Our 2015 Vacation

 Our first vacation without Jacob. He is in California serving his Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ. The Mormons. www.Saving1soul.blogpot.com  It was weird. As my kids start to grow up and leave our home it is the same and different. This is something that will be forever different. He is an adult doing his own thing and that is hard sometimes. This is our NEW life. This is something that was the same though.  We always went to Temple Square in Utah. It is almost something we feel we have to do. We don't go to Utah enough to visit family and living    PA                                                                                                            it is something my children need to be

 exposed to. We enjoyed it.


The buildings were beautiful, as you can see. The feelings are always the same. In Pennsylvania the Temples are not plentiful so our children don't get to see them as often as they should. Living out here it is hard to live the gospel at times. No one seems to understand what our church means to us or why we go every week. There is nothing in my church that I don't agree with 110%.

This is City Creek Mall. It is beautiful. As you can see. The ceiling retracts and exposes this food court to the outside. Totally awesome! It was nice to get inside as it was one of the hottest days of the Summer when we were visiting. 

 This is a reflection pool that is on top of the churches Conference Center. At the end the water goes over into a water fall that falls to the main floor of the building. About 4 stories.

 My children in front of the Salt Lake city Temple. John James and Kaitlynn.

 The Salt Lake City Temple is the Temple Jason and I were sealed for time and all eternity. We don't use the words till death do you part. We claim to have authority to seal families together forever.

My sister and I sharing a giggle

 our family picture.

 Kaitlynn with her cousin Wyatt.

 St. George Temple.

 Our family in front of the Christus Statue in St. George visitor center.

Is it Jason Is it me I see John I see flowers.

My last Christmas with all my ducks in a row! I don't know if I'm happy or sad yet. I'll let you know when I know. Jacob will be leaving on his mission soon. This has been the year of trials for us. I shouldn't fool you every year has been hard, this year harder than others though. I made $7, 000 less than last year. Yuck! If Jason hadn't switched jobs without the  raise in pay it would have been super hard.  I'm so thankful for all the blessing I do have, such as the this job switch for Jason. My beautiful children my handsome husband who looks younger than me and my small but cozy house, on a super large lot. Someday Karen Someday, I can add on or build bigger.

Lets see we did a lot this year in spite of the tight funds. We went to Pittsburgh and went to a Pirate game. We went to West Virginia for a family reunion, and sent two of our kids to Florida. Mom and Dad came for a visit as did my sister and her husband.  It was fun. I had a lot of time as there were few day care kids, and yet I still got nothing done. It couldn't be me could it?!

Things that will mark this year...

• Jason hit his one year mark at his new job.
• I was called as Primary President, but not released from Seminary.
•  Jacob's mission call and soon to be and departure, 
•   John received  an all county Soccer award
•  James went to youth conference and all the girls loved him.
•  Kaitlynn is learning her letters and numbers, it is still hard  but she is greatly motivated, oh she is taking dance and , loves it.
•   The Christmas Tree that fell 
• We got two more cats ( Princess hates them, who would a thunk it?)
•  My Dad had a Heart attack ( He is greatly recovered) after his trip. He couldn't handle all the fun.  
• And we gave up on the garden... I always have such High hope for it. I'm not a very good motivator and I can never do it alone. It isn't like the west where you only get weeds where people water. It rains every where here, every day. Ugh my weeds were taller than me by the end of Summer! Some day Karen, some day, when life slows down.  I don't know how my parents did it.

O.K. in spite of making half of what I made last year, I think we had a pretty good year. I'm indeed blessed more than I can state or even see. Thank you Heavenly Father for keeping our heads over water. Thank you for blessing our family, and thank you for this life I have to grow and learn.
Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year. May next year bring only blessings!

Holiday Bliss

 I am so excited I had to write about it. I grew up in a house that celebrated all the holiday's in traditional fashion, but lived so far away from extended family that I don't recall ever visiting Grandma and Grandpa for any of the various holidays, or them visiting us. I'm sure they did and I'm sure we did, I was just too small to remember it. At a ripe old age of not 39 I live in Pennsylvania with my husband, 4 children, 3 cats. There is nothing but family. They live down the street and further down the road in a town close enough to get there in 20 minutes. They live in Meyeresdale and off of Cumberland Highway running all the way to West Virginia. We have relatives coming out of every nook and cranny. We even have relatives of relatives so that makes them family. Of course the group would not be complete with some young fresh face youth in dark suits and name tags. They are tag along's at every family function and they are just happy to be with us. We are over joyed to have them along for the fun. This gregarious group is coming to our house to celebrate this momentous holiday. This holiday to put all others to rest. This isn't a religious holiday it isn't someone's birthday no it isn't even a pagen holiday.. It is an American Holiday... Canada too but they don't count, because they think it's in October.
Jason's getting a couple of tables from the church and we are putting them up in our makeshift play room with toys piled high on all sides. I will make a turkey and many of these relatives will come to feast on Turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, noodles and gravy, sweet potatoes (yams) corn,  baked beans and green bean casserole, rolls and just about any pie you can think of. Apple, cherry, chocolate, coconut cream, banana cream, and mousie mistake of course. By the way this is not a carb free meal. We will have Donna's magic slush that has no secret ingredients, and we will stuff ourselves with more food than  any health conscious human being should ever eat in one sitting. We will skip breakfast and eat light the night before to justify it. If the weather is nice the kids will play football, while they wait for this delicious delight. After the meal or while we consume dessert we will then play the adult game of reminisce about old times and talk politics. We will all declare the government and society in the worse shape ever, no matter who is in office, and provide the solution our enlightened minds and theirs (the opposition) could not possibly come up with. If they would only listen to us the world would be such an obviously better place. No poverty, no crime, and the economy on the right track. Uncles will tell questionable jokes and aunts will laugh at them under their breathes while the delighted nephews aren't afraid and laugh with a full rolling laughs eyes twinkling as they realize the joke is on them. The women will fuss about how there is too much food and how will we ever eat it this weekend, but somehow they will find a way to use it without any going to waste.
I am more excited than any red blooded American woman should be considering the work involved, but this is my last with our oldest son Jacob who will soon serve a mission for our church. He will be gone for two years and this is it. This is his last few memories of home.This to us is Thanks Giving!

