Mom came to visit

Here's the Kirtland Temple. We were able to take a tour of the temple and learn a little bit about the history of the temple.

Don't I just have the cutest mom?

Mom and I had the opportunity to visit Lake Eerie. There were a few more people there from when I was there last time. Last time it was cool enough that we needed jackets, this time I wish some of the girls were wearing jackets. But the weather was nice and the water was warm.

Lake Eerie is so big. I felt like I was at the ocean but the salt brine smell wasn't there. Not that I can say too much about the ocean since I haven't been there very many times.

Mom put her hand into the water to feel how cold it was...and then I had to do the same. It was a lot warmer than I imagined it would be.

Mom came to visit

We started our site-seeing by visiting Kirtland. The weather was fabulous, not too hot, not too cold and not too humid.

We learned about the Newell K. Whitney family and their store through a video and then at the store. The sister missionaries shared little stories about the family and area of Kirtland at the time that Joseph Smith came to live there.

We listened to testimonies in the room that was used as the School of the Prophets and felt the Spirit. We enjoyed talking to the other members of the tour and learning more about church history.

In this cradle is a baby's bottle. Things have changed since the 1800's haven't they...and for the better!

Here's Mom checking out the oven where up to 18 loaves of bread were cooked daily. It seems small from the front but the oven went further back into the chimney. It was really cook. The women would put their arms into the oven for a certain numbers of seconds and that way they could tell if the oven was ready to cook or if is was too hot or cold.

Mom came to visit

I took Mom to Amish Country. We started our day by visiting Orrville and the Smuckers store.After that we went to Kidron and went to Lehmans...a store that has everything for the Amish and those that are Amish-at-heart. Mom is Amish-at-heart. I think we spent around two hours just walking around, checking everything out. We also were surrounded by a lot of Amish people. I was lucky and got hear stories from Mom about when she was growing up and used many things that you could buy in Lehmans.

Then we went to the Ashery and looked at all the bulk food they had. And then Heini's Cheese Chalet. Above is a photo of Mom and some cheeses. We took a tour and saw how they make cheese and then we got to sample many different types of freshly made cheeses. Mom even bought some to take home with her.

Mom visited other stores once we got to Berlin. I believe that Mom had a great time visiting Amish country for the first time. She also got really good at taking pictures from the vehicle while I was driving. I really liked this one, probably because I also like reading and if I can figure out how to do it while working, I will.

I also took Mom to see the Root Candle Company. We had a great time learning new things about Ohio. I'm so glad she was able to come and visit.

Mom came to visit

The last full day that my mom was here we went to the Church Historical Site called The Johnson Farm. I had never been there before and so it was fun to jump in the car and have an adventure, plus, when you have a GPS a lot of the worry goes away and you can enjoy the trip.

On my shoulders I'm carrying a yoke. This yoke was used when carrying water in from outside. You could hook two buckets of water to the ropes on the outer edges of the yoke and carry them into the house. What a creative and helpful way to carry water!

Here we are together. We really enjoyed the stories told to us about the Johnson family and some of the things they did to help the early church and Joseph Smith. In this home, Joseph Smith received many revelations. In the Doctrine and Covenants, when something is listed as Hiram, Ohio...that means, the Johnson Farm. So, many things were revealed in this home, including D&C 76 the chapter about the Great Plan of Happiness, which tells us why we are here on Earth and where we came from and where we go after this life.

And here we are on the front porch of the Johnson home. Notice mom and I are both wearing our running shoes and similar pants. We both think those things are comfortable and wear very similar comfortable clothes.

This is the barn behind the Johnson home. The farm is owned by the church and land around the farm is leased out to a local farmer who farms the land. The church actually farmed (strawberries and apples and alfalfa) the land until 2002. It was such a beautiful day to learn more about the history of the church.

Memorial Day

SM and I had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday. Belonging to small community means that Memorial Day events are a family, neighbor and community event.

