Remarkably Bright Creatures

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! It is warm and tender and so well written. It is all about relationships: the importance of family and friendships- even those found in very unusual places. I think everyone would enjoy this delightful book. It is beautifully read in the audio version.

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Wedding Season

 This was a cute, clean romcom on Netflix.  As is common in these I "hate you, no, wait, I love you" plots, I didn't like the girl at first, but by the end she was okay.  

President's Holiday Weekend

 We had a fun weekend.  Bryan and Noel's family came down for their daughter to participate in a big soccer tournament held here.  Bryan is Rick and Sherrie's oldest son.  Rick is Ken's brother.  Rick and Sherrie came up from Arizona to watch.  Ken went to watch Claire play in a few of her games.  She had one at 2:00 on Saturday, and then one at 8:30.  So they all came to our house between to visit and have dinner.  They brought pizza and we made a big salad and apples and Patty's chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.

Bryan and Noel have a cabin in Pine Valley, so they all stayed there.

They all are such great people.  It was really fun to spend some time with them.

More Soups

We have had two delicious soups recently.  They were both new recipes and both got thumbs up votes around here!

 Cream Cheese Chicken Soup- this was a new recipe that we tried.  It was so delicious!  The recipe link:  Hungry Hintons: Cream Cheese Chicken Soup

Kristen's Broccoli Cheese Soup- this is Kristen's version of this classic.  She has made it very kid friendly and her whole family loves it.  It has not posted on our hungry hintons blog yet, so I will publish the recipe here.

This is in Kristen's regular dinner rotation because most of her children will eat it and most love it.  She has made the recipe her own.  Some of her kids don't like carrot, onion, and celery chunks so she immersible blends it before adding the broccoli and cheese.   It makes a beautiful and delicious soup.  She triples this recipe for her family of 8.

Broccoli/ Cheese Soup

4 T. butter

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large head of broccoli, chopped  or broken into small Florettes and cooked in the microwave

2 cups whole milk or half and half

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a large pot, melt butter and saute the onions until soft.  Add the celery and carrots and cook until soft.  Whisk in the flour and cook for  5 minutes.  Add the stock and salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.  Use an immersible blender to blend all until smooth.  Add the cheese and milk and whisk until smooth.  Add the broccoli and mix well.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.  Serve with crusty bread.

February Temple Visits

 The month started off right as we went to the Fort Collins, Colorado temple with Kristen on February 1st.  We loved that beautiful temple.  It seemed so big after attending the Cedar City temple for so long.  We did family sealings together.  We were all in tears as we sealed daughters to their parents.  It was a very special experience. 

February 1st- Fort Collins, Colorado temple

February 10th.  We each did three sessions of Initiatory at the Cedar City temple.  it was sweet to hear and ponder the new words of that ordinance.

February 16th at Cedar City temple.  We did an endowment session with all of the wonderful new changes.  It was so inspiring.  We can't wait to go back to absorb more. Then we did a sealing session.  Our new St. George temple president was the officiator.  We have known him a long time.  It was a special session.

We like to go to the temple every week, but it is getting harder and harder to get appointments.  We simply couldn't get an appointment for the week of February 20th. As we looked at the weather in Cedar City this week, we decided it was probably a good thing we weren't able to get in.  We certainly don't want to drive up there in snow.   Our next appointment is March 2nd.

Valentines Day

 I love my Valentine!  We had a nice Valentine's Day.

It was a very cold day and it even snowed in St. George.

We attended our ward adult Valentine Dinner and Dance.  It was put on by the Relief Society.

It was very well attended.  They expected 60 and over 90 attended.  They served Cafe Rio Copycat and brownies, ice cream and toppings.

We got chosen to play the Newlywed Game.  The bishop and his wife on the left, the Jolleys in the middle, and us on the right.  The Jolleys won, but we all did well.  Ken totally scored on one of the questions:  The question was to the wives:"What do you love most about your husband?"  I answered,  "His sense of humor."  Ken answered, "How much I love her."  Didn't match, but was a total score!

I found this on my computer.

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Elk/ Elf Confusion

 Shonna told us a cute story.  As she was tucking six-year-old Gabe into bed the other night, they were talking about the field trip his class was taking the next day to see a herd of elk.  You may have heard about the elk in Cache Valley?   Gabe exclaimed, "I am most excited about the toy!" "What toy?" Shonna asked.  "The toy the elf will give me!"  

She gently explained that they were going to see elk not elves.  They were going to ride a sleigh to see them, but there would be no elves or toys.

The next day, Gabe didn't get a toy, but he did enjoy riding in the sleigh and seeing the big animals and eating school lunch IN his classroom when they got back to the school. Life is so very good!

