Fun in the Sun

Now that I'm learning to blog I have to remember the other important essential thing. I need to remember to take pictures of events while they are happening. Yesterday we had a demonstration in our yard about solar cooking and using my new sun oven. Dan and Shannon Pointer from Cedar City came down to teach us about solar cooking. We had about 40 people come to learn about this new fun way of cooking. The Pointers brought a trailer loaded with 20 sun ovens which had been pre-ordered and prepaid along with a trailer full of food storage items. A week ago the weather couldn't have been nicer but yesterday was another story. The wind was blowing hard and it was very overcast which doesn't make great weather for solar cooking. As I was washing off the patio and getting ready for this event I prayed that the wind would stop and the clouds would part at least until after this demonstration was over. My prayer was answered and the day turned into being a nice day after all. I had my oven set up and once the clouds broke the oven got to 350 degrees. The Pointers had a roast that they started to cook and set up a tasters table with dehydrated and reconstituted hash browns, rice with chicken and terriyaki sauce and cups of dried strawberries, cranberries, and bananas.


The Pointers gave us instructions how to set up, use, and store the oven. They also gave us recipe ideas, web sites to go to for more info and recipes, and time to ask questions. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and they were able to pick up their ovens and other food storage items.
This is my oven. I should have thought earlier to make a batch of bread but I didn't think of it until after they left. I quickly went in and made some bread but by the time I had it made and it raised and was ready to bake it was around 3:00. I put the bread in but then it got cloudy again and the temperature really dropped. If I would have wanted to wait long enough, the bread would have still baked but it would have taken too long so I just finished baking it in my oven in the house. Today though, I was determined to bake something in it. Before church I made chicken with the rice and chicken soup added and put it in my oven. It was nice and sunny today and in about 20 minutes I had the temperature up to 350. I left it in while we went to church and when we got home, WOW, we had a delicious dinner thanks to Mr. Sun.




The food just sits down inside, you close the glass door on top and latch it and just make sure the back of the reflector shield is facing the sun. It's so easy and does a great job. Sister Pointer said I probably wouldn't hardly ever turn on my oven again. She uses hers 3 to 4 times a week. I'm determined to use mine a lot. The key to really knowing how to use the equipment is to use it and learn what works and what doesn't.

Young Women Activity continued

I told you I was new at this. Give me some time and my old brain may get the hang of this. Since I couldn't get these pictures all into one post it is therefore being continued. Here are more pictures of the fun activity. This is Kenna McMurray riding Linette's horse. The horses were beautiful. The girls really got the hang of it and handled them very well.

Here we have Sabrina Coy riding the beautiful black horse. She had a great time and wanted to repeat the activity ASAP. We thank the Millingtons and Linette for their help. The girls had a super fun night.

Young Women Acticity

Last Wednesday the Beehives and Sister Bowler and I had a fun Young Women activity. The Young Women have been wanting to go horseback riding. It took the right combination of whose horses to use and when and where to go but we finally pulled it off. The girls that came had a blast. Sisters Darlene Millington, Lynette Williams, and Kyle Millington along with his fiance, helped the girls. They provided the horses and all the equipment. We went to the rodeo arena and the fairgrounds. The evening couldn't have been more pleasant. The temperature was perfect and there was no wind. When it started to get dark we were able to use the big lights. Sister Millington gave the girls a few instructions and then they were able to ride for quite a while.

This is Amanda Lewis getting her instructions.

Happy 60th Birthday Duane

April 5th was a fun birthday for Duane. Heidi spent several days making this huge birthday cake. She said that her dad deserved a very special cake since this is quite a milestone birthday. The cake served 128 people and we had 17 come for cake so we had lots left over. Anyone hungry for cake?

We love you and wish you a very happy birthday. You're the BEST!

Beauty and the Beast

Here's the beauty! Let me tell you about the beast.
I bought these ready made drapes but since I have a sunken living room my walls are taller and therefore the drapes are too short. A friend of mine was helping me lengthen them. Without the long, long, version, let me tell you the short version. We lengthened the brown side panels and they came out all right, but when we did the first sheer drapes she steamed it and it made it too long. She came over with some of the gold panels fixed but they weren't the right length. Since we had steamed one panel and made it too long we were afraid to sew them without actually measuring them in place. My friend actually went home and brought her machine here and we measured each panel in it's place to get it exactly the right length. After it was the correct length we didn't dare take it down and iron it so we thought it would be best to iron it while hanging. Ironing the lower part was fine but then I couldn't reach the top part. I had the crazy idea to put the ironing board on a stool and a bench to make it higher but then I couldn't reach it. So I had to get up on the stool as well. Another friend came over and was really laughing at my idea. It actually worked but it was the most unusual ironing job I've ever done. Once we got that finished they were beautiful but then figuring out how to hang the valances was another puzzle. After 7 hours of everything going wrong we finally got the finished product. They are gorgeous and I'm very pleased. Now that they're finished, I can say it was worth it.

The BIG,BIG Project!!!

For about a year now, I've had this nagging in my head to clean and organize my storage room. It is a large room with a ton of stuff in it, and the walkway was getting smaller and smaller. However, when I have a large project, I never want to get into it until I have a lot of time. During the school year that never happens, so I thought summer would be the perfect time to start. At the first of July, it dawned on me that my summer was quickly going by and because we had planned to go to Provo, Colorado and on a cruise plus I am having surgery on my foot, I'd better get started. So I took the plunge. It was a huge, huge job, but I'm proud to say that it is completed and I now have a clean and organized storage room with much less in it. It was a good thing that Heidi was here because she would keep saying to me, "Now mom, do you really need this?" Thanks to her I have eliminated a lot of stuff I'm sure I'll never miss. As you can see from the pictures, it looks much better and I actually know what I have now. I have done a complete inventory of our food storage and realize that we have much more than I thought. Sooooooo, here is the progress.

I begin making my garage much more messy as we empty the storage room.

Here it is getting bare.

The finished project.

Heidi, my handy daughter!

Since I have finally learned how to do my own blog, I'm practicing and also backtracking on some important events in our lives. Heidi, my redecorator daughter, is always trying to update our home and make us look like we are in style with the latest look. We've had this corner fireplace for some years now but haven't made it look it's best. Heidi offered to stain and finish our fireplace. This is the oak, before look.

While we were gone one evening, Heidi took the fireplace pieces apart and this is what Duane and I found when we got home. It looks beautiful already.

Here is the finished look. Doesn't it match the entertainment center beautifully? Many thanks to you Heidi. We love it. You are so kind and have such an eye for beauty. We've already received so many comments.