I won't be recommending this one for book group.

One of my favorite books is Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster. I found it sitting on the book shelf at my parents' house one summer when I was home from college and read it. It's less than 200 pages long. The book is a series of letters the protagonist writes throughout her college years, and I could relate, both to her enthusiasm about life and learning, and the letter-writing. I found it on the same book shelf in just about the same place every time I went to visit and read it again and again.

So I was dumbfounded when I finally looked at the front of the book and saw that it was originally published in 1912. Yes. One hundred years ago. That is some seriously good writing about timeless ideas, because even though I know how it ends, it gets better every time I read it. Every time I read it I am surprised again at how much more I like it.

Just this last week I read it. I checked it out from the public library as a digital book and downloaded it to the Kindle Jack got me for Mothers Day. (I thought I would not like the Kindle. I rolled my eyes in my head when I opened it, but I said, "Thank you" to Jack. My Luddite self did not want another device from my techie husband. Jack and I are both surprised at how quickly it has fueled my reading addiction. Seriously.)

I briefly thought about taking Daddy-Long-Legs to book group, but I almost immediately decided against it. The last time I suggested a (different) favorite book for another book group years ago, I was shocked that not everyone loved the book I suggested as much as I did. Not only that, some of my closest friends didn't even like it very much.

Why did I think that we would have the same literary preferences? This now seems a little naive on my part. If every book group member loved everything about the book we were reading, I suspect we would have very little discussion and skip right to the food, which is not really why I go in the first place. So now I think twice about submitting books I know and love on a personal level to the open scrutiny that is book group.

I do, however, recommend that everyone read this book. If it's not your favorite, that's okay. But if you've read and liked Anne of Green Gables, or Betsy-Tacy, or Little House in the Big Woods, you just might like Daddy-Long-Legs, too.

The rest of the story

On his mission in Spain, in his first area, Chad was able to teach and baptize this young boy named Imanol. Imanol's family had just been baptized but they wanted him to have the discussions and decide for himself. Imanol was a cute little kid who gave Chad pokemon stickers and pictures he had colored. Chad gave him this "Stripling Warriors-- Momma's Boys" tie.


While still on his mission, Chad received a card saying the family had been sealed in the temple. But that was the last he heard from them.
Ten years later, via facebook last September, Chad heard from Imanol's mother that he had received his mission call-- to the Ogden, Utah mission! This is the mission area we now live in.  Several months passed after hearing this good news and Chad knew that Imanol would now be here.  So he contacted the mission president.  The mission president gave Chad Imanol's phone number with permission to meet and take him out to lunch.  Chad was able to contact Imanol and we went down to Ogden one Saturday to meet him.  Here is Chad, Imanol (now Elder Bustos) and his companion Elder Bess.

It was a short but fun experience to meet Elder Bustos and have him meet the family. Elder Bustos had a surprise for us-- under his sweater he was wearing the same tie Chad had given him at his baptism!



We had another surprise, too. While talking to Elder Bustos, we found out that the missionary (Elder Larsen) Chad served with when they taught and baptized Elder Bustos, also now lives in the Ogden area. Chad was able to contact Scott Larsen and we arranged to meet the following Sunday.  We attended the Spanish branch where Elder Bustos serves.  Chad, Elder Bustos, and Scott Larsen were able to recreate the same photograph that had taken place twelve years earlier.  Chad did not teach a lot of people in Spain, and it was a special experience to know that one not only stayed active and faithful, but has now been able to serve a mission.

Do good.

Happy Mothers Day

Today in Sacrament meeting a sister who could have been my own mom said, "Just when you think you're a complete failure as a mother, your children call to ask for advice about their own children, and you realize that maybe you were all right after all."

I cried. Because I grew up with her kids and the one who slept through seminary is now in our bishopric. Because I went to girls camp and sang musical numbers in church with her daughters. Because her husband was my seminary teacher, then my bishop, and usually our home teacher. Because I watched her and her husband visit my mom and dad more and more frequently as my mom got sicker and sicker. Because I am her visiting teacher and going to her house feels like going to the home I grew up in. Because I am light years away from my kids having kids. (That one kind of scares me.) Because my kids are small enough to be so forgiving and so loving, but I know that I can be better, so I have a hard time forgiving myself for being less than loving to them. Because yesterday morning I woke up and went out to the kitchen to find my six-, five-, and three-year-olds mopping and drying the floor. By hand. Because I was recently called to the Primary Presidency. Again. And it's hard to smile and sing about trying to be like Jesus when my daughter was kicked out of nursery for biting another child. Because my dad sent me a Happy Mothers Day email this morning telling me "there is no greater challenge than being a mother. And there is no other way to receive such great blessings."

