. . . mass production . . .

. . . usually equals 

mass destruction . . .

. . . greasy pans . . .

. . . colorful trimmings . . .

. . . overflowing trash . . . 

. . . and the makings of dinner 

for three households . . .

. . . tonight's salads included 

romaine lettuce, fresh pineapple,

 oranges, strawberries, avocados,

 craisins, toasted pecans, blue cheese,

 bacon and grilled chicken 

dressed with a

balsamic poppy seed vinaigrette . . .

{p.s. the homemade rolls were doughy. 

i think something's wrong with my oven.}

{p.s.s. don't worry. the mess is all cleaned up.

#ifigotobedwithdirtydishesinthesinkiamcrankyinthemorning}

. . . in the navy . . .

{village people, anyone?}

. . . one easter . . .

. . . 1989 to be exact . . .

. . . i dressed the entire family 

in navy and white . . .

{when they were all still young enough to wear whatever i told them to wear}

. . . quite a departure 

from the usual springy pastels . . .

. . . and i really can't wait for the day

 when drew and jessalyn 

have a little boy . . .

. . . why? . . .

{feel free to discuss/laugh at our perms/bangs to heaven. it's fine.}

. . . because i still have 

that sweet outfit . . .

. . . and i will see 

that it is worn again! . . .

{love you, drew and jess!}

. . . perhaps this nostalgia 

is what inspired 

today's batch of oops! . . .

. . . there's just something crisp 

and kind of nautical 

about this color combination . . .

. . . a couple of these 

paired with a navy bloops! 

would make a wonderful gift

for any new boy baby . . .

{navy blue always makes me think of "franck" from father of the bride 

talking about steve martin's "nauffy blue tuxahdo"}

. . . none of these crazy girls 

were wearing navy last night,

{smooth segue?} 

but hanging out 

with my funny daughters 

is always entertaining . . .

. . . and amanda's hashtags 

crack me up . . .

. . . another shared birthday . . .

. . . at first, it was just me . . .

. . . and the darn wind . . .

. . . holding down the fort . . .

. . . but then 

the guests of honor 

arrived . . .

. . . nathel and amelia nathel . . .

. . . born exactly fifty years apart . . .

. . . i couldn't ask for a better mother . . .

. . . or a better daughter . . .

. . . happy birthday, girlies! . . .

. . . short stuff . . .

. . . alterations . . .

. . . that seems to be 

the name of the game 

when you're five foot nothing . . .

. . . here's what i cut off of 

one pair of skinnies, 

a pair of sweats, 

some other black pants 

and three maxi dresses . . .

. . . it's the least i could do 

for the girl of the hour . . .

. . . happy number twenty-seven,

 amelia . . .

. . . go, shorty . . .

. . . it's your birthday! . . .

. . . oratorical addi . . .

. . . addison competed today 

{for the third time ~ 

she already made it past her school and district competitions} 

in an oratorical contest . . .

. . . i never knew there was 

such a thing . . .

. . . all the contestants were dressed 

as their chosen character . . .

. . . addi chose helen keller . . .

. . . she was serious about it . . .

{how can it be that my grandchild is this old?} 

. . . she did an amazing job . . .

. . . her speech 

was completely memorized and 

~ AND ~ 

she signed the entire thing, too . . .

. . . she gave facts 

about the life of helen keller, 

her relationship with her teacher, 

annie sullivan, 

and she also included 

some of helen keller's 

own quotes . . .

. . . also represented were 

three georges and two abes . . .

{and molly pitcher, the printing press, baseball, walt disney, 

shirley temple, henry ford, and annie oakley ~ to name a few}

. . . after the speeches 

{and before the awards} 

the man on the left 

asked addi 

if she would visit 

his chapter of the lions club 

and give her speech 

at an upcoming meeting . . .

. . . addi was presented 

with the most coveted award 

of the competition . . . 

. . . an award named 

after a past grand master 

of the masonic lodge 

that sponsors the competition . . .

