Off to Arizona for Chase's Birthday

On Feb. 20th, I went to Arizona to see Brooke and her family and also to be there for Chase's sixth birthday. I was greeted at the airport by Noah's cute happy face. It makes a grandma feel so special when she is greeted with such an enthusiastic welcome.
All of the children had hugs for me when I arrived. It wasn't Chase's birthday until the 24th, but of course, I had to let him open my present early. I gave him a football and basketball. Almost immediately they were out in back playing football.

Here is cute Noah playing with his sword and stick.

Chase's birthday finall arrived. His favorite gift was a Cardinal's jersey. He is a serious Arizona Cardinals fan and wanted to wear his shirt to school everyday after that.

We went to Bounce U for Chase's birthday activity with the family. Isaac had fun on the train. Afterward's we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. That is Chase's favorite place to eat next to In and Out Burger. He loved sitting in the saddle and having everyone sing Happy Birthday ending with a big YE HA!!

I had so much fun with Brooke and her sweet and energetic family. I was able to babysit so that she and Spencer could get out for a night off and do fun shopping and other activities with Brooke as well. It was a great week for me.

Winter in the Ogden Valley

It is such a beautiful day today. Unusual as it may seem, we have not had a bright sunny day for quite awhile. Even though Northern Utah has not received a great amount of precipitation this year, we have a couple of feet of snow here in Eden. I was down in Bountiful on Saturday and there is no snow down there. I guess it has been snowing in the mountains where it is most needed. The picture I've included is of a waterfall at the mouth of Ogden Canyon. As the water falls, it freezes into beautiful ice cascades.
As for an update on my knee surgery, it does seem to be improving. I was very disappointed when I went to the doctor for my follow-up visit and he told me that there is a place on my knee where it is bone on bone. He said that someday I will be a candidate for knee replacement. Yuck!!! The idea of it grosses me out. I asked him how long he thought my knee might last and he said there is no way of knowing. He said I may be back a year from now or it could be twenty years. I was advised that I should do no high-impact exercises so I can preserve what I do have. You can be sure I will follow his instruction. The only thing that is bothering me right now and causes me to still walk stiff-legged is a painful catching and popping that happens when I bend my knee at a certain point. I understand that will go away as the ligaments and tendons heal from the surgery.

McKenzie's Baptism

On January 30th, 2010 our granddaughter, McKenzie Caitain, was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have ever been to. I think one thing that made it so special was because our stake lets families have their own private baptism. In addition to our family, Reid and Val invited their neighbors who are less active and not members of the church. The missionaries, ward mission leader, primary president, and member of the bishopric were there. McKenzie asked me to speak on baptism and Steve to speak on the Holy Ghost. Valorie and Gary Carter (her other grandpa) bore their testimonies.

Beautiful McKenzie.

Her dad, Reid, performed the baptism and confirmation.

McKenzie, with her parents, Reid and Valorie.

Nadine's Knee Surgery

On Monday January 25th, 2010, I had knee surgery. It was something I kept putting off thinking it probably wasn't bad enough to do and also because I know it will be harder to get health insurance. Well, we are on Cobra health insurance now and it expires in March so I decided I should find out how serious my knee problem was and get it fixed while I still had health insurance.

I began to suspect that my problem was getting more serious when I took some long walks and found myself in a lot of pain afterward. I origionally injured my knee when we were in Ireland. After one of our meetings we took a drive to a beach. This beach was covered with the most symetrical, smooth, oval shaped rocks I had ever seen. As I walked on them, they shifted causing me to go down and severely twist my knee. After that, I had twinges of pain, but not unbearable. When we came home, I was too busy with family and getting settled that I did nothing about it.

I have a friend in our ward who is a former orthropedic doctor, but no longer practices because she is disabled. I told her about my knee and she had me come over so she could look at it. She could immediately tell that I had muscle deterioration in my right quad and suspected that I had a torn meniscus. She also told me that if I didn't get it fixed, I would have arthritis that would eventually lead to a need for a complete knee replacement. I got a doctor appointment and his diagnosis was the same as hers so I was scheduled for surgery.

Now the surgery is over, I can admit that the recovery is much slower than I expected. I am not the kind of person that enjoys sitting around, but Steve has been so good with taking care of me and keeping the dishes done up. The floor washing and vacuuming will just have to wait and I will have to learn patience.

Dinner at the Spallino's

We had a real fun evening tonight. We went to Linda and Terry Spallino's house for dinner and had a reunion with people who served in the Area Office in Solihol, England when we were on our mission in Ireland. Gerald Lund, who was released in October as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, and his wife Lynn were there. They are pictured in the top row on the right. We had a great evening reminiscing.

I might add that I just finished Gerald Lunds newest book, "The Undaunted." I really enjoyed it. It is based on historical facts about the pioneers who were called to settle in the Four-Corners area of Utah. They constructed a road to the Colorado River through what is known as the Hole-in-the-Rock. They had many harrowing experiences in their journey. This historical book is interwoven with a ficticious story of a family who went on this pioneering trek. I felt a great sense of appreciation for the suffering and sacrifice of these noble Saints. If you want to read it, I would be happy to loan you the book.

Artisan Bread

We absolutely love Artisan bread, but I don't like the price. We were getting it at Costco but they quit getting it in. We like the round loaves. Steve tried getting the long loaves, but they weren't as good. Well, I got fed up with the whole matter and decided I needed to learn to make it so I found a recipe on the Internet. I have made a couple of batches this week and it is sooooo good.

The above picture is of a loaf that turned out almost perfect. I took the bread to a social gathering and everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. Here is the recipe if you are interested.

Artisan Bread

3 cups lukewarm water

1-1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast

1-1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt

6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method (scoop into a measuring cup and scrape off the top with a straight edge)

Put yeast in the lukewarm water. Add flour and salt all at once. Mix in food processor or by hand until mixture is uniform. Don't knead. Put dougn in a container in which you can place a lid on top, but not airtight. I use a plastic cake taker and set the lid on top. Either let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature or put it in the refrigerator over-night. I prefer the latter method since the dough is easier to work with when cold.

When you are ready to shape the loaf, sprinkle the dough with some flour and cut the dough in half with a serrated knife. Handle the dough as little as possible (30-60 seconds). Shape by gently stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Now this is the part that is a little difficult to explain. You need to raise the dough on something that you can slide it off of when you are ready to bake it. I put it on cornmeal on a plastic sheet I use to cut up vegetables on. If you did the room temperature raising, the final resting period will take about 45 minutes. If you raised it in the refrigerator, it will take about two hours to rest before baking.

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put a baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on another shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

Dust the loaf with flour and slash a tic-tac-toe design with a serrated knife.

After the 20 minute heating period, slide the loaf off the surface you rested it on, onto the stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and quickly shut the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.

You can store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in the (not airtight) container for up to 14 days and bake as needed.

Baby-sitting Hallie Kate

Last week I had the blessing and opportunity of tending Hallie while Katie went and did some shopping. It's what grandmas love to do most. We had a great time together and she didn't cry even once. I think we are getting to be great buddies.

Isn't she positively angelic?