Gardening Girl Friends

This is my friend Dolores' garden. I've known her for about 7 years, and she's my gardening guru, mentor and home depot buddy. She has a fantastic garden and has helped me design my garden and has given me cuttings from her garden.

This is a flower patch in her front yard. She has done all of this by herself and this year she turned 65. She has lived under constant pain in her joints and experiences many seizures and has had a brain tumor removed about 15 years ago. She moved to Arizona from Massachusetts to get away from the cold humidity. She is legally blind and can't drive a car. She depends upon a few friends who take her to the grocery store and doctors etc.

This is her hanging pot called the "DownUnder Pot". She gave me one and yesterday I flipped it over and the dirt didn't fall out. It takes a few weeks for the roots to establish before you can do that.This is her fish pond and she's had cranes swoop down and snatch a few fish. She built this all by herself. She is an amazing person.Every once in awhile a few of her gardening buddies get together and take her out to enjoy each others company. I'm on the left next to me is Dolores, then LuAnn and then Madge. She calls us her "Mormon Friends" or "Angels". She is very spiritual and grew up Catholic. Her spirituality comes from her garden and she is always talking to God there. I have learned so much about life in general from her.

There wasn't too many wildflowers out this year as compared to last year. But the few that were out were very pretty. This is some flowers on the way up to Usary Pass.
Here we are having a silly moment on the playground.

Here is our Facebook pose. We had a great time with Dolores today and will always remember her love and friendship.

Missionary Update

Norwich skyline

Above are a few pictures of his last area in Norwich, Norfolk England. It was colder there and even snowed a few times. There's lots of cathedrals and pubs. They say you can go to a different pub everyday of the year and a different church each week.
Derek is top row on the left Mission Office/Hyde Park Chapel
The Hyde Park Chapel is home to two wards, the Hyde Park Ward and the Britannia Ward (Young Single Adult), The England London Mission Office, A Visitors' Center, and a Family History Library. The missionary couple that runs the Family History Library is a couple from Gilbert, Arizona the Scott's.

I don't know why I haven't been posting more about Derek on his mission he is having a phenomenal time over in Jolly Good England. Since Dec. 29 he's been serving in the Norwich, Norfolk area and had great success teaching and baptizing. Since the middle of February he has baptized 7 people and he had more lined up to baptize but was transferred this past week. He now is in London as Assistant to the President. And he will be working in the mission home at the Hyde Park Chapel/Mission. He said Pres. Foulger called him on Sat. night and said he was going to serve in London. So Derek left on Sunday on a 4 hour train/tube ride by himself! I thought that wasn't allowed to be by yourself. He said he didn't get to bed till about 3 am and is very tired. But hopefully he will settle down and learn the in's and the out's of running the mission. He said it is crazy driving in downtown London and almost killed someone the first 5 minutes behind the wheel. If anyone knows Derek he is a kind of crazy driver at least when I would ride with him. But I think he was just trying to see how far he could push me before I would scream. But so far he hasn't had any problems and past the driving test which I hear is very difficult to pass. His mission companion is Elder Winder from South Jordan, Utah. That's where my brother lives, I wonder if they know him. Ha Ha. I love it that he is working so closely with Pres. Foulger and learning a whole other side to the mission which is the administrative end. He lives in a basement flat that he says is not so nice in Central London but is about a 15 minute walk from the mission home. He says he has never had so much fun on his mission as wouldn't change it for the world. Pres. Foulger will be ending mission in July . He has been the best mission President. He always writes us and tells us about the responsibilities he is giving Derek. Always such kind words. I have never worried about Derek for one minute he's been in England. The members have been so kind and he's had such great companions.

Carson's Colage

Lachelle put this really cute colage of Carson on her blog and I had to show off my grandbaby!
He's 5 months now and such a handsome little gentleman. This just shows how fast they grow up. He's already wearing 12 month old sizes. I got to go to the Botanical Gardens with him this week and we walked through the butterfly exhibit. Not as many butterflies this year compared to last. But it was fun to see them land on people. Carson is starting to roll over and does a great high five. We just love him to pieces.

Tied the Knot

March 25th

31 yrs ago today we got married in the Los Angeles Temple. Time flys when your having fun! It just seems like it gets better and better every year. I love Rick so much, he is such a fun husband and great father. Thank you honey for all you do for me and our family. Happy Anniversary!!

Rocky Point Mexico - Spring Break

Our government warned everyone to stay out of Mexico because of the problems. But in Rocky Point there were no " bumps" to be found. Life went on as normal - just a little less tourists and and alot quieter at night... ("No Fireworks"). The weather was perfect, in the mid 70's with a slight breeze to cool you off. We stayed at the "Playa Bonita" Trailer Park which was probably half full of guests. No standing in line for a shower or the bathrooms this time. Just 5 families from our ward came down: Steiner's, Colliers, Faie and her boys and the Cooks stayed in the condo next door at the "Sonoran Sky" and my son Jon also stayed at the condo resort "Las Palmas". Both are good condos and we want to go down again and try them out some other time. We sure missed the 8 other families from our ward that couldn't make it down this year but we tried to make the best of it anyway. We were there from Sat. to Wed. and only a 5 hour trip hauling a trailer. On Sunday we went to church at the LDS chapel in town and saw many people that we knew. The shopping was great at the Fish Market and the dirt mall (which isn't dirt any more) but small store shops with cement flooring and air conditioning too. I bought a couple large ceramic pots, and the typical "cheap Mexican junk" like one vendor called it and everything was "practically free". I did do some great bargaining getting some things down to half the price they first quoted. We did go to the bakery and had fresh Mexican sweet bread that had just come right out of the brick oven. We took a trip out to Choya Bay and the tide was out and lots of sea creatures were to be found. My favorite activity was sitting on the beach most of the afternoon reading my book. I loved it when the vendors wandered by selling all their wares. That's the ultimate shopping, you don't have to leave your chair. My favorite treat was the fresh mangoes they would peel and put on a stick with some fresh lime squeezed on it. Steiner's had a rousing game of ping pong and volleyball always going. Rick brought the boche balls and had fun playing them with Doug in the waves. Kenzie was no where to be found always off playing with her friends from Stapley. She did not want to come home. We did have a fire on the beach and cooked up s'mores and sang camp songs for FHE. On the way back to the States
we did have to wait at the border for an hour which wasn't too bad. On the way through the border town one school had all the little children waving to all the Americans, I thought that was
so sweet I wish I had gotten a picture of that. I hope we can go down again next year. The only thing I regret not doing was to ride a horse on the beach, but we just ran out of time. I love Mexico. It's a great tradition and memory making vacation.

