TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT! (Maybe)

I have one of those cookbooks that calls out to you to start at page one and make everything in it:  Gifts from the Christmas Kitchen.   Doing my best to stay away from the back of the book (the very sweet & chocolatey end) I came across this intriguing Snack Mix.  I liked it.  It is growing on some of the others who have tried it.   I think Nathan and his game friends would gobble it up in a minute. 

MEXICALI CRUNCH

4 c. corn flakes                                                   

3 c. corn or tortilla chips (plain kind)             

1 c. roasted peanuts
2 quarts popped corn
1/2 c. margarine or butter
1/2 c. Karo light or dark corn syrum
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 pkg. (1.25 oz.) Taco seasoning mix
     Preheat oven to 250.  In a large roasting pan combine corn flakes, popped corn, corn chips and peanuts.

     In med. saucepan combine margarine, corn syrup, brown sugar and taco seasoning.  Bring to a boil over med. heat, stirring constantly.  Pour over corn flake mixture, tossing to coat well.

     Bake 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool, stirring frequently.  Store in tightly covered container.

For a Texicali version, substitute 5 T. of chili seasoning mix for the taco seasoning.

(Will post a picture when I get my camera back from Becky's house.)

Part II of Cooking at Christmas:

     Victor had me put together goody trays for his Counselors and all the auxiliary heads of MonteBello Ward.   I like variety but have turned into a simplicity freak.  The Friend Magazine published a recipe several years ago that is WAY cool!   For great and simple Pumpkin Cookies take one Spice Cake Mix, blend together with one 15 oz.can of  Pumpkin (plain, not Pumpking pie mix).  Add as many or as few chocolate chips as you want and for those who like nuts, add in tons of Walnuts.    No eggs, oil or water!   What could be simpler????   Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes.  They freeze well and everyone so far has loved them.    Also good with Cinnamon Chips if you can still find those anywhere.

ALL TOGETHER FOR THANKSGIVING

How fun (how chaotic!) to have all the kids and all the grandkids hangin' around Thanksgiving Week.   Peter and Jill and Aly have moved back in with us,  Becky and Audrey and Ethan spent three nights (coming from their  home in North Las Vegas) and Nathan, Colleen and girls made it down and back safely between huge snow storms that hit Twin Falls.   We cooked, and ate, played games and ate, refereed children and ate and had wonderful conversations stimulated by the word quizzes on a board game that requests you to choose what you would do under different circumstances.   (Example:  "What would you buy if you suddenly had $1,000?)  Hmmm.  You get great insight into your kids' personalities that way!  Here are some photo highlights.

The annual Bingo game had a kid version this year. Each family hits the Dollar stores to buy up tons of affordable presents ( or they give away obnoxious toys they don't want in their houses anymore, NATHAN)!   then you play lots of rounds of Bingo and get lots of crazy gifts.  When all the gifts are gone you set a timer for however long the timer-setter person chooses and play some more..only now everyone who wins gets to steal someone else's prize.  This year the most coveted item was a new role of rope!!  Go figure!!

Began taking pictures for our family cookbook.  This is Nathan's wife Colleen who wins the award not only for best pie (Pear - our favorite), but for prettiest cook and best Rachael Ray look-a-like!

Nathan made Muddy Buddies!  (Which were gone in a day!)

Peter and Jill's specialty are "Papa's Pancakes" (a Jensen family tried and true recipe) made with chocolate chips, bananas, blueberries, etc.  (NO!  Not all in the same pancake!)

As usual Ethan's job was to be cute and be underfoot!

I have one rule when all the company comes:  STAY OUT OF MY COOKING SPACE!!!  This is how the men in my life respect that!

Other activities of the week:  a little park time, some racquetball time, an occasional nap, lots of teasing and lots of joking and fooling around.   Also in there Bishop Austin spent a whole day helping to prepare and deliver 32 (!!) food baskets for members of  the Montebello Ward.  Lots of unemployment right now among our Spanish speaking members.

