Thank you; Bread & Halloween...

Thanks, gals, I feel hugged! I love how this journal is so comforting! I happened to check before I went to bed the night I wrote that last post, and nearly cried for the support I felt from you. I so appreciate this opportunity to connect with a network of wonderful, spiritually grounded women. For example, I've always wanted to know Nels' cousin Becky, and now she's one of my biggest supporters! (Becky, I really appreciated that comment with the quote from Virginia Jenson.)

But now I want to mention another friend's blog, Bread, Butter & Honey. The author, Frieda, was my best friend in HS, then BYU - we were even roommates until I left for my mission. Her blog is amazing! I've been doing a lot more baking lately, and her blog is answering questions I've had when baking bread. Thanks, Frieda! You always were my inspiration.

But about that bread making venture of mine. I don't have lots of time, as you know, but I found a recipe that is QUICK and EASY, so I'm making bread very often. If you want me to e-mail you the recipe, let me know. I don't know if it's against copyright laws to post it. I read about Pantry Secrets in the newspaper the week of General Conference. I was very intrigued about this recipe that would take one hour start to finish. The article mentioned the DVD they made because of demand, and that it was available at (my) grocery store, so I decided it was worth spending some of my grocery money to buy it. I did, and it was as easy as I hoped, and fresh bread has been on the menu regularly since. (In fact, one weekend I made it 3 days in a row, including Sunday, since it was quick, easy and what we wanted to go with our dinner that day!) Now I just have to study Frieda's blog to learn how to make it with whole wheat flour. I'll try to post the basic recipe, if I can figure out the copyright issue. (Made some today - but you have to have your husband take it out after 25 minutes, not 2 1/2 hours later, tee hee...but it was still okay! It'll make awesome french toast this week ;)

Now, Halloween. We have an AWESOME tradition in our family. Another of those things we're doing right. When everyone is healthy for Halloween, we take our family reverse-trick-or-treating to the local care center. One year we found Dad B's cousin Elmer Beckstrand, there at age 102! I thought he looked familiar...He died 6 months later. It's been two years since we could go, so we've been praying all week that everybody would be healthy enough. The kids went regular trick-or-treating in the neighborhood first. (Gregory didn't go this year!!! Red letter year.) Then about 7:20 we turned off the lights and took off for the care center. We visited with lots of wonderful senior citizens, gave them glow stick bracelets, and everybody felt great about it. Jason's comment was telling, "That was SO fun!"

Also our school the kids can dress up if they write a report on a person/type of person from history and then at World History Assembly they get to parade around, get prizes (even for participation), and Jonathan and Jason did it this year. Jonathan was Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jason, Louis Pasteur. It was great.


Then they come up with their own costumes if they want to be something else for trick-or-treating. K picked a black cat (I made ears and a tail), S decided to be "Samuel Martin Beckstrand in not-so-shining cardboard armor," JN wasn't going to wear a costume (go figure?!) so I made him at least wear his cape, and JK was a Ninja with a scary mask - he didn't wear the mask much. Enjoy the cell phone pictures, if I can get them to add.