Happy Birthday Jared!

Today is Jared's birthday. It is hard for me to express just how much he means to me and my family. He is such a smart, fun, and amazing guy to have around. He inspires me to be a better person as he continues to LIVESTRONG everyday! Love you Jared!

White Chip Chocolate Cookies

Here are the cookies Gabrielle made for her Family Home Evening treat. They are one of her favorites.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Gabrielle's Family Home Evening

Last night Gabrielle gave the family home evening lesson. For a personal progress value experience, she needed to give a lesson on a gospel principle that required faith. She found a lesson based on a general conference talk on provident living. She worked very hard on it and did such a good job presenting it to our family. She even did an auction for us to practice spending our money wisely. We actually had to bid on things from around the house. Luckily it was done with Monopoly money because I had to keep out bidding Madison so I could win back my only pair of dress shoes. Earlier in the day we had made the cookie dough for the treats. We put the cookies in the oven after dinner so they would be warm for the treat time after the lesson. After we had each had a cookie (and Gabrielle two cookies) we spontaneously decided to share some cookies with the neighbors, since part of the lesson was on how when we are blessed we need share those blessings with others. This really illustrated the point. I know the girls felt good as they delivered all the cookies we had left to our neighbors on each side. And not one time today did either of them say, "I really wish I had one of those cookies!" (like I expected). The scripture from the lesson is one of my favorites. It is Matthew 6:33 which states, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Thanks Gabrielle for a great lesson!

Visitors

We were so happy to welcome our friends from Tulsa last night as they were traveling from St. Louis to Kansas City (and across the rest of the country)! We weren't sure exactly what day they would be coming through, so it was a great surprise when they called and said they were in town and staying about a mile away Sunday night. We have been friends with the Nevins family for 15 years now! I served with Penny in Relief Society and Primary in Mingo Valley ward. Our two girls fall in between their son and daughter in age. Rachel is still one of Madison & Gabrielle's best buddies. You can tell Tyler is really jazzed about having these pictures taken on our porch! Hope you guys have a great rest of your road trip and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and visit.

Madison, Rachel & Gabrielle



11, 12, 13 & 14

An Evening With Il Divo

To finish off celebrating our 15th Anniversary, Jared and I went to see Il Divo last night in Kansas City. It was an amazing! The stage was set up so they had long walkways down each side and a small center stage right in the middle of the floor seats. We were on the lower level of the side which was an excellent seat with this set up. The lighting was also incredible with this massive fiber optic chandelier that descended from the ceiling as they first started to sing. Video images along the back drop were very cool with also projected images on scrim panels throughout the stage. The group is dressed by Armani -- and let's just say these guys are not bad looking either. So, it was amazing just to look at, but then they start to sing and you are truly having a multi-sensory experience. If you have not listened to them before, they are 3 classical singers and 1 pop singer that were put together by Simon Cowell about 5 years ago. They sing popular songs in a classical style like you've never heard before. Seeing them live blew me away. They are from Switzerland, France, Spain and the U.S. They each have beautiful voices alone, then to combine them is another level. I truly enjoyed this concert, one I will always remember.

Fourth of July

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Michael

Growing up in the eighties, Michael Jackson (along with Madonna) was one of the first pop artists that I really loved. I remember borrowing "Off The Wall" (on cassette) from my friend and buying "Thriller" when it first came out. I remember hurrying home from school to watch the videos of Billie Jean, Thriller, and Bad on Mtv (I was sooooo happy to have cable tv solely for the Michael Jackson videos!) I sat there in awe of how he moved those feet! I remember calling up to the radio station and requesting ANY Michael Jackson song! I even liked those funny songs and videos he did with Paul McCartney. I just showed my two girls the video of "We Are the World," an amazing collaborative effort with tons of stars working together in a single night to produce a song that would help so many children and families in Africa. As I watched the memorial service today I was reminded that he was truly a humanitarian as well as a pop icon. For me, he defined a decade.