Peter and Aly

"I have an idea!  Let's twirl 'em till they're dizzy!" (Grandpa)

"I have an even better idea!  Let's see what happens when you put rubber bands on their faces!" (Nathan)

"I have an even better idea!  Let's make cookies!"  (Becky)

You all have too much energy!  Get out of here and go play racquetball! 

(By the way, the little lady in front - Sister Walker from our ward - can beat the tar out of the tall guys) 

Pretty Princesses.  Amaya and Noelle both had birthdays when Grandma and Grandpa couldn't be with them (October & August respectively) so we celebrated while they were here.

Tara also had her birthday in August (1 year)

Followed by Alyssa who just turned two this month (but is the same height and size as nearly three-year old Audrey!)

Bringing up the birthday season is Ethan who turned one - also in November

Audrey will turn three in Mid-December .  We'll update her event later.  Here she is dusting for Grandma to earn her nickel.  (All the girls helped with chores)

MISC. CABIN MEMORIES FOR 2010

We finally got to have an Austin Siblings reunion at the cabin.  Elaine, and husband Jim, Deming flew to Vegas from Oregon and Pat Farrar came from Reno (via a reunion in Los Angeles).  We got to catch a quick trek up to the cabin.  Jim was in heaven because he was riding through memory lane.  He grew up in Cedar City, has roots to Overton, NV and hadn't seen some of this country for many years.   The temperatures cooperated and we got a little fall color, some good ATV days and lots of memory and R & R time.

Here are Elaine, Jim and Pat at Cedar Breaks overlook.  Don't Elaine and Victor look like they are poured from the same mold???

Elaine and Jim Deming at Cedar Breaks

Pretty good activity for a couple of septagenarians!



Victor showing them how its done.

A view of the lava flow showing the first touches of fall color

Becky & the kids got to be with us up there too.  Here is Victor and Aunt Pat teaching Audrey to play Go Fish.  She thought that was pretty cool!

And Ethan did what Ethan does best:  follows you around and grins!

And this is Uncle Jim what HE does best:  sits at his computer and creates words of wisdom for the rest of us - (marvelling all the time that by using the "GoToMyPC" program everything that he did in our cabin was actually being done on his computer a thousand miles away in Oregon.)

Up on the Cedar Breaks meadow the colors were changing already.  We were glad to get a few pictures since Victor and I will not be up on the traditional October Conference weekend.  (We'll be in Boston enjoying the colors of the Eastern Seaboard this year)

 

MORE COUSINS

Over Labor Day weekend we got to have my niece Emily Miller and her family again, along with my sister Elaine and her son Alex and my nephew David Morgan (Emily's brother). 

Emily, Morgan, Ryan & Brooklyn Miller and David Morgan

We had a lot of fun spreading peanut butter all over some pine cones and covering them with bird seed (Aunt Jill's left-over project from Cousin Camp).  The birds didn't seem very interested but the chipmunks all boogied over and were having a grand old party!

Morgan and Alex - more peanut butter on fingers than on pinecones!

Elaine helped Brooklyn get hers just right

Next you hang 'em around the yard and then.....

....watch the feasting begin!

Four of them swinging on the pinecones while they eat.

And as always, we ate well too.  This is David cooking the authentic Chinese Dumplings we all helped form.

We had another Shrimp and Scallop Boil Dinner...and our usual Philly Beef and Swiss ...and great breakfasts.  We missed Victor on this trip, but he stayed in Vegas to begin his first meetings as the new Bishop.

VICTOR MADE BISHOP OF THE MONTEBELLO WARD - LV NEVADA CENTRAL STAKE

Exec Sec Jaime Gonzalez, 1st Couns. Marcos Paez, Obispo Austin, 2nd Cons. Gervacio Garcia

    