The Sunday Lunch Club

 

The Sunday Lunch Club by Juliet Ashton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’m not sure how to review this book. It was a good story, though told in a way that was confusing at times. It was about the importance of extended family and their support of one another. That’s good. But there was too much that violated my moral sense to make me comfortable reading it.

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Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

 We have been involved in watching a series lately, so haven't watched many movies.  But we decided we need to watch one occasionally.  This was such a cute, family-friendly movie. We watched it on Netflix.

#1,004 on Ken's Life List

 This is a Cackling Goose.  Ken recently saw it and added it to his life list of birds.  It is the 1,004th bird on that list.  He saw it less than 10 minutes from our home.

He saw on his bird app. that several people had seen it at a pond near our home.  So, he went to investigate.  Sure enough, there it was.  It is not supposed to be this far south.  It evidently is expanding its territory.

If it looks familiar to you, it is because it looks like the more common Canadian Goose.  But it is much smaller.  

Congratulations to Ken on seeing the Cackling Goose and adding his 1,00 4th bird to his growing life list!

Stitches

 A story from my book "Grandma's Stories."

 

 

Stitches

I have had stitches many, many times in my life.  With my many surgeries, I have been stitched up lots of times in my adulthood.  Let’s see, I think I have had seven surgeries in my adulthood: C-section, two knee replacements, gall bladder removal, lump removed from my back, breast lumpectomy, and lymph node ectomy.  I am scarred.  But the stories I want to tell are the three times I had stitches as a child.

The first time I had stitches was when I was just two-years-old.  I was a cute, little girl.  In our house, we had stairs to the basement.  They were covered in vinyl with metal stripping along the edge of each one.  Whose idea was that?  They were dangerous.  Each metal strip was held in place with screws.  There were lots of sharp edges.  One day, I was crawling up the stairs and my hand slipped.  I went down hard on my chin, cutting it open on one of the sharp edges.  I cried out in pain.  My daddy came running.  This is actually my first memory- my dad coming for me, picking me up, and carrying me up to the top of the stairs where there was a bathroom, putting me on the counter, cleaning my wound and looking at it.  I remember all of that.  But that’s all I remember.  But, being a doctor, he determined I needed stitches and he took me to the hospital emergency room where I was stitched up.  I don’t remember that part, but I have the scar to prove it. 

The next time I had stitches was when I was about four or five years old.  My sister, Joan was two years younger than me.  We were playing with paper dolls.  Joan wanted me to cut out some clothes for the dolls.  I accidentally cut off the tabs with which you attach the clothes to the dolls.  She was mad.  She grabbed the scissors from me and sliced my wrist with them.  She then ran to hide under her bed while I went to the hospital for more stitches.

The third time I had stitches was when I was five years old.  That year, our home was remodeled.  A very large dining room and family room were added.  Nearing the end of the construction, my parents left my older siblings in charge and went shopping for new furniture for the new rooms.  Neighbor kids came to play at the construction site.  The workers had left planks and nails and dangerous things.  We were playing a game where we leaned a plank against the newly constructed deck and climbed up it and onto the deck.  As I was climbing, Billy Baulding, who was in front of me, slipped and fell backward into me, causing me to fall.  I landed face first on a protruding nail.  Blood poured from my damaged lip. Knowing they were at Blacker’s Furniture Store, my siblings called my parents, who came home quickly.  They took me to the hospital to have my lip sewn.  It was badly damaged and it is, by far, my worst scar.  I think my dad felt bad about it my whole life as he mentioned it occasionally. 

 

When you see me next, ask me to show you my scars.  Have you had stitches?  Do you have scars?

As a Man Thinketh in His Heart, so is he.

Do any of us recognize the power of our thoughts?  This is a mantra to consider.

Grandma's Stories

 I have been writing a book that I am entitling "Grandma's Stories."  I thought it might be fun to publish some of the stories from that book on this blog.  I will do that from time to time, so watch for them!  

Update on Shonna

 I just wanted to give a quick update on Shonna's health.  She is doing so much better.  She is gradually getting energy back.  She is doing most of the meal planning and cooking, though her husband still does the grocery shopping, and she is doing all of the laundry again. She still needs a nap each day. One of the symptoms that is so strange is her feet have been extremely hot and itchy.  She has to get up in the middle of the night and go into the bathroom and stand on the tile floor to get relief.  But lately she hasn't had to do that as often. That is extremely weird for her as Shonna has ALWAYS had cold feet.  Her recent ultrasound showed improvement in the liver, but the gall bladder is still very inflamed and swollen. It actually looks worse.  It still causes her a lot of pain.  Her blood tests show improvement as well.

Her doctor fears that this was all caused by an autoimmune disease.  Shonna is working on getting into a specialist.  Frankly, her doctor is totally baffled and not sure what to do.

