Tagged!

1. Where was I 10 years ago?

We had just moved into our home in Aurora after a summer of being "homeless" so I was busy trying to figure out paint colors and decorating ideas and making our house feel like our home. Mark was a freshman, Emily was in 5th grade and Alaina was in 1st grade. I was busy volunteering at Indian Plains Elementary School and just beginning my involvement in the Choir Parents Association at Waubonsie. I was also serving as primary president in the Naperville 4th Ward. I was wearing contacts and dyeing my hair and fit into a size 12.



2. What's on my to do list today?

Exercise, laundry, organize my study, start planning my cooking class for next week. Organize my personal AND our family "TO DO" lists and calendars, make a menu and go to the post office.



3. What if I was a billionaire?

I'd hire someone who was really smart with money that I trusted implicitly to be honorable and responsible so it would continue to grow and allow our family opportunities to serve others with it. I'd travel with my family. I'd buy a plane and hire Mark as our personal pilot. I'd set up an education fund for family.



4. Places I have lived:

1 - Granger, Utah

2 - Logan, Utah

3 - Taylorsville, Utah

4 - Shoreham, Vermont

5 - Flower Mound, Texas

6 - Naperville / Aurora, Illinois



5. Snacks I like:

An easier question to answer would be snacks I don't like because I like to eat.

just.

about.

everything.



6. Three bad habits:

1 - Eating when I am not really hungry.

2 - Being a couch potato (actually we have to invent a word for someone who sits in front of the computer screen bouncing from website to website and blog to blog because I waste more time doing that as opposed to wasting time watching tv)

3 - Forgetfulness



7. Who am I tagging?

Emily N Hendricks

Emily E Hendricks

Alaina Hendricks

Karin Hendricks

(I don't know anyone else who reads my blogs that Laurie hasn't already tagged)

Homecoming

Alaina got a phone call two weeks ago telling her to open the front door.

She found this goldfish with this sign on the top. She immediately brought the fish in, plopped down on the foyer rug, named him FINNIGAN and started calling all of her friends.


In between two conversations she got another phone call saying that the person who dropped the fish off was waiting outside for an answer.

His mom told me a few days later that she was waiting on pins and needles to hear what Alaina's answer was and the boys came home and told her that Alaina had already been asked by someone else. She was so sad until they said, "PSYCH". Silly Boys.



We ordered this dress from http://www.modestbydesign.com/ but when it arrived discovered that it needed to be altered a little bit on the top.

I knew I didn't have time to get it to a seamstress so I decided to give it a go myself.


I opened the lining and created a dart that ran from the neckline to the side seam.



I think it turned out nicely. It actually looks like it was designed to be a seam between a bodice piece and a sleeve. True to form, I finished sewing it Saturday.


Saturday afternoon I got to give Alaina a French Manicure and do her hair.

Thank goodness for GOOGLE. I found a website that showed how to do a messy updo. It's basically a couple of ponytails that are each divided into parts and knotted and then twisted around each other. I left the ends out and curled them. A few butterfly clips and a headband held everything nicely in place.

I've never been happy with a "fancy hair-do" that I've created before, so I took about five pictures because I was so delighted with how it turned out. Alaina's friend was laughing at me and I didn't even mind. Luckily, Alaina understands her goofy mom and was willing to humor me.

Alaina and Josh have been friends since the 4th Ward was created.

I am so grateful for the friends that Alaina hangs out with. They are a great bunch of kids!

Homemade Cards

I wanted to make a personalized card to send to Wendy & Scott and to Natalie because I just couldn't find anything in the store that was saying quite what I wanted to say. I copied Michael's obituary into http://wordle.net/ and tweaked the format and colors a little bit to get the look I was hoping for. I used two different color families and ended up with two completely different style of cards.

The top one is for Wendy and Scott. Inside I included the pictures of Michael and the Six-Pack that I posted earlier.

This is the card I made for Natalie. I wanted to do something a little lighter, with more color and I know that Mike loves purple.

