Fun on the Fourth

Hot air baloons launching from downtown Provo.

Two sisters from Iraq doing sparklers for the first time.

Some of our group awaiting the fireworks show.

S'MORES - All American treat.

What an amazing Fourth it was this year for the Kellys.

When you are with people who are seeing and experiencing something for the very first time, you see and experience things anew. It was amazing how I noticed even the littlest of things this year, and there were many more poignant moments for me as I thought more deeply about what all of it means.

Feeling the audience rise from their sidewalk seats as the flag went by - slowly, silently, simply -at the parade. Putting my hand over my heart with all the audience. Cheering as WWII vets waved that "parade wave" from their perches on the backs of Army jeeps. Eating watermelon, potato salad, s'mores and other good ole' American fare. Watching the fireworks and writing my name in the air with a sparkler for good luck. Sharing some thoughts on freedom with refugees who had only been in the country a few weeks, including the father of the family who was imprisoned and tortured for TWO YEARS for expressing a view that was slightly critical of some of his former country's actions.

I asked the Iraqi family what they liked best so far about the US of A. I thought they would say something like: enough food, a roof over their heads for the first time in two years, not living in constant fear. But, the mother of the family said "the love of the American people," and she shared that many people had been so kind, welcoming and loving to them. I have never been as proud of my country and my people as I was at that moment.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Freedom Festival

We are lucky to live in Provo, which goes crazy for the Fourth of July every year. There is a month-long huge festival, including parades, hot air baloon launch, Stadium of Fire. AND a non-denominational religious service. (OK, we concede that the two featured speakers were Michael Ballum, famed Mormon opera star, and Glenn Beck, famous - or infamous according to your polictical persuasion- Mormon talk show host.) But, there was also a Jewish Rabbi who did the invocation.

Jim and I trekked down to the Marriott Center for the 90 minute service and it was better than expected. No crazy right-wing babbling, just a stirring emotional tribute to this great country we are blessed call home.

Beck told the story of his experience in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, wandering lost and bewildered in a city he had just moved to weeks before. He also pointed out that people are "dying in the desert" trying to have a small piece of what we take for granted every day."

I love that he also said we should not be a nation who gets on our knees and begs the Saudis for more oil. We are a nation that can create our own solution to any crisis, even oil shortages. Without begging. If we choose to do so.

He was truly inspiring, as was Ballum, who told the story of Marian Anderson, perhaps the greatest African American opera singer, and her courage in singing at the Lincoln Memorial after she had been banned from singing at an opera hall in D.C.

Here is some more of his speech.

Enjoy!!

'The Leader We Need Is You,' Beck Tells 17,000 at BYU

The answers to America's problems aren't found in Washington; they're found in the people of America.
That's what radio and TV personality Glenn Beck told a vocal crowd of nearly 17,000 gathered at BYU's Marriott Center Sunday evening for America's Freedom Festival's annual Patriotic Service.
"In a time when America is begging for a leader; in a time when America is shouting out, 'Where is the leader, when will he step forward?' I am here to tell you: You are the leader — the leader we seek. The leader we need is you; it always has been.
"We are the United States of America," he said. "We can solve any problem."
Beck said the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in "hot, humid, not-yet-riddled-with-gangs Philadelphia," put "we the people" at the very top of the document in big, bold letters for a reason — to remind the people of America who would shape the nation's destiny, even with all of its problems.
"Hope is the recognition of who we truly are," Beck said. "Not in who we've allowed ourselves to become — all we have to do is remember."
Beck repeatedly told the crowd it is vital for Americans to remember how important God is in America's past and future. He said the pilgrims humbly came to the American continent according to God's will. Like those pioneers, he said, America needs pioneers now.

Great Web Site

I found this great website that I wanted to share with all my favorite bloggers:

http://www.freecycle.org

Like re-cycle, only Free. Clever, huh?

It is a site dedicated to keeping stuff out of landfills. You can post things that you want to give away or you can post a "wanted" post for things you are looking for. All for free, of course.

