First Day of Kindergarten

'Twas the night before kindergarten,

and as they prepared,

kids were excited

and a little bit scared.

They tossed and they turned

about in their beds,

while visions of school supplies

danced in their heads.

Erasers and crayons

and pencils galore

were stuffed in their backpacks

and set by the door.

Outfits were hung

in the closets with care,

knowing that kindergarten

soon would be there.

In the morning it came-

school starts today!

Would the teacher be nice?

Would they still get to play?

Faces were washed,

and teeth were brushed white;

kids posed for pictures

with eyes sparkling bright.

Michael was more than ready this morning for his first day.  The teacher was very nice and he made some new friends.  He is very excited for this school year.

Tamsyn and Megyn

A couple of beautiful granddaughters, wouldn't you say?

Vacation pics

We just got back from a very fun and educational vacation, most of which was spent with Christi and family. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

The kids, posing in front of Mount Vernon.

The United States Capitol, which we were able to tour courtesy of Orrin Hatch. Notice the framing? She's still got it, Mom.

 

 

 

Meaning no disrespect to George Mason, we couldn't resist posing with him. 

The FDR memorial was interesting and provided lots of photo ops.

 

 

 

 

I thought this picture at the Vietnam War Memorial was pretty cool. Too bad I have a camera in front of my face. Or maybe it's not too bad.   

At Colonial Williamsburg, the girls try on some fashionable hats of the time period.

 

 

At Duke Gardens. This was almost a photo oops. I thought one of them might take a dive.

 

 

The Washington DC temple, behind us, looks almost unreal, doesn't it? It was gorgeous. We were able to do baptisms for the dead here one evening.

 

Family History

For about a year and a half I have been teaching the youth Sunday school class in our ward, ages 15-18. It is sometimes a challenge to hold their attention so I try to spice things up by having an activity or object lesson that will be entertaining as well as spiritually educational. This month our topics have been keeping a personal journal and doing family history work. Two weeks ago I gave my students an assignment to find a story about an ancestor they could share. If they did this I would reward them with a treat of some sort. The treat of some sort was my object lesson today.

When I came back from Utah this time I brought with me a sourdough start. I have enjoyed learning how to use it in different recipes. Today I made sourdough cinnamon rolls and took them to church. After all the kids finished sharing a story about his/her ancestor, I shared what I call "The Parable of the Sourdough" which isn't really a parable but it was a cool way to talk about family history and sourdough.

I explained the history of this particular sourdough start. It originated in 1890 and somehow Lydia Smith got her hands on a start. In 1966 Lydia gave a start to Aunt Joyce. I drew a diagram on the chalkboard illustrating the "family tree" of this sourdough start, how Joyce gave a start to Mary and Ann and how Ann gave a start to her kids and to me and I gave a start to Taylor and Alison. It was a quick way to show a family tree. Then I revealed the scrumptious sourdough cinnamon rolls. As they each ate one I told them how the choices our ancestors made are part of who we are now. It's just like the sourdough: part of that original 1890 start is in there somewhere and so is a bit of what everyone along the way added to it and that makes it unique. Did they buy it? I don't know, but they ate it!

Here's the recipe if anyone is interested

Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
1 cup sourdough starter (fed the night before)
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 Tbs butter
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp instant yeast

Add ingredients to bread mixer and knead about 10 minutes. Let rise for 1 hour. Roll out on flour surface shaping into a large rectangle.
Spread dough with softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up to make a long jelly-roll and pinch seam closed. Use a sharp knife to cut into 12 rolls of approximately equal size. Place in buttered 9x13 baking dish. Let rise for 45-60 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees until done, about 20-25 minutes. Frost as desired.
By the way, I have added a few posts to Grandma's blog: http://grandmaharris.blogspot.com/

Kennedy at the pond

Kennedy and I made a trip to "the pond" and took some pictures of her near sundown.  A fun place for a phot shoot.