I'll work once a month. My first day was rather long, I must admit. I'm used to being on the go during the day and to just slow down, smile, greet people, enjoy the peace and quiet of the Celestial Room, well, it was definitely a change of pace for me. But, I'm excited about being able to do it each month

(I even got me a pair of REAL white shoes - not just the slippers! Is that official or what?).

Ouch... And I Mean OUCH!

Last week I was machine quilting some fabric for a class I was going to be taking at Bernina. Silly me, I stuck my finger in the way of the fast-moving needle, and BAM! The needle went right through my fingernail and darn near out the other side! As I jerked my hand away as soon as I realized what was happening, I broke the needle in half so that half was in the sewing machine and the other half was in my finger!!!

Not a pretty sight.

I wish I would have stayed calm long enough to take a picture, that would have been pretty gross to see, right? But I just wanted to yank that thing out of my finger, so that's what I did. Then a little bead of blood formed on both sides of my finger. Then I decided to get my camera, because my finger actually didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would.

I was having focus issues with my camera, but if you look close you can see a little bead of blood on both sides of my finger (the one side is actually on the fingernail).

That was a lovely experience. And speaking of lovely, this is what I made the next day at my sewing class:


At least this story had a happy ending, right?

Upstaged

Brady was asked to speak at a fireside at the Church ranch a month or so ago. Then it was rescheduled to this past Sunday night (someone didn't check the calendar...Brady was up against the Superbowl!). There was talk of postponing again because of the game, but it was finally decided that the show would go on (the fireside show that is, not the OTHER show which was definitely going on).

So, we took the whole family and went out to the ranch where we had a lovely dinner before the fireside. BUT, just as we were all gathering to say the blessing on the food, Brother Jacobson anncounced that not only was Brady competing against the Superbowl, but THIS star

was in town and had agreed to give a musical fireside just 20 minutes down the road! The whole stake was invited to attend, but the ranch ward declined. News of David Archuleta being in town was buzzing all around the ward at the ranch but the bishop was insistent that Brady's fireside would go on.

But...wouldn't you know it, there was a GREAT crowd there and Brady gave an awesome fireside on the influence of music. He is such a gifted speaker (something I heard he definitely upstages D.A. on) and by the way, who won the Superbowl anyway?

A Little Project

The girls have both wanted something to carry their MP3 players in.

Courtney came up with an idea, explained it to me and asked if I could make it for her. I really like to sew from a pattern - I'm not very good at all without one but (sigh of relief) I was able to create what she was looking for.

Meghann then asked if I would make hers a little bigger so that she could put the earphones inside. She loved this fabric left over from her make up bag so I made her MP3 case out if it.

I thought it turned out so cute!

Apparently Courtney did too...now she wants one like Meghann's. Forget the first one I made her!