Recipe run and a night out



We are doing our own Thanksgiving this year. Not that we don't usually do Thanksgiving but we usually spend the entire day and weekend with family and for the last few years we have spent it trying to recover from a loss of one of more of our children and missing family that has gone on before us (Dad, Grandpa S, Grandma P, Grandpa P), you get the idea. We have not really had the energy or will to enjoy the holiday and while we are always thankful, we were never really into the spirit of celebration.

So this year, instead of mourning our second set of twins that we lost in early September, we are going to celebrate how thankful we are. Thankful for our lives, togetherness, home, animals, jobs, friends, our bond as husband and wife, our temple marriage, the gospel, the time we have had with loved ones and the time in the future when we will see them all again and the miracle of adoption that we hope will someday bless our lives.

As part of our Thanksgiving, we are doing a recipe run. We have our standard fare of food that we make but we are expanding it to include new recipes from around the world and old family traditions. We have a fruit salad recipe from R's great great Granddad and while it contains more sugar than fruit, we are going to give it a shot! We have a recipe from R's great Grandma and one from his Mom. We also have 2 from my Mom. I am looking for a great cranberry sauce recipe and a new vegetable side dish if you happen to have one. BUT we are not limiting ourselves to those two. We have loyal readers in South Korea, Belgium, Canada and Netherlands in addition to our USA readers. Please send us your favorites!

We are starting to post some recipes on our website, so if you have something to share, please leave us a comment or shoot us an email. Remember to title your recipe or give us your last name so we can give credit where credit is due!
 
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We went to our first Hockey game last night. We have the pleasure of watching the Colorado Eagles play the Mississippi River Kings. Having never been to a hockey game before we had no idea what to expect. We had great padded seats in the adults only section in row 11 which is just high enough to see the entire ring but close enough to see their faces and hear them yelling. What a night!
 
There are only 3 periods in hockey which last only 20 minutes each. So you can make it through a whole game without really needing to get up and stretch. In hindsight, we should have done some research to figure out what all of the terms were (power play, hooking, etc.) but even being oblivious it was a lot of fun - there are some real die-hard hockey fans in Colorado! It is funny to watch grown men race around chasing a little black puck. They fall down and bounce back up as if they have springs in their knees and smash each other into the wall. Sometimes they get too rough and have to sit in the penalty box which is just like a time out! It cracks me us; they look so disappointed in themselves and contrite while in the box, but when they come back out, they are back to their same old tricks!
 
The announcer said a few times to the audience 'Keep your eye on the puck at all times. Under certain circumstances it may become airborne and enter the seating area.' I thought, yeah right. Four times the puck flew into the audience. Luckily no one was injured and it always went into first few rows and never above row 8, so I figure when we get tickets again in the future, they will not be below row 9!
 
I have never been to a sporting event before and was surprised at the enthusiasm from the crowd. Thankfully there was not a lot of drinking and they strongly discourage cursing (by kicking offenders out of the stadium). It was a great time. Not necessarily a kid sport since there were a LOT of penalties and two pretty good sized fights, but entertaining once the men started acting like men.

  On our drive home we hit the county line and noticed that is was just barely snowing (this was around 10 pm). We noticed that as we got closer to home it started snowing harder and harder. I am so glad R was driving! by time we made it 8 miles from home it was a whiteout and we could hardly see at all. 40 minutes later, we made it home. Yes, 40 minutes to go 8 miles; it was snowing a LOT! We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland and are not really looking forward to driving to church. However, we know that once we get there it will be worth it! Winter has arrived!

Patience is a virtue

What a week! We went from the high 60s to the 20s over the span of a couple of days. I can tell; spring is on the way. The horses are starting to shed - it will be a very hairy spring around the Stout Ranch. We have one month left until kidding season; we bred both does and have bets going to see how many of what we will get. Robert is betting (hoping really) for 2 bucklings. That way we can take them to auction and our herd will not increase! I am betting (hoping really) for 3 babies; 2 doelings and one buckling. I would like to have more options for the does we keep. At this point there are too many variables to guess and making plans seems like a waste of time and energy. We will find out on April 24th! We are still having to be patient - since we have been waiting since November, I think we are doing splendidly!

We planted our seeds for the garden two weeks ago. We start them indoors during early March when it is too cold to put them outside. They will continue to grow in pots on the breakfast table until mid-May when it will be warm enough to put them outside. It is so fun to watch them pop up; small and fragile, struggling towards the light. In mere days they are 2-3 inches tall with big beautiful leaves. Last year, not knowing what I was doings, I over planted on some things and under planted on others. This year, I have a nice variety of everything and if all goes well with the hail and wind, we should have a nice harvest!

I was sitting here watching my seeds and thinking that they could be compared to the parable of the mustard seed and our struggle to increase our faith and share the Gospel. But as I sit here watching these tiny seeds that I planted a few short weeks ago struggle to live and grow I am reminded of our personal seeds and our personal struggles; how we can help each other's seeds to grow and thrive just by being more tolerant and understanding. We each face different struggles as couples and as individuals. We, each of us, has within us a tiny seed that struggles to live and grow and thrive. I don't know your struggles, just as you don't know mine. I also don't know the struggles of the rude man in the grocery line or the lady that cut me off on the freeway. But when I take the time to remember that we each have our own private impurities, challenges and struggles, it makes the small offences of another seem even smaller. How much easier is it then to forgive and uplift each other?!

Empathy by Kelly Miller

When empathy is learned
Our heart to another is turned
As births buds of charity
That we can comfort with clarity

From our own pain we see
And feel with deepened depth
Such that it is the seed
Of love's flower we'll not forget

It seems that all is moving very slowly on the adoption front. We turned in packet 3 almost one month ago and so far, not a word from the Case Worker or even the support staff. I suppose they are very busy and I like to imagine them working fervently on our paperwork round the clock! The reality is that there are several couples in line ahead of us and we will be learning the virtue of patience. Patience will become a dear friend by the time this is all said and done, I just hope I have enough patience to enjoy the ride.

We were talking about the process the other night and we realized (again) that it doesn't really matter how long it takes, our dear child and his/her Mother will be ready and waiting for us when the time is right. We keep having this same epiphany each time we start to get worked up about it. This is our constant struggle, our thought to keep in perspective, our seed that needs to be nurtured...