Nov 03
Everyone,
My cute little cousin K is compiling a recipe book with recipes from the women in our family.
So okay, cousin K is not so little any more. In fact, she’s close to a grown women. But I’ll still remember her as little and sitting with me at church tracing her tiny hands in my journals when she was no more than my boys ages. And I was her age.
Here is one of the reciepes I sent her. Everyone always asks me to make these when we go to Utah. They are tasty!
Chicken Puffs
2 cups cooked chicken
4 T soft butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
chopped green onions
3 packages crescent rolls
Sauce:
2 1/2 C chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
Combine all ingredients except the rolls and the sauce. Spoon into individual crescent rolls and seal the edges to make a little puffy ball. Dip in milk and roll in bread crumbs. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with sauce.
So consider this a reminder to my mom’s side of the family…get K those recipes!
Safire
Safirecooking, my family recipes
Oct 11
Everyone,
My mom is visiting for the week and we are just having the best time with her! We’ve been to see a few historical places, broken a few laws, and done a lot of Christmas shopping.
There has been late night talks and movies. There have been treats and fun rides on the train at the mall (something I wouldn’t do but Nana can’t say no to these boys!) There has been fighting over her iPad and zombies eating brains.
I love it when she visits!
Safire
Safiremy family, my Mom, visitors Nana
Jul 09
Everyone,
After we left Niagara Falls, we drove 2 hours east to a little town in upstate New York called Palmyra. It is here that my church believes that Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ and God in a vision. In a place we call the Sacred Grove.
The Sacred Grove has a very special feeling in it. I talked to the kids about being quiet and how this is a special place. They were VERY good, and very quiet. And even though we were looking for my brother and his family (we never did catch up with him here), it was a very peaceful and spiritual time for all of us.
We walked past the Smith Farm and headed to the Palmyra Temple.
And here we met up with MusicMan’s family!
These two were thick as thieves and got everyone running.
Pretty Butterfly.
From the Temple, we went over to the Hill Cumorah, where Joseph Smith met the Angel Moroni and received the gold plates that he translated into the Book of Mormon. We went to the visitor’s center first and then hiked the hill.
The sunset was beautiful that night, and Flower was having a great time. This is not her first time being here (me either) but first for the kids.
The monument on the hill.
It was so much fun to spend time with my brother here. And for the kids to spend time with their cousins!
After a very loud and tiring dinner at McD’s, we came to the hotel room and totally crashed.
And the fun is not over yet!
Safire
SafireMusicMan, my family, road trips New York
Jul 08
Everyone,
After a 5am wake up call and leaving in a big beautiful thunderstorm, we drove for hours north. We stopped about noon-ish in New York State, at the ranger station in the Allegheny Mountains. Why there? I wanted a stamp for my National Park Passport! But the station was closed on Sundays AND holidays. No stamp for me.
The stop was not unwelcome, however. There wasn’t a much eating because there were these 3 big boulders near the picnic table. Just right for climbing on!
After a few more hours in the car (and driving down TINY roads…stupid GPS), we finally made it to our destination!
And we saw the people we wanted to see!
And did what we wanted to do!
Then we piled back in the car and drove another few hundred miles to where we were going to spend the night. More tomorrow!
Safire
PS- Does the waterfall look familiar? It’s my header!
SafireMusicMan, my family, national parks passport, road trips road trips
Jul 05
Everyone,
This weekend we took a short/long road trip to see my brother who was visiting Niagara Falls with his family.
This is the very first time I’ve met my nephew, Lev, who just turned a year old.
It’s also the first time all 5 of my parents grandchildren have been together!
Lev, Butterfly, Cappy, Pirate, Professor
I have a BUNCH of outtakes but I think this one is my favorite:
Lev kept trying to crawl back to his mom and she kept putting him at the end of the line. He was NOT happy about that! I like this picture because my 3 kids are worried about Lev. They are all watching him cry. But Cappy, his brother, couldn’t be bothered. Someone is used to crying!
Once I have sorted through my over 300 pictures, I will post more about our trip.
Safire
Safirecousins, MusicMan, my family, road trips family, road trips
Dec 19
Everyone,
This week’s question on the Multiples and More site is about my own memories. Yay for more memories!
What are your favorite holiday memories?
Some of my favorite holiday memories involve my brother. He and I were co-conspirators with our presents. Together, we made a small hole in the drywall in the unfinished basement to peak into the store room. (Sorry Mom.) It was through that peep hole that we saw bikes for Christmas one year.
We always got excited to see what shape of chocolate was coming out of our advent calendars together. We watched Christmas movies together. We suffered, together, through many of THESE:
Most of my Christmas memories are wound up with him.
One of my most favorite memories is our stockings. You see, Santa left our stockings in our rooms every year. I never remember them NOT being in our rooms in the morning. It was always so great to open my eyes on Christmas and see my stocking right away.
But the best part about the stocking was that my brother and I would sneak into each other’s rooms and go over our spoils in our stockings. We switched rooms every year. And we both were just as excited for each other’s presents. We went from being excited about our cool new toothbrushes together and tiny toys as little kids to taking turns listening to our new CDs as teenagers.
The year that he was in Arizona on his mission for our church, was a hard one for me. The stocking just wasn’t as magical as it had been in years past. It was great again when we got to do one last year before I got married.
