FHE - President Eyring's "To my grandchildren"

I didn't feel as prepared going into this FHE as I have the previous weeks and was tempted to bail. What I need to do is start delegating these lessons on a regular FHE responsibilities rotation but I have yet to actually finish making and use one of those handy charts. I have crafting fear, it's totally dumb. 

It wasn't a whiz bang FHE, but it happened! And sometimes consistency, simply having the Spirit present, and their participation is what matters most. A bit of last minute inspiration due to earlier study totally paid off too! 

You see, I was pretty worn out because it was Monday. And the kids had all been home all day. I needed some serious comfort food so I slaved away on a home made chicken pot pie for dinner. This recipe only happens maybe twice a year for me but oh how we love it! It's Ryan's mom's and it's totally Delish. All the kids thought so too, yet Jake threw his tantrum not two minutes after this picture. Full plate and cup of milk swiped off the table across the floor. Awesome. To his room he went while I finished enjoying my homely creation while McKay praised me up and down for the pot pie and for not losing my temper (sadly, me losing it is rather routine at dinner). Love that kid!

So back to our FHE. We watched the first few minutes of President Eyring's talk together until he finishes sharing the scriptures in Matthew 25. I'd asked them to listen for:

"There is one overarching commandment that will help us to meet the challenges and lead to the heart of a happy family life . . . 

We watched it and discussed what this means.

“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
“This is the first and great commandment.
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”¹

But the kids were as pot pied as I was, so we needed a kick. And this was my last minute inspiration: We used the Friend magazine! YAHOO! I love how being in the Primary presidency has made me aware of the monthly themes and the past two months' themes fit President Eyring's talk perfectly! 

And we closed with . . . 

"Life in families will test us. That is one of God's purposes in giving us the gift of mortality - to strengthen us by passing through tests."

True. True. True. I had lots of other favorite parts to the talk like this one  . . .

"We cannot force that on others [a remembrance of their tutelage in the pre mortal existence of the plan of happiness], but we can let them see it in our lives."


But for me, a wonderful blessing of my study of this talk came yesterday. It's been a pretty calm week here at home with me trying pretty hard to let the kids be kids, but also to not let contentions escalate without me stepping in to mediate. Boy is that hard sometimes - especially since daylight savings has not meant kids sleeping in and Jake has been up between 3:30-5:30 each day!!! Argh.

But like I was saying, a great moment happened when I had a call from a new friend who is struggling in that nasty Bermuda Triangle of transition we call moving here, their first overseas assignment which came quickly and unexpectedly. One of her children is really struggling. Have you ever felt that loss of hope for the end of a struggle? I was there this summer and I remember that dark place through a few of my life's rough transitions. And I felt prompted to share a couple parts of this talk with her and we cried together. 

". . . God has devised means to save each of His children. For many, that involves being placed with a brother or a sister or a grandparent who loves them no matter what they do.

Years ago a friend of mine spoke of his grandmother. She had lived a full life, always faithful to the Lord and to His Church. Yet one of her grandsons chose a life of crime. He was finally sentenced to prison. My friend recalled that his grandmother, as she drove along a highway to visit her grandson in prison, had tears in her eyes as she prayed with anguish, “I’ve tried to live a good life. Why, why do I have this tragedy of a grandson who seems to have destroyed his life?” 

The answer came to her mind in these words: “I gave him to you because I knew you could and would love him no matter what he did.”

And then . . .

President George Q. Cannon said this about how God has prepared you and me and our children for the tests we will face: “There is not one of us but what God’s love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save, and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are the children of God, and that He has actually given His angels—invisible beings of power and might—charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping.”²

What President Cannon taught is true. You will need that assurance, as I have needed it and depended on it.

So there are people we are put here to save with our love and who are put in our lives to save us with their love. And then there's also "His angels - invisible beings of power and might." I take great comfort in this and have felt both to be true in my life. It's pretty darn awesome!

