April Fool's - Here are some real vacation pix!

Okay, not paradise, but the desert flowers really were pretty, and fragrant too! I took this picture near our hotel room, as night fell.


At least there were palm trees! This is Mel, right in the center of the Palm oasis, in the heart of Joshua Tree National Park - what's scientifically termed Mohave desert, I think...


The silly scenery in our hotel room: relaxing was a great vacation!


Okay, we didn't go to Paradise... But we did get to know what a Joshua Tree is: not a tree, not a cactus, it's a yucca (yeah, yeah, I know - it fits), and it was named by Mormon pioneers, who, in their delirous state, thought it looked like Joshua beckoning them to the promised land. Bless those poor souls...


Not exactly a forest, and certainly not a tropical jungle, but fascinating anyway


Swimming antics with Buff Ben

The Palm Springs skyline at Sunset

Southern Cal for Easter

Suzie tumbling 4 u

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jumping on the recipe wagon...

Several of you have posted recipes on your blogs; Leona has asked for healthy recipes. So I thought I would join the fun with this rather strange, but really healthy and surprisingly satisfying "stew" recipe. Let go of your stew stereotypes, because this doesn't fit them. It does satisfy the antioxidant "colorful" qualification... Sorry I don't have a picture.
African Peanut Stew

1 T. olive oil; 1 med. red onion, chopped; 1 med. green pepper, chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; 1 rib celery, chopped; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 T. peeled, minced fresh ginger; 1 T. curry powder; 1 bay leaf; 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained; 4 c. chicken or vegetable broth; 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 1 1/2 c. cooked chicken; (opt.); 1/4 c. creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter (so there's no extra oil or sugar); 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped;

5 oz. baby spinach leaves, washed and torn into bite-size pieces; 1/2 t. salt; pepper to taste.

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven or 4-qt. saucepan; add onion, bell pepper, carrot and celery; saute about five minutes, til translucent. Add garlic, ginger and curry powder and saute about 1 minute; do not brown garlic. Add bay leaf and tomatoes, cooking about 3 minutes.
Add broth and sweet potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 8 minutes. Stir in chicken and peanut butter until combined. Cook until thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and spinach until spinach wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 8 (1 cup servings).

Karla's notes: The recipe substituted shelled edamame for the chicken -- I don't even know what that is. Serving it over rice makes it a heartier meal.

With a low-cal main dish like this, you can splurge and have Alisa's Molten chocolate cakes! Or, for more of you, there's this similar chocolate fix:

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Cake: 2 1/4 c. flour; 3/4 c. cocoa powder; 1 3/4 c. sugar; 1 3/4 c. butter, softened; 6 eggs; 2 c. powdered sugar; 2 c. walnuts or pecans
Glaze: 3/4 c. powdered sugar; 1/4 c. cocoa powder; 2-3 T. milk or canned milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-c. bundt pan.
Combine flour and cocoa, set aside. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter til light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Stir in flour mixture by hand until well blended, gently stir in nuts (batter will be thick). Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until the top is set and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool upright in pan on wire rack for 1 1/2 hours to allow fudge inside cake to set. Invert onto serving plate.

To prepare glaze, combine powd. sugar and cocoa. Add 2 T. milk, mix thoroughly, adding more only as needed to create smooth but pourable glaze. Spoon over cake, allowing to drizzle down sides.
Serves 20.
(From Minnesota Historical Society, Susanna Short's Bundt Cake Bliss)

Let me know if you try them, and of course if you like them! To be honest, I love the stew, but I won't be making it often until Suzie's out of the house. Anyone surprised? ;->

Random picture... and Answer to the Book Tag...

Just to include a picture (everything needs pictures to be interesting ;> ), I picked, completely at random, a photo from Suzie's file without knowing what would show up. Now you tell me if you know what the photo depicts. A different kind of game, I guess (though not too hard, especially for the bighappyfam that spent Christmas together!)
For the Book Tag, I'm guessing I should have posted the book title along with the quote, but I followed Alisa's pattern and the fun of not knowing right away; the book is called The Doctors Mayo, a surprisingly interesting story about the family who created and made a success of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
And now you know why AJ would know the book: we got it from Josh! (Was that your guess, AJ?)
Incidentally, everyone should see that place - the Mayo Clinic, I mean. It is amazing in many ways at on all levels. I've never been in underground tunnels that were full of precious works of art! Enough said for now; visit AJ and Josh, ask them for a tour, and see what YOU think.