I can only hope that my kids enjoy Christmas with each other as much as my brother and I did.
Safire
SafireMusicMan, my family, my past Christmas, my family
Dec 14
Everyone,
My very cool and very talented cousin has the most amazing high school. It’s a private school in Utah and they go on these amazing school trips. Last year they went to the middle east for several weeks studying the people, geology, and culture of the lands they traveled in. Talk about amazing!
This year, they are planning on traveling Nepal and other parts of India. Their group is hoping to partner with the Partnership for Sustainable Development – Nepal (PSDN) to help bring clean drinking water to a rural village in the Kathmandu Valley this January. PSDN was founded on the belief that “all programs need to be implemented with the involvement of the local people in their own environment to secure a participatory and sustainable approach.” While in Nepal, they will be living with families in the village and will be working alongside skilled local contractors to accomplish their goal. They will have the opportunity to learn Nepali language and culture while also being able to interact and teach English to the children of the community.
I never did anything like this in high school! And I think it’s amazing that my cousin gets to! The group needs a few extra dollars to make this happen, though.
So if you’re in Salt Lake City, Utah and in the mood for some Indian food (please have some butter chicken for us, it’s our family’s favorite), please join them TOMORROW night from 5pm-9pm at The Himalayan Kitchen in Salt Lake City (360 S State Street). The Himalayan Kitchen will have prepared a special buffet. And for $25, you can enjoy dinner, including desert and a drink. You’ll also be able to meet the kids that are going and help a good cause.
Can’t go? Want to donate so they can help bring clean water to others? Check out the group’s FirstGiving site.
OR, if you comment on this post, I will donate 50 cents per comment up to $25. Multiple comments count! Comments close Thursday at midnight EST.
Thanks for your support and your comments! Now let’s see if we can do some good for this group.
Safire
Safiremy family donations
Jun 28
Everyone,
What a day! First there was this:
And then there was this:
Next there was:
[a picture of the kids and Flower outside the National Aquarium Downtown]
And then there was:
[a totally awesome picture of a sea horse]
[a picture of the kids in front of the viewing area for the 'roars' aka the alligators]
And after there was:
[a picture of the Washington Monument with dark storm clouds]
And then there was:
[a picture of Butterfly standing in the rain deluge]
And once we got home, wet, (after a very awful metro ride with rude people who swore at me) there was no power in the house.
Until 4am.
And!! I’m an aunt again! Congrats to my brother and SIL on their new addition born today, a 9lb baby brother for Cappy. No internet name yet. 9 lbs!
What a day.
Safire
PS- I have no pictures because I ran out of the uploads for flickr this month and I’m too tired to invest time in turning pro. More pictures on July 1st when I can upload again.
SafireDC outings, Downtown DC, MusicMan, my family DC sight seeing, nephew
May 31
Everyone,
What a day! This morning we spent getting everyone ready for the big day ahead.
And we were late, even after getting up at 7am with the kids. Why is that I can’t make it somewhere until after 11am when I’ve been up for hours? It’s probably because everyone has to get ready AND I have to exercise. It’s nice to have exercise a habit. I like it.
Anyway, we went over to Juice’s family today and spent the afternoon with them. Juice’s two brothers were there, and his sister came with all of her kids. Including her twin girls! I haven’t seen Seraph since she was 2 months old because she’s either in the hospital when we go or my kids have a cold. But this time all the planets aligned and we were able to see them! Yay!
Everyone had lunch and I loved hearing Juice and his brothers reminisce about all the bad things they did as kids. Juice’s mom said that it was amazing any of them lived to be adults. About half an hour later full of more stories, she said, “I want to change my statement. It’s amazing I lived!”
Butterfly spent the whole afternoon jumping on the trampoline in their field with her cousins. She had a ball. Juice’s dad showed us his new hobby: a beehive. Very cool. We’re going to try and go over again sometime next week and he’ll pull it open for me to take some pictures. I’m excited!
The boys were very good and even slept for awhile while we were there. We were smart and brought their beds and their blankies and music. But they had a good time playing with their cousins too and the toy train.
Once we actually left (like an hour later than we wanted to!), we headed up to my Aunt’s house for my Dad’s family reunion. Good food, good family, and good conversation. Butterfly ran and ran and ran with her second cousin who is just a year older than her. The boys played on the slide and ate only chips for dinner. We left there around 9pm.
They stayed awake for the entire 45 minutes of the ride home. I thought with all the playing for sure they would be asleep in seconds. They were once we put them in their beds around 10pm. Tomorrow is going to be fun, I can tell.
Safire
SafireBBQ, cousins, Juice's family, my family BBQ, family, trips, Utah
Jan 10
Everyone,
Pictures from the funeral.
In my religion, we do not view death as a horribly sad thing. I think that life continues after we pass away. It’s just in a different place than here. We got together to celebrate her life. And we enjoy getting together as a family. It was pretty amazing to have all my cousins together in one place. 
See, here are all my cousins in birth order. My brother in the back, and the youngest in the front. Can you see me?
I’m glad I have the family I do. Each person brings such a unique strength to each other. I hope this isn’t the last time my cousins are all together.
Safire
Safirefuneral, my family, Sunday Pictures
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