If you've read anything of Brené Brown, you'll know that feeling this sort of connection with someone like I had with my friend is pretty much what life is all about. Of course, our prophets and apostles have been saying it all along, quoting the Master, but lately I've loved a fresh vocabulary found in her work that reaffirms truths of the gospel to me! Just to be real though, I've been so enmeshed in my busy little home life this week that each time this friend has called, I've not been the most empathetic patient good listener and I found myself messaging her to apologize often asking her to not give up on me for my fumbling efforts to not be such a hermit. Seriously, sometimes this stay-at-home motherhood thing zaps me of my social skills and ability to speak intelligibly. It's not awesome.

My kids are on Fall Break from their school this week. Germans take off and travel or visit family but Ryan's on the US holiday schedule so he's working. And I'm pretty proud of him. He's got a lot going right now, doing presentations of his team's work to generals and their staff which has been well received. So much so, in fact, that his gov't liaison sent an email praising him to Ryan's bosses up the chain. I really appreciate leaders who take the time to give credit for a job well done!

As for me and the kids on the home front, we didn't plan anything special but we've had something every night which is unusual, and draining, for us happy homebodies. On Tuesday, our Home Teachers came. I think this is probably the third time in the five years we've had someone come so the kids were intrigued, wondering what a home teacher was and why they were coming. We had a nice visit getting to know our newly assigned ones. Wednesday we invited some good friends, the Rays, for dinner as they are in a hotel until they move back to the US on Saturday. Waaah! Their daughter and our kids got to each share their research unit project speeches with us which was fun. Topics: Migrations - pioneer ancestors; The stories about us - George Washington; and Creepy Crawlies - daddy long legs. Tonight was trick or treating, tomorrow night is a ward CARnival trunk or treating and chili cook off, and Saturday is the Relief Society Super Saturday with Thai and Mexican cooking, photography, crocheting, bunting sewing, and a few others. See, I'm so glad we've laid low during the day getting chores done and alternating technology and play days as most of us battle annoying colds.

I've finally decided how I would display the nuggets from these FHEs. It's mostly for me, but the kids do sit at this desk now and then for homework so maybe they'll glance at it! 

Pumpkin Festival Ludwigsburg

The annual Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival is awesome! We've not made it there until now, just seen pictures and heard about it from friends. Had we known about the delicious pumpkin entrees offered, you could not have kept us away! And for once, the kids had a great time on one of our family outings! It greatly helped that we ran into a ton of their friends' families from school.

Our kids have made some great friends at their international school these past couple of years. One of those families is the Frikkens from the Detroit area. They are here for 3 years working for Bosch. Easton and their son, Anthony, have been best buds since the first week of grade 1. However, grade 3 finds them in separate classes this year. Luckily, us moms have been able to get them together for some after school activities, Cub Scouts, and this past weekend we found ourselves together at the festival! Awesome fun!

Just missing Joe here!

All pictures in this post are courtesy of Joe and Vian, because while I remembered to pack a good picnic lunch, water, the stroller, the diaper bag and such . . . I forgot the camera! Argh!!! I'm so glad they got such great shots! THANK YOU!!!

It was one of those last beautiful warm days before the chill of autumn arrived. We all picked this day to go because of the Pumpkin Regatta. About eight ginormous pumpkins are hollowed out and stuck in a big pond for people to race in. Why not?!

One of the kids' dads got to participate because they were short a competitor. That white pumpkin above was the fastest, easiest to maneuver it seemed. After watching a few races and eating our picnic, we meandered down to where the pumpkin sculpture garden was set up.

With October Fest getting underway, if you're out an about you will see lots of Germans decked out in their lederhosen and dirndl dresses. Vian caught this picture which is just too cute!

Here's a shot looking down into the sculpture garden and festival area. Previous years' themes have been sea creatures and dinosaurs. This year it's all things Swiss! Notice from left to right -- an edelweiss star flower, the alp long horn player, and the Matterhorn!

 The traditional long horns, we love these!

The Swiss Army knife!

Alpen milk cow and farmer pouring milk. {We hope to attend the upcoming festivities and parades of when different towns bring their cows down from mountain summer pastures. They deck the cows out with all sorts of regalia and really throw a good party we hear.}

The house there had every kind of pumpkin gourd displayed on the outside with a gift shop inside. The hay bales and pumpkin paths made great seats whenever you needed to park for a bit and enjoy the views!