El Salvador Treat - PUPUSA

Tonight we went over to Jon's house to eat Pupusa. Norma is leaving to go back to Canada next
week and we didn't want her to go until we tried her yummy El Salvadorian dinner "Pupusa".
She handmade the tortillas and they can be stuffed with cheese, beans, pork or beef. She stuffed
hers with homemade refried beans and some with just cheese inside. You can eat it with a topping
of cabbage that has been marinated in vinegar and onion I loved it, and will try to make it. I will miss Norma, we had such a good time, shopping, hiking, movies, laughing and eating. Our favorite places to shop were Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Costco (especially when we were hungry and sampled all the food). There is so much more I want to show her, but we are going to Rocky Point together and that will be very fun. She taught me so much, especially to work hard and always have a good attitude. She loves to walk and sometimes would walk up to 3 hours a day with Chopper. She was so good to Jon and Ivette, always cleaning and cooking for them.

Pupusa Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups of masa harina (I believe that is just corn flour for the dough, sometimes called corn masa flour)
1 cup of Water
1 cup of Filling (you can use cheese, shredded pork, bacon, beans or even minced jalapeno peppers)

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the maseca and water and knead well.
2. Knead in more water, one tablespoonful at a time, if needed to make a moist, yet firm dough. It should not crack at the edges when you press down on it.
3. Set aside to rest 5-10 minutes.
4. Roll dough into a log and cut into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball.
5. Press a hole in each ball with your thumb. Put about 1 tablespoon of desired filling into each ball and fold the dough over to
   completely enclose it.
6. Press the ball out with your palms to form a disc. Be careful that the filling doesn't spill out.
7. Place the dough between plastic wrap. Roll it out with a rolling pin to about 6" wide and 1/8-1/4" thick.
8. Heat a skillet over high heat.
9. Cook each pupusa for about 1-2 minutes on each side till lightly browned and blistered.

Serving: 8 pupusas

One More for the Road

Diane Goodman's birthday was today and we just had the best time getting together with a bunch of friends and sharing good times and laughter. She'll kill me for posting this picture, but I love to torment her and she is always such a good sport about it. As you can tell she loves wearing her birthday glasses in front of innocent bystanders.
She is such a great friend and I love her to pieces.
Happy Birthday Girlfriend!!! Thanks for reading my blog, I think your about the only one left that does.

"March"ing On - Birthday Shout Outs

March is a great month for birthdays. Rick's dad Frank Green or affectionately "Buck"as we know him turned 86 this month. He and his wife Wanda raised 5 children and built his beautiful home in So. Calif on about an acre or more of fruit and citrus trees. He is an amazing person. Always working on some project in the garage or house. He is a whiz at crossword puzzles, something I have never been able to do. He is a retired High School Math teacher and also taught College Algebra at night. He can fix just about anything that is broken, and has a soft spot for lonely stray cats. One in particular he is trying to patiently tame. He has been an executive ward financial clerk for 45 years (very dedicated). He still goes fishing twice a year with his brother to their sacred spot on the Madison River in Montana. Whenever we visit them our favorite thing to do is get around the fireplace and have a roaring fire and a bowl of popcorn and chat about old times or solving world problems. We love you Dad - your the BEST.

Lehi Days

Our Stake puts on a huge Rodeo every year. And Rick and I have helped out with the Barbeque over the years. We do the fun stuff which is serving the food. But behind the scenes to get it ready is a major undertaking with months of planning and preparation going into it. My friend Diane Horne was second in command and she worked her tail off. Thanks Diane for all you do. I don't know how many barbeque beef lunches we served but it was close to 2,000. We served shredded bbq beef that was cooking in a deep pit for 24 hours. Then they had baked beans, cole slaw, and yummy potatoes and a role. We ran out of beans first and then the cole slaw. We served from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 am it was just go-go-go the whole time. Ricks job was to shred the beef, and I had the fun job of serving the potatoes, which if any got away I was there to lap it up. There was loads of people this year, more than in years past which has been going on for close to 40 years (give or take). Last year Kenzie got a coveted silver belt buckle for riding a calf. They had to tell her it was time to get off because she could have ridden that thing all day. Most people were getting bucked off the minute they popped out of the shoot. The night before the rodeo they have a western dance and rodeo event signups. Kenzie went to the dance with her friends and had a blast. I didn't get to watch the rodeo this year because we were busy with the bbq and then went to Danny's friends baptism. But everyone had a great time and it was another beautiful day in sunny Arizona.