. . . addison could hardly wait 

to get home 

{it's a long drive from paradise valley to gilbert!} 

so she could pose for this photo 

and post it on instagram . . .

. . . as you might guess, 

i probably had a little tear in my eye 

as i watched her . . .

"walking with a friend 

in the dark 

is better than walking alone 

in the light."

~helen keller

{what a remarkable person}

. . . team spirit . . .

. . . raider fans are hard core . . .

. . . even raider fans 

who are expecting 

their first baby . . .

. . . not sure yet if it will be 

a little raider or a raiderette . . .

. . . but the bases are covered . . .

. . . either way . . .

. . . no question about which team

 these parents are rooting for . . .

. . . coming or going . . .

{does your little one have a favorite team? i'm happy to oblige}

. . . a rare sight . . .

. . . snow . . .

. . . in the flower beds . . .

. . . at the temple . . .

. . . in mesa, arizona . . .

. . . okay, utah people . . .

. . . don't laugh . . .

. . . we arizonans are easily amused . . .

. . . and a little chilly today . . .

. . . hawaiian chinese haystack sundaes . . .

. . . are they hawaiian haystacks? . . .

. . . are they chinese sundaes? . . .

. . . whatever you call them ~ 

they're something i hadn't made 

since that gluten-free thing 

came into our lives 

because of the dreaded 

cream of chicken soup 

in the sauce . . .

{also chow mein noodles, but you can easily skip those}

{well . . . I didn't, but if you need to be gluten-free, you can . . .}

. . . but i've been noticing 

that lots of people 

are jumping on 

the anti-cream-of-whatever 

bandwagon . . .

. . . and when you think about it, 

it really is kind of gloppy 

and disgusting 

when it comes out of the can, 

isn't it? . . .

. . . so i decided to see 

what i could figure out . . .

. . . well . . . 

. . . here's my new version . . . 

. . . and it was yummy . . .

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

heat olive oil and butter in large skillet. season chicken with salt and pepper. brown on both sides. transfer chicken pieces to crock pot. deglaze pan with 1/2 cup water to loosen brown bits. add liquid to crock pot. finish cooking on low 4-6 hours.

1 quart chicken broth {kitchen basics brand is gluten-free. i get it at fry's.}
4 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup cold water
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. chive and onion soft cream cheese {this secret ingredient is thanks to a trick i learned from lori}

heat chicken broth in large saucepan. dissolve corn starch in cold water. stir until smooth. slowly whisk corn starch/water mixture into hot chicken broth. sauce will thicken as it comes to a boil. lower heat and  stir in cream cheeses until melted and sauce is smooth. remove from heat.

remove chicken pieces from crock pot. add sauce to remaining cooking liquid in crock pot. when chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into bite size pieces. add chicken to sauce. keep warm. 

to serve: let diners layer any {and or} all ingredients. that's the beauty of it. there's something for everyone.

steamed rice {i cook in chicken broth for extra flavor}
chicken sauce
grated sharp cheddar cheese
halved grape tomatoes
diced celery
minced green onions
diced red bell pepper
green peas
sliced olives
pineapple tidbits {they're just the right size}
mandarin orange segments
craisins
toasted coconut
toasted almond slices
bacon bits
chow mein noodles
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

top with a maraschino cherry and enjoy. 

it's an easy dinner to make for a crowd, especially if everyone is assigned to bring a topping or two.

. . . this one's for you, dad . . .

. . . we're at that age . . .

. . . we're most likely 

to run into old friends 

at our parents' funerals . . .

. . . and every time, we say, 

"we really should get together" . . .

. . . well, apparently, the only way 

to make it finally happen 

is to have a "take charge" guy 

move back to arizona 

after 30-ish years away . . .  

. . . so ~ this past weekend, 

was the first ever 

mesa 19th ward 

non-funeral reunion . . .

. . . see? . . .

. . . i had a pretty much

 sheltered/charmed/awesome 

childhood and youth . . . 

. . . i didn't live 

in the fanciest neighborhood . . .