Gourde creations! Cows, snakes, mice, frogs, eels and all sorts!

But by far, the best part as far as the kids were concerned was the hay play area! They were having so much fun that Ryan couldn't help himself. He just had to join in, more than once! The kids pounced on him and I am still finding hay in random places! I absolutely love how Ryan gets such a kick joining in (or leading) all the fun!

And me on my perch keeping track of our little wanderer who couldn't decide which was best - the crazy fun in the hay, roaming the pumpkin displays, trying to push all pumpkins off the hay bales along the paths, or taking a break snuggling with mom. Let it be noted that he only wanted to be snuggled when kids were interrupting his roaming with too much excited attention. Whatever, I'll take it!

Best buds! I love that all our kids get along real well! 

Representing USA, Mexico, and England!

So if the hay was the kids' favorite, the food was me and Ryan's favorite! Pumpkin soup with toasted-to-perfection, spicy pumpkin seeds and classic German crusty dipping bread. YUM!!! As many ways to cook pumpkin and to serve it were here! Roasted, sautéed, fried, grated, pureed served in sweet strudels with whipping cream, savory soup, tasty spaghetti sauce over pasta, served like potato wedges for dipping, and in a gumbo concoction. It was mind-boggling! There were also sweet roasted seeds or spicy curried seeds. Man, I wish we had more of those! We need to track down a recipe ASAP! I also find it fascinating that at these festivals there is no paper and plastic serving ware beyond the cafeteria tray and napkins. There's a big dishwashing operation behind the food hut. Very interesting!

This gal has saved my bacon many times when in a jam! She is one of the most gracious, beautiful, stylish, easy friends to have! She also puts on a mean Middle Eastern food spread in keeping with her Chaldean (Christian Iraqi) roots! YUM!!! 

It's so great to have a picture of us together! Thanks, Joe!

Happy are we!

Today was just good. Not WOW, but satisfying. I feel really blessed, even though I didn’t accomplish a darn thing to meet my nesting needs and we just watched the series finale of one of our favorite shows - Friday Night Lights. But here’s a list in no particular order of what I’m loving in the moment today in spite of it all!

Watching my belly shape-shifting never gets old! Such a miracle!!! Only one month left as of today!

Perfectly cool weather temps for a rotund lady like me to not swell up and have cankles thus far in my pregnancy! Yahoo! 60-75 degrees is my happy place.

Morgan now doesn't fit snuggled up next to me on the couch because of this big belly. As we watched the Women's World Cup final last night between the USvJapan, she kept falling off and getting mad at me. I couldn't help but laugh!

I love that just about any mood Morgan's pulling can be remedied by tickling, or threatening to tickle, with "spider fingers"! Oh how I love her girly laugh!

Listening to the boys make up games and including Morgan - life is so much better w/o the tv on! Why do I forget this so easily?

McKay entertaining us with his hip-swiveling dance moves! Pure comedy!

The Italian market's incredulous cashier's reaction when I acknowledged the three munchkins fighting over treats I wouldn't buy were indeed all mine and that I was happy to add another to the brew soon. Coming from a family of ten kids has forever skewed my perception of what having a "big" family means! To me, big = over 5 kids. Perhaps it's the fact that you have to graduate from the standard minivan at that point?

At the commissary, Morgan hollered excitedly for 'vacados for "wacamole 'n ships" until they were secure in a bag going home with us. It's become a regular lunch around here along with a plate of sliced up fruit. Today was strawberries, per McKay's request. Yum!

The thought of being able to sleep on my back soon when the baby will no longer cut off circulation or limbs going numb by doing so. I'll have to ask Ryan then if he prefers the snoring pregnant lady to the hungry wipper-snapper invading his slumber. We've currently got a good rotation of musical beds going on at our house between the two of us having sleep issues!

A kind friend's hand-me-downs for Morgan and the boys. Morgan is all set for snow and rain with all those coats and boots! Yahoo!

Great deals from the yardsale site this weekend courtesy of Ryan: an almost new trampoline $50, desk for boys $15, and a standing wardrobe $15 so I can finally situate the kids' clothing and bring up the baby clothes from storage. It's about time we see what we've got!

Watching the kids buzz around Ryan as he put the trampoline together tonight.

