Brian's baby blankie

Brian's Mom Shari was able to stop by on Sunday. She brought Brian's baby blanket. It was made for Brian by one of Shari's very good friends. Shannon said this morning that Brian got a little twinkle in his eye when she brought it out of her suitcase last night when she got home. 

 Here is Shannon & Shari.

 Brian's blanket definitely was well used.....what a sweet surprise and gift from Shari.

a few more pictures

The house was very full.

 Here are the deviled baby carriages

 Here is my next heirloom that will hit the can. Shannon's preschool plate. It's all bubbled and blistered from putting it in the dishwasher. Isn't it cute?

Shannon's Baby Shower Extravaganza

Thank you new blogger format. I put all of these pictures in exact opposite order so they told the story. I'm not going to redo it. I am posting a lot of pictures so Corinne can get a good feeling of what the morning was like because she could not be here.

The gift pile:

 Phylis Sargent made this set. Applique tie with matching, burp clothes, swaddling cloth & receiving blanket. Doggie bone fabric.

 Shannon was very excited about little shoes.

 The lighted mirror to see the baby in the back seat.

 Hooty Hider, Booby Barrier, Titty Tent......

Here is a gift for Brian from Tina San Fellipo. Tina is always so sweet to bring a gift to the siblings at baby showers. Since there is no sibling for Baby Boy Drees, Daddy gets the gift.

 Tricia Fisher brought a gift for me.

 Rosanna & Shannon comparing baby bumps. Due dates are 20 days apart.

 Shannon With Corene Hawk, Elizabeth Calhoun & Rosana Lampano. Elizabeth is a childhood friend and Corene & Rosana from Junior High.

 A small Drees Family reunion. Angela with daughters Aurora & Calyssa and Jill and Kaiti.

  .

 Found the cutest balloon at Party City.

 We were all working on frosting the cupcakes.

something I think is fun

I bought this at Costco for $20. Lips glosses (I don't like any of them), eye shadows galore and four colors of blush. It is a steal and I am having lots of fun with all the colors. I use all four colors of blush with one brush stroke mixed together. I am very thankful for make up, clothes, hair products, my hair and face.

New home's color scheme

This is my future kitchen. The door is my kitchen pantry. The hallway leads to "my thinking spot".This is the storage closet in the hallway. This closet faces the wall to the kitchen.This angle is looking to the great room from hallway in the 1st picture.

This is the great room and that is the front entrance hallway to the left and the opening to where the master bedroom & laundry room is on the right.

This photo is the best representation of the colors. Whenever I am sitting in the sealing room at the temple, I admire the warm yellow color of the walls. I tell myself, that is the color I want in my home. When my brother in law asked what color we were going to paint our new house, I told him I wanted a soft yellow...he hesitantly responded that it was not a good resale color. I kept my ground and explained to the home designer that I wanted something soft and yellow. She actually came up with this paint chip....I didn't really see the yellow in it, but said okay. This is actually just the tone I wanted. We did not choose tile for flooring because we LOVE vinyl. So this is my fake tile vinyl. I am pretty happy with these few photos from Fred's sister.

stone work

This is the stone design we selected for our new house. Check that step off the list of things to do.

house update

Not very attractive at this point, but the house is taking shape. Hopefully that rip is just construction type paper and not a screen. That is my future "thinking spot" window.

By the way, we would appreciate your prayers that we will find a buyer for our home.

Blessings related to food

In this photo are stemware and china given to me by my Grandma Waldron. The china was purchased for her by my Dad while he was in the Navy. He would send home his money for her to purchase this china. The pattern is called Roberta. The stemware is also from my Grandma Waldron.

The pitcher belonged to my Grandma Ensign who is my Mother's mom. Grandma Ensign died at age 27 of consumption. My mom was about two years old when her mother died. It is always a joy for me to set my holiday and special occasion dinner table with these pieces because I feel honored to have them.

The flowers in the background were given to me yesterday by two sweet sisters that were dinner guests for Easter Dinner.

