4 adults + 12 eggs = hours of entertainment

If you are wondering how to get boys excited about dying Easter eggs, just add fire...

I'll admit, after watching a couple crafty people and an amazing sister-in-law dye eggs with produce and other craziness, I felt like the box of dye tablets in my kitchen had just gone down in coolness factor... But I have to admit, it turned quite entertaining!



The boys were distracted playing a game, until Tiffanie busted out the candles and matches, with the brilliant idea of using the candle wax to decorate the egg before applying the dye. I'm telling you, it is a true principle. You add playing with fire to the equation, and the men will come.



And of course, since we wouldn't want to waste any of the fabulous supplies from our $1 dye tablet kit, we also made good use of festive stickers... And I'm pretty sure the husbands just loved having those on their faces. (we kept putting the stickers on them, much to their dismay, until it turned into a contest between the two of them and then they couldn't get them on there fast enough!)



The Result: 12 eggs & a hilarious Easter Egg Hunt

Corned Beef: Bobby Style

Again, neither Bobby nor I are too insistent on doing St. Patty's the traditional way

(except for the green thing- all things must be green on St. Patty's day- I even got up and dyed pancakes and milk green for Breakfast!)

But Bobby does LOVE Reuben Sandwiches. Since we have yet to find an excellent Reuben Sandwich around here, I thought that St. Patty's Day- and everyone else cooking up Corned Beef- was a perfect excuse for me to make my very first Corned Beef Roast!! but instead of eating corned beef and cabbage- which I have no personal need for. We put together these beauties!

Rye bread
Thousand Island spreaded on both slices of bread
Thinly sliced Corned Beef
Swiss Cheese
Sauerkraut

(then you can toast the whole Sandwich to heat it up and melt the cheese a little- I think next time I will toast the Rye slightly first too- so it doesn't get a little soggy..)

It was pretty tasty for our first try, and I'm sure we can just do better!

Happy St. Patty's Day

I realize that this is a bit unorthodox, but since I'm not Irish- I'm not too worried about keeping the traditions...

I had a feel thoughts for this Patty's Day. A few months ago, a friend Emily gave a talk in church. When you are still thinking about a quote from that long ago, it is worth giving attention to. She was talking about missionary work, and quoted from President Hunter in Preach my Gospel. "A great indicator of one's personal conversion is the desire to share the gospel with others."

Is my lack of attention to sharing the good news an indicator of the level of my testimony? There was a time I lived in Thailand for 18 months for a chance just to have people understand how much it meant to me. Yet as of late- it hasn't been at the top of my to-do list.

That was a pretty big reality check for me- Hence the thinking about it for the past bit. But it is such a true and simple principle. If I truly believe that something is the purpose of this life, the greatest way to find happiness, and has promised me a way to be with those I love forever, isn't that something worth talking about? Isn't that a greater gift than a home-made apron, or better small talk than the movie we saw this weekend? How can I believe that, love someone, and not bring those worlds together- and give something precious to those I love. Yet- I've been pretty lazy about sharing it.

For those of you who don't know, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in families. I believe that the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach of both and teach of living a simple life filled with the most important kinds of happiness. It is more than a religion, it is a purpose for life, and a greater understand of who we are.

So why today to share this? Besides the fact that it is about time, March 17th marks the anniversary of the day that a dear friend of mine joined the church. At the time I don't think that I appreciated the sacrifice and importance of the decision she made 12 years ago. Jenny was introduced to the church in high school and grabbed on. It was all normal to me at the time, having been raised with the teachings of Jesus Christ, but looking back, I am in awe of her strength. She wanted to understand. She wanted to know if it was true. She found out, and she wasn't afraid to stand up for what she came to believe. Beliefs that, I will remind you, aren't mainstream for popular high school students, at least not in my hometown. This is the part where I remember that when I was in high school, I just cared that my outfit didn't look dumb, and hopefully actually looked cute...

On that note I say Happy St. Patty's Day to Jenny, and to you all. May you all find what can bring you true happiness. I had to find out for myself (after the superficial high school days) and the promise is that you can find out to.

If you want to learn more about the basic beliefs of our church visit: www.mormon.org

Gross

I pretty much love traditions. And I've been planning on eating my saved- frozen wedding cake on my first anniversary since my mom first planted that tradition in my young girl mind.

We ate it. We love you Mom. It was Gross.

Happy Birthday Chaser!

A year ago today, hundreds of goldfish celebrated a blessed event with us. They happily (more likely brainlessly!) adorned the tables of our wedding reception.

Today, miraculously, we have a survivor atop our fridge to remind us often of that event

(no, we did not kill off hundreds, we only came home with 3- and Chaser was appropriately named because he chased the other two around the bowl until they quickly died!- But survival of the fittest- he is going strong!)

Happy First Year Bobby.
I knew I loved you then, but I didn't know how much you would mean everything to me.