About that voting situation...

I'm still not happy. I probably won't be happy when conventions are over, and I don't know how I could be happy when elections are done. That's what's wrong with truly supporting a candidate who doesn't win, I guess.
Anyway, my alternative is Ralph Nader, who recently declared his candidacy. "What?" you say in confusion; "Who are you, and why are you on this blog?"
Here's the story, as briefly as I can tell it in the 1.5 minutes I have to do so. About a year ago, I read a book by Ralph Nader that changed many of my opinions about him. I would never assume a person could be a good president because he wrote an interesting book (think about what camp that might put me in...). But I liked what he had to say about life in general, and about his upbringing, and what the U.S. once was and still can be, if the majority want the same key elements (which isn't true in the U.S. today).
So, regardless of politics or his campaign, I recommend "The Seventeen Traditions" by Ralph Nader. Add a few essential gospel-based traditions, and you will have an excellent blueprint for family and community life.
I guess the bottom line here is this: politics are simply not going to make me unhappy for very long...

Alisa fired me, but inspired me...

...And I'm assured pictures are not essential (though much more interesting -years of newspaper work convinced me of that!), so I'm jumping into the "Open to page 123" gimmick. Open a book to page 123. Go to the fifth sentence, then type in the next three. Let people try to guess the book title. Take it run with it if it sounds fun.
Here's my oh, so obscure entry: "Just after he had graduated from medical school he was talking one night with Judge Start, an old friend of his father's. What did he plan to do? the judge asked. After a year or two in his father's office, what then?"
I would go so far as to say I will offer a financial reward to anyone who can guess it, it's that obscure.
AJ, once again, you're more in the know than others (sorry, but that's a hint I didn't wish to give her), so if you get it, the reward will probably not be a cash remuneration... Something good, though, like coming to help you when you have your baby. ;-}

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Celebrity look-alikes

Early morning artsy stuff

Okay, okay...

Our attempts at a photo op were pathetic. That's all I have to say.

At least we are all smiling...

Merry Christmas!

There's Tim, fat-doggin' with the Thanksgiving guests...It really is the turkey!

Okay, why y'all gotta be like that?

Okay, okay, so a couple of picture updates a year isn't enough-- is that any reason to post a poll on MY blog to make your point??


Seriously, it has been too long, so in time for Christmas (and in the mad rush before leaving to all be together - yayhaleluiawhoopeehoorayhotdiggitydogyowza!), here is a little bit of more current fluff on us.

Could blackmailing get any easier?!

!$LOTS OF STUFF$!

NOT candid. I was suprised! anyone else?

Remember folks: Martha's hair has more body than mine. AND mom says I have grown since then....

LOOK AT ALL THOSE CANDLES! It was a pretty hot cake! OUcHY M0MmAS!

Mel's Meme

Sorry to do 2 posts in one blog, but Alisa tagged me and I like reading them.
We all know the rules: get picked, list 7 weird things about me,tag 7 people-can't say whoever want to...ladedah.

1. My biggest pet pieve is gum. If it is not in your mouth it is a disgusting thing that needs to be disposed of. Ironically I am always the one who ends up stepping on it and have to clean it off my own shoes. If you are a person that throws your gum on the ground or out the window I ask you to please not next time. Put it in some piece of garbage near you and throw it away at the nearest garbage can.

2. The more I study music the more I notice the faults of music I listen to. I think having an intune ear is a blessing and a curse.

3. I get up at 5:45 every morning and go to church, then go to a show choir with my school. To those who went to early morning seminary, this is not that odd, but to most people my age it is insanity.

4. I talk way too much. My family knows this better than anyone. However, my math teaches says I have BIONIC EARS-I hear everything people say, and of course being little miss catterbox (I almost bought a shirt like that the other day) comment on what they say.

5. I hate money. In my eutopia there would be no money and everyone would just give things to people when they needed them. Man would overcome his faults of greed and jealousy and people would live life peacefully. I guess thats what the millenium is for.

6. I over analize things to death. I will go back in my mind and rethink situations and what I could have said instead. I don't laugh at some jokes right away becuase I think there is supposed to be more underlying joke, making me look like a ditz. In school work I get over worked and end up taking too long and looking stupid over something that I really do understand.

