Altar Cloth for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

This is a picture of a beautiful sealing room in the Draper Temple. The altar in the middle will have a cloth over it to keep it from getting worn and dirty. This is where families are sealed for eternity.

I have been diligently working on an altar cloth. The due date is somewhere between April 1st and May 1st. It has not been officially told to us. I was given very vague instructions on how to make it. My friend Teri is making one too. She and I had many questions about how to make them. I asked the matron at the Jordan River temple and the ladies that work with the alter clothes some questions we had which made it clearer what was expected. After picking a pattern and mapping it out on graph paper, I got right to work on it. I need to do 10 motifs a week to finish near to the dates that it is expected. Many talented women make these to cover the padding over the alters of the temples. Now that I have experienced the long hours that it takes to make one, I will be paying closer attention to them and appreciating them more.

I work anywhere from an hour to 5 hours a day on it to get it finished by those dates. The 30+ hour car ride to VA will give me plenty of time to catch up on some of it. I am using a size 10 needle and size 20 crochet cotton. It is very small stitching and my hands have been bothering me a little, so I took a little break for a couple of days. I am honored to be able to use my crochet talents to make this. I hope many families will sealed over it.

Cynthia

If you have more questions about temples go here:

http://www.lds.org/temples/purpose/0,11298,1897-1,00.html

New Camera

This is my new camera and my old one. I will need to get a bigger purse. "Grin"
Cynthia
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Driving Cross Country

Allie and I are getting ready to drive to Virginia where she is going to be a nanny for a year. I am trying to set up my blog so I can post from the road. So this is a test to see if it works.
Cynthia
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Sweet Valentines Treats

For my darling children I made these cute candy wrappers to dress up giant Hersey bars. I used an Ali Edwards download from Designer Digitals.

We stayed in today because it was snowing. We had heart shapped pizzas. Heather whipped up some sugar cookies and made miniture fruit pizzas with them.

It was a fun family holiday. The family played with the Wii and I crocheted on the Alter Cloth.

Cynthia

Oh no, my camera has died

I have loved using my Canon PowerShot S2Is. I would post a picture of it but, it keeps sending me an E18 message and shutting down. You can see it here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons2is/
So, I called Canon and they are sending me a refurbished Rebel XT, see here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS350D/
for about the same amount that it would cost me to repair this one. It comes with everything a new one does, and a 6 month warranty on parts and labor.
I will miss the video recorder on my old camera, that was really handy, and it is smaller.
I have always wanted a Rebel, I had a film Rebel years ago. It took marvelous pictures and I have really missed it for portraits and family pictures. It is rather heavy to use as a daily camera and not one you can easily put in your purse and carry around. I am glad to get it though. It will be a learning curve adventure as I learn to use it. I already have two lens and they are sending me another, yea!! That makes it a little easier to say goodbye to my old one.
Cynthia

Our Temple

We got the news Saturday about the Oquirrh Mountain Temple opening.

Go here: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/oquirrhmountain/

to learn more about the temple and to see more constrution photos.

We are so thrilled to be involved in all the activities that will be happening during the open house and dedication.

I have been working on an alter cloth for the new temple. I need to be finished by April 1st which means I need to really be dedicated to getting it finished. I will post some pictures of it as I get a little further along.

It is so wonderful to have a Temple in our backyard. It will bring many blessings to our area and our family. We won't have any excuses now! It is so close and convenient for our use to bless others with our service.

Public Open House: 1 June–1 August 2009 Dedication: 14–16 August 2009

I will post more about the open house tickets when it becomes available.

Cynthia

Sad News

I haven't felt like posting to my blog since last week. Kendra had a miscarriage a week ago last Saturday. She had to have a D&C on Thursday. Her Mom and I went to Logan to be with her and Michael. It has been a very sad time for our family. We were so looking forward to a new sweet baby in August.
Kendra is doing well and has returned to class, she missed her kids.
We look forward to hearing news of a new pregnancy sometime this year.
We are hoping that Heather and Kendra will be pregnant together.
Cynthia

Barbi, how did you know that I have been lusting after this on ebay. I have almost bought one several times. Thanks so much dear friend for the great gift. It will look really great in my scrapbook room when I get it cleaned up. LOL

Cynthia

Finish

I need to "Finish" some things. It is really bugging me lately that I am not completing things that I start.

These pictures are of my scarpbook room it is trashed and needs to be cleaned.
Wrapping area

Unfinished projects.

printer and cricut

The table in the basement, the floor by my island, the island.

My chair, ummm can't sit on it, too much stuff, my desk.

This is Christmas things that I need to go through and put away.

I have so many unfinished projects!! They are overwhelming me at the moment. So, I decided to take a picture of each of the ones that need attention "now".
Hopefully this will make me accountable for getting them done.

Spinner project,

Crochet wristers,

Christmas ornaments

Acrylic Halloween album.








Daily December album,

A day in my life,

Recipe rolodex for my kids

Wow, this is so much, I need to get off the computer and get busy.

Cynthia

Chicken Dumpling Stoup

We made this recipe for dinner the other day and it is really good. We will defiantly be making it again.

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/double-chicken-dumpling-stoup/

Double Chicken Dumpling Stoup

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), 2 turns of the pan
4 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups store-bought shredded carrots, (3 generous handfuls)
1 fresh bay leaf
Salt and pepper
6 cups chicken stock
1 pound ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
A little freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (a couple of handfuls)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (a couple of handfuls)
1 package gnocchi, available in market refrigerated aisle with fresh pastas
1 cup frozen peas
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Crusty bread for mopping
Preparation
Heat a soup pot over medium to medium-high heat with EVOO. Add celery, onions, carrots and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes. Add stock to the pot, cover and bring to a boil.