August 29, 2010 - 2:30 p.m. more or less Victor became the new Bishop of the Spanish-speaking Ward in our stake.  Bishop Sanchez had been in for nearly 6 years.    Have we been called on a mission for which there is no end?   While we waited for everyone to assemble that would be there for the ordination and setting apart Karl Brunner told me that they were changing our membership as we spoke.  
     Victor was called on July 25th during the 24 hour period that we were home from our various Utah/Idaho activities.  So there has been lots of time to ask every question, ponder all the what-ifs, feel the excitement, the loss, the sense of change that has been in the air for some months already.  We had run through EVERY possible calling that a Stake President might issue.  But BISHOP was not anywhere near the horizon of our thoughts!
     There ought to be a blessing for Bishop's wives too.   I have had such a myriad of feelings.  I'm sure Victor has too; he just isn't the one creating the blog post!  Early on I felt that I saw lonely hours in my future.  He will be VERY busy.   And because the Montebello Ward meets at the same time as Beverly Glen I won't be able to attend our home ward and keep a toe in.   That felt very sad to me.   Yet, the same weekend that Victor's mind was racing with lists, questions, to-do's I also made my list:   Things to stay busy with while Victor is gone.    That shouldn't be hard!   I have a whole huge house that needs deep cleaning and upgrading.  We have a cabin that will need to be visited by me...in the absence of his being able be up here as much...and I have 8,000 genealogy projects.....all that in addition to serving in the new ward in whatever capacity my husband feels is dictated.    Sigh!
     In Sacrament Meeting there was a great hush when he was announced.  I am sure they were all as surprised as we were that a gringo - an outsider - was called.   When we each took our turn bearing testimony I felt like they relaxed.  Becky said she felt like that too.   I attribute it to the fact that we both speak Spanish well (Victor speaks it VERY well).  I think they also relaxed when I pointed out to them that the three adorable grandchildren there that day with us (Aly, Audrey and Ethan) all have hispanic heritage!They could see we were anxious to serve and to get to know them. 
      It will be a crazy first few weeks.  But I have seen great changes in Victor already - even BEFORE the ordination.  He has risen in every way to meet this challenge.  He loves Church administration.  He is fair, not easily perturbed, never angry....and his whole life has led him to this moment.  And I hope MY experiences have led me to be a good, supportive, loving wife.

Rachael & Daniel Lippmann (& baby Jacob) came as well as Becky and her family and Peter and his family.  Nathan and Colleen and girls in Twin Falls were there in spirit.

Victor asked all his former Bishops to stand in the circle.  Gary Lewis, Karl Brunner, Scott Seastrand, Doug Seastrand.  Bishop Hanks was invited but he must have forgotten because he wasn't there.

Victor has had a lot of razzing by everyone that now he had to return to conservative suits and white shirts as well as shave the facial hair.   He just looks like that cool missionary companion I had down in Chile!

Hmm.  Does anyone think that Aly is taking after her father???

It was a great pleasure to reassure the congregation that I love Latinos and point out that three of my six grandchildren have Mexican/Spanish heritage.  I think they like hearing that!

   

A quick cabin overnighter and home at last

We went directly to the cabin from the Chile reunion.  Watered all our little trees, got laundry done and hosted Dennis and Margene Taylor for a quicky overnighter.  (Dennis and I served in Guatemala at the same time and they were also with us on our mission to Chile).   The highlight was the "Low Country Crab Boil" that Margene tutored me through.   You put a big pot on the stove, throw in some potatoes, Zataran's Crab Boil Seasoning bags, some smoked sausage, some corn on the cob and then shellfish of choice.   We added some fresh green beans and did Shrimp and Scallops.   A true Boil would be drained, thrown out onto newspaper in the middle of the table and then everyone eats with their hands and some bread.   We chose to be just a little more "civilized" and put it all on a platter! 

Invited neighbor Glen Barker to partake with us.  Good food (though the flavor was not quite as strong as I would have expected).  What the 5 of us didn't consume Glen got to take home.  Victor and I had to leave early the next morning (Sunday) so he could be back in Vegas for an assignment.

Thank you friends and family who hosted us, made up beds for us & gave us food throughout our 6 week sojourn:  Nathan & Colleen, Mildred and the Hunts in Boise, Roger and Maragaret who fed us at Loku Ona, Sandra Tegland in Chubbock, the Sowbys who housed us during the Genealogy Conference in Provo, the Andreasons in Brigham City, Cherie Lundwall in Ogden,  the Wagners in Salt Lake...........  we loved imposing on you all and will be happy to return the favor whenever you come to Las Vegas or to the cabin!!

