Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...

Just to put you in the mood to vote tomorrow. ..try watching this fabulous Frank Capra film! It's a favorite around here!

Christmas Fairies...

Isn't this winter fairy dress from Chasing Fireflies... just a dream? Sooo pretty! These dresses remind me of Jackie Kennedy's beautiful wedding dress. I've seen a lot of these applied ruffles or ribbon details lately. I love it, it's so feminine!

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the King's Singers...

I was thrilled to see this in Deseret Book on Saturday. I've been waiting for it. I have become a huge fan of the choir since they started making their own recordings and the sound is sooo much better. This CD will be one of your Christmas favorites... Yes, if you hate the Christmas posts.. you'll just have to stay away from this blog for awhile. C and I have a philosophy about Thanksgiving and Christmas it goes like this... What are you most thankful for??? CHRISTMAS!!!

Pork Chops and Brown Rice...

Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of this recipe... It's one of those Utah recipes with Cream of Mushroom soup, which I sometimes tire of... but it tasted good yesterday.

1 package thin lean pork chops (cut about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can french onion soup

Mix soups in small pot and place pork chops in the soup making sure they are covered... cook on 275 for about 4 hours or more until they are very tender.

Serve with brown rice, a side veggie and salad.
Recipe is easily doubled.

Autumn Day at Temple Square...

We had such a fun family day today. We went to see the Reflections of Christ exhibit at the Joseph Smith Building... it was quite beautiful. We had lunch at the Lion House Pantry.
We walked around Temple Square's beautiful Autumn gardens and rode the Trax train around town. It was like a mini vacation. I just loved it all.

Happy Halloween...

Meet Slim and Dim Witt my Dad's Halloween Pumpkin creations.

I hope everyone has a great day and gets lots of treats!

Holly Claus Costume...

THIS eBay Store had great costumes/dress ups... if you need something for a little girl at Christmas be sure to check it out. I was very impressed with the price and quality of the dress. I made the crown of snowflakes myself so that c could be Holly Claus for Halloween... not her favorite holiday.

City of Ember...

This book was made into a film that was released to zero fanfare earlier this month. I think I will miss the film after reading the reviews.. it sounds far too much like Wall-E and you know how I loathed that movie. However, the book is an engaging read for the 8-14 crowd especially. I enjoyed it myself. c insisted that I read it after she did.

Where have you been all my life???

This is a wonderful product. It is a bit painful, unless you've experienced waxing and then it's really not. If you have dark hair like I do... this could be your new favorite thing.

Read the reviews here.

Frankenstein...

When I was in school studying Mary Shelley, I read somewhere or heard that Mary met Percy Shelley as he walked up a hill and saw her there performing a seance in order to communicate with the spirit of her mother who died at her birth. Shelley was a married man, but was immediately smitten with Mary although he did not remain faithful to her either. Whether or not the story of the seance is true, they did court behind her father's back at the grave site of her mother... a graveyard courtship.

Death was a devastating and all to frequent an occurrence to the Victorian who had really almost no hope of raising most of their children to adulthood. Infant mortality was high and real medicine a new and often brutal science.

Subsequently, a generational desire to conquer death through science and the debate over how far science should go were topics of the day. It almost sounds like the Victorian era never ended doesn't it?

Of course the book has other interesting themes. The idea of beauty being linked with a persons treatment, something that has been studied and well documented in our culture. Looking from a modern point of view, I would also say that more evolved emotional intelligence and better communication could have solved the troubles in this book.

However, the most interesting theme was brought up to me by my sister the English teacher who said that Frankenstein's creature was yearning and searching for a divine creator. He wanted an omnipotent, compassionate, loving and perfect creator to set him on course and help him to make a life for himself with purpose and direction, things that he could not do for himself. A mere mortal scientist fell far short and disappointed at every turn. Likewise, our mortal parents, creators of our clay forms can hurt or reject us and we can and do fail our own offspring in large or small ways, while a perfect God and creator does not disappoint, fail or lead us astray.

With few exceptions, I am not really a science fiction/ fantasy fan, but I found this book a very interesting read.

Coconut Dilema...

Why does packaged coconut always have a nasty after taste. What variety should I buy to avoid that? I made these cookies and they were great except for that.

OATMEAL, COCONUT, CHOCOLATECHIP COOKIE

1 1/4 c. oatmeal
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. flake coconut
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients together in bowl. Then add oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before removing from pan.

Ballet Shoes...

I wish they had spent as much time with the script as they did with the sets and costumes... however, it was worth watching for the sets and costumes. I loved the classic book by Noel Streatfield and so I had very high expectations... but see it anyway.

Life... Family... Marriage.. on the Ballot in November.

Please click over and see

THIS...

and the beautiful video presentation that follows...