Morgan got her songbird on during the final assembly phase belting out tunes she'll make up and words to go with them. She sings what's on her brain. She'll just repeat random phrases like "Hello Me -ah" and "E-Y-S" (abc song) or sing what she is doing. Tonight it was about going up and down the step ladder. Pretty funny stuff, she's a riot!

The happy faces of my bouncing babies!

And last but not least, our favorite Vapiano dinner re-creation tonight! Gotta love a dinner that's fresh and ready in less than 30 minutes! If you haven't been to a Vapiano's before stateside or here, it's kinda like Subway for italian food - with a bit more ambiance. You request your pizza, salad or pasta at a counter and they make it in front of you.

Our Vapiano's Rucola Ravioli

• fresh ravioli - ours was spinach ricotta but I'm tempted to try the basil ones from a local Italian store
• 1-2 tbsp butter
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp onion, finely diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken stock (I mix some up with a 1 tsp of "Better than Boullion" and a cup of water)
• 1 bag fresh greens, rucola and spinach work well
• cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly shredded
• pine nuts, we prefer ours toasted
• salt and pepper, as desired
• for heat, one or two red hot chili peppers finely diced

Bring water for to boil for ravioli. I add a good swirl of salt and oil to my water cuz I've been told to. When it's almost to a boil, heat a saucepan on medium high heat.

Swirl olive oil and butter until melted.

Dump ravioli into boiling water. I plan to boil the ravioli for six minutes and so I set the timer when I dump them in. Now saute onions and garlic for a few minutes (add the chili peppers now if desired - a little goes a long way!). Right before taking the ravioli out, add the chicken stock to the sauted mix.

Strain the ravioli gently and then add to the sauce. Plate as soon as possible - I make each person their own plate. Top the ravioli generously with greens, sprinkle on the parmesan cheese, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and pine nuts. Enjoy!

My kids, when starving, were excited to eat it and even said "thank you, Mom" for making it! It's simple and without extreme flavors but then five minutes into the meal they got picky - as always - and ruined my zen moment. Typical. They're not fond of the ricotta spinach filling . . . or the salad greens . . . or the tomatoes - it's always something! And I begin dreaming of eating meals at a restaurant in complete peace and solitude.

And then I look through the pictures from this evening and can't wipe the grin off my face. I am blessed!

Provençal Day Trip

I'm determined to get this trip blogged as soon as possible because our Ireland trip last month still weighs heavily upon me. But not as heavily as a severe case of nesting that kicked in today! I mapped out the kids' rooms late last night and had Ryan un-bunking beds as soon as I felt it safe to ask after dinner.

So Ryan and I were able to get away together for a day without the kids. Ryan's always itching to go and explore while I'm the happy homebody. Make that a happy homebody who doesn't like heat, a vehicle with no air conditioning, and carrying around an extra 30lbs with an opinion of its own. So I was a little anxious about our day out and that we'd try to tackle too much, but it was wonderful! Seriously simply charming and beautiful and tasty!

We'd been well-prepped to fall in love with it after hearing Mark and Nancy rave about it for a few years now. They highly recommended reading Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" and some of his other titles which we really enjoyed. A&E even has a 2 disc series dramatizing the books which we recommend as some light fun.

The L'Ameillaud Vineyard we stayed at is up between the two villages of Cairanne and Rasteau. Our route that day took us 45 minutes down to the L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue's market day followed by another 45 minute drive more south to the market in Aix-en-Provence. Then we ventured back north through the Luberon National Reserve soaking up the fields of lavendar, sunflowers, and vineyards while stopping to see the hilltop villages of Bonnieux and ochre Roussillon.

My handy little camera broke a while ago so we either had Ryan's serious camera (more than I like to heft) or the iphone. We left the real camera in the car while absorbing the delights of the markets as temporary locals. It's so nice to wander freely like that, yet then I get home and kinda wish I could share those images that will forever be romanticized in my memory.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the Venice of Provence. A nice quaint market day happens every Thursday although we hear their Sunday market is famous for antiques. We loved the sights, the friendly vendors who let you sample their honeys, cheeses, melons and what not. This place has a number of old water wheels that powered a thriving textile industry centuries ago and oh how I wanted to buy some of those beautiful comforters! There were also lots of vendors selling meats, shoes, gauzy linen and cotton clothing, flowers, produce, jewelry, olives, and much more. This measly lot of pictures here just doesn't do it justice!

