Strawberry Jam and a Twist

I love making jam for my family. It tastes so much better than store bought and I love how it looks in my pantry. This spring I made a bunch of strawberry jam. Sarah, my sister, and April, my sil, came over and we had a strawberry party. I like to buy the low/no sugar pectin and add only two cups of sugar. The result isn't as shiny and bright as full sugar, but it has a much truer flavor and I feel so much better about feeding it to my family. Normal jam recipes have MORE sugar than fruit. Sarah brought a recipe for strawberry syrup that is so good on Dave's killer crepes. My kitchen was one sticky mess by the end of the day, but the results are so worth the clean-up.
So now the twist, Zucchini Jam. I participate in a monthly preparedness class with ladies from church and was asked to do a class on what to do with summer squash. So I pulled out the recipes my good friend Laura gave me and found this one for Strawberry Zucchini Jam. I think I made it once years ago when Dave and I were first married, but I used the whole squash and it wasn't that great. This time I peeled the zucchini and scooped out the seeds and liked it a whole lot better. In fact, a lady that came to the class swearing she could never eat any squash, was brave enough to try it, and said it was okay. It's not as good as the real thing, but does taste and smell like strawberry jam. I was thinking of making a batch with a green color of kool-aid for St. Patrick's. Would that be weird? Here's the recipe:
Strawberry Zucchini Jam
6 C grated zucchini
1 can crushed pineapple
1/2 C lemon juice
2 C water
1 pkg pectin
1 pkg strawberry kool-aid
Mix in a large saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil. Add
8 C sugar
Bring back to a full boil and boil for 4 minutes. Process in pint jars. Makes about 6 pints.

Summer Visits

It's been so great to have my sister from Texas visiting this summer. She and her five kids came for our family reunion and will go home Saturday after girl's camp. She's been spending a lot of time with our Grandma compiling family history and recording stories, so we haven't spent tons of time together, but enough that we wish they didn't live so far away. Last night, three of my girls and two of my nieces decided to sleep out on the tramp. The result?
No, not multiple sprains: Little girls covered in mosquito bites, despite our dousing them with repellent. Guess it doesn't last all night. To keep them from scratching their bites to a bloody pulp, we've resorted to the ace bandage treatment. Anyone have a better suggestion?

After Father's Day, David's only sister and her two girls came for a visit.They were here for Lehi Days. Is that the right name? We went to the parade and I was so impressed. I'm used to the quaint charm of small town parades where you see the same horse teams and vintage cars year after year, so the amazing floats and marching bands were a fun change. The kids were just glad they threw candy.

Last week, my cousin's wife, Kris, who is one of my greatest friends ever and had the audacity to move to Washington, came to stay for a couple of nights with her three youngest while her oldest was at EFY. We had a great time. She's the kind of friend you can talk to for hours and never run out of things to say and wish you could go on indefinitely, but you know, we have to sleep sometimes now that we're older. We took the kids to BYU for the afternoon: went to the creamery, the fine arts museum and the natural history museum. Living so close, you forget what a big deal BYU is to members outside of Utah. I guess we take the things closest to us for granted sometimes.


Summer is 1/2 over now, and I'm tired from lack of sleep because I want to spend every minute I can with family and friends who only pass through my life in person during the summer. I'm sad that part is winding down, but I'm glad I have the rest of the summer to hang with the family that lives with me. And geesh! I better schedule a haircut ASAP! Dave has always had a thing for Farrah, but those feathered bangs are a little much.

Independence Day

While David was visiting Heather and Grandma P., Bekah and I attended all the usual festivities at Grandma True's. The parade was sort of slow this year, but the family and food were great as usual.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Some of the most meaningful, society changing words every written.

For the third year in a row Nicole has attended Simulation Week (previously called Con-Con, short for Constitutional Convention). Kids from all over come and use Roberts Rules of Order and Parliamentary Procedure to enact a simulation of some kind. This year Nicole went with my niece, Sariah. They had a good time writing legislation and getting to know the other kids. One night they held a formal banquet. Nicole and Sariah borrowed dresses from Mike's wife, Tiffany. I thought they looked great and way too grown up.

Family Reunion

The family I grew up in didn't vacation. We went on an occasional ward camping trip and never missed a family wedding, funeral or missionary farewell, but vacations- they just never happened. Which is probably one of the reasons family reunions are such a sweet memory for me. I have nearly 40 cousins on my dad's side of the family and they are a happy bunch! I didn't see them much, but when we gathered at the big lodge in Idaho it was a non-stop party. We played games, hiked and did silly talent shows. We loved listening to my aunts tease my dad, the only brother, about all the awful things he did to them growing up. He came back with a few stories of his own. They literally laughed until they cried. Grandpa and Grandma would bring us all Idaho Spud candy bars. One year they gave us all Book of Mormon's that were printed with gold covers and engravings to look like the Golden Plates. But it wasn't just the gifts or the fun. There was something about singing and praying with this whole group of people that I didn't really know super well, but felt so connected to. Our common heritage brought us together in a way entirely uncommon and as we played, prayed and sang together I felt the power of the past, the energy of the now, and the potential of the future inside of me. Which is way more exhilarating and long-lasting than any roller-coaster!
I hope my children can have this same experience, and my siblings must too, because every year we all make time for our own family reunion. This year, Mike and Tiffany were in charge and found us a great cabin for the weekend. We had such a fun time. Thanks everybody!!
the cabin
American Idol Night: the judges

Relay race: blowing a bubble. I think they saved this gum all year. It was hard to chew!
Keith telling ghost stories to the kids
they even slept under the pool table
We had everyone here this year except for brother-in-law Richard who couldn't get leave. Which means: 16 grandkids ranging in age from 14 to 5 months, my parents and their 7 children, and 5 spouses.

Family Night in May

Ever since reading Sammie's blog about touching the temple, Bekah has been wanting to do this activity with our family, so a couple of weeks ago, Dave

and I decided to surprise the kids and go. We loaded them all up in the Dawg and headed to Salt Lake. It was a really warm day, the sun was shining and it felt great to be outside. The temple grounds looked beautiful and made us feel very grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father has given us. We reminisced about our wedding, smelled the flowers, noticed the engravings in the granite and loved spending time with each other as we felt the touch of the temple.

So the kids thought the surprise was over, until we didn't get back on the freeway. Instead we ended up in front of the ball stadium for a Bees game. Sarah, Jason and Josh met us there for a night out at the games. Now we know why Grandma liked the Diamondback games so much; there is a fun feeling at the game. Whether it's ballet or baseball or anything else, it's awesome to see people who have developed their talents so well.

Spring Break

Bekah, Darci, Elisabeth and I headed to Phoenix this week to spend Spring Break with my sil and two nieces. We've had an awesome time. I feel like John Denver, "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy." Well, as long as I have a bottle of sunscreen handy.