Wasted Bread

This is what happens when you let your bread rise for 6 hours instead of one. So, my Grandma makes the best homemade bread I have ever had. Something about it is just awesome....especially when accompanied by homemade strawberry jam or cherry jelly!

I decided that I would attempt to make my Grandma's bread, so I got her recipe and went to work. It took a little longer than I thought to prepare the dough because I was supposed to halve the recipe, but for some reason, I thought I had already halved it when I wrote it down a month ago. Obviously this was not the case as I was adding 16 cups of flour to my mixer! I had flour EVERYWHERE! The bread was supposed to rise for an hour before I could bake it, and I realized I wasn't gonna have time to finish before we were meeting with a realtor. So, I figured, I would just bake the bread in 2-3 hours when I thought we would be home. By the time we got home, 6 hours had elapsed and the first thing Kevin said when he walked in the door, was "Yep, it overflowed!"

Despite the wasted dough and mess to clean up, the bread turned out well and we have been enjoying yummy toast ever since. Hopefully, after repeated trials, the bread will turn out as perfect and fluffy as when Grandma makes it!!

Orlando Temple

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to go on the Youth Temple Trip. The closest temple is in Orlando, which is about 4 hours away. All I can say, is that I have been spoiled in every other place I have lived because the temple has been at most an hour and a half away. I think it makes you appreciate it a little more when it is so far away, but then it makes it harder to go as often as you would like. Fortunately, they are building the "South Florida" temple about 30 minutes from where we live right now. That are currently figuring out all the permits, etc. and then they will start the build. So, in about two years, we will no longer need to make that long drive!! We saw preliminary pictures at a special Fireside we went to and it will be beautiful.

Overall, I think the kids had a great time on the trip and it was exciting to be there for a lot of the girls who were going for the first time. The Spirit was strong and I think the youth recognized the importance of the work they were doing. Something Jeffrey (my missionary brother) wrote in his last letter to me perfectly applies... "without the link that baptisms for the dead makes, we can't be perfect and the Earth will be cursed." (D & C 128:18)

real life

This news is a few weeks past due, but I was officially offered my Clinical Fellowship on April 21st, and I accepted. I was hired through a company called EBS Healthcare, which is a training and managing company for the birth to 21 population. Although I was hired through them, I will be doing contract work through the school system. I don't have my exact placement yet, because I have been finishing my paperwork and a few online courses required by the State of Florida. But I do officially have my badge, which is kind of exciting :) I won't start until the Fall, so I have a few months to finish up a few projects and start a few hobbies, like sewing. I'll let you know how that goes. I don't have a sewing maching yet, but that is next week's purchase. I do, however, already have a book of cute projects that I picked up last night at Borders!

Elder Clark

We had the most wonderful phone call with this missionary yesterday :)

I am grateful for Mother's Day for many reasons (like wonderful mothers in my life), but this year, the day was even more special!! I miss my little brother so much, and I cried when I was able to hear his voice and say hello. The allotted hour slipped away way too quickly, but it was so great to have a six-way phone call with our family.

Jeffrey is doing wonderful on his mission and continues to impress me with how much he has grown and matured in the last 10 months. Although I miss him a ton, I couldn't be more happy that he is in Brazil right now spreading the Gospel. Keep up the good work little brother :)

weekend with the family

At the end of April I was able to fly to Utah for my cousin Amy's wedding. It was such a great weekend spent with family and friends. I was able to see a childhood friend for an afternoon, help my best friend pick her wedding dress, and spend a few days with these wonderful people...

I love my grandparents so much. Although I don't get to see them all that often, I am definitely grateful for the time we do spend together. They are wonderful people and they raised an amazing daughter (my mom)!!

Hopefully it won't be so long until we are all together again!! Love you all :)

Watch this Mel-Bell...

Our First Visitors

Mom and Dad flew in last Monday about midnight and were able to spend the whole week with us! I hadn't seen them since August, and Kevin hadn't seen them since June....so it was about time we were all together :) Tuesday we just relaxed, looked at pictures, talked, and made a really yummy dinner. (Oh, I also found out on Tuesday that I passed the Praxis...so now I am really official!) Wednesday we decided to head to Key Biscayne and it was the PERFECT day!! There was a little breeze and Dad loved the fact that there are palm trees in the middle of the beach that offer very nice shade from the hot afternoon sun! I was happy that the weather was so nice because Dad kept commenting on how he couldn't feel the humidity at all :)
On Thursday, Mom and I decided that we would go shopping for a few hours and let Dad relax at home. We were trying to hurry, and by about noon, I told Mom that I was shocked that Dad hadn't called yet. We left the mall to head to TJ Maxx and we were about to call Dad when we remembered that he had left his phone in the glovebox when we had gone to the beach....which was why he hadn't called us. Hahaha. It was funny at first, but I also felt really bad that he was stuck at home with no way of calling us. We tried to be brief at TJ Maxx and then headed home. We found Dad relaxing on the couch watching a movie. I was just surprised that he was able to get everything working correctly :)

On Friday we headed to Key Largo for the afternoon. I was a little disappointed that the snorkeling was all booked at the John Pennecamp Underwater Water Park...but we went on a glass-bottom tour instead. It was a lot better than I expected.
We boarded a really nice boat and headed out to the reef. On the voyage out, we lost one of the props...so it took a while longer to get there than normal. Once we were there, we headed down below to view the coral reef. It was really beautiful and the visibility was great. Near the end of the tour, Mom and I started feeling really sick and we had to head back up top to get some air. I guess because we were going so slow over the coral, we were getting rocked back and forth by the waves and the boat was tipping like crazy. So, after about 15 minutes of feeling like I was going to throw-up, we started moving again and I started feeling a little bit better!
Saturday we headed to the Everglades for an air-boat tour and wildlife show. During our boat tour, we saw some pretty birds, 3 or 4 baby alligators (super cute) and several really huge alligators. Two of them were in the water, one was up on land. It was fun seeing them in the wild and Kevin loved the boat ride as we skimmed over the marshes. (Kevin is wearing my sunglasses because he forgot his and I had two pairs in my purse!)
Dad, Mom, and Kevin in front of one of the air-boats..
After the boat ride, we headed over to a wildlife show where the Ranger showed us how to "wrestle" an alligator, which actually just involved getting behind it, and jumping on it's back. But it was amazing to see how quick the alligator could clamp it's jaw shut. The Ranger said it was like a mouse trap...if you touch anywhere inside the alligator's mouth, it triggers the "trap" and the jaw will snap shut. At the end of the show, he let us hold Louie, a 20 pound alligator that I think was about 4 years old. He was kinda cute actually, but maybe because his mouth was taped shut!
Mom was excited to show her kindergarteners :) She looks like a pro !!

Overall, we had a great week and we were sad to see them go...but they made it safely back to California! Thanks for coming to visit :) We love you.