Now for more explanation. One of the sisters began to explain why she was pushing aside the noodles in the manicotti (yes not a traditional Easter feast) and also the red and orange peppers in the green salad - she has food allergies. I don't have any allergy to any food....other than the bloating up of fat on my body, but that is another subject. Though secretly I wish for allergies so I would be forced to stop eating certain foods that contribute to my soft body makeup....I also felt such gratitude that I don't have allergies. Many people really have to work at food preparation and awareness of what is in the food we eat. Wow am I thankful that I am blessed to eat freely of all the wonderful food we enjoy in this life on the earth. Of course, I honestly am mindful of my food selections each day and have a lot of work in front of me to continue to try and change bad eating habits or cut back on them, but what a blessing I have to be healthy in all other ways.

Yes I'm a bit whacked when it comes to my emotional keel, but all the things I feel I struggle with are manageable. I have been blessed with good health and a mind that I can use for good to learn more and make better choices with.

Bacon-and Egg Muffins recipe

4 slices bacon, cut in thirds
5 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 TBSP sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil or butter, melted
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1. Preheat oven to 400. In large skillet cook bacon just until it begins to crisp. Drain and reserve drippings. Return 2 tsp. drippings to skillet. For scrambled eggs, in small bowl beat three of the eggs, 2 TBSP water, and a dash each of salt and pepper. Cook eggs in hot skillet over medium heat without sitrring until eggs begin to set on bottom and around edges. With a spatula, lift and fold for uncooked portion to flow underneath. Cook until set but still moist. Transfer to bowl; set aside.
2. Brush twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups with some remaining bacon drippings. In medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Combine milk, oil, and remaining two eggs in bowl. Stir into flour mixture. Fold in scrambled eggs and cheese. Spoon into muffin cups. (cups will be full).
3. Place one bacon piece on each muffin. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until light brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan on rack. Run a table knife around edges of muffins to loosen; remove from pans. Serve with syrup if desired. Makes 12 servings. 202 cal, 12 g fat, 89 mg chol, 356 mg sodium, 16 g car, 1 t fiber, 7 g pro.

General Conference weekend

I tried a new recipe for our Conference morning breakfast Bacon-and-Egg Muffins.
step one: cut four pieces of bacon into thirds. Save bacon grease for eggs and for greasing the muffin tin.Soft scramble three eggs.

Mix cornmeal, eggs, oil, cheddar cheese, sugar, flour mixture in a bowl.

Bacon grease up that tin.

Pour in the batter & top with a piece of bacon. Your breakfast sir. Absolutely need to serve it with a little puddle of syrup! It was pretty yummy!

Then after breakfast it was Conference watching time.

Ever since we have had the ability to watch conference at home, I have THE worst time staying awake. This time I had a couple projects to work on while sitting in front of the TV. It really helped.

My first project was organizing our DVD collection. We have taken our DVDs out of the cases and put them in holders. I finished that long ago, but I went back and pulled out the covers and cut them to fit inside the DVD sleeve. Alphabetized and all. That lasted through both sessions on Saturday.

Today I organized photos. Since we started using digital pictures we no longer print them to put in photo albums. What a BLESSING. I was the one who had that job and I did hate it because Fred wanted dates & descriptions. I did pretty good at doing that and now I am very thankful that I did. Well over the years we have pulled out pictures for different events, received pictures that we hung up places or put in pocket size holders. I gathered them all together, organized them by child, grandchild and put them in the best chronological date I could figure and put them in photo albums. To be honest the last three albums are not exact chronological. I resorted to just putting pictures in the books to get them put somewhere. BUT it feels great.

I enjoyed looking at old pictures. It made me realize how much we enjoyed our children and that we were able to provide a positive environment for our children to grow up in and that we all really did enjoy being together. We were not perfect at FHE or scripture study, but we did eat dinner together every day and had good family time doing things. Our children were able to gain a testimony and study the scriptures on their own. They are examples to Fred and I. We are grateful that we at least were able to lay the ground work of providing a home where the Spirit was present.