Stop It!

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I found this great FREE printable on Pinterest last night. I love Pres. Uchtdorf and his witty one-liners. His message is always so clear and easy to follow. Just stop it! Wonderful advice for me to take to heart.

Fighting Brothers

Spencer -
"When I'm a teenager, I'll kick your butt to smithereens. I can totally kick your butt a thousand times. I'll exercise every night and my soft punch will really hurt. I'll be so strong, I can take that right out of your hands."

Eric -
"If mom will make me the banana hair conditioning, I will have beefy muscles and break through walls."

They were fighting over who was strongest. Eric learned at school about hair conditioner made of smashed bananas that will make your hair grow really long and also make your muscles grow "beefy". I must have missed that in the core curriculum in elementary school.

When I Grow Up

Eric has made it known that he now intends to be a Prophet when he grows up. He's not sure if he will do anything else, but Prophet is certain. I tried to explain that they all had regular jobs and supported their families. He said he'll have to think about it. His only concern is that his name is too short. He couldn't think of any prophets that had such a short name but I told him it would all work out fine.

He reminds me alot of Dallin when he was younger. Dallin was always worrying about specifics like that. He spent a lot of time being upset about property taxes and car insurance when he was Eric's age. (Now he is irritated about social security and income taxes coming out of his paychecks.)

Slice of Heaven

Dad: What do you want for dinner?
Eric: Let's have tacos.
Spencer: Because tacos are a little slice of heaven.
Eric: Yea - in a tortilla.

A New Guardsman

Dallin enlisted yesterday in the Army National Guard. He will go to Basic Training in South Carolina in June. He scored a 90 on his ASVAB - which is pretty dang good. A good score gives him options on his job.
As most of you know, this is no surprise. Dallin has been wanting to be in the military since he was a little kid. Both Tal and I feel really good about his decision and we are so proud of him.
He has no intention of being a weekend warrior. Once he graduates from high school next year, he will learn his career and wants to go full-time. One nice thing about starting this young is that his time commitment starts now even though he can't be called up yet. He still has the option of serving a mission, if he chooses to go once he's 19.

He has military service on every side of his family tree (Petty, Cooper, Ehlers and Black). It's a proud tradition that he will carry on.

He will start weekend drills next week. He is pretty excited. I took this pic when he came home from his physical, testing and swearing in. He had to make sure all his new gear fit just right. Isn't he handsome!

Things I Actually Make Off Pinterest

While I can spend an untold amount of time looking through fabulous ideas on Pinterest, I have to be reasonable. I made a deal with myself that I have to actually make or do some of the things I find on Pinterest to justify my illicit browsing habit!
(Pinterest is an on-line bulletin board. You can see what your friends or the public are "pinning" to their boards.)

Tonight I made Cinnamon Streusal Coffee Cake from the Baker Chic. It was YUM! (If you haven't discovered Greek yogurt yet, you can substitute sour cream.) I will make it again and here are my notes:
"Did not vary recipe except to simplify dirty dishes. Use a gallon ziploc bag to mix crumb topping and another for brown sugar filling. Use a glass 2 cup measuring cup for the milk and Greek yogurt. Pour in your 1 1/4 cup milk and then add yogurt or sour cream to the 2 cup mark. Whisk in that cup before adding to batter. Simple and fabulous! Tal said to make it again." 

I recently made the Coconut Caramel Cake from Jamie Cooks It Up and that was a keeper, too. The frosting is similar to Coconut Pecan Frosting that goes on a German Chocolate Cake but without the nuts. Notes for that:
"Frosting is DELISH! Poked holes on top before pouring frosting on so that it can seep in a little. Cake a little dry so watch cooking time."

Here is another tip I used yesterday when I brought a prescription home for Eric (he has strep AND a cold). You use a Sharpie and write the date and time for each scheduled dose on the bottle. Then check it off as you go. I am always second guessing myself on whether or not I missed a dose. Click here for the site and pics.  (Original credit is not given and it's just a pic but you get the idea.)

Heinrich Ehlers

Tal was given a copy of this picture from John Ehlers, Herman Ehlers' son. (Herman is Arnold's 1st cousin. John is Jack's second cousin. Herman and Arnold share the same grandfather, the one in the picture.)
This is just a photo of the copy so it's not great. The man is Johann Karsten Heinrich Ehlers (Jack's Great Grandfather) in front of this house in Germany with 2 unknown women. The side of the house has the family crest painted on it and then the address:
Heinrich Ehlers
Malermeister
Zelf 956

Malermeister means master painter in German. We all think the house is pretty upscale so he must have been successful. We imagine one of the women to be his wife (Christine Maria) and perhaps the other woman is his only daughter (Louise Marie) or maybe a servant. His boots and beard are pretty cool. Maybe someone can research the crest and we can discover our blue blood lines.

There are a whole mess of Ehlers' that come down through this line that live in Utah. Tal found John and they had a great visit last month.

I'm happy to send the .jpeg if you are interested.