There are still bears in Yellowstone Park!

We took a great family vacation this year to Yellowstone. We (Shirley, Natalie, Megan, and I) were able to take Nate, Kristen and Aiden, as well as Ben, Megan and Tafton. We rented a big condo in West Yellowstone for a few days and had a lot of fun. We did a lot of driving and the kids did surprisingly well considering. I must say, we saw more wildlife than I ever remember seeing in the past. I have a lot of memories of going to the park as a kid. It was fun to go again. Also, I had to study up so I could educate the family on the Continental Divide (I hope I did an adequate job Dad - it's just not the same not coming from you! :))

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Blink! Is the summer over all ready?

Boy have I been a slacker! Sorry for the inactivity of our blog. I vow to do better. Summer is such an active time with many projects to work on after work and on weekends. Couple that with my recent calling of the Gospel Doctrine teacher which, for me, takes a lot of time to prepare and I only have to teach every fourth Sunday!

The first bit of news is the arrival of our first grand daughter Mikeala Kathleen Passey. She was born last Tuesday weighing 6 pounds and 7 ounces, measuring 20 inches long. No NICU for this birth, Mommy and baby doing well. Wow, you forget how tiny new born are though. We are happy for Ben and Megan and the new addition to their family.

Shirley has been busy with her new position as an administrative intern in the school district. She is splitting her time between two schools in Roy. It is a new challenge for her and I am sure she is up to the task She has such a passion for helping children that I know she will make a great principal when her time comes.

My job is pretty much the same. Still the director of "Hearts & Farts" (Cardiology and Endoscopy) at Ogden Regional. My schedule allows me to pursue two of my passions in life: golf and watching Megan participate in sports. The golf is fun but I really get a kick out watching Megan. She is on Morgan High's soccer team again this year as a sophomore. She had an active summer going to a soccer camp in St. George plus going to conditioning sessions at the high school. Her life right now is pretty full. She is in drivers ed. which means she needs to get to school by 06:30. Practice after school every day and games twice a week so if she travels it makes a late night. Not a lot of time for homework, sleep, but she still manages to squeeze the social life some how! She turns 16 this year so I can't use the "no dating until your 16" excuse for keeping her home. Do you think I can get the Prophet to extend that? She is a pretty girl and well liked - darn it!

How does one keep up with everything?

Hurray, I do believe spring has arrived. At least my sore body from working outside all day is telling me it is. It's very nice to have a good weather day on a Saturday as the "to do list" has been growing. We needed to do quite a few things around the house so we can go to the cabin next week end.



I have been very busy trying to keep up with Megan this Spring as well. She has been busy with Track and spring soccer. I am thankful my job allows me the freedom to leave and attend all of her activities. The track season has ended and Megan did quite well. Even though she was only a 9th grader (freshman @ Morgan High) she was the best on the team in the 300 meter hurdles and 2nd best in the 100 meter hurdles. She qualified for the BYU invitational meet (although it rained out) and finished 8th overall in the Region meet. She pulled a muscle during the last 2 weeks of the season and she really had a rough time competing as well as she was capable in the last couple of meets. Still, for a skinny little 9th grader she has done quite well.

And now the other great news is related to Shirley. She has made quite a educational commitment to prepare herself for an opportunity to be a school principal. She has interviewed 3 years in a row (this being the 3rd year) and been previously disappointed to be passed over for the administrative intern position. Last week, she received notice that she has been selected to be an intern for next school year. We are very excited as she has worked very hard and I think she will make a great elementary school principal.

That is what is happening in our neck of the woods. Hopefully I will do better at posting in the future.

Was that Spring or just a head fake?

It sure has been nice the last couple of days. Mother Nature is such a tease. We will likely get snow today. I spent the last few days raking up tumble weeds and lit them off yesterday morining. I think the flames were about 40 feet in the air. The pile was about as big as two of my trucks stacked on top of each other. fortunately I did not burn down my house or the neighborhood.

When things start to warm up I start getting anxious to head for the mountains. It is so hard to wait the additional 2 more months before we can get to our cabin.

Here is a picture of Nate and Kiwi not too far from our cabin.

Craft Day

Today, Nate, Kristen, and Aiden along with Megan and Tafton came up to our house for a craft day. Lorraine also came along with two different pots of soup. The creative juices were flowing. In fact, things got under way at 10:00 this morning and the picture below is Megan (little Megan) still at it at 8:30 p.m. Nate and I did our best to keep one eye on the boys and one eye on the North Carolina basketball game. They sure are cute little boys and enjoy playing together. Shirley got a "cricket" cutter for Christmas and is having fun learning it's capabilities. Now if she could only have the time to play with it. She has signed up for a class that starts this Saturday. We enjoy getting together and working on projects. Thanks to Lorraine for a great lunch.

Hola from South of the border!

Toughing it out in PuertoVallarta at the Board of Directors meeting of Cardiovascular Credentialing International. This is the company that I do consulting for on occasion. It's a great place to escape to in February while it is cold at home. The weather here is consistantly sunny and 84 degrees. This was a great trip until I got a case of "Montezuma's Revenge" yesterday and spent about 18 hours in bed thinking death would be a relief. I feel a little better today however.

