Our lovely Saturday

My brother and his wife came down to see Wicked this weekend, so we drove up and met them at Manhattan beach on Saturday.






It was in the 80's, so it was nice to be in the water. First, Chris, Elle and I dug for crabs. We collected a few, but we forgot to take a picture of them swimming around in Elle's little pail :( Next time I'll remember.
We also saw a group of dolphins playing in the water--I didn't think to grab my camera for that either--I was just enjoying them and trying to help Elle see them

Elle and I made a "city" and an "evil city" and a "moat" to go around the city. Elle and I spent a half hour digging and then Jason saved us by finishing it off in about 10 minutes! What a good uncle :)

It was nice and relaxing. A very happy day.


And now for the ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ:

1. a piece in chess: Bishop
2. the name of a mouse poison: (De-con) Deacon
3. a hot drink + what people say when they touch glasses together: (tea+cheers) Teachers
4. someone older than you: Elder
5. a greeting to a 16 year old member of the ward: (Hi! ) High Priest
6. one who gives advice: Counselor
7. leader of meat: (Steak) stake president
8. opposite of post-west: (pre-east) Priest
9. we're in the 2000's and they're in the. . . :70's
10. opposite of loss: Prophet
11. red fruit + the bottom of a shoe.: (apple/sole) apostle

Good job everyone!

update

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been busy this week with Elle's school's book fair, and I'll be there for two weeks helping out.

I thought I'd give you a quick overview of our trip to Visalia.
We loved it!! Everything was so green and beautiful! *sigh*

We took a little nature walk through the oak tree preserve on Saturday. Then we stopped at a strawberry stand and Meggan bought some delicious fresh-picked strawberries. Notice the giant cabbage at the stand--it's bigger than my head! It was so cool!

Elle and Miles played well the whole time we were there and they were very sad to part. Next time we go, we plan to go to Sequoia National forest.



We also had a fondue party with some very yummy chocolate (and the strawberries)!

On Sunday, the lesson was on the priesthood and the teacher gave us this paper and told us to figure it out. See if you can too!

1. a piece in chess
2. the name of a mouse poison
3. a hot drink + what people say when they touch glasses together
4. someone older than you
5. a greeting to a 16 year old member of the ward.
6. one who gives advice
7. leader of meat.
8. opposite of post-west
9. we're in the 2000's and they're in the. . .
10. opposite of loss
11. red fruit + the bottom of a shoe.

After we were done, she said, "Oh ya, they all have to do with the priesthood." Give it a go. See how you do.

Friday food day!

Tomorrow, we are going to visit our good friends from BYU-- Meggan and Cass Cook. We met at an international dinner at Church. Cass served his mission in Russia and introduced us to Pelmeni.
Elle especially likes it. She even helped me prepare it this time!

Pelmeni

Dough:
2-3 cups flour
1 egg
3/4 cup water
1/8 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients and add flour if needed to make a soft dough. Let it rest then roll out and cut into squares or circles.

Filing:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 Tbs butter
2-3 Tbs cream (I just throw in sour cream)
1/4- 1/2 cup onion
salt and pepper

Cook everything together.

Put a spoonful of the meat mixture in each square/ circle of dough. Pinch the sides together. (I use a fork).

*Since it makes a lot, I put the leftovers on a cookie sheet then freeze them. After they are frozen, I put them all in a bag.

To cook: boil in salted water until they rise to the surface.

Season with:
butter
sour cream
salt
pepper

Jog-a-thon update

This year Elle ran 22 laps! It may not seem like a lot, but the track was DOUBLE the size of last year's, so that's pretty impressive!

Here she is with her little friend

and some of her class mates!
They were supposed to wear a certain color then get a rubber band on their arm every time they went by that table.

Jog-a-thon 2008

Once again, Elle is participating in her school's Jog-a-thon! If you feel so inclined, you can make a pledge to give her money for every lap she runs. Last year she ran 33 laps!!
The money pays for teacher's aides, science, art, p.e., field trips and I'm not sure what else.
You don't HAVE to, I just though I'd ask since we're supposed to :)

Good Food Friday April 4 ,2008

Today I am making 60+ rolls for the teachers and staff at school. Therefore, I'm posting my Grandma Steel's roll recipe. My grandma didn't actually have a recipe--she just made them from memory. One day, my mom decided to watch her and write down what she did. Now we have a modified recipe that works great!
These rolls would go great with this recipe for Raspberry Jam.
This is the full recipe, but my mixer will only hold half the recipe. I usually divide the dough into thirds for the half recipe, and it makes three dozen or a few more. Be warned: it takes about 4 hours round trip to make these babies :)

Grandma Steel’s Rolls

3 Tbs. yeast

½ c. warm water

4 c. scalded milk

½ c. sugar

1 Tbs. salt

1 c butter

6 beaten eggs

12 c. flour

Dissolve the yeast into the water. Put the butter into the milk when you scald the milk in the microwave. Mix up everything. (make sure the batter is cool before you add the yeast) Add flour to make a soft, sticky dough. Pour into a greased bowl ( a BIG one). Punch down twice. Divide into 6 parts and let rest 10 min. Roll into crescent shaped rolls. Let rise for about 30 min. bake at 400 for 8-10 min.