There is a lot of random junk but also some good stuff. We found hundreds plastic balls - like they have at the ball crawl at Chuck E. Cheese - that we snagged and are going to use at Girl's Camp.

You sign in for your area so you won't have to drive far to pick up your new treasures.

Enjoy!

Live Long and Prosper CHRIS!!

Happy Quarter-Century to Chris today!

May 12, 2006 is one of the happiest days in our family history - Christopher Lee Welsh became a part of our family for eternity!

Your sweet, sunny disposition makes every room you are in brighter, and we are so privileged to be connected to you for all eternity.

Have a wonderful wonderful WONDERFUL day!

Ruined birthday cakes and other wonderful things about John Hicks!

In honor of Father's Day, the Des News ran a feature story this morning about French Toast (not entirely sure of the connection, but - hey - it's free ink!)

They told the story of my 16th birthday cake - one that is a family legend. (It is at the end of the story below.)

So many of my good childhood memories involve those in which we were lucky enough to have John Hicks II become our dad.

Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your humility. Thanks for being a great example. And thanks, most of all, for your love.

Thanks to John, a wonderful dad to us all!!!



A toast to Dad: Celebrate Father's Day with a delicious breakfast
By Valerie PhillipsDeseret News
Published: June 11, 2008
Father's Day and French toast make a great combination. French toast is simple to make, and it's hearty enough to satisfy a dad-size appetite.
And it's not just for breakfast anymore, according to Donna Kelly, author of "French Toast: Sweet and Savory Dishes for Every Meal" (Gibbs Smith, $16.95). In fact, about a third of recipes in her book are savory dishes, such as Southwest Chipotle Cornbread and French Toast Pizzas.
"Who doesn't love French toast? It only calls for three ingredients — bread, eggs and milk — so it's very versatile," said Kelly, who spends her workdays as a Utah County prosecutor and much of her free time cooking.
She said this popular breakfast food comes from the original French recipe pain perdue, or "lost bread." It started as a way to use up stale bread, by dipping it in an egg-and-milk mixture and cooking it.
"The concept lends itself to an almost infinite variety of flavors and versions," she said.
French toast can be made into egg-rich brunch casseroles or stuffed with everything from fruit to nuts to sausage to whipped cream, or topped with all kinds of syrups, sauces and streusels. When cubed, it becomes a sturdy dipper for fondues.
One of her favorite recipes is called Southwest Chili and Cheese, a casserole that borrows from Kelly's upbringing in Tucson, Ariz., and her love of Southwestern cuisine.
"It's fabulous, it's totally my own brainchild, unlike a lot of recipes where you get the idea from someone else and then work on it to make it your own," said Kelly. "It's got a nice fluffy texture, and it's got cumin, which is my favorite spice."
Should you be treating Dad to French toast on Father's Day, Kelly has four general rules to keep in mind:
1. It's always better if you use stale bread. "The bread has to be dry to absorb the custard mixture, which is what makes the classic French toast texture," she said. "If you use fresh bread right out of the package, it will get too soggy and fall apart while cooking."
To make fresh bread more "stale," leave the slices out on a wire rack for several hours or overnight, so the air circulates on both sides. Or in a pinch, dry it in on the racks in your oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
2. Always cover the pan with a lid while it's cooking. "That way, the toast will cook all the way through the middle before it starts burning on the outside."
3. The best batter ratio is three eggs to 1 cup milk. "Not enough eggs, and the French toast doesn't have any texture," said Kelly. "Too many and it won't absorb into the bread."
4. Don't use large amounts of sugar in your egg batter. "It will cause it to burn," said Kelly. "If you want sweet in French toast, buy sweeter bread."
Kelly uses cooking as a stress reliever from her legal career. In the past few years she has written or co-authored several cookbooks in Gibbs Smith's popular "101 Things" series — "101 Things to Do With a Tortilla," "101 Things to Do With Chicken," "101 Thing to Do With Canned Soup" and "101 Things to Do With Tofu."
"I try out all my recipes on my family," she said. "Every Sunday night I have 15-30 people for dinner, they're friends of my own kids, mostly college students who don't have anywhere else to go."
No wonder there's a sign in her home that says, "Donna's Test Kitchen."
In honor of Father's Day, Kelly offers this story of her own father's cooking prowess:
"On my 16th birthday, my mom had just gotten home from the hospital from giving birth to my youngest sister. She was in no shape to make her traditional 'from scratch' birthday cake. So my dad, with his positive 'can-do' attitude, but no cooking skills of any kind, took the challenge."
He painstakingly put together the batter and carefully placed the cake in the oven. Unfortunately, Kelly's brothers came home from school and decided to broil hot dogs and turned on the broiler without looking inside the oven.
"When the billows of smoke filled the kitchen, we all realized the cake was, literally, toast," Kelly continued. "Undaunted, my dad started from scratch once again. But this time, he mistakenly put two tablespoons of baking powder in the batter. He realized the mistake and tried to compensate by adding more flour, but Cake Number 2 turned out like cornbread and was inedible."
Party time was drawing near, so he rushed to get a store-bought mix cake in the oven. "He frosted it still hot, but at least it was edible and somewhat resembling a birthday cake!" Kelly said. "Now, every time I see a cake mix cake, I think of my dad, who taught me that the most important ingredient in any home cooking is love."