After promising to come back and buy some delicious Gruyere Savoiu cheese, we took the cheese vendor's recommendation for the best boulangerie-patisserie. We grabbed a baguette and pain au chocolats in the midst of a line of locals there and then crossed the street to a little cafe with three outdoor tables so we could people watch and have some hot chocolate with our breads. It happened to be the best hot chocolate we've had since the Tubingen Chocolate Festival! Yes, it was that good! I had the 72% Venezuelan cacoa and Ryan had the 70% Argentine cacoa. Be still my heart, now I'm craving it again! Happy were we! Thank you Couleurs Cafe!

We bought some lovely light, smooth acacia honey that we had to get replaced because the lid came off in the vendor's sack. Phew! Glad it hadn't been in my bag! There were so many really nice people among the vendors, you felt like you lived there and weren't numbered among the scores of vacationers invading their market for snapshots.

Next it was down to Aix-en-Provence.

I'm a horrible shopper on vacation . . . from a vendor's perspective. When I like something, I put it back and say I'll come back if I can't stop thinking about it. Then I get so enthralled by the sites and choices that I talk myself out of my favorite items or forget about them until we're far, far away. Oh well, that just makes more travel possible right?

We simply ventured up this main pedestrian street where the market was being held. At the end, there was a very popular pizza-by-the-slice place we decided to try. Pizza Capri, it was called. It was seriously so good! The crust was just the right thickness and tasted light and toasted and airy while the toppings were just right. We grabbed an empty bench and watched fellow tourists and many locals saunter by either carrying the same pizza wrap or looking like they wished they were. Then it was time to hit the road.

I loved the tree lined roads that kept us pretty cool as we made our way into the Luberon National Reserve. It was between 86-89 degrees, phew!

Here's 34 weeks on the dot, baby!

We loved the sight of villas with their expansive, neat rows of vines sprinkled with fields of sunflowers or lavender! Driving through the Luberon was by far Ryan's favorite memory of the trip I believe. All the winding, narrow roads up and down the hills begged to be driven in a sporty little convertible with the wind and sun adding to the sheer thrill of the ride. I did my best to enjoy it for it's unparalleled beauty while trying to manage the shifting waterbed that sits upon my lap. Does that description make sense to anyone else?

We came around a curve and the adorable hilltop village of Bonneiux was before us. We had to drive all the way through it and then turn around to get pictures twice. It was just that cute! And what a great view of the valley spread out below.

And then the ground started subtly changing color,

becoming more red as we neared the ochre cliffs of Roussillon.

This was a very adorable place to wander and take pictures, but Ryan can attest that I was done at this point. Oh how my body ached by Roussillon and that was before we'd reached Ryan's favorite part of the drive! I couldn't help but think of that Greek lady in Athens who wished me, "Happy Liberation!" and how much I wanted it! I found a decent bathroom, some great gelato, and a seat in the shade while Ryan had fun with his camera.

There were big gusts of wind while meandering through the village

so I had to hold my skirt down to remain decent! Where's my ride? "I got hot!"

After Roussillon, the drive became very dramatic and uniquely scenic. There's the red cliffs in the distance before we headed up into some hills and got to the best winding drive of Ryan's life.

At one point, Ryan gleefully giggled, "It never ends! This is AWESOME!" Sheer delight rang in his voice. As the terrain flattened out again, he wistfully declared, "It'll be a long time before I forget that drive!" I don't have pictures of the drive because I was bracing myself in my seat. When we reached this traffic circle I really wanted a picture of the sculpture. However, Ryan had to circle it a few times because I had to wrench my large-and-in-charge self from my seat to be able to snap a shot or two on the move. Ever try to take pictures while riding a roller coaster around a curve? That was the comedy unfolding before Ryan as he watched me trying to get this shot!

And back to the flat vineyards at the base of these hills. What a great day!

Time for a dip in the pool! Don't mind if I do!