New Year's Eve with the Griffiths

This is Veronica, Joann and Monica. Veronica made the best quacamole. I gained several pounds eating it. I'm not even kidding.



Our good friends, Ben and Joann. They are such a cute couple.


Ben, Cameron, Loyd (Veronica's husband), and Gloria. Just hanging out.


BJ. Don't let this photo kid you, he is totally a ham.


Joann was giving me a manicure and we were having a photo shoot at the same time. What more could a girl ask for?

New York City pictures

Here's some pictures of our trip to New York City.



Who would have thought there would be deer in the middle of New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country.
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This is Leann. She is married to Larry, who is James friend from the old days. We had a great time shopping in New Jersey. They don't have tax on clothing, so...cha ching!





Now this is traveling in style.

Of course you have to post Christmas pictures.

Christma

Well, we're in New Jersey for the weekend. We drove here on Friday and will be going back home Monday. We are visiting James' friend from high school and his family. I'll put pictures up when I get home. It was amazing to drive through New York. It is more rural than we thought. New Jersey is so crowded. We took the ferry to New York City on Saturday. It was so foggy you couldn't see the tops of the skyscrapers. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. But I did buy a purse of the streets just because.

Eating Snow

Yes. They are eating snow.

Briana's Vist

Here are some fun pictures from Briana's visit to NY. We had so much fun.

Christmas Program

Sorry about the lousy sound. This is a video only a grandma would love. Cameron is singing, but he was too shy/embarrassed to do the hand motions.

School pictures

Glori-ism #3

After church today I picked up the kids from primary. Gloria had drawn a picture. She said, "This picture is for Heavenly Father." How cute is that? Then she turned to me and said, "Will you remind me to give it to Him?"

Another Glori-ism

When the teacher asked her what she would like to give her mom and dad for Christmas, this was her response (as repeated to me by her teacher):

Gloria:

I'd like to give mommy a necklace.
And for daddy, I'd like to give him...his own bed!

For my dad.

Dad, your legacy lives on. This is for you.




Gloria obviously is a little camera shy, but if you listen carefully you can hear her.




Note: Some kids grow up with their parents singing children's songs to them...not me. My dad always sang songs like "Witch Doctor", "Boppa-oomow-ma-mow", "Purple people eater". Now my kids always ask me to sing them the "Witch Doctor" song.

Smart girl

Today I was helping Gloria make her bed. A small green Lite Brite peg fell out of her bed. I asked her why that was in her bed. She said, "I was trying to trick the tooth fairy."

Random pictures

She takes after her Grandma in Missouri.


I took this in Ohio on Lake Erie. I thought it was a cool picture.


My in-laws are so great. My mother in law lost 99 lbs so far. I am so proud of her.


What can I say??? Getting pretty is not as easy as it used to be.


Ultimate hero worship.

Great pictures of my adorable daughter.

Leaving for Ohio

Tomorrow we leave for Ohio. James never gets black friday off, but this year he has a wedding to go to so he was lucky enough to get the holiday off. I am definitely going to see Twilight on Thursday. We are bringing a friend of ours and Megan's with us. Her name is Monica. She is pictured below with my cat. Anyway, I can't wait to see family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

By the way, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for answered prayers. It is amazing how things work out when we put our faith in Heavenly Father.

First snow day

You probably can't tell, but I'm juggling snowballs.

How I make whole wheat bread.

After popular request, here is how I make whole wheat bread. But first let me say that it has taken me a while to master it. So, if it doesn't turn out great the first time, keep trying.

Ingredients:

1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1/4 cup honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 to 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons oil

(This makes one small loaf. I have been doubling it. I have a PC stone loaf pan. When I double it it fills the pan and rises up over it to make a perfect loaf.)

In my mixer, I put the water, honey and salt. I stir the honey around a little to get it to dissolve. Then I sprinkle the yeast onto the mixture. I let it sit for about 2 minutes. Then I start my mixer and add the wheat. I put in 3 cups of flour and the oil. I always end up adding flour so that it isn't so sticky.

This is where I simplify the whole bread making process. I set my oven to warm. I spray some oil in my loaf pan. I dump the dough in my loaf pan, cover it with a cloth and put it in the oven to rise for an hour. (I don't keep my oven on the whole time, but if it feels like it is cooling down too much I'll turn it back to warm.) After an hour, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees with my bread dough in the oven. If I have NOT double the recipe I bake it for 12 minutes after the oven has heated up. If I have a double batch in one loaf pan it takes about 20 minutes. Don't forget to take the cloth off your dough before you preheat your oven.

So there it is. Even my mom is amazed that the bread turns out so well. It is really so easy after you get the hang of it.

Let me know if you try it and it works for you.

Kids and chores.

One of the kids' chores is to make their bed. I was so impressed with their work. I have to admit that I didn't start making my bed until about 2 years ago.

My silly cat

As a mom, I expect my kids to drink out of my water. In fact, it seems that every time I get a nice cold glass of water for myself, they inevitably want to drink it all. But the last thing I want is to share my water with my cat. However, she doesn't mind sharing with me.





She loves boxes...


and baskets.

My brother, the vampire.

My sister in law, Krista, isn't a fan of Twilight. Well, she thinks its a good story, but doesn't understand the hype. But she, herself, is secretly married to a vampire. My brother has been a vampire since an early age. I guess she's the lucky one, right.