While I had all my supplies out I also made a card for our next door neighbor. He is the first young man in our ward to earn his Duty to God Award. I thought that deserved a personalized card too. It actually looks better in person than it does in the picture. I can tell that I should have pulled the medallion a little higher on the card so it overlapped the focus picture more. I also should have found a way to keep the top of the card laying flat so I could get a better picture.


I wish I had access to Doug & Kathy's light box. That would be a really cool way to take pictures of these cards.

Michael

Last week, on September 18, 2008,

we lost a dear family friend, Michael Scott Hess.

Mike and his family moved into our ward about 8 years ago. He was one of Mark's closest friends and the group of young men that hung out together, "The Six-Pack" as they were affectionately called, spent as much time as possible together.

Through early morning seminary, high school, weekends, summers and so on, they created eternal bonds with each other.

Remarkably, once they were all home they reconnected and found that their friendships were magnified by the addition of wonderful women who joined this group of friends through the bonds of eternal marriage.

Michael married the love of his life on August 16, 2008. Everyone who knew Natalie or had met her just raved about how wonderful she was and how much they loved her and after meeting her (just twice) I could see why.

Our hearts have ached for Natalie's loss of a husband, friend, and earthly companion. For Scott and Wendy's loss of a son who exemplified everything good and righteous. For Coryn, Kelsey and David who lost an amazing and wonderful big brother who knew exactly how to tease them and still set an amazing example for them of how to live your life to the fullest and in accordance with Heavenly Father's plan.

And our hearts ache for our children who lost a dear, dear friend. We take comfort in knowing that Michael lives on in the presence of our Heavenly Father and that he will be singing with the hosts of heaven at every opportunity that he gets. We know he is serving as a mighty missionary and that he is watching over his wife. We know that we will see him again and for that we are grateful.

EFY

Computer Games until ???

Singing at Mark's Mission Farewell (the last one held in the Naperville 4th Ward)

Wishing Mark well the day before he left for the MTC.

We love you Mike. Thanks for everything.

Until we meet again

Last Minute Baby Shower

I had been invited to a BABY SHOWER Saturday afternoon. Between the three (or was it four?) other commitments we already had that day and the rain - which was coming in buckets at that point - I decided not to go. I figured I would drop my gift off later and just sit and visit with the mom to be then. Apparently, I am not the only one who felt that way because, as it turned out, no one showed up.

Julie T decided that was just not how the story was going to end for Patricia so yesterday she made some phone calls and threw together a suprise shower in 24 hours! There was a nice turnout and Patricia and her baby girl got some great gifts. There were the requisite cute outfits, the practical diapers, wipes, lotions and potions and a couple of fun toys. Mindy makes amazingly cute bows for little girls and she put a couple of those in her bag to match the little polka dot outfit that she had picked out. Sooo cute.

Homemade Bows were one thing I just NEVER could get to turn out cute.

I pleated some burp cloths into a fan shape and tucked them into the top of my gift bag. It was a fun way to add a touch of practicality.

Julie had her house clean and had thrown together a nice little spread for a luncheon. She had a yummy pasta dish, a plate of carrots & cucumbers, some chips & salsa and some amazingly good chewy oatmeal & caramel bars. She also made a pink sparkly punch and picked up a cake from the bakery. I offered to bring something and she said to bring something savory since she had sweet already covered. I decided that deviled eggs would be just the thing (easy to make and I had all the ingredients). It's funny, I always think of deviled eggs as being an old-fashioned dish but they were all gone by the end of the party and several ladies told me they'd eaten two or three.

I thought they turned out yummy and to help myself remember what I did for next time I make them...here is my recipe.

9 eggs (hardboiled and cut in half lengthwise). Carefully remove the yolks and add to them 1/3 cup light mayonnaise, 1 tsp yellow mustard & 2 tsp stone ground mustard (I was afraid that would be too much, but it ended up being just right), and 1 tsp white wine vinegar. Mash and mix together well until the filling is smooth and creamy. You don't want any lumps or dry spots.

