Olivia's Bright Idea

Olivia and I cooked Sunday dinner...a yummy soup recipe that I got from our good friend Julie Brewer. It's called Savory Vegetable Ribolitta. I'll type it out at the end of this post. Anyway, Olivia was bored after church so I told her that she was welcome to help me slice & dice the veggies. She did a great job until she got to the onion. I warned her that she would cry but she didn't believe me. When her eyes started to water, she ran out of the room. I thought she wouldn't be back but she came back with a solution! And it worked! It was so fun to work together. She turned nine today. LaMonte and I had lunch with her today...we brought her some sushi, her favorite food, and cupcakes for her class. She'll have a big birthday bash this Friday night.

Savory Vegetable Ribolitta

Ribolitta is a Tuscan-style bean and cabbage soup. It is traditionally thickened with bread such as toasted croutons or crostini, the Italian word for toast.

1 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup sliced carrot
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (19 oz. each) white kidney beans, rinsed & drained
32 oz. chicken broth
2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) diced Italian-style tomatoes, undrained (I used the tomatoes Mom & I canned from my garden last year and added Italian seasoning)
4 cups chopped Savoy or Napa cabbage
1/2 cup each diced sweet red pepper and zucchini
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Crostini (recipe below) or toasted croutons
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan over low heat, cook onion, celery, carrot and garlic in olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, chicken broth, tomatoes, cabbage, red pepper, zucchini and thyme. Cook, uncovered, until vegetables are tender and flovors are blended, about 20 minutes. To serve, place crostini in each soup bowl and ladle soup into the bowl. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Crostini: To prepare crostini, combine 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning if desired. Cut one laof of Italian bread into 1-inch slices. Brush olive oil mixture on one side of bread. Arrange bread on baking sheet, coated side up. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until lightly toasted.

You will love this soup on a cold fall/winter day!!

Jill Tagged Me...

1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV shows (I have to really think about this because the TV is rarely on here...)

1. Cold Case
2. American Idol
3. The Amazing Race
4. Law & Order
5. first season of House
6. Hannity & Colmes
7. Everybody Loves Raymond
8. What Not to Wear (when I'm in a hotel room! We don't get that many channels here!)

8 Things I did Yesterday...

1. Cuddled with my hubby in a tent.
2. Realized that I had forgotten all my clothes back at the house so I wore Rance's clothes.
3. Got toasty warm in the campsite bathroom with the hand dryer...a couple of cycles with that thing and the inside of my coat was positively heavenly!
4. Held hands with a new friend (Maryjo's little Erika took a liking to me on our hike...)
5. Took a very hot shower at my house.
6. Took my teenagers' cell phones away.
7. Went to dinner with good friends.
8. Shopped for Sunday dinner ingredients at Wal-Mart at 10:00 PM.

8 Things I look forward to...

1. Holding my grandbabies
2. Watching my children go out into this world
3. Going on a mission with Rance
4. Hanging out with family over the holidays
5. Youth Conference 2009 (Palmyra)
6. YW Camp 2009
7. Olivia's birthday party this Friday night
8. Going to sleep tonight

8 Favorite Restaurants...

1. Ichiban or anywhere with fresh sushi & Udon
2. Paradise Cafe
3. Yats
4. Cheesecake Factory (only for the White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake)
5. Bravo
6. Cracker Barrel
7. Steak N Shake (Chocolate Shakes...nothing else compares)
8. Little Mexico

8 Things on my wish list...

1. A McCain/Palin victory (sorry all my liberal friends!)
2. a new driveway
3. clean carpet
4. a tropical get-away with my honey
5. visits to my far-away friends & family
6. respectful children (today was a rough day...)
7. a husband that can read my mind (Rance is helping me with these...)
8. my camera fixed...(I'm obviously being materialistic tonight...)

8 People to tag...

1. Joanna
2. Leanne
3. Heidi
4. Jenny
5. Christine
6. Chloe
7. Heather W.
8. I don't think I have any more blogging friends!!