7. I love sleep. Maybe it is because I am so lazy and I like that I don't have to do anything, or maybe I like how it relaxes me, but I think it is because there is no pain, and everything is good while you are asleep. Often I don't even remember dreams that I have, but I have dayshavoos(I have no idea how to spell that word) often. Alisa said that maybe this means I am in the right place at the right time. I like that explination.

Wow that was alot harder than I thought.


I don't have very many options left for who to meme, but if these people have time...
Stella
Charlie
Xander
Natalie
Chris
Andrew
David

I know lots of these kids can't do this on their own, so maybe if some of the parents would do it for them, or help them with it, that would be great!

Love you all!

My installment in the ever-expanding QUIRKS game...

Okay, I've been tagged to play this [meme?] game: Seven quirky things about myself, then seven people to do the same. Here goes...

1) I have worked at all kinds of jobs, from journalism to gymnastics, from deli cleanup to diaper cleanup (daycare), from selling fruit to selling burgers. Never long-term. The only career I've truly stuck with is the one I truly love: domestic engineering! (Otherwise known as wifehood, motherhood, homemaking, and now grandmotherhood.) And it's probably the only one I'll ever really show true tenacity toward, though you never know what else might be out there for a hobby...

2) Sometimes I wake up at night in my own bed in my own house, and can't figure out where I am for a few seconds. Sometimes I even get a little scared momentarily, wondering who's in bed with me... Then the inner lights turn on and I'm fine. Weird, that's all there is to that one.

3) One of my joys in life is that my children are all graduating from college. Beyond my thrill for their personal accomplishments is this: neither of my parents even tried, and though I had big plans to go four years, maybe eight, I never finished. And now I don't know if I want to - or if I even could! It's turned into a fear, I think...

4) I find it nearly impossible to have favorites - in anything. I like so many colors, foods, types of music, books, people, etc. - but I can't seem to develop favorites.

5) Before Gifted and Talented programs existed, I was considered a star in that realm. My scores in the various tests were off the charts, in third grade I tutored second graders and went to reading with 4th, 5th and 6th graders, where I was hilariously beyond the rest. In fourth grade they moved me to fifth grade, and kids in that grade didn't like me much because - I don't know, maybe I was a threat? I got through 6th grade with my nose in a plethora of books; in seventh grade, I got the nickname "The computer who wore a mini skirt" ( a play on a Disney movie of the time, with "Tennis shoes" in place of mini skirt). But it was all a fluke, since I became a math dropout in high school, was nowhere near 4.0 status, didn't finish college (because marriage and children came along- and I think I was too lazy anyway), and my youngest daughter thinks I'm - well, unimpressive... The precocious child became an average Moe. Who knew?

6) I'm a little bit obsessive- compulsive: messed up or crooked rugs bother me, I hate it when people bend the edges of rugs up with their feet, if there is a bug on the wall or floor it drives me crazy until I get it or it disappears from sight, I adjust crooked chairs, and believe it or not (you wouldn't know by my house), I'm a little freaked out when I walk into a messy room. But I don't think I need treatment: I live with and make messes with the best of them.

7) I'm an editing freak. I notice mistakes in most written documents (excepting many of my own), and I mentally edit people's speeches and conversations. Sheesh. But I LOVE dialects, accents, languages, and words. Hence the 7 years of college that I never did... My aim was linguistics. If I overcame my fear, that just might hold my attention well enough to get me out of the house, but only when Mel and Suze are gone, and only if I could work it around time with family. Priorities are priorities.

Okay, now for who I would like to see do this (and who possibly hasn't been tagged already): Shan, Alycia Nelson, Chrysallis, Cami Dewitt, Emmi, Emily and Emilie (though it will be a while for Emily, since their computer is fritzed out).

Sorry I'm inclined to make a paragraph out of a sentence! (That may be too subtle; like mountain out of a molehill, y'know? Is the word verbosity, perhaps? If I were speaking, it would be long-winded; someone with a better vocabulary is welcome to supply me with the right word!)

My love to all who bother to read this - Yomama/Karla

Okay, so my entry is upside down information-wise, and some of the pictures are from summer; at least they're worth seeing! Here's the scoop on my choices: Everyone needs some Big open ND sky; Aren't the Benches a good-looking bunch? Ben and AJ's four-generations, taken while G'pa Charlie was here with Nathan and Alisa (who I don't seem to have any pictures of during their visit- that makes me sad); and me with two of my early-rising friends who took me to breakfast for my birthday (Madeline was also there and instigated the whole thing, but she was in the other picture).