SENIOR MISSIONARY FRIENDS ARE JUST THE BEST PEOPLE

     It has been many months since we have all gathered in one spot.  The Beuses hosted a nice cook out at their home in Orem.  We were lucky to have several far out of town people be able to be there:  Jacksons from Portland, Taylors from Corona, us from Las Vegas.   Most of the others are at various locations up and down the Wasatch Front.  

I am posting this picture so you can appreciate this genius idea.  Bro. Beus dug a hole for the trampoline but didn't want just a hole.  So he turned it into a seating area with a firepit/grill in the center.  The trampoline is raised up and serves as the shade cover while you enjoy the barbecue.  Is that not amazing?

There was a lot to reminisce and laugh about.  Many of these couples have served another mission since the one in Chile.  Others are involved in Bishoprics, Temple Presidencies, etc. that keep them home for a while.

A food force to reckon with in Chile and another here at home!

Some of Heavenly Father's best people.

Before we arrived in Orem Victor and I dressed in Sunday finery and raised to the new Draper temple to take in a session - only to find it was closed for the summer upkeep break!   So since we had extra time we went on to Lehi.  Victor had learned in the course of one of our research days at the Utah Historical Society that the ancestral home of John and Emma Austin was still standing.   It has recently been purchased and someone is renovating it (which it badly needs). 

The house is one block from the railroad station.  John and Emma rented out rooms to travelers passing through.   That would have been in the upstairs rooms and back when the house didn't have the lower additon you can see here to the right!   Victor is standing by the stump of the tree that was recently ordered cut down by the city.  The tree was nearly 150 years old.  This bush-like foliage is what has grown back from shoots from the trunk that no one wanted to pay to have removed.

This is the home of Thomas Austin, John's brother.  We vote that we would rather have lived here!  All of the Austin brothers did well in the Sugar business.

AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR R & R

     With most of the reunions, family & friend visiting, weddings, research trips, and genealogy conferences behind us at last it was time to let the rest and relaxation begin.   We got to do that for three days at lovely Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah.

Zermatt is built in a Swiss theme

No decorating expense spared here!

The indoor pool (which allows you to swim on to the outside pool there at the left).  Had it all to myself at 6 a.m. for exercising.   Victor got a massage and used the sauna.

Great bed - but WAY too many cute pillows and a rather complicated duvet/sheet/cover system.  Must drive the housekeeping staff crazy to make these up each day!

The outdoor chess board.  They also have a carousel, a pretty walking path, miniature golf.  Problem is they charge you extra for the use of most everything.   We got to be there because I bid on my stay through Sky Auction and actually won.  So we paid only a third of what the nightly fee normally is.

The Midway/Heber/Park City Valley was gorgeous from summer rains.  This photo is taken on Monument Hill looking toward Deer Creek Reservoir.  Just to the right (not in the picture) is the back of Timpanogos mountain.

It was a really nice way to begin closing down a past-paced summer.  We had a lot of nice naps and ate good (very over-priced) food.

Next stop:  Chilean Senior Missionaries Reunion

Next stop: Brigham City and the Forsgren Reunion

     The whole focus of my year since about February has been the Forsgren Reunion August 7, 2010.  These are held only every two years, but this time I had to make good on some promises I have been trying to bring to pass for the last 8 years.    ( You know the old wisdom:  "If you want a job done do it yourself."  I delegated out this job to three different people, none of whom ever did anything with the assignment).   The first promise was to make sure that 1 broken headstone and 5 buried ones were reset at the Brigham City Cemetery.   Bott Monument did a wonderful job of doing just that (though it took even them nearly a year!)  Sooooo - now my grandmother Frieda's sisters and brothers that died at young ages or in infancy are up above ground again and there to greet you if you ever go to Section B of the cemetery.  And little Charles P. Lee's headstone has been mended and set so that the cemetery mowers won't damage it further.