Iron Chef

Mom was the celeb cooking expert at our ward's Iron Chef enrichment activity. The secret ingredient was strawberries. All the dishes turned out great, but the particularly delicious crepes were the champions. THANKS MOM!

Happy Birthday Iris - MAY YOU BLOOM FOREVER!!!

Iris Stout with one of her great granchildren.


Our family is blessed to call Iris Stout a friend. She is the only friend we have who is 100 years old.

In this case "old" is not an adequate adjective to describe Iris. Chronologically, it is an accurate word. But in very other way that a human being can exist, Iris is anything but "old."

She has lived a full, rich, happy life, including the 30-plus years she has been a widow. Her husband was Gene Autry's personal lawyer, and he and Iris were business partners with him.

No one in our neighborhood knew until recently how old she really is because of how she lives. She gardens, travels to visit loved ones all over the world, prepares meals for families who have had hardships, attends all church meetings, all neigborhood parties, showers, receptions, etc. She is positive, happy and one of those beings who makes every room she is in brighter just by being there. You can FEEL her bright, joyful spirit before you can even SEE that Iris is there.

Iris is one of the many reasons I look forward to going to church on Sunday. Without fail, she seeks me out, gives me a hug and greets me. She asks what I have been up to, how I am and invariably gives me a compliment of some kind. She is as sharp as a tack, kind, generous to a fault, witty and a little sassy.

I don't really think Iris lives in my neighborhood - I think she commutes from the Celestial Kingdom each morning to make our world a better place.

Iris is one of my heros.

Some favorite Iris sayings:

"Be kind to people, even if they don't deserve it."

"Get out of bed every morning thinking about how many people you can serve that day. Go to bed every night with the satisfaction that you have served them."

"I love pretty clothes. When you dress well, you act your best."

"If you have time to open a gift, you have time to say Thank You."

"The gospel is true. What else matters?"

I attended a birthday party for Iris over the weekend, and they handed out some of Iris' favorite recipes. One of the pages was entitled "Live-to-be-100 Lunch." It is the lunch Iris has almost very single day. Here is the menu: Iris' veggie and melted cheese sandwich; 1 diet coke; 1 chocolate chip cookie.

In case you want to live to be 100, here is Iris' recipe for her favorite sandwich:

"Spread a little mayo and a little Dijon mustard on a slice of whole wheat bread. Slice some avocado and some ripe tomato on top. Top with a few slices of Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese - don't waste yourself on bad-tasting cheese, get the good stuff. Broil this in your toaster oven until cheese is bubbly."

Happy Birthday Iris - may you live another 100 years!