Place chicken in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add garlic, nutmeg, egg, bread crumbs and cheese.

Combine the chicken mixture with your hands then roll into walnut-sized meat balls and add to the soup. Wash up, then add the gnocchi to the pot and cook for 5 minutes.
Add peas and parsley, and cook 2 minutes more. Turn heat off under the stoup and allow it to cool for 5 minutes on the stovetop before serving with crusty bread.

Try it out I think you will love it. Thanks Rachael.

Cynthia

Barbi's Christmas Present

I made this cute bulletin board for Barbi's Christmas present.

Allison saw it and now she wants one . I want to make me one too.

I made mittens for winter, they have clothes pins glued to the back. For spring I will have to make something else. Oh the possiblities.

Kitchen Before and After

In October I decided to refinish my cabinets in my kitchen here is the before picture

And here is the after. I really like how they turned out.

Notes from a Cottage Industry has some great instructions if you want to check out her blog

http://acottageindustry.typepad.com/a_cottage_industry/2007/09/the-moment-weve.html

I also traded out the big table with my old dinning room table (I have had it for 24 years) without the leaf. I painted it and distressed it. I found and bought two wing chairs off of KSL for $50.00 each !! It makes the eat in kitchen a little more cozy for just Ray and I to sit and have a nice warm drink and read the paper.

Cynthia

Happy New Year

Happy 2009 everyone. I hope it turns out to be a great one.
Ray and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve together. We went out for Chinesse. MMM it is our yearly tradition to have Chinesse on New Year's Eve. We came home and watched "The Duchess". I have to get this book and read about her (Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire) What a life! This movie was based on a true story. She certainly had an interesting life.
Today we slept in, then went bowling with some friends. Ray BBQued (yup!, in the cold air)some steaks for dinner. We pretty much just loafed around.
Cynthia

Snow

This is the level of the snow now

This is the level of snow on the 16th of December.

Karen, if you ever wish for snow again, you will have to stick around to shovel it.

Cynthia

Christmas Day

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We did. It snowed most of the day and we stayed nice and cozy in our warm house with both fires going. If you look to the left of this picture you can see where the snow is piling up on the side of the deck. The wind was blowing so hard that the snow wasn't sticking to the deck.

We got a late start, ate some breakfast pizza. Then let Ray hand out all the presents.

Carlie's favortie part of the presents


We were all very happy to be together for the holiday's. Tucked in to our home with all of us together. Taking naps, eating, playing games, watching movies. I loved it.
Cynthia

Christmas Eve Mystery Dinner

This year we thought it would be great to have a mystery dinner for Christmas Eve.

It was so much fun.

I got the plans and downloaded them from here: http://www.mymysteryparty.com/chmumy.html

Every one dressed up. Michael was VIP the elf and won the best costume.

You can't see from this picture, but he is wearing tights.

I was Mrs. Claus, Ray was Santa, Carlie was Dap the Elf, (she is trying on Kendra's antlers in this picture). Kendra was Prisser the reindeer, Allison was Icy the Snowman, Ben was Ebbie Smoodge, Heather was the Gingerbread Man. We will definatly make this a yearly tradition.

Cynthia

Ray's Birthday

Ray turned 53 this year.

We started a new tradition this year for his birthday. He gets his own "birthday tree". One of our friends daughter's birthday is the 23rd and this was a tradition she has for her. I have adopted it. Thanks Lisa for the idea. He was thrilled with his "Harley" tree. We went to Carino's for dinner. I forgot the camera. Dang. Luckily we have pictures but they are on Michael and Kendra's camera. Thanks kids for being on the ball.

Cynthia

Christmas cookies

Heather and I wanted to bake some cookies for Christmas. She loves to make sugar cookies and decorate them for the holiday's. I like to make them, but the problem is I like to "eat" them too. Which is why we usually don't. This year one of our friends was having a bridal shower for her daughter in law to be, so we made all of our goodies then took them to the shower the next day. It worked out so good for us.

I made up a new recipe. I had these great cookies from the temple cafeteria a couple of weeks ago. They are like a little carrot cake cookie. I copied the recipe they had, but there were ingredients that I was unfamilar with. So I bought a box of carrot cake mix and added 1 stick of butter, some pecans and two eggs, dropped them by cookie scoop and baked them at 350degrees for about 10 minutes, let them cool and then frosted them with frosting with orange juice added. MMMM good. These are a new favorite.

Cynthia

So Behind on Posts

Ok, let me say again how bad I am at this blog thing. I really must update. I will find time to post all the terrific pictures I have been taking daily.
Cynthia

Graduation Day

Michael graduated from Utah State College. He earned a degree in Aviation Engineering. We are so proud of him. Karen and Trey drove up from California to help us celebrate.

It was a horrible day to travel. The snow started falling pretty heavily about the time we got to Ogden. The canyon to Logan was horrible and there were lots of slide offs. But, we made it.
I took this picture in Ogden

I kept my head down and looked through the pictures on my camera. I had over 400 images and needed to delete some. It kept me pretty busy while Ray navigated the snowy roads.

Cynthia

Dining room decorations

Here is the pretty dinning room all finished being decked out for the holidays.

Decorating the Tree

Ben, Heather, Carlie, Ray and I spent the evening decorating the tree in the Family room and having cookies and hot chocolate. I love having the tree decorated but, I hate spending all day by myself to do it. It is much more fun with help. This tree is 12 feet tall. I know cool huh!. The room it is in is two stories tall, so it would look really funny to have a 6 foot tree in there. It takes a really tall ladder and daughter to reach all the tall spots.

Ray gets to put the top on the tree, he also gets to bring it up from the basement and fluff it out. He does not do anymore of the decorating then that.

Cynthia