Can't wait for this weekend's Conference!

I'm so excited for General Conference this weekend. Anyone can watch it to see what we believe and what our church leaders are teaching.

Forget not...

As many other women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I too was profoundly touched by the talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf at the Relief Society Conference on Saturday.  Three days later, the talk is still in my thoughts and mind.  


There are some great handouts that women have made and shared online based on his talk.  I thought I would share some of my favorites!

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Original source HERE

Remembering 9/11

As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, our hearts are full for the lives lost and the families affected that dreadful day.  Every 9/11 for the last 10 years, our thoughts turn to my husband's friend from high school, Brady Howell, and his family. Brady was killed on September 11th, 2001 when terrorist flew a plane into the Pentagon where he worked. We drove up to Idaho to attend his funeral and to mourn his loss with his beautiful wife Liz and his family.

I found BYU-Idaho's tribute to Brady. I'd like to share it.


Brady Kay Howell

Ricks College alumnus Brady Howell '97 was posthumously presented the Superior Civilian Service Medal, the civilian equivalent of the purple heart, from the Chief of Naval Operations.

Brady was goal oriented and enthused about his internship with Naval Intelligence. It fulfilled a childhood dream. At age nine he had written a letter to the President of the United States offering his service: "My friend and I are detectives, and we will try to come any time you need us."

His promising future was caught in the path of the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Initially listed as missing, positive identification came on September 17. Even in death, Brady has touched countless lives. Hundreds attended both the memorial service in Arlington, Virginia, and funeral services in his hometown of Sugar City, Idaho.

Brady, age 26, was the son of Kenneth and Jeanette Howell. He served a mission to the Canary Islands. He married "Liz" Anderson '97 in the Bountiful Temple while both were attending Ricks College. After graduating from Ricks College, Brady received his bachelor's in political science from Utah State University and his master's in public administration at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.

At the Sugar City service, Governor Dirk Kempthorne praised Brady and his family for high values. Elder F. Melvin Hammond extended condolences from the First Presidency. Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, Tish Long, read the Navy's citation:

"...Mr. Brady Howell became the first PMI [Presidential Management Intern] assigned to Director of Naval Intelligence Staff where he first worked on the DNI's Executive Board, which sets strategy and policy for the entire Naval Intelligence community. Most recently, he began training as a watch officer for the CNO Intelligence Plot--a position normally reserved for only the most qualified and promising intelligence officers. As an IP watch officer, Mr. Howell provided daily briefings to the Chief of Naval Operations, Secretary of the Navy, and other senior military and civilian decision makers. By his distinctive contributions and inspiring dedication to duty, Mr. Brady Howell reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

After the Arlington service, classmates and acquaintances gathered to eat and reminisce. Conversation centered around Brady. "As the evening progressed one of the classmates proposed a toast to him, and someone suggested a proper way to honor Brady should include recognition of things important to him," shares his father. "They were fully aware that Brady didn't drink. Although peculiar to them, they respected him for his commitment and integrity. Knowing what was acceptable to him personally, they pushed aside their beverages and drank to his honor and memory from goblets filled with ice water."

Liz was able to pass the Olympic Torch to President Bush before the start of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics. She told CNN the following about her experience:

"This experience was beyond description. It was a culmination of so many things. Probably, if I had to sum it up into three feelings I would say pride for the -- for my husband and the ideals that he represented, and for the fallen heroes of September 11. Probably humility for being asked to carry the flame, and in such a remarkable place. And also just sheer excitement for the opportunity to do something like this.

The president is one of the most congenial men. He put his arm around me. He said, I am so sorry for your loss. Then he -- we were standing there, and he leaned over and said, I'm so cold. I told him a little bit about Brady, just shortly. And he said, I know; I know it -- how great he was.

Brady was all-American by every standard of the word. He made me proud. Brady was working as a Navy civilian in the Pentagon in the Naval Command Center. And he was a presidential management intern. He was working as an intelligence officer in the command center, and had just received his top secret clearance a couple of weeks prior. And that was one of his lifelong goals.

