general women's broadcast

last night was our church's general women's meeting.  all over the world, women from our church gathered together in their local church buildings to hear messages from our leaders.  the messages were beautiful and uplifting and reminded us that we are daughters of our Father in Heaven. 

all women, ages 8+ were invited to attend.

before the broadcast, we invited everyone in our area to join us for a little chocolate fountain fun!

we had tons of different bite size treats to dip!

here's my cute bekah testing the milk chocolate.

 and here's the white chocolate table...

 this was the scene-

immediately after the go ahead was given!

 both tables were busy for an hour and a half.

 here's some of our cutie 8 & 9 year old girls

with ella front and center.

at one point they each had a penny stuck to their forehead.

ella told me to "quit asking about it!"

 I sure love these girls!

aren't they darling?



always learning

tonight, ella (the selfie master) is attending activity days at our church. 

it's for the 8-12 yr old girls.  

they are having "international night", which consists of each girl sharing a fact about a different country and bringing a food from that country. 

here's what ella is sharing:

Nanaimo is a city on an island in Canada, near Vancouver.  It is famous for its bathtub racing. According to Wikipedia nearly 83,810 people live in the city, Nanaimo. The island is called Vancouver Island. Nanaimo has some cool art galleries. Also some sports that they play are paintball, Canadian football, and a Vancouver Island soccer league.

Nanaimo Bars, (pronounced nuh-nigh-mo) is a dessert named for this area of Canada. 

Here's the recipe we found on

King Arthur's Flour blog:

Crust

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process cocoa preferred
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sweetened or unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (made from about 13 whole crackers)

Filling

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor
• 2 tablespoons Pastry Cream Filling mix or instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 tablespoons milk

Icing

• 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (Belcolade bittersweet disks are good) or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2 tablespoons butter

Crust

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• 1 3/4 ounces granulated sugar
• 1 ounce unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process cocoa preferred
• 1 large egg
• 3 ounces sweetened or unsweetened coconut
• 2 ounces chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 7 ounces graham cracker crumbs (made from about 13 whole crackers)

Filling

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 8 ounces confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor
• 3/4 ounce pastry cream mix or instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 ounce milk

Icing

• 6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (Belcolade bittersweet disks are good) or semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 ounces heavy cream or 1 ounce butter

 

Crust

• 113g unsalted butter, melted
• 50g granulated sugar
• 28g unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process cocoa preferred
• 1 large egg
• 85g sweetened or unsweetened coconut
• 57g chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 198g graham cracker crumbs (made from about 13 whole crackers)

Filling

• 113g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 227g confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor
• 21g pastry cream mix or instant vanilla pudding mix
• 28g milk

Icing

• 170g chopped bittersweet chocolate (Belcolade bittersweet disks are good) or semisweet chocolate chips
• 57g heavy cream or 1 ounce butter

 

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" or 11" x 7" pan.

2) To make the crust: Place all of the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl, and beat at medium speed just until thoroughly combined.

3) Press the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and set it aside to cool.

4) To make the filling: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, 1 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla, beating until smooth.

5) In a small bowl, combine the pastry cream filling mix or instant vanilla pudding mix with the milk, stirring until thick and smooth.

6) Add the pudding mix to the butter/sugar mixture, stirring to combine.

7) Add the remaining sugar, and beat until the filling is smooth. Spread it over the cooled crust, cover, and refrigerate until chilled.

8) To make the icing: Combine the chocolate and cream (or butter) in a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Heat until the cream is steaming. Stir until smooth.

9) Spread the frosting onto the bars. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.

10) Cut into small bars or rectangles to serve. The bars will be very stiff when cold, but will soften quickly at room temperature.

Yield: about 25 small, rich bars.

all the things we can do!

this monkey can climb the support pole in the basement! 

 I can make things look pretty 

ella belle can play the clarinet 

 afton can carve a pumpkin with a cat silhouette

 we can be silly!

 ella can set up a lovely snack buffet for bookclub

 ella can create a tile to be hung on the wall at school

 we can serve others by sewing pillowcase dresses with marmee

 these kids can help each other,

love each other,

feed each other,

and take care of each other

without even being asked!

(after an adults night to dinner,

we came home to find the kids had fed themselves

and had everything and everyone in order.  the sweetest thing!)

these two cutie girls can sweet-talk gg into just about anything

 these sweeties can hike all over the canyon with marmee

 afton can make a ball float in mid-air!

 this girl can build lego friends sets like a pro!

 these girls can appreciate the arts by attending a showing of Wicked!

 this girl can not only learn to crochet from grandma,

but she can wear a tank top in the dead of winter!

 and she's resourceful

 ella can play the clarinet in front of lots of parents!

 afton can write stories and submit them to American girl magazine!

 these girls can spend their parents money by making crafts and...

 painting!

ryan can do lots of things too,

but mostly he earns the money that allows us to explore our talents!

we love him!

craftie aftie

craftie aftie has been at it again.

this time she's sharing her crafting skills with ella and friends.

aftie is working on her personal progress goals, which is a goal setting program at church.

one of her goals was to teach ella and her friends how to make some fun things.

this was actually more than a goal, it was a project which is supposed to take 10 hours to complete.

she succeeded, and was awarded her first ribbon on Tuesday evening!

aftie has taught the girls to sew headbands, put together time capsules, make friendship bracelets, and these cute heart mobiles.

 in progress

one for aftie

 they used a yardstick, covered it in duck tape, cut out hearts from cute paper...

 and voila!

ella still thinks it's summer.

but we're actually living in the frozen tundra.



where has the time gone?

since our last blog installment we have experienced the following...

 sharing dinner with the missionaries

-we especially like the one in the sweater, elder cook, because he's from twin falls!-

 our ella belle turned 9!

 ryan and ella made rolls for thanksgiving

a triple batch, I think.

 our dear gruwells joined us for thanksgiving!

 ella had a birthday party.

we played the famous candy bar game.

ella's funny friend hid her candy in her pants!

(she's the one wearing a blue striped shirt)

 who loves ella?

we do!

 I turned 40 and was showered with jewels!

 looks like someone was peeling potatoes.

we've been sharing ryan's season tickets to the UB bulls basketball games.

we've had lots of fun over the past few months!!



overview/recap

here's what's been going on at our house the past month or so.

 ella is still crazy.

and so is ryan.

 ella was a fashion witch for Halloween.

aftie was annabeth from the percy Jackson series.

we had fun at the trunk or treat at our church.

 ella had a party at school.

here she is with her darling friend, molly.

 and here she is in all her witchiness.

 it was a dark and stormy night for trick or treating,

but that didn't stop the kids from staying out for hours!

 aftie invited some friends over for pizza and trick or treating.

they were soaking wet by the end of the night!

 ella and kira had a spa night, a week or two ago.

aren't those faces hysterically funny?!

 we were able to attend afton's young women in excellence evening at the church.

each of the girls made a paper doll of themselves, and shared some of the projects they have been working on for their personal progress program.

they also shared their "holy place", which is a place where they are able to be quiet and feel of our Heavenly Father's Spirit and love.

afton's holy place was girls camp.

 afton also played in a string quartet with some of her friends that evening.

they were great!

I do think that they had more fun laughing during their practices than they actually practiced.

I was called to be our wards relief society president a couple of weeks ago.

that was a surprise, i assure you.

but we are moving forward and i have the most

beautiful,

wonderful,

enthusiastic,

and loving

girls to work with me.

I love them all so much already.

from left to right:

Melissa-my secretary

Jessica-my 1st counselor

me!

Rebekah-my 2nd counselor

i'm sure we all have much to learn

and hope to help many people grow closer to our Heavenly Father.