I used a decorating bag to pipe the filling back into the shells. It makes it look fancy but it is also easier and less messy. Then I sprinkled a little bit of salt & pepper over the top and then I sprinkled just a little bit of paprika over them too.

Cubs Fans

In case you haven't figured this out yet we are becoming Cubs Fans. Alaina receives automatic text updates at the end of each game with the final score. I try to listen to the games on WGN Radio or if they are evening games we will tune in and watch as much as we can. I'm not very good at spitting out stats, but I enjoy the game.

The Cubs were supposed to play the Astros down in Houston over the weekend but because of Hurricane Ike the games were moved up to Milwaukee. As soon as we heard that we jumped online to see if there was any chance of us getting tickets.

We got seats

for the Monday afternoon game

on the 20th row

behind

home plate.

We have been to maybe 5 or 6 games (2 White Sox games) in the 17 years that we've lived here and have never, ever had seats that good.

Rob & I drove up to Glenview Sunday evening and stayed in the Courtyard. Alaina stayed with friends down the street and came home Monday morning to take care of Sami and catch her ride to seminary. Rob headed off to work at Allstate early in the morning and came back to the room to pick me up shortly after 11:00. We got to Miller Park, after being stuck in slow traffic, just as the game was beginning.

Zambrano pitched a NO-HITTER Sunday evening and Ted Lilly had a no-hitter going through six innings on Monday. Boy I can't tell you how excited the fans were as the innings started to add up.

In the 5th inning one guy sitting behind us bet the guy (5-1) sitting next to him that Edmonds would hit a home run. We were laughing at guy two for accepting a chump bet when Edmonds Hit a Home Run! One of the best things about going to a game is the fans. It's great to be a part of the energy in the ball park, to stand and cheer for your team and your favorite players. It's fun to watch the families that come together. It's fun to feel a part of the larger community and set aside flooding and hurricanes and Wall Street for an afternoon and just enjoy a great day and a great game.

We won by the way - 6 to 1.

Random Thursday Shopping

I headed out this morning to help a sister in the ward but she decided at the last minute to cancel. Since I was already out I decided to drive down to the new World Market store. It's not really new, just moved to a new, bigger, and better location but I haven't been since they reopened. I browsed through the store to see if there was anything fun to bring home. I'm trying to be more discriminating about my purchases so that I don't have tons of junk to sort through down the road.

Well, I don't know if you know this, but I love dishes. I love the idea of having a lot of different fun dishes to play with. I have changed our dishes quite a few times since Rob & I got married. I'll probably change them a few more times still. If I had a beautiful hutch or cabinet to display them in I would be even more tempted.

So, I decided to indulge myself with 3 new plates.

For my wall.

That way I get to look at the pretty pattern, the pretty colors and I don't have to rearrange all my cupboards trying to fit in a new set. These are hanging above Papaya's cage. I hope she doesn't miss the yellow plate too much. She loves to hang out on top of her cage and she loved to nuzzle against it and talk to it.

I also found these little witch boot taper holders. Aren't they cute? I don't like to go overboard for Halloween but I thought these would be the perfect little touch to honor Alaina's love of that particular holiday.

The next stop was Hobby Lobby. I found these adorable little children and thought they would be a nice touch on our display table at our Stake Leadership Training meeting next weekend. However, they were painted in a bright yellow gold finish. It was very loud and not at all pretty. Now they are soft and sweet and quiet.

One last note. Michelle's peach trees are laden and the fruit is ripening quickly and all at once so she hosted her annual girlfriend canning day. Well, it was really just an afternoon. In three hours we canned 1 batch of cooked jam, 5 batches of freezer jam and 2 batches of bottled peaches. This is nowhere close to Laurie, Lisa & Kristin's amazing work (go see what they did! http://bryceandlaurie.blogspot.com/2008/09/peaches.html ) but I was happy to bring home my 2 batches of jam and may go back tomorrow to make a peach pie and bottle a few quarts of peaches for our family.