Mostly I am sustained by the prayers that have been offered in my behalf, and also the hope -- there's hope that there will be a better and brighter day, and that has been manifest through the aftermath of September 11 -- how countries have come together; how people here in our nation have come to one another's aid. And things are getting better. And it's this knowledge that is keeping me going.

I felt Brady's presence with me before I started the race. And I knew he was looking out for me, and I knew he was proud. He was proud because he was such outstanding man. He was very proud of what was going on today."


Another great story mentioning Brady can be found here.
Here is a more recent story about his widow.

T-shirts for a Great Cause

We have some great friends, Rob and Emily Matson, who are in the process of adopting 2 children from Ethiopia.  They have created these great t-shirts as a means of helping them raise money for their family to go pick the kids up in Africa.  If you can help, you can get more information here.

First Day of School- August 8, 2011

   Today my oldest three kids headed back to school.  This will be the first year that I have children in two different schools which will be a new adjustment for our family.  Every year, I take a picture of the kids in front of the house with the first day of school sign and the date.  It's a tradition.

   At 7:30 a.m., we headed over to Estes Elementary with supplies in hand ready to tackle a new school year with lots of success.  We started at Liz's classroom with her teacher, Hilary Rizzi.  We LOVE Mrs. Rizzi.  Devan had her in fifth grade as well, and I think Liz will really like her until she starts taxing their candy.  :-)  She brings US History to life for her students which makes her a phenomenal teacher in my book.

   We headed next to third grade to Spencer's classroom.  He has Mrs. Kittle this year.  We have known and loved her for years due to our children being friends with her children.  We are so excited that Spencer has the opportunity to have her as a teacher this year.

   Zach (on the right) came over to get Devan this morning for his first day of Middle School.  I'm glad that Devan has some friends that have already been there a year to look out for him. 

  I drove them both over to the school at 8:45 a.m. and watched them walk into the school.  A new phase in Devan's life.  He's going from being in a 6th grade class of 80+ students to a 7th grade class of 550+ students.  I'm sure he will do well, but it sure makes mom who graduated from a class of 89 students a little nervous.

    Emma starts preschool tomorrow.  Where has all the time gone?

20th High School Reunion Trip to Indiana

  I was raised in Indiana among the corn fields.  Indiana stays in your blood.  Coming from Tucson, I always amazed at how green and beautiful Indiana really is.  With much enthusiasm, I returned to Indiana last week to attend my 20th High School Reunion and to film a cooking segment about my first kid's cookbook, Cake Mix Cooking for Kids.  You can watch the FOX59 clip here.

  I flew from Tucson to Indianapolis on Thursday, August 4th.  I had to get up at 2:30 a.m. to catch my early morning flight.  I picked up all the supplies and ingredients I would need to film the next morning, then I headed over to my brother Barry's house.  That night he treated me to a fabulous pasta dinner with a To Die For Sauce made fresh with the vegetables from his own garden.  I also had my craving for Indiana Sweet Corn fulfilled as well.  My brother is an amazing cook!  Maybe it's in the genes.  :-)

  On Friday, I woke up at 2 a.m. Tucson time (5 a.m. Indiana time) to prep for my television appearance on FOX 59's morning news.  FOX 59's news station is pretty amazing.  I've been to stations around the country and was very impressed with their new state of the art facility.

   Barry and I went to lunch with Katherine before heading down to visit the LARGEST Children's Museum in the world.  I will be doing a write up on our visit on mysavvysavings.com soon.  I have been to several Children's Museums around the country, and Indianapolis definitely has the BIGGEST and BEST!

   On Friday night, we had a girls 20th pre-reunion dinner/party at Kristin Dunn's house outside of Lebanon.  I was there from 6-11:30 p.m., and no one was anxious to leave.  I had only seen Kristen Cheek in the last 20 years, so I was anxious to see and hear how everyone else was doing!  The girls who came were some of my closet friends in high school.  I was grateful for the extra time to visit with them, so that I could visit with everyone else at the reunion the next night.

