Category: Family Time

German Lentil Soup

Every year on Richard’s birthday week, I make this soup because he loves it.

1 ½ c lentils

5 c cold water

4 slices bacon

1/4 c chopped onion

1 green pepper, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1, 15-oz can diced tomatoes

3 T butter

3 T flour

2 beef bouillon cubes (dissolved in 1 c water)

2 tsp salt

2 T white vinegar

Cook time: almost 2 hours

Rinse lentils and remove debris that may be in the package. In a large kettle, bring lentils and water to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Meanwhile, cut bacon in small pieces and sauté in large skillet until crisp. Remove crisp bacon and set aside. To the bacon grease in the skillet, add onion, carrot, pepper, and tomato and sauté over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the vegetables to the lentils in the large kettle. In same skillet, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth and gradually stir in bouillon and water. Add salt and vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly for about a minute. Add to lentils and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes. Add the crisp bacon in the last few minutes of cooking. Serves 6 to 8.

Hello, Elder Ross!

We had a nice text exchange with our missionary for the first time today.

With a home centered focus at church, it makes sense that home and missionary work should mingle more often. Home and family are central to God’s plan. They can add strength. If they don’t, we can trust the missionaries and mission presidents and families to figure things out.

A few weeks ago, Daniel wrote to me, expressing that he wished he had talked to me more. What a blessing it is that we can now. Who else is excited in our house about this? His two brothers. This will bless their lives. Amen.

The Week at a Glance

Lexi Walker was incredible in this show!
Relief Society. I am in the bottom left, listening to Maren explain that just because a room is organized doesn’t mean it will always be clean…unless one keeps it clean. (Mind. blown.) (Mudroom, I am talking about you.)
Tim begins another dance odyssey. This is a frisbee on which the paper is mounted. So cute.
This makes me 20 kinds of angry.
I found a really good deal on a really nice smoker. Richard has wanted one for about 8 years. So we bought it.
Emphasis on the idea that Angie Found a Good Deal. Originally $1000
New faucets going in.
It’s a mess before it’s beautiful.

This is how we are doing it this week: Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families Week 1

This week, the goal is for each person to study a few verses on their own each day and write about it. We wanted the kids to start a journal of their scripture study, so each week I plan to make a page on which they can write. This week I typed it. Some weeks it may be photocopies of post-it notes. And yes, we will be sweetening the deal as we come together to share on Sunday morning. We will keep reading the Book of Mormon as a family in the evenings. Every scripture and question is listed in the study guide, so there’s nothing original here, just the way we are going to use it.

Post edit addition: we are changing the cinnamon roll time because it’s the first Sunday of the month. 😉

Some good memories from December

We visited Temple Square on one of the warmest December nights we have known. We were able to listen to the Nativity narration outdoors and noticed for the first time that there is a star mounted on top of the Tabernacle. We had just fed the missionaries dinner before we came, and their message was to “Look up!” Amen.
Timothy and I played a medley of German Christmas carols at church and for family. He is a great pianist and accompanist.
Timothy got his license.
We had a birthday party for Tim and my parents came.
Mark made raspberry jam for his dad’s Christmas present. 😍
I shopped for stuffed animals. The giraffe!
Christmas morning fun

We were able to do a video call with Daniel and we didn’t need all of those questions we planned to ask. He talked non-stop, with enthusiasm, zeal, and happiness pouring forth. I didn’t know how much I needed to just see him and hear him speak. I didn’t take a picture of the screen, but imagine light, clothed in the Christmas tie that I was told he probably wouldn’t receive in the mail, a short haircut, sunburned neck, and speaking a mixture of Spanish and English, really fast. That was Daniel. Nothing sad about that.

Paige is with us, and moves from her room, where she is catching up on some reading, to the piano, every few hours throughout the day. Chopin, Debussy, and Jane Austen scores are now in the mix played on our piano. She is all things lovely.

The Season of Expectation

These pictures are my favorites from the week. We had a lovely time hearing Tim’s concerts and doing Christmas things.

At the beginning of the week, instead of filling my to do lists, I purposely left big gaps for rest. I was a little bit successful, considering it is the season of expectation. I find that Richard and the boys are clinging to traditions a little more this year. “When are we going to bake…,” and, “What Christmas movie will we watch tonight?” Maybe it helps fill in the holes in our family.

Less

This week is music week for our family. We didn’t plan it that way, but there are concerts, lessons, and practice every evening. Christmas carols adorn the air, employ our hands, and fill our souls. With this accompaniment, I find I need less to be whole. This particular season has reminded me that my quest for knowledge and excellence is a little misguided. Alone, these things do not fill me. In fact, I require very little to be truly happy. Family, talking with friends, music, private service and devotion, warm meals, and light are simple needs. I make things too complicated sometimes.

Spring Lake Thanksgiving


New rock walls under rain showed their deeper colors and cleaner surfaces, and with a backdrop of new spruce trees and freshly gathered leaves, vintage decor reminded us of loved ones now gone. Little feet ran to familiar haunts as small hands appeared from below, reaching for good bites to eat. Men discussed the carving of the birds as women finished whipping potatoes and set out fruit and rolls. A cousin confessed she had been looking forward to eating this pie for weeks. Quiet readers emerged from the corners to fill plates before retreating again, and tween cousins, too full after appetizers, chose the smallest portions. Each in turn, we named something we are thankful for. I heard myself say with a cheer and hands held high, “I am thankful for a missionary!” There were quiet declarations and strong, and all were sincere. And just like that, the meal was over, the many hours of labor, consumed in minutes. This year, we didn’t wait to serve the pies.

While parents slept, Grandma gathered children for gingerbread house decorating. And the Christmas season began.

Dark so early, we slowed down as the sun sank and we watched Charlie Brown Mayflower Voyagers and snickered through Snowball Express. This year, we delayed watching White Christmas and visited instead. As we should.

This year, we stayed two nights, cuddled under handmade quilts and fleece blankets, without alarm clocks. Blessed rest.

Home again, the busy task of decorating began, one box, one string of lights after another, until the house was full of cheer. And thoughts of Daniel were everywhere, in the ornaments, the food, and the music. Tears are not incompatible with joy. Tim took an early morning drive in the first snow with a driving instructor, and I mailed my last Christmas package as the post office opened. But mostly, we stayed home, feeling peaceful and bright.