Merry Christmas!

Wow, it's been a while. I thought I would share that Christmas came to our house early this year. With Randy's work schedule and planning for all of my family to be here on Christmas Eve I decided that we would open our gifts from each other tonight. This way I can get the stack of gifts for the rest of the family and from the rest of the family to us under the tree instead of in the corner.

I was blessed this year with a lot of stuff! I kept telling the family that I wanted to be surprised so they were good at keeping secrets this year (except for the things I got for myself...lol). Megan and Steve got me a nice foot massager machine. I think Megan got tired of my asking her to rub my feet. Alan got me a really nice cutting board that has anti-slip stuff on the bottom and a digital thermometer. Randy got me a bread maker, a belgian waffle maker, a food chopper, an electric can opener, and a pair of snowman salt and pepper shakers. I got myself two outfits. I had looked in the closet and didn't have as many church clothes as I wanted and couldn't pass up an online clearance sale!

Now that all of the gifts are opened and the paper thrown away I can spend time cooking, cleaning, and planning for all of the family to come. I have already used the food chopper that Randy gave me and the bread machine. The family loved the homemade bread, and I loved that I didn't have to do anything with it except throw the ingredients in the machine! I used the food chopper tonight. It was great to not have to pull out the huge food processor!

Hmmmmmm....now that I look at my list of gifts from Randy I wonder if he was hungry? Just kidding! I love getting things for the kitchen for gifts. I also recently got a vacuum cleaner, but refuse to call that a gift. Something to clean with could never be a gift!

I will put in some of my family Christmas goodie recipes in a future blog. Merry Christmas!!

Ann Beck

From Annie's Blog...

I saw this on Annie's blog and thought I would post it here. You are supposed to copy the list and bold any of them that you have done. So here it goes:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ....at school
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain - Clingman's Dome in the Smoky Mountains
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I think my crafts should count!)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (I spoke fluent Italian when we were stationed there. I was 18 months old.)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (I just climbed on rocks.)
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (only a home movie)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (it's GROSS!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life (gave the heimlech manouver to a 2 year old choking on candy)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Wow, I have done a lot of these! Tag, you're it!

Ann Beck

Our Christmas Tree

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree with part of the fireplace showing. My spaniel, Shadow, is under the date in the picture. The tree looks much prettier in person! Come on over and see it...I will be posting more decoration pictures soon.

Ann Beck

Black Friday Schedule

• Up at 4:30 am
• Wal-Mart- blu-ray player for $128!
• Sam's- breakfast, looked at blu-ray movies...really old ones!
• Best Buy- line too long, we left
• Lowes- saved $50 on a shop vac for the man
• Home Depot- lots of gifts for the men in the family
• Target- DVD's
• Wal-Mart- stocking stuffers after the crowd had thinned
• Michaels- outdoor lighted penguins and snowman cantainers to give as gifts
• Wal-Mart grocery store- rest of food for Iron Bowl party
• Home and nap!
• Decorate for Christmas and prepare for Iron Bowl Party

Some Food Storage Recipes

Here are three food storage recipes that I made for some cannery meetings at the Semmes Ward. I will add more recipes as I can. These recipes use items that can be purchased at the cannery along with a few items that most people already have in their pantry.

Bean Dip

Bring one cup of water to a boil. Add in one rounded cup of dehydrated refried beans. Let sit a couple of minutes then add a handful of shredded cheese (or to taste) and a good size squirt of taco sauce (the heat is up to you!) or salsa. Stir until the cheese melts. Serve with tortilla chips or use to make bean burritos. This is also good as a side dish when having a "Mexican" dinner. This is an approximate recipe because I don't measure anything when I make this. If the mixture seems runny add more beans and if it seems too thick add more water or sauce/salsa. I have also rehydrated onions and added to this mix when I want some onion in it. If you have carnivores in the house add in some browned ground beef.

Rice Pudding

4 cups cooked cold rice
1 egg
1/2-1 cups of sugar, to taste
cinnamon to taste
raisins or chopped nuts (optional)
milk

Stir together the rice, egg, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins or nuts if using. Pour in milk, stirring as you go, until the mixture is soupy. Bake at 350* until the pudding is set and browned on top. This is a great use for leftover rice. It can be eaten cold or warm and is great for any meal of the day.

Apple Crisp

4 cups dehydrated apples
4 cups boiling water

Put apples in the water and let sit for five minutes. Drain excess water.

Stir into the apples:

1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon to taste. Put this into a 9x13 pan.

In a bowl mix together one stick of butter or margarine, softened, 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 2 cups oats, and cinnamon to taste. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle onto the apple mixture. Bake at 350* until the topping is golden brown. For something extra serve with some vanilla ice cream...yum!


I hope you enjoy!

Ann B

Randy's Birthday

Five years ago today my sweet husband was baptized and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I had been planning a surprise party for his 40th birthday, but he in turn surprised me by announcing that he wanted to be baptized on his birthday. I was flabbergasted! It may have been his birthday, but we both received the gift when he joined the church.

We had a lot of fun today. We went to Sam's Club, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Red Lobster, and the mall. We had a lot of fun! Then we went to the video store for him to pick out movies he wanted to watch and the grocery store to get what he wanted for dinner. Guess what he wanted?? Junk Food!! We had pizza rolls, chicken nuggets, pork egg rolls, chili cheese dip with nacho chips, and cherry cheesecake. My cholesterol went up ten points! At least he is happy!

I sure do love my man. He has been a very good husband to me, and a great father to our kids. I have only wanted to strangle him a few times in our 24 years together...lol.

I love you, Randy Beck!!!

Ann B

I am Alive!!

But just barely...lol. I have had a cold for about three weeks. As a matter of fact, we were planning on going to North Alabama this weekend to visit family but we can't because I still have the crud. I have severely neglected my blog. I suppose you can say I have been cheating on it with facebook. Now I feel guilty for not paying attention to my blog.

I have a new calling in the Semmes Ward. I am the Enrichment Leader. We recently had a meeting where we made FHE kits for the Monday before Christmas. The kit includes hot chocolate, popcorn, hersheys kisses, candy canes, a Christmas ornament, jingle bells and yarn to make necklaces, an inspiring Christmas story (I will put the story in another post if you are interested), and coloring pages for the kids. We also had peppermint bath salts that we put in snack sized bags to give to those sisters we visit teach for Christmas. We had a short lesson on the importance of FHE, even if there are no children at home. I also had a list of FHE resourses that can be found on the internet (I will list them too!). For refreshments we had popcorn with white chocolate and all sorts of yummy add ins made by Keli Allen, popcorn with white cheddar cheese, and hot chocolate. We had a lot of fun! Next month we are having a cookie exchange and Christmas ornament dirty santa.

I am also working with the ward to get orders for the cannery. For three weeks we met informally after meetings to discuss our cannery orders and to answer any questions that the members had about the cannery. I brought a different item each Sunday for the members to try so they could think outside the box on their orders. The first week we had bean dip with chips, then we had rice pudding, and the final week we had an apple crisp. I will put the recipes on another post if you are interested. Sometimes we see things from the cannery and don't really know how we can use them in ways our entire family will enjoy. By trying different things we can use our food storage as more than something we keep for twenty years and then dispose of!!

More later!!

Ann Beck