SM and I rode our bikes to the cemetery. We wanted to visit the cemetery before it was busy with lots of people. What we found was that the parade that started at the center of town was ending at the cemetery, where there would be a ceremony.

This was the first group that entered the cemetery...and as soon as I saw them, I started crying. I hate crying in public, especially around perfect strangers, but I really couldn't help it. One of my favorite friends here lost her son in Afghanistan about a year and a half ago. I have seen her struggle to not cry when she talks about her son and his room. My heart goes out to all of our soldiers that give their lives to keep our country free and my heart also goes out to all the families of those soldiers. Whether they return home in a casket or on their own two legs, it is a sacrifice for all those involved. A sacrifice that is for me and my family and for that I am grateful.

Later, as part of the parade, we saw the high school band, a couple middle school bands, different scout troops and many different groups from the military.

That's me...with my bike helmet on...and the picture is far enough away that you can't tell that I had been crying during the parade and also later while listening to the Memorial Day Program at the center of the cemetery.

The cemetery is old and it was fun to walk around and see the dates on the tombstones. Lots of 1800's and early 1900's.

And my cute hubby...behind him you can see people leaving the cemetery after the program ended.

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day and remembered those that have given their lives to protect our freedoms.

Out of the bread slump!!

My mother taught me how to make whole wheat bread when I was a young teenager. And I did a great job at making the dough, struggled a little bit with putting it in the pans but it always came out of the oven looking and smelling heavenly. And I never worried about making bread after those teenage years.

And then while living in Virginia, something happened and my bread didn't turn out. As a dough, the bread would rip and not form into loaves very well. As a bread it was a bit crumbly but still worked. I soon realized that the wheat that I had purchased had a really low gluten/protein level and had to add gluten to make sure the dough would stick together.

And then I moved to Ohio, and made a batch of bread...and it was terrible. As a dough, it ripped while I was trying to put it into pans, it didn't raise, it smelled great but was small and heavy. I was so frustrated. I had made sure to have good wheat (higher gluten level) and followed the recipe that I've had memorized in my head since I was thirteen years. And so the next couple months, I tried to use of the bread but not in sandwiches because it would just fall apart. (Later I found out I was still using my "bad" wheat and not the "good" wheat). And then I made another batch (6 loaves) of bread for when my family came to visit. And it was even worse. I mean, I tried to make french toast with this awful bread and the bread would break apart as I was pulling it out of the egg mixture. And let's not forget the tuna fish sandwiches that would fall apart before you could raise it up to your mouth.

And so this last week it was time to make another batch of bread and I was ready. I'd been gathering information from ladies that make bread in Northern Ohio. I asked each one what makes great whole wheat bread. I got some great advice and applied a little bit of each to this last batch of bread. I also added some gluten...to my bad wheat...because the thing I found out after making all my different loaves of bread, was that I have good wheat and bad wheat, and I had been using the bad wheat even when I thought I'd grabbed wheat from the good wheat bucket.

And, I ended up making terrific bread...and gave it all to SM's co-workers because I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke...and made another batch of bread. This time I also made some cinnamon roles along with the bread. And, it is all delicious! And I'm out of my bread slump!! Back to making terrific bread!!

The trail

This is the trail near my home. Three weeks ago, SM helped me learn how to run. I never knew how to breath and run at the same time. I had to run the mile in junior high as part of my junior high curriculum and I hated it. Well, I have felt like I needed to learn how to run for a year or so AND after being inspired by my youngest brother who has also started running this year, I decided it was time to start running.

I took my niece, and my in-laws for a walk on the trail. That day was saw many different kinds of birds, a rabbit, a beaver and a deer. This is such a fun trail...fun to walk along...not so much fun to run upon because it goes up and down so quickly.

The trail also follows a small stream and boasts of a Frisbee golf course that looks pretty challenging because of all the trees and the potential to get lost in the stream.