One of these jams is cooked jam and one of them is freezer jam. I am giving the cooked jam away to the ward primary presidents with a tag, "If you are in a jam, Here I am". I am keeping the freezer jam for our enjoyment.

Feel like another contest? Guess which is which and tell me how you came to your conclusion. I think I will actually pick up a little gift card and mail it to the winner.

Finally

Sunday Night

Rob spent the afternoon preparing his lesson on

"The Beatitudes"

and asked me if I would help him make a puzzle.

He also asked for chocolate chip cookies.

I told him to choose one or the other.

Guess which won?

Alaina pulled out "UPWORDS" last night

and we sat down to play for an hour.

We did not cheat (no trading letters!)

but we did stretch the rules. . .

. . . our stacks went much higher than 5 tiles.

That made for some amazingly HIGH scores.

I bought this bunch of flowers for the barbecue on Monday.

They looked better today then they did on Monday. I love the mix of colors.

I had fun trying to get a great shot of them.

Which one is your favorite?

A

B

C

D
All of these shots are straight out of the camera; except for cropping.

In-coming Out-going Bishopric Barbecue

When Rob was released he thought it would be nice to host a party for the new and old bishoprics so we invited everyone and their families to join us for a barbecue on Labor Day. 45 people (7 familes) were invited. 41 showed up.

We'd spent half the day on Saturday trying to whip our yard into shape. We asked the girls (since Emily was still here) to give us three good hours of work - which they did - with good attitudes to boot. They actually worked for more than that which we were grateful for. We got the yard weeded and deadheaded, the lawn mowed, the white trash corner cleared out and my birthday "shed" off the patio. We even planted a tree and got the last of the mulch spread.

The morning of the party I headed off to the grocery store for burgers, brats, hotdogs, buns and all the fixins.

Who Knew that Costco actually Closed on Labor day?

I didn't.

Luckily Dominick's had everything we needed.

Rob got up and sprayed the yard for mosquitoes (too bad that spray doesn't affect the yellow jackets) and then he cleaned out and installed the little fountain in the shade garden. We decided it was worth getting it up and running because we probably have two more months to enjoy it before we have to put it away for winter.

Rob told Daryl that we were having a get together in our yard and he promptly offered his basketball court and then went out and hung a new hoop. What a nice neighbor! The kids spent a great deal of time on the basketball court.

Sometimes it was for basketball

and sometimes it was for four-square.

We started the party at 4:30 (which really meant we were blessing the food a little before 5:00). It was a little warm, but by the time we were done eating and on to dessert the temps had cooled off to completely delightful. Everyone was gone by 7:30 because the next day was early morning seminary for the teens (and Rob) and school for all the kids (and their moms).

It was such a fun party! We kept it pretty simple and casual (for me anyway) and I had fun concentrating on the "fixins" since everyone else brought the sides and desserts. We had fresh tomatoes from the garden, two kinds of sliced onions, fresh and caramelized, pickle chips and pickle relish, ketchup, two kinds of mustard, mayo (& lite mayo) plus I made a fantastic roasted red pepper mayonnaise. I also put out avocados and bacon. I ALMOST forgot to put out the cheese which was cheddar and pepper jack.

Mmmmm. BEST burger I've had all summer.

Can I just say that Rob was a working maniac that whole day. He was outside working before the girls & I had even climbed out of bed and didn't stop all day long. He hauled chairs and tables, he borrowed a shade canopy from our neighbors down the street, he cleaned the grill, he grilled all the meat and did a fabulous job keeping everyone happy. He sat down for a little while to eat but then he was up and at it again. By the end of the day he had all the chairs and tables put away and the canopy taken down and delivered back to the Mitchell's PLUS he helped clean up the food and trash. Wow! What a guy. He's a definite keeper!

Happy Birthday

Twenty-one years ago, Emily Elizabeth Hendricks joined our family

and has enchanted us ever since

with her delightful, loving, happy, personality.

Emily --

You strive for excellence in all things.

You are an example of righteousness and goodness.

You strive to follow God's direction in everything you do and in everything you are.

(basically-You Rock)

You Are All That...And More!