Fall Break Fun!

We tried camping at a new place this year...Raccoon Lake near Rockville, Indiana...about an hour west of Indianapolis. We weren't sure about going but our good friend Maryjo Lykins had already set up camp and her children were waiting for friends to play with. The reason why we were thinking about skipping the trip was because it was raining pretty hard and it was kind of cold! But we're not whimps so we took off...surely we could make it through one night of cold & wet weather!! Well, the sky was blue when we arrived on Friday afternoon and it didn't start raining again until 8:30 or so that night. That cut short the visiting by the fire but we had already had our burnt chocolate treat (the fire was a little too hot) and Maryjo's yummy chili. Our tent leaked a little bit but we stayed mostly dry and warm.

The boys went fishing Saturday morning. Skyler & Jake were trying to catch a fish and then cook it and eat it to pass off a Boy Scout requirement but the fish they caught were too tiny! We had a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs & sausage...and of course, plenty of hot chocolate!! We went on a fun hike later on to get our bodies thawed out!!

Scott led us up the ravine to show us a dead raccoon they had discovered the day before. He enticed us by letting us know that its' guts were hanging out. I didn't take a photo of it. Sorry, I know you really wanted to see it.

We had a good laugh at this tree. Aaahh, the beauty of God's creations.

Scott continues to taunt Rance into wrestling matches...

even though he always ends up like a pretzel. One of these days...

We plan on going back to Raccoon Lake next year. This state park has a full weekend of Halloween activities like face painting, a pumpkin carving contest, a Halloween egg hunt and of course, trick-or treating. You should come with us!!

You Know It is Fall When...

...you feel the urge to buy pumpkins & apple cider! I bought apple cider the last time I went shopping and I'm glad I did because it was perfect for our Family Home Evening activity tonight. We shopped for pumpkins with the Brewer family...I think we wore the poor farmer out! He closed up shop when we finished with our selections! And three of our kids couldn't wait to carve 'em up...the other two were busy with homework. I am really missing my SLR...I always take timed photos of our glowing pumpkins...not this year!! Oh well...you can still see all the pumpkin guts that adorn the creations!

Palin Rally

Busy weekend...we left Greenwood around 1:30 on Friday afternoon to hear Sarah Palin speak at the Verizon Wireless Center. Scott & Olivia opted to stay at school...how did we raise such responsible children? They wanted to go with us but Scott had a test and one last cross country practice after school and Olivia didn't want to mess up her perfect attendance. Plus, she got to go with Don to a hayride that evening. Traffic was terrible once we got to Noblesville so that put us late getting into the venue. We had VIP tickets because Rance & I volunteered last week at Governor Daniels headquarters making phone calls asking for support of John McCain, Sarah Palin & My Man Mitch. I really enjoyed the experience. I had only one woman say she was voting for Obama and she actually apologized to me for it!! I just laughed with her! Anyway, we didn't get to sit in the VIP section--too full by the time we made it in but it turned out for the best since we had the kids with us. They had fun running around in the lawn section. We had fun posing for photos with many strangers because of our t-shirts. All in all, it was a good experience to attend a political rally...a first for all of us. It would be nice to hear politicians from both sides talk a little straighter though instead of all the political lines & jargon. I liked Governor Palin's speech but it would have been better if she could just TALK to us. Enough for now...GET OUT AND VOTE!!

Granny Opal & Pa Jerry

We had a lovely visit with my Granny on Wednesday night. Mom & Don invited us over for a cookout...I think it was one of the last nights of this season that was warm enough to sit out on the patio. I am so thankful they are both still well enough to travel to see us. One of Granny's favorite things to do is to shop. Mom & I took her to Kohl's earlier in the day. She had to be in a wheelchair so I pushed her around the store. She's a hard one to keep up with! She wants to look at EVERYTHING! I'm not that kind of shopper! I scan the store and make quick judgements so I definitely did not inherit her shopping genes. We always have a great time together! She just turned 84 but she's still young at heart!