We are so very grateful she is feeling better and on the mend.  We sincerely thank you for your prayers.

Glass Infusion

 I've only done it twice, but  I have decided that one of my favorite things is doing glass infusion.  Kristen introduced me to it several years ago when we visited them in Wisconsin.  We went to an art studio and spent several hours making a glass project.  I chose to do a plate with cherries to put in my kitchen.  She did an elk plate for her husband.

I display it in a cute plate holder made from antique spoons that my sister, Pam gave me.

Before it was fired.

We recently visited Kristen in Colorado.  We drove to an art studio in Longmont and spent the morning doing glass infusion again.  It was SO fun!

I made four pendants.

Kristen made a beautiful mountain picture.

All done- before they were fired.

After they were fired.  Kristen sent these pictures after she picked them up from the studio.

Her mountain picture is so beautiful.

Doing glass infusion fills a creative need in me.  It is truly fun for me!

I Finally Did It!

 Two years ago, in February of 2021, the church made an announcement that was devastating to me.  You could only have 300 names on your temple ordinance reservation list.  At the time, I had well over 600.  That meant I couldn't add any more names as I found family members needing ordinances done.  I started writing them and their numbers down as I found them.  I had a huge list.  Then I got the brilliant idea to put them in Ken's account on his reservation list.  I have added a lot to his reservation list as we have needed more baptisms and confirmations for our grandkids.  We now have four grandsons doing baptisms and confirmations and three granddaughters.  They are keeping me busy.

I have added about 100 names to Ken's list, but at the same time have beeen reducing mine. We have done a lot of ordinances from both lists.  Family members are helping as well.  I have been combing through my list, removing or sharing many that are needing endowments.  We simply cannot do all of those.  Recently, I was pleased to get my number of reservations below the proscribed 300.  I work on family history most every day that we are home.  It has taken me two years to get to this point.  

I love doing this important work for my family members that have gone before.  

In His Steps

 

In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The phrase “What would Jesus do?” that was so popular a few years ago (remember the bracelets?) originated from this novel. It is an interesting idea, but I’m not sure I agree that the choices the people made in this book trying to emulate our Savior are actually what He would have chosen. That troubled me. But I guess that’s the good of the book: to get the reader to analyze and think about it. My personal goal is to accept the Savior’s invitation to “Come, follow me.” What a different world we would live in if we all lived our lives by this mantra.

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Visiting Mackrorys in Colorado

 January 30th- February 3rd we visited the Mackrorys in Colorado.  Jared was away on business.  We had a nice, but very busy time.

Brielle and Kristen had made our favorite 3 layer mint brownies.  Yum!

3-year-old Lisi is a delight.  I don't know how many times she and I played this Princess Cupcake game.  If you have a little girl, I highly recommend this game.  It is so cute.

We got to go out to lunch with Kristen to a Mexican restaurant.

When Kristen came downstairs in this hat,  Lisi said, "Is your hair yucky?"  I guess she's learned when her mom wears a hat!  We all had a good laugh.

Lisi entertained us with her dancing and singing.  She knows how to control Alexa to get the song she wants.  Then she dances and sings.

Audrey is working on the piano.

Ken's Mom's birthday had just passed, so one night we made dinner from recipes in her cookbook to celebrate her.

Ken's family got most of their meat from the deer hunt, as does Jared.  He grew up on Venison fry meat.  So we made it just the way his mom used to.  

A favorite dessert of his family was peach cobbler.  The recipe was sketchy, so I didn't add enough sugar.  I'll know better next time.  It wasn't that good.

We made her deviled egg recipe.  Lisi loved these and kept sneaking them off the plate before dinner.

Brielle is participating in the play Footloose.  She had learned a fun new swing dance move at rehearsal.  She cajoled her brother into trying it with her.

It was pretty cool.  What a great brother.

One morning we drove to the Fort Collins temple and did family sealings.  It was wonderful!

The kids were dancing and Sammy slipped and cut his eye. He landed on his face and his glasses cut him. Kristen took him to the insta care, but they decided not to stitch it.

Ken and I made a delicious broccoli cheese soup one evening.  I will post the recipe soon on hungryhintons.com

One morning we went to an art studio to do glass fusion.  It was so fun.  I made four pendants.

Kristen made a beautiful mountain picture.

These are our projects before they are fired.
Kristen sent pictures of them now they are done.  She picked them up at the studio.

I love how Kristen's mountain picture turned out.  It is gorgeous.

One evening, we took them all out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

Audrey

Jake

Brielle, Grandma, Grandpa, Nathan

Pictures of us with each child.  How we love these kids:

Jake

Brielle

Nathan

Audrey

Elisabeth

Samuel

We love these kids and will see them again soon.