Peaches

For me the month of August if it had a taste, tastes like peaches. Sweet and juicy. The month is full of fresh produce and canning peaches is one of the traditions I have for this month. My mother, Grandmother, Mother-law and I'm pretty sure her mother and Mother-law has kept this tradition alive. For generations the women in our family have canned peaches. It is what we do.We don't do it to be super healthy, although that is a perk. We do it because nothing and I mean nothing is as good in the middle of February when the snow is 4 feet high, than a jar of peaches on the table with some homemade beef stew. I can almost smell it now. Yesterday one of the Elders who came for dinner said he never ate fresh peaches before and neither did two of my day care kids. That seems so weird to me. We anticipate peach season all year round. In fact our whole year is an anticipation of the next month and what new foods will be at the store or in our garden. I have been doing this for almost forever and as my children get older it is not so bad as they "help". I canned 2 bushels of peaches this week and yes that is it for peaches. They were $26.00 a bushel, which for those of you who don't know that is very pricey. I spent the day yesterday slicing them in half and pealing them. The skins came off with ease the two halves of the peaches almost popping open as my knife sliced through them. The pits didn't stick and every once in a while they would even split open. Which means they are really ripe and delectable. I would steal a slice into my mouth every once in a while to keep myself motivated and the kids sat and watched movies all day. which was a blessing. The jars filled quickly and the syrup I added ate up my sugar reserve quickly. The steam in my kitchen was thick as I placed the jars into the canner of boiling water. As one batch cooked I cut up the next one. Only seven jars at a time will fit into the vast pot. The rythem and order of it was almost monotonous, but very soothing. The high light of the day was when I was almost done and I looked backed at my kitchen table and I saw the rows of perfectly canned unopened peaches waiting to be enjoyed over the long winter. Believe me in Pennsylvania they are long. Today I will wash the jars and my boys will help take the jars down to the basement where they will take up a shelf along with all my other canned goods. Next month it will be applesauce. Last night my back was sore my hands sticky and my feet swollen but it was worth it to be able to go into my basement and see a full cellar. We will fill it with Spaghetti sauce and some bags of potatoes and store bought canned goods. This is one tradition I am willing to keep.

New address for blog

I don't know if you have noticed but I have officially changed the name and address of my blog, due to a bunch of reasons many need not be mentioned. I hope you are able to get in and see everything. I love blogging but don't have much time for it. I have been also working on understanding face book. Not much luck there. If you know someone who reads this blog please pass on the information as to the new address. www.theemerickway.blogspot.com Thanks

face book woes/wows

I just joined facebook only because Jacob our oldest boy started facebook. I thought to myself, I better get on so I can keep an eye on him and be able to check out his facebook wall(is it called wall?) and just to be a good mom. Isn't this was good mom's do? You know snoop in their kids lives. Well he was on for two weeks and was doing preaty well reconecting with family in the west that he doesn't know very well and chatting with friends he knows back here in Pennsylvania. I opened my account on Monday and low and behold Who knew I was this popular in highschool, because I have become inundated with people wanting to be my friend. I hope people don't think I'm a snob but I really didn't want to get too involved with something that would take more of my time. I am a busy enough woman, with everything that I do. I would also like to follow the prophets council and to only do things that value and meaning to my life. This has created a wierd reaction in Jacob. He is jealous of all the people trying to be my friend. Who Knew? I guess it's a status thing with his friends as to how many "friends" he has on facebook. Well we will see how long this lasts for me. Who knew I was sooo popular.Jealous?

Mouse in the house v.s. our fat cat

The first thing my mom yelled is there's a mouse in the house. Everyone jumped up and ran into the kitchen. Everyone yelled, as a gray small field mouse ran across our tile floor. For my mom this was a first! She has never had a mouse in her house before! We chased it under the fridge and then the stove. After both were pulled out we couldn't find it. Apparently it was behind the dishwasher. We couldn't move that. Mom decided to clean behind the stove while it was out, and just when she was almost done out pops Jerry. (tom and Jerry) Ha Ha! Not as cute in real life. When we took our cat to the scene, she just looked at it and didn't do much to kill it! We could tell our cat was just too fat and lazy, and a true princess, to do anything about it.As my mom said "eee!, eee! C'mon cat! Earn your Keep!" Eventually mom took a mop and pounded the little mouse till its nervous system was completly destroyed. John then finished the job by crushing it with dad's shoe. I then picked it up and threw it outside. The cat THEN went outside and ate it.