I really, really love what my friend Jen wrote about our relationship as mothers with God and with our children. It is so comforting to know that God loves me horrid.

"Sew" proud

Ellen got a sewing kit for Christmas. She's kept it in a bin full of all the other craft supplies she got for Christmas and finally wanted to get it out and make something. She chose this stuffed felt kitty with button eyes and felt tummy stripes.

All the pieces were pre-cut with instructions for assembly. I only had to help her thread the needle, get started in a few places, and she did the rest. Then she slept with it for the next two nights.

I spent hours as a girl cross-stitching, sewing, making "projects," crocheting, and ended up with pot holders, clothes, afghans, quilts, framed pictures, and a lot of unfinished projects. Some ended up in the Goodwill box, were given or thrown away, and some I still have. In the process I also spent lots of time with my mom, grandmothers, sisters, and friends. We're on our way to another generation of happy memories and cute crafts.

Planted

Before Mom came home from the hospital after her last surgery, the Relief Society sisters came over and planted flowers everywhere. They brought pots and lined the driveway and the back patio with an explosion of color. When Mom and Dad drove in, Mom sat in the car and just cried because it looked so beautiful. On days that she felt strong enough, she would walk out or have someone help her out to the side of the house where we put some patio chairs in the shade so she could sit and look at the flowers.

Jack asked me if I wanted to visit the cemetery on my Mom's birthday, and I actually hadn't even thought about it. We grew up far from extended family, and all of my grandparents and even some of my grandparents were living when I was in high school. I went once to see my grandfather's grave in Idaho while we were there on vacation, but that was about it. My grandmother talked about going every Memorial Day to "decorate graves." She took flowers to her parents' graves, cleared away weeds, and remembered.

Jack and I took the kids, found a lovely little sage that will have brilliant pink flowers, and planted it to remember my Mom on her birthday. The cemetery is filled with huge trees and is well-kept and watered, and they provide water hoses and encourage family to plant things that will last longer and stay more beautiful than plastic bouquets. It felt good to remember that it's just Mom's body resting there. There are green, growing, living things all around it. Jesus lives. She will live again, too.

Postcards from space

To Eva from Ellen:



To Bentley from Jack:



To Bentley from Rose:

Baking bread

I sometimes go several months without buying a loaf of bread from the store. I've made loaves of bread, rolls, pizza dough, buns, pretzels, corn tortillas, and pita bread at home with varying levels of success. My kids get really excited when I'm making bread and beg for dough to make pretzels out of or to just eat out of the bowl. I love baking bread because it makes my house smell so good. I also like knowing exactly what goes in my food, and I like being able to make things "from scratch,"  or at least from basic ingredients I keep on hand.

It wasn't until my husband got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer that I ever had consistent success with baking sandwich-type bread. It takes a lot longer to knead by hand, but I hear it can be done.

I regularly make whole wheat bread with a recipe that I've tweaked so it makes sandwiches without being crumbly. It originally came from the side of a bag of King Arthur Flour. I always double the recipe to make two loaves, or one loaf to give away, or one loaf and pretzels, or one loaf and rolls, or. . . (you get the idea). I like to call it my food storage bread recipe, because all of the ingredients can be stored long term.

100% Whole Wheat Bread
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 pkg instant or active dry yeast (1 tablespoon) dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
vital wheat gluten (follow instructions on gluten package, usually add a certain amount per loaf or per cup of flour)
3 - 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

I am a wheat flour snob, and I like King Arthur flour best. I've tried lots of different kinds, with lots of different results. You can use white wheat flour for a softer bread, but red wheat works great, too, and has more protein.

Mix all the wet ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and let stand until the yeast starts to get bubbly. Add all the dry ingredients and mix using the dough hook for 8-10 minutes. The dough can be a little sticky, but it should come away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball, so add more flour as needed.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise til double or for about 1 hour.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled work surface (or grease your hands), shape into a 8-inch log, place in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow bread to rise for about 1 hour, or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan. A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. (I usually bake for 15 minutes and tent and bake for 15 more minutes.) Remove bread from oven, cool on a wire rack before slicing.

If you happen to have any bread left after cutting thick slices and slathering it with butter and honey, serving it to your kids and calling it a meal, store it completely cooled in a plastic bag at room temperature. Wal-mart has these great gallon sized storage bags that come with twist-ties that just barely fit a whole loaf. The gallon zip top kind aren't big enough.

Mmmmm. Typing this up has made me hungry for bread.