Jared's Birthday

Here are a few photos from Jared's birthday celebration. I also threw in one of him from our Easter egg hunt this morning. I took several, but this is the only one that turned out.













Jared in shades













Game from Grandma Janet













New teeball glove













In love with BEN 10













Superman cake

Blue Yogurt

Follow-up on Flowers

Here's a sample of my crocuses, with daffodils and tulips to come. We can tell some previous owner used to take care of our yard, but it was not recently. Still, someone once planted tulip bulbs and we should have bucketloads of blooms in a matter of weeks.

Can't Say We Weren't Warned

At the risk of sounding alarmist, I'll share some counsel from President Hinckley that popped into my mind this morning as I was thinking about all the news I've been hearing about the economy over the last few days and weeks. I have a feeling he hit the nail on the head (as our prophets usually do). Now I'm thinking about what our family can still do about it. We were planning to start building a garage with our tax refund and tax rebate, but maybe a better use would be buying more food storage and paying on our debts. I went to the Church website and found the General Conference talk where Pres. Hinckley gave the counsel I was thinking about. It's kind of long, but here's the part that is pertinent:

"Now, brethren, I should like to talk to the older men, hoping that there will be some lesson for the younger men as well.

I wish to speak to you about temporal matters.

As a backdrop for what I wish to say, I read to you a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis.

Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: “Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

“And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

“And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. …

“And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: …

“And I saw in my dream … seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

“And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

“And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: …

“And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, … God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

“The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. …

“… What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

“Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

“And there shall arise after them seven years of famine;

“… And God will shortly bring it to pass” (Gen. 41:17–20, 22–26, 28–30, 32).

Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.

So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.

We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.

I hope with all my heart that we shall never slip into a depression. I am a child of the Great Depression of the thirties. I finished the university in 1932, when unemployment in this area exceeded 33 percent.

My father was then president of the largest stake in the Church in this valley. It was before our present welfare program was established. He walked the floor worrying about his people. He and his associates established a great wood-chopping project designed to keep the home furnaces and stoves going and the people warm in the winter. They had no money with which to buy coal. Men who had been affluent were among those who chopped wood.

I repeat, I hope we will never again see such a depression. But I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people. In March 1997 that debt totaled $1.2 trillion, which represented a 7 percent increase over the previous year.

In December of 1997, 55 to 60 million households in the United States carried credit card balances. These balances averaged more than $7,000 and cost $1,000 per year in interest and fees. Consumer debt as a percentage of disposable income rose from 16.3 percent in 1993 to 19.3 percent in 1996.

Everyone knows that every dollar borrowed carries with it the penalty of paying interest. When money cannot be repaid, then bankruptcy follows. There were 1,350,118 bankruptcies in the United States last year. This represented a 50 percent increase from 1992. In the second quarter of this year, nearly 362,000 persons filed for bankruptcy, a record number for a three-month period.

We are beguiled by seductive advertising. Television carries the enticing invitation to borrow up to 125 percent of the value of one’s home. But no mention is made of interest.

President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the April 1938 general conference, said from this pulpit: “Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).

I recognize that it may be necessary to borrow to get a home, of course. But let us buy a home that we can afford and thus ease the payments which will constantly hang over our heads without mercy or respite for as long as 30 years.

No one knows when emergencies will strike. I am somewhat familiar with the case of a man who was highly successful in his profession. He lived in comfort. He built a large home. Then one day he was suddenly involved in a serious accident. Instantly, without warning, he almost lost his life. He was left a cripple. Destroyed was his earning power. He faced huge medical bills. He had other payments to make. He was helpless before his creditors. One moment he was rich, the next he was broke.

Since the beginnings of the Church, the Lord has spoken on this matter of debt. To Martin Harris through revelation He said: “Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage” (D&C 19:35).

President Heber J. Grant spoke repeatedly on this matter from this pulpit. He said: “If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means. And if there is any one thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet” (Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham [1941], 111).

We are carrying a message of self-reliance throughout the Church. Self-reliance cannot obtain when there is serious debt hanging over a household. One has neither independence nor freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others.

In managing the affairs of the Church, we have tried to set an example. We have, as a matter of policy, stringently followed the practice of setting aside each year a percentage of the income of the Church against a possible day of need.

I am grateful to be able to say that the Church in all its operations, in all its undertakings, in all of its departments, is able to function without borrowed money. If we cannot get along, we will curtail our programs. We will shrink expenditures to fit the income. We will not borrow.

One of the happiest days in the life of President Joseph F. Smith was the day the Church paid off its long-standing indebtedness.

What a wonderful feeling it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary.

President Faust would not tell you this himself. Perhaps I can tell it, and he can take it out on me afterward. He had a mortgage on his home drawing 4 percent interest. Many people would have told him he was foolish to pay off that mortgage when it carried so low a rate of interest. But the first opportunity he had to acquire some means, he and his wife determined they would pay off their mortgage. He has been free of debt since that day. That’s why he wears a smile on his face, and that’s why he whistles while he works.

I urge you, brethren, to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.

This is a part of the temporal gospel in which we believe. May the Lord bless you, my beloved brethren, to set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That’s all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable."

Gordon B. Hinckley, "To the Boys and to the Men," Ensign, Nov. 1998, 51

One more photo...