The five small stones, raised & reset.   They were completely buried for many years.

(Twins Velate & Violet, Cornelius, Hyrum, Josephine, Eugene and Adolph - children of Adolph Peter Forsgren)

     The second promise to fulfill was an effort to get all the Forsgren papers into some sort of on-line format so that more people could benefit from all the knowledge stored at MY house.   Instead of creating I finally opted to create blogs for each of the three convert children of Johan Olof Forsgren and their descendants.   I have spent a LOT of time on that project as well as uploading as many cemetery photos as possible to the findagrave.com website and putting all the family photos on Flickr.  As you can imagine all this is an enormous task and I don't pretend to be near finished.   But at least I have given it a good starting effort.  Click on the links to the right of the blog to visit these other sites.

     The reward for my efforts is for others to "google" a name and then have my blogs come up to reward them with an opportunity to learn more about their particular ancestor.  Two righter/journalists have found the blogs and are using them in their own writings and investigations.   It is an exciting thing to see the blogs actually fulfill what they were meant to do.

     The third major task was updating the "Forsgren Scrolls" - the list of all known descendants of the three Forsgren siblings.  Colleen and Nana will testify that I took up a lot time and counter space working on these scrolls at their homes as we visited prior to the reunion.  We are into the 8th generation on some of these lines.   If I had had as much data as I would like to have had then the building would not have been able to accommodate the life-size descendancy chart:

The top three rows of paper are the Peter Forsgren descendants, the bottom sheet holds the names of descendants of John Erik Forsgren.  Christina Erika's sheets are clear to the left.

My brain and my  body are really glad it is all over!   Still plenty to do at home, but that can be sandwiched in.

THE FIRST ANNUAL COUSIN CAMP WAS A SUCCESS!

     July 30-August 2nd found the entire Austin family at the cabin for the first time EVER!  It was wonderful and memorable and sweet and chaotic and crazy and sometimes even tense!  But what wonderful memories!

Already, with 8 adults and 6 terrific little grandchildren, we have stretched the limits of our room here.  But everyone dealt pretty well with being on top of each other and putting up with crowded conditions.  The weather was perfect, with cool days caused by thunderstorms and summer showers.   Have a look.

That's all of us:

Front:  Amaya (Nathan's), Alyssa (Peter's), Jill (Peter's wife)

Back: Nathan holding 2nd daur, Noelle, Colleen (his wife) holding 3rd daur, Tara.  Next is Charles Graf (orange shirt, Becky's husband) holding Ethan, their 2nd child, in the middle is family patriarch/grandpa.  Then Audrey and Becky, then me, then our youngest son, Peter.  As luck would have it the photo was taken by a knowledgable passerby who happens to be girl formerly from our ward!

Audrey said she liked the walk with Grandpa the best. 

How long does it take to paint 40 toes and 40 fingernails?

Planting the Cousin Tree.  Course we had to remove three LARGE boulders so they didn't actually achieve much digging. 

When the digging got boring (about 10 minutes into it) there was an urgent need to cool off.   How many little girls can you fit into a 3 ft. wading pool?

Getting involved in the summer cloud burst.  We all gathered on the porch
to witness the downpour

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Say cheese!

Tara, Audrey, Aly, Amaya, Noelle & Ethan ready for Church

At the meadow turnoff to go to Cedar Breaks or Brianhead there were gorgeous wildflowers.  The family picture-taking event wasn't popular with everyone!

Usually passive Aly, however, thought it was way fun!

It was pretty cold for little people who all really wanted naps

It's fun to see the next generation be parents & love their kids!

More activities:

Gotta do the ATV thing.  Audrey might be a little less enthusiastic on the next trip since she and Grandpa took a spill when their ATV hit a rut.  Glad for a padded coat and helmut!

Story time with Uncle/Papa Charles

There are another 430 pictures I could upload.  We made ice cream in a baggy, finger painted, sang songs with Aunt Jill, fought over toys, had naps (even the adults), ate well, played games, colored, put puzzles together and generally loved being together.

What satisfaction....and "all because two people fell in love!"