Finally!!!

Yes, I have really been working on this quilt for three years! Okay, more not working on it than working on it. So I got a new fun quilt rack with this quilt in mind, and hence the motivation to finally get it done. Yay!!!!

More Mouthwatering Morsels

Did I mention how much we are enjoying our Bosch?!!!
Theo uses his pizza making skills. Just like riding a bike, you never forget....

Cinnamon rolls, need I say more about these....

Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Deligthful Dinner

Thanks to generous parents and a loving sister, I am now in baking heaven! One of our family favorites is to make bread bowls with Michelle's yummy broccoli cheese soup. In my BTB (before the Bosch) life, I had to make the bread bowls in stages since I mixed all of my dough in my bread machine a loaf at a time. Now, I have entered a breadmaking utopia. Here are some pictures from the maiden voyage of the Martin Bosch machine!

Here I am mixing a whole bunch of wheat bread dough...

The delicious bowls, fresh from the oven....

The creamy and flavorful soup awaiting the freshly steamed broccoli....

The satisfied consumers. Yummmmmmmm!!!!

THANKS MOM AND DAD AND GILLELANDS!!!!!!!

Thanks to All

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. It was special to hear from each of you during this wonderful time of year when we reflect more frequently on our Savior and his great love for us. We are so blessed to live in the great country (with all of its flaws). The Lord has truly watched over us this year. Thank you for all that you do for us.

Christmas Eve

Happy Birthday, Gideon

Look what Grandpa has!

Christmas caroling to Grandma Peters before dinner and the party

Everyone loves birthdays.

He loves balls of any shape or size. This was perhaps his favorite gift.

Gideon is a pro at blowing out his candles!

Here's Ours

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas from the Bradley Ross Kids

Reunion

Brother and sister reunited after about 15 years. Grandma Peters is 91 and Uncle George is 88. Mom hadn't seen Jean or Janice, two of Uncle George's 6 kids, for many, many years. It was fun to see them again.

Cousins

Janice Davis is younger by four years and Jean Hansen and I are the same age. Janice and Mike live in St. George (Santa Clara) and Jean and Marlowe live in Payson very close to where we considered buying a house. Janice and I became friends when we were both at BYU. Jean wrote to us every month while we were on our mission. Jean looks a lot like her mother Stella.

George and I went to Uncle George's 86th birthday celebration before we went on our mission. The girls both remarked how much one of Jean's girl's daughter, Heidi, looks like me. She was at the party and I snapped a shot of her that I have been unable to find so I could post it.

Last football pics

State Champs

Mormon Helping Hands

Have you ever seen those media spots that show a natural disaster and a bunch of people in yellow t-shirts that say "Mormon Helping Hands"? Did you ever wonder about the propriety of that? I have. I've wondered if it wasn't a little too... boastful. A bit like the fellow who gives his donations to be seen of the world.

I just listened to Sharon Eubank talk about her work with LDS Humanitarian Services. She helped me understand.

They work really hard in the Humanitarian group to keep proselyting and humanitarian work strictly separated. We don't ever wanted to be perceived as providing help only as a door to get in missionaries, or else we will find that many people won't open the door at all.

So why the t-shirts? Aid organizations are encouraged to have t-shirts like that to help identify the members of the organization to other workers, to help gain access to affected areas, and to help volunteers find each other. Also, it is important for the church to build up a reputation for its ability to help, and to respond quickly, so that we can continue to have access to disaster areas in the future. So more than a proselyting tool, it is a tool to further our ability to contribute to humanitarian causes. In the official church guidelines for the program, we read that, "When used properly and consistently, it will become a recognized symbol of the Church’s good works."

Now you know.