Happy Downstairs:
more…

As each floor gets clean enough for a tour, I will add a tour:

I must admit, Christmas is the only holiday our family has solid traditions on.  This year, while looking through Mary Jane’s Farm, a magazine gifted to me by my lovely friend, I got some ideas that I believe will be yearly traditions for us.

We learned from Mary Jane’s farm that the traditional shape of the pretzel represents Folded Arms…perfect for celebrating our Freedom to Worship in America…

…For the Fourth of July!

So for our big holiday….we made hard and soft pretzels Thursday night.  Here is the assembly line for HARD pretzel nibbles.

Apparently, rolling pretzels is JUST so much FUN!!

Next, you par boil them for about 30 seconds for hard and longer for the soft ones, a step which Riley the Man did!

Friday night our church group had a camp out, Rawl enjoyed giving rides to others in a wagon and they made rocket launchers.  Milly made friends so quickly running with the bug collecting possy, and Hazel was a perfect tag along.  I snuck home at night time to actually….get some sleep while Riley held down the fort in the tent….they woke up at 5:00 a.m!!!

Saturday Rawl helped make the breakfast tattling that he knew how to use the cheese grater for the potatoes…and he does.  After naps for everybody except mom who got sleep, and yummy Watermellon snacks in harmony with July Fourth, another family from our church invited us for a barbecue and firework watching.  We made a red and blue berry icecream from Mary Jane again, to bring.   Rawl was a blast watching his eyes grow ten times bigger with each firework.  I sat in a puddle of sprite and thought my water had broke!  ~  The can wasn ‘t tipped over or anything, but the puddle which doused my whole seat smelled spritey….phew!

Sunday morning we shaped our soft pretzels and ate our hard pretzels.

”

H” is for Hazel!

“R” is for Rawl

….And “M” is for Milly!!!

Let me know if you are interested in the recipes, otherwise I won’t bother.   Lots of fun, perfect for ONE time a year!!!!

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Article of Faith Number #11

A highlight of Minnesota is the lovely splashings of lakes and groomed parks scattered like dandelions blowing in the wind across the green state!  This particular lake is free and one of my new friends from our church ward invited me.   It is fabulous as it goes like 50 feet or so at a shallow rate, and parking is free.  My new kindly friend invited a few other families, and it was a good time.

Two weeks later or so I invited all out again, and everyone hopped along and came.  This time we got some nice nibbles on our toes and fingers from tenacious fish, and Rawl borrowed toys from neighboring children, which I watched moms take away from him.   Should have been me I suppose but he was playing nicely and was just kinda joining their group, so I didn’t object.  I knew it could be much worse!

This pitstop is also awesome for a woman about to pop any day now, when I got my hair and ears wet as I dipped in last time, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.  :)~