The Leaning Tower of Pitas

Homemade pita bread

So I've been in one of those ruts with meals lately--just tired of eating the same old things we always eat. And Jeff has been craving good bread. He's been on Spring Break the last few days, so yesterday afternoon he decided to try his hand at making pita bread. (Have I ever said I love having a husband who likes to cook?!!!) He found a couple of recipes--here and here--and went to work. Turns out, it really wasn't much work, but, like most bread recipes, you have to plan ahead a bit so you give the dough time to rise. That's the hard part for me--planning ahead. Jeff used the ingredients from the first recipe, but the cooking temperature from the second recipe, i.e., hotter oven. Pre-heating the baking sheet or pizza stone (recommended) is a must. Jeff mixed the dough up in about 20 minutes, let it rise for 2-3 hours, then baked them in time for dinner. Yum! They turned out so good--fluffy and delicious! They weren't quite as good as the pita bread I remember from my semester in the Holy Land, but they were SO much better than store-bought that we will never buy wimpy pita bread at the store again. The biggest problem was, the recipe only made ten pitas, which was barely enough for our family of six for dinner. Jeff is upstairs right now making a double batch for us for tonight.

BEFORE































AFTER

















Of course, once the pita bread was underway, we had to find something to fill it with. Now I know they are good plain, but we wanted to make a meal with them. And I know you can fill them with just about any salad or sandwich makings, but I got online and did a search for "pita filling," to see if I could come up with something different. Here is the recipe for "Greek salad pita pockets" that we ended up trying. We are not vegetarians, but this all-veggie salad was great and, with the pitas, it filled us up, even without any meat. Only drawback is that it calls for crumbled feta cheese, which is not cheap. I ran to the store and found a "value pack"--$4.59 for 12 ounces. We doubled the salad recipe, which used only about a third of the cheese. Jeff and I almost finished off the salad in one meal, so it would have to be tripled or quadrupled for more eaters. The kids made pizza pockets out of their pitas--they, of course, don't do salads or veggies. :-( The rest of the meal ingredients were really inexpensive, unless you choose to buy hummus (for the salad) at the grocery store ($3.99 for 6 oz.). I opted for looking up a recipe for hummus, buying canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) for 99 cents a can, and making my own. It was even easier than the pitas and the salad! I combined two recipes so I'll just tell you what I did here, instead of linking to them.

Hummus

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Serve with pita bread, pita chips, tortilla chips, or veggies.

The first three ingredients are the base, then the seasonings can be added or left out as you like. (We like garlic and vinegar!) Some recipes call for tahini, which is a paste made of sesame seeds. I like tahini, but I didn't want to go looking for it or pay for it, and it isn't necessary anyway.

Anyway, it was a fresh, yummy, healthy meal, AND it was something different, so I thought I'd share. Can't wait to make it with fresh veggies from our garden this summer!

More banana art

Banana Graffiti

I came home the other day to find graffiti carved in one of the bananas in our fruit bowl. Apparently Jeff saw an article or show about "banana art" somewhere and wanted to try it. I was the lucky recipient of his efforts. :-)

Randomness

I guess I should post all these random things separately, but I don't feel like it, so I'll just subtitle them.

Shelves

For my birthday Jeff told me he would build some shelves in the family room in our basement. In our new house I've been a little frustrated with storage options. There is plenty of space, but not enough closets, shelves, furniture, etc., to store stuff in or display stuff on. And we, unfortunately, have plenty of stuff. Especially books. Just ask anyone who has ever helped us move how many boxes of books he lifted. Plenty. In fifteen years of marriage we have NEVER had enough bookshelf space. It took a few weeks, but the shelves are up and painted and they look great. I was worried about how they would look, not because I didn't trust Jeff to do a good job (which he did), but because I wasn't sure what I wanted was based on sound interior decorating principles. I think I got lucky. Haven't had a chance to put any books or knick-knacks on them yet, but here are a few pics. Don't they look nice?!






























Brush with Fame--Not

About a week ago, I went down to BYU to do some family history research with my mom. As we were waiting to cross Campus Drive east of the Wilkinson Center, there was a guy also waiting to cross who looked really familiar to me. I figured he was someone in our new ward that I should know, or a bagger at the grocery store I usually go to, or something like that. We crossed the street and he went into the Wilkinson Center. We went out and around toward the library. Then there he was again, holding the door for us as we walked into the library. I smiled at him briefly, not wanting to be rude if I really should have known who he was and I was just having a senior moment. But I still couldn't place him. That bugs! It finally came to me later that same day, thank goodness. (I'm not that senior yet!) He looked like the actor, Tahmoh Penikett, who plays Karl "Helo" Agathon on the new Battlestar Galactica series. I mean it really looked like him! Lest you think that I'm some groupie or something, let me reassure you that pop culture is not my forte'. I watch very few movies and even less TV. We don't have satellite or cable, and, in fact, we didn't even own a TV until Christmas a little over a year ago. However, we do enjoy our Netflix subscription, and we have watched quite a few episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica on DVD. Still, I'm surprised I figured out who I thought this guy was. I've done a little Googling though, and I can't find any good reason for Tahmoh Penikett to have been on the BYU campus on a Saturday morning in February. It probably wasn't him. Oh well. Just a wannabe "brush with fame."


Cuteness with Jared

Jared is in a really cute stage and keeps me smiling on a daily basis. I'll be sad when he passes the pinnacle of cuteness (about age six, according to Bishop Derenthal of our Cincinnati ward). He went to our neighbor's birthday party a few weeks ago. Christopher is his best friend at the moment, even though he's a year older than Jared. So Chris turned five and Jared was SO excited to go to his pirate birthday party. (Why do five-year-old boys love pirates so much???) Jared had a great time and came home talking about finding treasure and treasure hunts and all that good stuff. Then he told me, several times, "I don't like three. I like four." Thank goodness I could tell him he will be four soon. If he'd wanted to be five like Christopher, I'm not sure I could have appeased him. So he's excited for his upcoming birthday. He has wanted a green Power Ranger cake since his last birthday though, and I'm sure we're gonna disappoint him on that one. I don't let my kids watch Power Rangers, I don't particularly like them--too violent, and last year's Larryboy birthday cake was such a huge effort that I think we'd better find something more simple this year.