John McCain An American Odyssey...

Robert Timberg originally wrote a highly acclaimed book called The Nightingales Song about 5 high profile men including John McCain, who were graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy and also served in Vietnam. This book John McCain: An American Odyssey is has been excerpted and expanded to be mostly about the life of John McCain. There is no sentimental fluff here. Robert Timberg does not write from the point of view of a fan or conservative supporter; he is not, which is sort of why I wanted to read this book. He must have included every mistake both minor and major that McCain has ever made.

Still, the book is a page turner although a very rough read in some places. I heard an interview with McCain's daughter Meagan where she said that it was very difficult for her to hear about her father's time as a POW and she tried to avoid it. I can understand that after reading this book.

After reading this book and watching the recent debates I have a few questions about one or two of McCain's policies. I have never met any type of socialized medicine that I have liked. However, I am convinced more than ever before that this is the man who should be the Commander in Chief during these troubled times.

John McCain was sent into a war where our own government spent years tying it's own hands behind its back. John McCain only wants to fight where we can win and to commit troupes where we will stay committed. His comments about the Bosnian/Serbian crisis were prescient at the time and ring more true now as we have learned more about that terrible time.

Some of the points he made were these:"We must take action," citing "an uninterrupted pattern of atrocities since 1992."

and...

"The world's lone superpower, having committed itself militarily, cannot afford to be humbled by an army of forty thousand in a country no larger than Connecticut."

In a graduation speech delivered in June of 1994 to the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia he said, "I have memories of a place so far removed from the comforts of this blessed country that I have learned to forget some of the anguish it once brought me. But my happiness these last twenty years has not let me forget the friends who did not return with me to the country we loved so dearly. The memory of them, of what they bore for honor and country, causes me to look in every prospective conflict for the shadow of Vietnam.

I do not let that shadow hold me in fear from my duty as I have been given light to see that duty. Yet it no longer falls to me to bear arms in my country's defense. It falls to you. I pray that if the time comes for you to answer the call to arms, the battle will be necessary and the field well chosen. But that is not your responsibility. Your honor is in your answer, not your summons."

This book made me want to do more to honor those who serve and their families who serve a long side them and to learn more about our country's history. It inspired me to do my best to educate the next generation in the values and principles that made this land a place that redefined liberty for the world.

Peace Dove Box...

There are 5 of these listed in the shop on the same line... just in case someone needs multiples. They are almost exactly the same... almost. :)

See them HERE...

Today I Am an American...

Among the treasured experiences I've had in my life, I count the opportunities that I've had twice to attend a naturalization ceremony as very precious. Today was even more wonderful because I was able to take little c with me. Pictured above are new American citizens originating from 52 nations. They are swearing that they will defend and protect and serve their new country.
Standing are 63 new American citizens originating from Mexico.
Judge Sam of the Federal District Court of the State of Utah
President Bush welcoming new citizens to our great land...

This is a patriotic and emotional experience for me. I have a difficult time controlling intense feeling of gratitude. My ancestors were immigrants too after all.

Judge Sam told the story of his own parents. His father left his mother, who was expecting their first child, after one year of marriage. And, with some money sewn into his clothes, he walked across Europe from Romania to find a way to get to the United States. When Judge Sam was old enough to understand this terrible risk and sacrifice, he asked his father how he could have done this knowing that it was possible that he would never see his wife again. His father said, "That was the easy part of the decision. There are some things more important than life, liberty is one of those things."

I am always moved to tears by what these new immigrants say about where they have come from and how they feel about the blessing of citizenship. They always express a deep sense of awe and gratitude. They are thankful for freedom. As I sit there and look at all these people, many of whom look and dress differently from myself, I am so impressed by all that we have in common... a deep desire for justice and an abiding love of liberty.

Subsequently, I will never forget the words of a tall black man from Africa. He said that when he fled his native land, he had been offered the opportunity to settle in several different nations. He mentioned that he could have gone to England, Ireland or Poland, but he was desperate to come to America instead. He said that if he had become a citizen of one of those other countries, he could live there all his life, but he would still be an alien. "Today," he said, "as I have taken this oath, I am an American."

My Man Godfrey...

This 1936 film starring the very talented William Powell is a favorite of mine. The writing is still witty and the theme is one that very much resonates today.

Humanitarian Aid Dolls...

Our neighborhood is making a bunch of these dolls that will go to LDS Humanitarian Aid, an organization that will send these dolls all over the world. You can make them for any culture since they go everywhere. You can find the pattern for this doll and other toys that can bless the lives of needy children HERE.

More China Babies...

this morning in...

ThE LoVE BoXeS SHoP

Singing Pumpkins...

... are currently serenading

ThE LOve BoXes SHoP