Aunt Sherry and I at The Journey in Fishers, Indiana

  

   On Saturday, I finally had a chance to catch up on sleep.  Barry, Katherine, and I met up with my aunt Sherry for lunch.  My brother Barry treated me to his favorite restaurant, The Journey, in Fishers.  It was definitely worth the drive.  The food was amazing, and the company was even better!

  After lunch, I headed north to see how many things had changed since I had left Indiana.  I grew up outside Kirklin, so I drove around that area first.

 I went to look at the house where I lived from second grade until I left for college.  I was overcome with a flood of memories.  There were some good changes including the dirt road in front being changed to black top.

  I headed over to see my elementary and high school next.  Another wave of memories hits me.  Our school district was a tiny one.  Grades Kindergarten through Sixth were in one building while Grades Seven through Twelve were in an adjacent building.  Both schools together house less students that my son's current middle school.  From the school, I headed to visit my cousins, Gina McKinney Crenshaw and Brent McKinney.  We had a great visit.  Brent has been battling liver cancer, and I was especially happy to see him doing so well.

   Next I headed to the Green Lawn Cemetery.  I had to chuckle at the sign I saw there.  It said, "Buy One Space Get One Space Free."  In the fine print, it stated, "Advance Planning Only."  Even cemeteries are being affected by the slow economy.

   While at the cemetery, I visited the graves of my grandparents (pictured above), my great grandparents, my uncle Mike, and various other relatives.  They are not forgotten and are all missed.

  From there, I headed over to the church that I attended the entire time we lived in Indiana.  Being a Saturday afternoon, the church was empty, but I still felt the same sweet spirit that I felt there as a young girl.  I will be forever grateful for all the wonderful teachers and leaders who taught me, showed me how to follow the Savior by their own examples, and instilled in my heart a love and need for Jesus Christ in my life.  This is where I gained my testimony of the restoration of the gospel.

  On the way to my reunion, I passed this trailer stating, "Frankfort, Indiana:  Home of the Hot Dogs".  I remember telling people about their mascot at BYU, and no one believed me.  Here's the proof.  We used to chant at basketball games, "Eat 'em up, eat 'em up!  Raw!  Raw!  Raw!"  LOL.

   Our 20th class reunion was held at Pepe's in Frankfort.  It started at 7 p.m., and they were so gracious to let us stay far past closing (11:30 p.m.) to visit. 

  If my memory serves me well, we had 89 in our graduating class.  This picture shows all of us from the Class of 1991 who attended the reunion.  There were some who looked the same while there were some who looked completely different.  We came from all over the country and all over Indiana to reunite.

  One of the biggest surprises for most was seeing one of our teachers stop by the reunion.  Andy Robertson was one of my favorite teachers at Clinton Central.  He was my History Academic Team Coach, and I was his teacher's assistant my senior year.  It was great to see him after 20 years.

    I feel blessed to have grown up with such remarkable and wonderful people.  Kristen Cooper Cheek and Paul McKinney were such great friends to have in high school.  They and many of my other friends always supported me in my values which meant the world to me. 

  Lesley and Jessica were also great friends as well.

    Sunday morning after 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I woke at 12:30 a.m. AZ time (3:30 Indiana time) to get ready to catch my flight home to Tucson.  As I was driving to the airport, I was feeling a little sad that I hadn't been able to see any of my friends from church on my trip back to Indiana.  I have so many wonderful memories of girl's camp and church as well as my memories from school.  As I sat down to wait to board my plane, I glanced up and saw Jeni Hockema who had been one of my girl's camp leaders.  Then, I saw her younger sister, Megan, who had been one of my great friends.  We were all on the same flight to Houston.  It made my day and touched my heart that Heavenly Father assisted in that great reunion in the Indianapolis airport.  God is great!

My FOX 59 Indianapolis Television Interview

You may have noticed my lack in postings this summer. I just got back from a month of fun with my kids in Utah and Idaho and a quick trip back to Indiana for my 20th High School Reunion. While I was in Indiana, I stopped by FOX 59 to discuss my newest cookbook. I thought you might be interested in watching the clip. Enjoy!