. . . but i grew up 

in the best ward ever . . . 

. . . i was always proud to say 

i was in 19th ward . . . 

. . . my dad was the bishop 

during most of my junior high 

and high school years . . . 

. . . all my closest friends 

were in my ward . . .

. . . i looked forward to this reunion

 almost as if it were christmas . . .

. . . and you know what? . . .

. . . people came . . .

. . . lots of people came . . .

. . . mostly the "kids" 

who were teenagers 

when my dad and royce beydler, 

who followed him, 

served as bishops . . .

. . . and our parents . . .

. . . koko {he was the boss} 

organized a brief program . . . 

. . . he introduced bishop beydler . . . 

. . . who then proceeded 

to take the mic 

and crack himself up . . .

. . . he's adorable . . .

. . . then my cute mom 

spoke on behalf of my dad . . .

. . . she used his own words, 

as written in his life story . . .

. . . confession: 

i got a little teary-eyed 

listening to her . . .

{two of the five julies ~ neuffer and dastrup. 

and yes, i will probably always refer to them by their maiden names}

. . . these two ladies are the wives 

of my dad's bishopric counselors . . .

 {edwina dastrup and patsy huber}

. . . and here is 

one of my dad's counselors . . .

{clark huber ~ he never ages}

. . . one thing we absolutely wanted 

to have happen at this reunion 

was a reenactment 

of a roadshow theme song . . .

. . . what you see pictured here 

are a lot of really good sports . . .

{we probably could've used a rehearsal or two}

. . . "the lights come on, 

the music plays at sundown, 

the people stir 

because it's not so hot" . . .

{marilyn berry, laurie lambson, kori richmond, janet berry, panda head, 

sally carpenter, deanna conrad, julie dastrup, lawanna burgess, 

lisa beydler, julie neuffer, kathy kocherhans}

. . . "come check the teeth 

and test the knees - 

not run down. 

on our camel lot" . . .

. . . and the girl to boy ratio 

at the reunion 

was about the same 

as it was for the actual roadshow 

thirty-nine years ago . . . 

. . . look how much fun 

the boys were having! . . .

{russell carroll, koko head, todd lorenzen, jeff davis, ted sherwood, 

and julie ellsworth who was turning pages for me at the piano}

. . . i bet there weren't 

five julies all the same age 

in your ward, were there? . . .

. . . four of them 

came to the reunion . . .

. . . one from prescott, 

one from spokane . . .

. . . then later that night, 

all five of them got together 

for their own after party . . .

{julies ellsworth, pomeroy, neuffer, and dastrup. not pictured - farnsworth}

. . . a great time was had by my family

 ~ brother jeff {with all his eyewear}, 

me and mom . . .

. . . i felt such a flood of emotion 

just walking into 

that old barkley building . . . 

. . . a lot ~ a LOT ~ of memories . . .

. . . and i was completely unprepared

 for how much 

it made me miss my dad . . .

. . . he would have loved this party . . .

. . . i bet he was there . . .

 . . . kind of cool that we partied 

on february 9th . . . 

. . . right before dad's 

valentines day birthday . . .

. . . that also would have 

made him happy . . . 

. . . we visited him 

at the cemetery 

this afternoon . . .

. . . where halleigh 

entertained the littles 

with storytime . . .

. . . and we were all surprised 

to look over 

and find tate in prayer . . .

. . . he was very serious . . .

. . . amber asked 

what he was saying . . .

. . . he said he prayed 

for grandpa great 

to please come back to earth . . .

. . . childlike faith . . .

. . . we had to have a little talk 

and explain a few things . . .

{notice the orange soda again?} 

{and my little brother's headstone.}

. . . oh, how i love 

this family of mine . . .

. . . the ones on earth . . .

. . . and the ones who've gone . . .

. . . i really looked forward to 

 the reunion last weekend . . .

. . . and i'm even more excited 

for the one someday 

in heaven! . . .

{reunion photo credits: julie ellsworth logan and deanna conrad scanlon}