Nathan's 9th Birthday

Nathan's birthday is actually 

2 December...As a family, we celebrated on

Sunday, 4 December 2016

Here are some pictures taken on this special occasion!

Holy Griddle Rides Again...but in WINTER?

10 December 2016

Whose says MIRACLES don't happen?

Today, we witnessed mighty prayers of FAITH...that came to pass,

this cold wintery morning...as we ventured out...to cook for a 

Ward in Rexburg, Idaho.

It all began from a call...from this dear young man

Sam Phillips...

Some of you may remember him...He was called to serve a mission

in FLORIDA!  We got to know Sam very well while he served in our Ward...

He reminded me

so much of our son, Abraham (who was serving a mission in Brazil 

at the same time), that I called him 

"ELDER ABRAHAM" (smile)

Sam, his wife, and darling children are currently living 

in Rexburg...Sam is attending BYU-I.  He even showed 

GREAT COURAGE and took an Economics class from Garvin...and

managed to survive his class! smile

A long story short, Sam is serving in an Elder's Quorum

Presidency and ended up with the task of providing the FOOD

for his Ward's Christmas Breakfast...Due to circumstances

beyond Sam's control, he needed help...and

called Garvin...

WINTER is NOT the "Holy Griddle's" season...We use PROPANE tanks...

For those who know enough about PROPANE...will completely 

understand the CONCERNS we had regarding...

cooking... if the temperatures were in the FREEZING

zone...It simply wasn't going to happen...

Our week began with "3" degree weather where we lived (Rigby)... 

In REXBURG...it 

got as low as BELOW ZERO during the week...Plus, SNOW conditions...

WE ALL began to PRAY!  We studied the weather conditions

every single day..for a couple of weeks...

I noticed that the weather reported that the temperatures were to rise up

to the 30's on FRIDAY...I PRAYED...and asked Heavenly Father...

would He mind...changing those conditions to SATURDAY MORNING

instead...(smile)

Father heard all of our prayers!

 Hyrum and Garvin getting ready to leave...

As you can see...the SUN hadn't come up, yet...

well, the fact is...it never did show its face, today...

 We passed the Rexburg Temple...

Somehow, just seeing the temple...gave 

my heart...HOPE! smile

 We were the first to arrive at the church...

plus one other member...

 Hyrum...had to shovel snow...BEFORE

we could get the griddle out of the trailer...

 Wasn't too long...and other members arrived

to shovel the walks...which included these

blessed little children...They were having a GREAT TIME!

Some additional help arrived to clear

more walkways...smile

 We, then, encountered...our 2nd BIG CONCERN!

the WIND!  It began to blow...so, Hyrum and Sam

had to put up tarps...so that the "burners" wouldn't blow out!

MORE PRAYERS...asking Heavenly Father to intercede...

Would he CALM the winds...till after we were done cooking!

We began to notice...the winds began to subside...

and had no trouble...with the WIND after our prayers...

 Another obstacle...getting the METAL HOT...Due to temperatures

and wind (till it died down) Garvin had to take a blow torch

to the metal...to get it HOT...It worked...till the burners

could keep up and maintain the heat of the grill...

 Bacon always must be cooked first...Hyrum did the

first test...and to our DELIGHT...the bacon began to be

cooked...and we were on our way...to a successful

event!

I will add here...We were told we were cooking for 150 people...

Seems...the number Sam was given...was NOT the number...

the Relief Society President had in mind...we were off

by 100 - 150 people...MORE...

I told their Bishop...that this could be another

"loaves and fishes" morning...

Turned out...their normal number did NOT reach 250 or more...

We were spared...and had PLENTY OF FOOD...smile

OH...ONE MORE THING...We were told to have breakfast 

done by 10:30 a.m. - 1 hour OFF...Breakfast was to begin

by "9:30 a.m."... By the blessings from heaven...

we had it all done IN TIME...for the 9:30 mark...smile

 We have changed how we do POTATOES!

We don't buy HASH BROWNS, anymore...

We PRE-COOK REAL potatoes

and then cook them on the grill!

THE BEST!!!!! Oh...my goodness!

THEY ARE SO GOOD!

 Garvin showing new recruits for the morning...how

to do the pancakes!

 Our newest way...to stir up the pancakes batter...

and our EGG batter...we use a "drill"...smile

 Hyrum mastering the eggs! Yeah...put that

cheese in there...salt...pepper...

 Mushrooms...onions...potatoes...eggs...

pancakes...bacon...GREAT breakfast!

(oh...and the Ward members...added rolls...fruit...

cinnamon rolls, muffins, etc. to the meal! FANTASTIC additions!)

And a member of Sam's Ward...finishing

off the last of the "Orange Juice"!

smile

I PROMISE...we all offered up our deepest 

GRATITUDE for the Lord's TENDER MERCIES...

this brisk...wintery...and light flakes of snow...

morning...when odds were NOT in our favor...

THANK YOU...Heavenly Father...for once again...

blessing all the efforts...of this day...

Jackson's 3rd Birthday

13 November 2016

We got to celebrate TWO special events, today...

The blessing of Alexander...and the celebration...of 

Jackson's 3rd Birthday! 

This post is about Jackson's day of celebration! Next post

will be the remaining pictures of Alexander's blessing day! 

Jackson was SO EXCITED! LOVED his CAKE! 

and LOVED his new birthday toy...smile 

 Sarah did an awesome job...on his birthday cake!

 Jackson didn't realize he had to move

up closer...to blow out his "3" candles...

smile

 His expression says it all...

he is impressed with his new gun...smile

 I love the looks on Claira and Lillie's faces...

Jackson enjoyed shooting everyone...

especially his Uncle Hyrum!

smile 

A Day at Papa and Granny's House

This week...was a day at Papa and Granny's house...

Thursday, we had the "3" youngest children

of Jared/Angel family - while they went

to the temple...

I am sorry I didn't get pictures of that day...

SATURDAY - 15 October 2016

Sarah and Luke needed to go to the temple...a member

of their Ward was receiving her endowment

prior to going on a mission...

So, we had the Heiner grandchildren for a few hours...

This summer, Garvin added a "swing" to the backyard...

The kids LOVE IT! 

 In order to go HIGHER...there is an "extended" 

piece of rope...usually an adult pulls to

lift the individual so they can swing HIGHER!

 Savannah went FIRST...

 In the meantime...Joseph, Claira, and Jackson

entertained themselves on the hay bales...

Jacob's turn!

 LOVED the look on Alayna's face...

 Jacob adding "drama"...as an older brother would do...

smile

Claira's turn!

 I LOVE seeing them laugh and smile...

 Nothing like a dirt pile to run down on!

Go Jacob!

 There is something about taking a hatchet...

and chopping it into wood...

Joseph loved doing that!

Jackson...just seemed fascinated by the 

wood pile...

 Jackson trying to chop wood!

smile

It turned out to be a lovely FALL afternoon!