Yes, I'm Still Here!

I know....it's been almost a week since I've posted, but since I didn't have anything too "exciting" or "interesting" to say, I've delayed. But here I am. My week in a nutshell: Tuesday--Erin and I baked bread with the help of four great chef's assistants. Wednesday--I worked (and finished) my CityScape project. If I'd taken picture of it, I'd post them, but I haven't yet. Thursday--I made lemon bars (YUM!) and a veggie tray for Jenny Cooper's baby shower. I also got my hair cut and colored. Always a good day when that happens. Friday--Mark and I went junkin' and found next to nothing. We were able to get a few kid books for the treasure box. I'm sure they'll like seeing new books to read. Friday night I worked on a sample for a class I'm teaching the YW in the ward the end of June. Today (Saturday) Mark and I took a day trip up to Payson/Pine. We were scoping out a place to stay during the three days we'll be at girls' camp. I know, we're wimps. I guess that's the luxury of getting older! We did stop at our favorite scrapbooking store in Payson and found a couple of fun items I'd not seen here in town. Almost made it all worth the trip! We even managed to get into some beautiful rain. That did make it all work the trip! There's nothing like being in the mountains during a summer rain storm. We even were treated to several loud claps of thunder! On the way home we stopped for a minute at the outlet mall in Anthem. They have some new stores we'd not been to before. Now we're home getting things ready for the Sabbath...clothes ironed, dinner planned/prepared, etc.

Days Like Today

I really enjoy days like today. I went to Erin's and we had our almost-weekly bread baking morning. It was really good. We are getting more proficient, too. It took us exactly two hours today from the time I walked in her door until we had finished bread cooling on the counter. I remember when it used to take us at least three hours. We had both recently watched the YouTube video by President Uchtdorf called "Create" and we felt like we'd heeded his counsel to create something today. It always feels like we've really accomplished something worthwhile when we've had a successful bread baking day.
After baking the bread, one of the four of us (who shall remain unnamed!) was hungry for a Sonic slush and tater tots. So off we went! After that, we stopped by Target. I needed a new 4-cup measuring cup...we had worn off the markings on the one I had! Then it was back to Erin's to bag up the bread. I headed home and got things put away. Then Brian and Abby stopped by after school for a quick dinner before Brian was off to his college class. It's always fun to have them stop by, even if it's just for a half hour or so. We enjoy that.
Tonight I worked on getting some supplies/materials together for a project Jan and I are working on. It seems like we're always working on one project or another! We just keep getting ourselves caught up in teaching or doing one thing or another. But it's fun.
Last night we went to Casa again for one of Emma's t-ball games. This is her last week to play and we wanted to get in one more game. Matthew starts baseball next week, so we'll get to travel down to watch him play next. And Eliza, Abby and Dallin are all playing soccer now, so we'll have lots of athletic events to watch in the coming months. What fun!!!

Irish Bakery and T-Ball

Today I felt like I was in an Irish bakery. Erin and I (along with her girls) have been trying to get to Mesa to have a bread lesson with Deb. Since it's spring break and since Em and her girls are in town, we went today and had a wonderful girls' day. All of the little girls, along with their moms, wore green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The grandma's were spoil sports, I guess. We did get the traditional pinch, though. We put together a batch of whole wheat bread and answered lots of questions from Deb and Em. I think they're both excited to get going on making their own bread at home. And who can blame them? It's so yummy. While the bread baking was going on, the six girls played wonderfully together. They all had fun.

After the bread came out of the oven, everyone was hungry. Deb said that they sold whole wheat at their Costco, so we went there to check that out and we ate in the Costco food court. Some had hot dogs and others had pizza. As you can tell in the photo, Deb and I looked across the aisle at Costco at a sea of green shirts. By the way, the wheat is from Lehi Roller Mills in Lehi, UT and the price is good! That may become my new wheat source. After lunch we went back to Debs for some much-needed diaper changes and one last play time and a group photo. All in all, it was a great day...one we hope to repeat again soon.


On Saturday, we went to CG to watch another one of Emma's t-ball games. She sure is intense on the field, don't you think?

Another Friend

Today I went to Erin's for a couple of hours to stay with Libby, who was home ill, so Erin could attend a luncheon for a friend who was moving. Libby seemed excited to have me there. She had mac and cheese for lunch, then we drew some pictures and she read the Friend. My goodnes, but can that girl read! She's 5 and in kindergarten, but has been reading since before school started this year. She could read anything in the Friend magazine and didn't let any of the words trip her up. I'm amazed at how smart kids are these days and how well they do in school. It's like once the idea of putting letters together to make words clicks in their heads, there is no holding them back! I think we read the magazine from cover to cover....at least once! Erin said that Libby and Eliza really enjoy the online Friend activities at lds.org. What a blessing to have that available to kids instead of the more undesirable internet activities.
Tomorrow is bread-making day, so tonight I ground the wheat. We've gotten pretty good and quick at the bread making. And yum! is it good!!!

Bread Day

Today was bread-making day at Erin's. We get together about every week or 10 days to bake bread. It goes pretty quick, thanks to Erin having two ovens! Ellie is usually our right-hand helper, but she was feeling a little under the weather and was with Grandpa getting lunch during the mixing process. As a result, Hattie was our new little helper. And quite a helper she was! I think she finally realized what she's been missing out on....because she's usually asleep while we bake. But today I had a Dr. appt. and Erin had a VT appt., so we got a late start. Anyway, Hattie LOVED wearing her apron. In fact, when we tried to take it off later, she protested loudly! She still has a bit to learn to catch up to Hattie, but she's the best taste-tester around. She's a little snitcher!!



After we finished the bread, Erin took Ellie to the Dr. and we stayed with Hattie and then Mark picked Eliza and Libby up from school. By the time they got home, Erin was back and we headed home to meet Brian. We get a priceless opportunity one afternoon a week to have Brian all to ourselves. He has his Master's classes on Tuesday nights, and he stops by here on his way. We usually have something for him for dinner and he takes a few minutes to kick back, relax, and have dinner before he's off to class. We enjoy his visits a lot.

Then tonight, Mark and I made a dent in our Christmas shopping. We're done with several people on our list, but still have a way to go before we're done.

Tomorrow is a long-awaited day for the girls of the extended Bowler family. It's our yearly "girls' day out". We started the tradition the last year Mom was alive at Thanksgiving time....six years ago. It's hard to believe it's been than long. Anyway, we go to Kierland Commons for some girl shopping, then to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. There's a lot of giggling, laughing and sharing of food! It's a wonderful time to reconnect with sisters, aunts, and cousins. I'll post pictures later this week. Ellen, Audi, Kamille, Chris, Michelle, Patti and girls....we'll miss you this year. Hope you can make it next year!!