Moved

We moved to a new state.

I stopped posting a while ago

because of selling a house, packing, moving,

and doing a fixer upper while living in it.

I hope to return to this space to post adventures soon.

First Day. New Job.

As we prepare to move, I am more consistent 

about exercising before Sweetheart goes to work. 

The mornings during monsoon season bring clouds and cooler mornings.

 

On his first day of his new job, 

Sweetheart posed for a picture.

He has his pocket protector and a smile.

The sunset was beautiful and marked the end to a great day!

Hurricane's Introduction

PC: Theresa Stone, Classroom Teacher

Hurricane began school and presented about himself.

The items in his bag were:

- Summer Reading Poster saying, "I listened to or read 2,000 pages."

- Cars from the movie

- Junior Ranger badges

- Lego guys to share his LOVE of Legos

- a Star Wars Lego guy to tell how much he likes Star Wars!

Summer Reading Program

Summer is right around the corner. Each summer we participate in a summer reading program. This summer we thought we learn about one of our ancestors and how far they walked. We have determined to read 2,000 pages for each of the miles that he traveled with the Mormon Battalion.

I grew up learning about Israel Evans who walked the 2,000 miles in Company B. He was stationed in San Diego after arriving in San Diego. He later was a captain of a handcart company. Lance, my husband, and I have talked about him. On his messenger at work, he had written "Israel Evans walked 5,000 miles." One day he was asked by a co-worker why Israel did that. He  responded, "Because he believed a prophet."

Before we went to the presentation, we looked up on Family Search to see if Lance had a member in the battalion. He did. His name was Riley Garner Clark. He was in Company A and was assigned to Los Angeles after arriving in San Diego. He eventually settled in Panguitch, Utah. We haven't learned much about him yet.

The only battle that the Mormon Battalion fought was against bulls south of Tucson. Their march took them through the desert in the winter.When they arrived in San Diego, most had no shoes, and their clothes were in tatters. After the presentation, the boys got to dress up and see different displays. We are glad we learned about our history.

This summer we will start our summer at the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center in San Diego, CA. We will keep track of the pages we read. We hope that as a family we can meet the 2,000 miles. We haven't determine how we will celebrate when we reach our goal. Maybe we will built something like the soldiers did when they arrived in San Diego.

Valentine's Day

We took a bunch of pictures and got this one.

Love these boys and their Daddy!

Rosca de Reyes

On Three Kings Day, a family supper celebrates the day 

similar to Christmas Day supper.

Part of the tradition is to have Rosca de Reyes (Kings' Ring). 

Since we were celebrating for the first time, I wanted to make a Rosca.

The Rosca has baked inside it a small plastic doll which hidden.

The doll represents when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Egypt 

when King Herod came through and killed all the infants and toddlers.

Whoever get the doll in their slice is king for the day.
I admit I didn't bake a plastic doll or a bean into our Rosca because I forgot.

Maybe next year I'll remember.

I found a recipe that I had all the ingredients for and made it. I had to read quite a few recipes since I didn't have the candied oranges and limes, dates, quinces, or baby. The bread was super yummy and was requested for breakfast. Notes to the recipe below: I soaked the cranberries in grape juice and used milk instead of eggnog for the glaze.

Recipe Source: Yvette Marque-Sharpnack from Muy Bueno Cookbook 

 

Rosca de Reyes with Cranberry-Almond Filling Eggnog Glaze 

Yield: 12 servings

 

Ingredients:

For the Bread:

1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (about 110° F)
3/4 cup warm milk (about 110° F)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

For the Cranberry-Almond Filling:
3/4 cup organic dried cranberries, soaked in 1/2 cup brandy
8 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel
1 teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Eggnog Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash freshly grated nutmeg
4 to 6 teaspoons eggnog

Garnish:
Maraschino cherries

 

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water and let it foam up for a minute or two. Blend in the milk, sugar, butter, salt, eggs and lime peel. Stir in two cups of the flour, a little at a time. Beat for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour until you have soft, workable dough. Note: Your dough will be sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl large enough to accommodate dough when doubled in size. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).

Meanwhile, prepare the Cranberry-Almond Filling. Drain the dried fruit of its liqueur. In a small bowl, combine the drained fruit with remaining filling ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

When dough has risen and doubled in size, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured board, kneading just enough to release any air bubbles. Roll out the dough into a 9- by 30-inch rectangle. Crumble the filling over the dough to within 1 inch of the edges. Starting along a long side, tightly roll up the dough, pinching edge against loaf to seal.

With a sharp knife, cut roll in half lengthwise, carefully turn cut sides up, and loosely twist ropes around each other, keeping cut sides up.

Carefully transfer the bread to a greased and floured baking sheet or pizza stone and shape into a wreath, pinching ends together to seal. Let it rise, uncovered, in a warm place until puffy, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Place the cherries (cut in half) on top of the wreath to decorate.

Bake wreath until lightly browned, about 20 to 25 minutes, covering the wreath loosely with foil after the first 15 minutes, as it will brown quickly.

While wreath is baking, prepare eggnog glaze.

Combine sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg. Stir in enough eggnog to reach drizzling consistency.
When wreath is done, transfer to a cooling rack with wide spatulas or a pizza peel. Cool for a few minutes then drizzle the glaze and grate a little bit of fresh nutmeg over the icing.

adapted from TheKitchn

Día de los Reyes Magos

The 3 Kings come for Christmas to our house.

Sweetheart served an LDS mission in Spain, and I served in Panamá.

Part of the countries' traditions are the 3 Reyes Magos (the 3 Wise Men.)

We decided that the 3 Kings would come to our home instead of Santa.

For the first time we celebrated on Three Kings' Day.

On January 6 is the Day of Epiphany.

The 3 Kings came to bring gifts to the Christ Child 

after Mary and Joseph left the stable.

In Mexico and Spain, children put out their shoes the night before 

in hopes that the 3 Kings will come.  

The 3 Kings showed up and brought small treats to the children in the house.

Hurricane was very eager to wake up in the morning to see if the Kings had come.

In preparation, the boys wrote a note and prepared treats 

for the Kings and their animals.

The left note reads:

Thank you Three Kings.

There is cake and choclate milk in the frige.

Have some Joe-Joe's

and the water for your camels.

The right note reads:

1. Travel

2. Open door

3. Fill shoes

4. Repeat

5. Eat

6. Go

I are grateful for the example of the 3 Kings.

In my belief, they studied, pondered, and knew that a Savior would be born. 

They took action to follow the impressions they had to go on a journey to find him.

To travel as they did, they had money, intelligence, and most likely influence.

They didn't turn away when they saw where Jesus was living and gave freely of their gifts.

 

The Kings' example shows me their willingness 

to put their talents, things, and time to bless the Christ Child regardless of the sacrifice.

I can follow their example and use my talents, things, and time to do the same.