I also wanted to post another picture that I found last weekend. It was taken the night before I left for my mission. In case you cannot tell, that is Jeff and Josh in the picture with Shirley and I.

30 Years and Counting

Sorry, I missed last Sunday's posting, we sent to a "super" get together at Nate and Kristen's. It was fun and there was a lot of good food and an exciting football game to watch although I was ultimately disappointed in the outcome.

Yesterday I was enjoying a pretty lazy day. I had spent a couple of hours doing a little spring cleaning then went outside and was sitting on the deck soaking up some long missed sun. It was a beautiful afternoon. Ben called and asked what we were doing. He had a favor to ask but wanted to know our plans before he asked. I assumed it was that he need us to watch Tafton. We told him we were planning to go the the movie that night around 6:00. He and Megan was at the RC Willey's in West Jordan and needed help in bringing some furniture back. It was nearly 3:00 in the afternoon so Shirley and I jumped in the truck and raced down to West Jordan. When we backed up to the dock they asked if we had additional vehicles. I said "no". He said "are you planning to make multiple trips?" I said "no". Ben and Megan had bought a 6 piece sectional couch with recliners. I only have a 5' bed on my super crew cab Ford. The guys on the dock said they were good at playing "TETRIS" so we commenced strategically placing each section and with quite a bit of rope we were on or way back home.

We were a little late getting to the movie - which was an adventure in it's self. We like to go to the Kaysville Theatre because we are cheap and the tickets are only a couple of bucks. It is important to get there early to get a seat together because the theatre is small and it fills up fast. The only seats were on the front row. How bad could it be? Well, half way through a 3 hour movie (Australia) my neck was and lower back was screaming! What was planned as a low impact Saturday turned out to be quite busy. I was happy to be able to help Ben and Megan out though and it was a nice drive.

Anyway, as I was cleaning I ran across a few old pictures. WOW - time can be a cruel enemy. But, on the other hand, time allows you to experience many wonderful things. Today, Shirley and I have been married for 30 years! Where does the time go? We have been blessed with a wonderful family that brings us much happiness as we have watched them grow up and have families of their own. I have been individually blessed to have a wonderful wife and Mother to our children. The picture below is from 1981.

Surprise!

I am posting another cookie recipe from Grandma Passey. I hope I get everything right this time. This recipe was another of my favorites and I do not recall seeing anyone else make them. It is called "surprise cookie" but I don't remember calling them that as a kid. It was the cookie that was like a hot pocket but a cookie that was filled with a nut and raisin mixture. Here goes:

Surprise Cookies

2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening (2 cubes butter)
2eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
6 tsp baking powder
6-7 cups of flour
pinch of salt
Mix together in order given - sift baking powder with flour. Roll out thin and cut.

Filling
1 package (1 pound) raisins chopped (boil with 1 cup hot water)
1 rounded tbsp flour mixed with 1 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp salt
After raisins have cooked a few minutes, add sugar, salt, and flour mixture.
Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts before removing from heat.
Add 1 tsp vanilla.
Bake at 375 degrees approx 12 minutes.

Happy baking!

Can I start over?

OK, thanks to my wife for telling me to pay more attention to my spelling and grammar. I must also give a "shout out" to my sister Carol for proofing the recipe. I must have really been spaced out last Sunday night. I really messed up copying the recipe. So, for clarity, this is what I should have put down.

Drop Sugar Cookies

1 cup shortening or 2 cubes butter/margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp sour cream or 1/4 cup and a little bit more canned milk with 1 tbsp vinegar
4 cups flower
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

These are the ingredients, mix as listed previously. Bake for 11 minutes at 350.

So sorry for the confusion - thanks everyone for keeping a close eye on me.

Doug

You gotta love educaters

OK, so my fingers move a little faster than my brain. It's great being married to a teacher so she can correct my grammar and misspellings. I am sorry, my last post had multiple errors. I was only kidding about the teacher thing - I am very proud of what Shirley does and I am only teasing her. Perhaps I ought to use the spell check more than I do!

What's Cookin' in Grandma's KIgtchen?

I had a request from Jenny to post some recipes from Grandma Passey's recipe box. I had forgotten that we rescued it. I will start with some cookie recipes and will try and post a little more often now that I have something to say, Thanks to Jenny for asking about them and thanks to Shirley for suggesting I pu them on the blog. I will have to start with my personal favorite - sugar cookies. Not the kind you frost but the kind Mom made that never saw anyone else make.

Drop Sugar Cookies
1 cup shortning (2 cubes butter)
2 cups butter
3 eggs
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
5 tblsp sur cream
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tarter

Cream shortning and suger. Add eggs and beat 3 minutes. Add cream and stir well. Add flavoring. Add dry ingredients sifted together. Drop from spoon. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

I haven't had these since I left home, I guess I will have to make them myself!