Proposition 8 in California

I read this post on Jill & Robert Baker's blog and agree wholeheartedly. Let's stand up for what we know is right. Do something now!

YES ON PROPOSITION 8 in CaliforniaEven if you do not live in California, it is just a matter of time until this issue comes to your state. We have been directed by the brethren to pass this on. You've been tagged. PLEASE READ THIS no matter what state you live in.Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt children. If gay marriage remains legal, public schools will put it on equal footing with traditional marriage. Children will likely receive “age appropriate” information about sexual relations within heterosexual and homosexual marriages.Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt churches. The court’s decision will inevitably lead to conflicts with religious liberty and free speech rights. Society will become more and more hostile to traditional beliefs about marriage and family. Over time, greater acceptance of nontraditional marriage will be demanded of all people. This could impact the ability of any religion to teach and practice its beliefs. Including adoption agencies.A YES vote will not hurt gays. In California, the law provides for marriage-related benefits to be given to civil unions and domestic partnerships. Proposition 8 does not diminish these benefits.

For your information:On Friday, October 10th, 2008 a first-grade class took a field trip to witness a lesbian wedding in California. Click Here for the article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

A father in Massachusetts was frustrated when his kindergartner was taught about homosexuality at school by the teachers. He insisted he be notified in the future before such things were discussed so he could pull his boy out of school.He was taken to jail. Click Here for the story.

A Catholic adoption agency In the UK closed their doors because of the Government's new homosexual equality laws. The Equality Act forbids discrimination in the provision of goods and services on the basis of sexual orientation. The law was forced through Parliament last year despite past Prime Minister Tony Blair's recommendation that Catholic adoption agencies be exempted from the rules. Click Here for more info.

Earlier this month judges in Conneticut overturned the state law (just as the judges in California did) to legalized gay marriage. This is not just an issue in California. We voted years ago to keep traditional marriage as the only marriage recognized in the state of California, 4 judges overturned our vote…and we need to fight back. That is what this Proposition is about. This is happening everywhere and the leaders of the church and others have warned that the outcome of California’s vote will affect the way the other states vote. So PLEASE…even if you don’t live in California, put this on your blog or email this on. The internet knows no state line. You know contacts in California that I don’t…and so do your friends. Please pass this on as it could eventually have an effect on everyone!

"Occasionally discouragement may darken our pathway; frustration may be a constant companion. In our ears there may sound the sophistry of Satan as he whispers, "You cannot save the world; your small efforts are meaningless. You haven't time to be concerned for others." Trusting in the Lord, let us turn our heads from such falsehoods and make certain our feet are firmly planted in the path of service andour hearts and souls dedicated to follow the example of the Lord." --Thomas S. Monson

Click Here for excerpts from the Broadcast given by Elders M. Russell Ballard, Quentin L. Cook and L. Whitney Clayton.

A good resource mentioned in the broadcast: http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

October 20th: Last day to apply for an absentee ballot if voting out of state. Click Here to get one.

October 27th: Last day to apply for “Vote by Mail” Click Here for info.

November 4th: Election day. Polls close at 8:00pm. Vote by mail must be received by this time and can be hand delivered if necessary.

YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED...Here's what you do:In the broadcast we were asked to "go viral on our blogs, etc" by Elder Ballard. This is my way of going viral. If you feel this is an important issue I ask that you copy and paste this post...and post it on your blog. PLEASE keep it at the top of your blog through November 4th. which you can adjust each time you post under the "edit post" option. The internet knows NO STATE LINE. You know contacts in California that I do not...as do your friends and their friends...and so on. Please do this. If not for your own children and the effect it could have on them some day...for mine! After you have posted this...email this to your contacts and TAG all your blogging buddies to do the same. THANK YOU!