Visit to Texas - Part I (Todd's Farewell)

I am a bit slower than Heidi to get my pictures up! I have decided to split my Texas blog into three parts. So here is part one: Todd's farewell




Here is the missionary himself! The flag of Chile is very similar to the flag of Texas - the colors of decorations reflected the flag (red, white and blue).









Steve and Darla getting the tables ready . . . .









Darla getting the food ready . . . . .













I think this is last of this kind of hugging for 2 years. Here is Todd with his "other sister" Angela.













. . . friends from Lufkin 1st Ward









Steve and Darla with their guests having a good time . . .







Here is Ryah with one of her best friends . . .







here is (future missionary) Gabe mugging for the camera . . .
























Todd with some of his friends (members and non-members)














here is proof I was there! This was taken after church on Sunday - Gabe was very quick to get out of his Sunday clothes - so we 'hid' him in the back!


Had a great time and Todd gave a very nice talk in church and will be a great missionary!

See Heidi's blog for pics in Utah. Look forward to part II - (progress on the 114 year old house they are renovating).

MAMA MIA! Birthday Pizza for Scott (beginning)

Although Scott's birthday was last month, he never got his birthday dinner! He chose homemade pizza and we celebrated (again!) his birthday. Connie made the traditional pepperoni pizza with thick crust. She also experimented with a chicken pizza with pesto and a thin crust. Here is how it all went down:

Here is the 'birthday' boy with Amanda ready to dig in.

here is our master chef . . .

and her helper - I didn't do much: made the floats, set the table, and cheered (took photos).

I must admit - the floats looked and tasted great with the pizza!

Keep reading the 'next' - as I messed up in my 'publishing'

MAMA MIA! Birthday Pizza for Scott (continued)

oops - here is the rest . . . . .

luckily, Connie picked a perfect melon!

the pepperoni pie before it went into the oven . . .

(a picture worth repeating)

here is the artiste at work!

here is some of the raw ingredients for the dough - flour, natch . . . .

but also cornmeal!

This is the finished rolled out thin crust pizza dough!

here are the ingredients for the pesto: pine nuts, minced garlic, olive oil, fresh basil (out of our garden), and parmesan cheese. Don't forget a pinch of salt and /or pepper.

spread the pesto onto the dough . . . be a bit more generous than this!!

. . . add grated cheese . . .

then the chicken is placed on the pizza . . .

the pizza is removed from the preparation pan onto the pizza stone that has been warming in the oven. Cornmeal helps the pizza to slide off the metal sheet onto the stone (this time it did not work! cornmeal seems to have 'stuck' to the dough).

this is the cooked pizza coming out of the oven . . .

sometimes the best way to cut a pizza is with kitchen scissors!

Bon appetit!

for the recipe to make the dough:

Pizza Dough

15-20 minutes at 425 degrees (watch)

1½ cups warm water

1 package yeast

4 teaspoons flour

1 teaspoon honey

Mix first 4 ingredients in blender, then let sit for 30 minutes (15 minutes on warm days)

4 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

add last two ingredients to yeast mixture.

Knead for 10 minutes.

Let rise for 45 minutes until doubled.

Punch down.

Divide in 2.

Dough is sticky (no oil), keep hands wet, spray pan with PAM.

Spread dough to edges of pan,

Add toppings.

Dough can be prepared and frozen for 2 months. Thaw at room temperature

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or check this out RECIPE

Corona Del Mar - 1st Beach Trip for Finley

Mark's last blog for his school assignment:

Summer must include at least one trip to the ocean. If you live in Southern California, multiple trips are desirable. One of the most enjoyable, but also stressful, experiences is going to the beach with children that are experiencing it for the first time! Connie (where are the pictures of her? I think she was behind the camera most of the time!!) has already blogged about this visit to the beach, but I decided to add a couple more photos and some comments for my last blog assignment for school.

Here is Aidan (one of my nine grandchildren) and I. Corona Del Mar is one of the best places to take children. There is a side of the beach near the Newport harbor where there are no waves. Parking is really close to haul all of your stuff (with children there is more to carry). There are tide pools at low tide to explore with your children.

Aidan really was interested in the seaweed that had washed up on the beach. He carried it around, even though it was as big as he was!

Of course, at the beach you just have to have fun - and there was plenty of time for that. Aidan and I were covered in sand and got drenched in the small waves and had the best time!!

my grandaughter Finley was at the beach for the first time and wasn't shy about having the full experience. She 'ate' plenty of sand. She was not afraid of anything. I think she looked beautiful in her bathing suit and preppy hat!!

For more information about Corona del Mar click on it. One note on parking: the main beach is considered part of the state parks systems, but is operated by the city of Newport Beach. Discounts that one may possess for state parks are not honored.

George & Dora Hatch reunion!

I went to Arizona for Pioneer Celebration/Heritage and George P & Dora Palmer Hatch family reunion. It was a wonderful reunion planned by my cousin Jodi. She put in so much time and thought into everything and it showed, even though my pictures don't show all the fun that I had.

The reunion started on July 16th at 1:00 pm, Patti was only able to come for Thurs. so off we went with our parents for our own personal tour of Taylor and the surrounding areas in the morning. My mother was born in Taylor and spent many a year there. But she was funny and she said frequently "I don't remember that being there", well you moved over 60 years ago. I hope things have changed.This museum in the former general goods store of my great, great grandparents, Alma & Alzada Palmer. His original store was in Snowflake and later he purchased this building in Taylor for his store. Alma Z. Palmer was one of the very first settlers in this Northern Arizona area, and many of his descendants still live there.
His wife also has a very interesting history and story, here is a short read about Alzadas' history.
George P. and Dora Palmer Hatch are my Grandparents. They owned this store until my mother was 6 years old. They lost their business because of the generosity of my grandfather and giving many, many people (and family) in the town; credit. The people couldn't pay so the store was lost, (George burned the very large stack of credit receipts so no one would know who owed him and be embarrassed).
All of these Palmer/Hatch descendants had a store in this building for a while.

This is headstone of my Great Grandparents John & Jane Hatch (Mary Jane Standifird), George Phineous Hatchs' parents.
Here is the resting place of Katy Hatch (my Grandfather's sister), scroll down a little farther for more information about her and her short life. She is buried next to her parents in Taylor, Arizona cemetery.
Now I'm in Woodruff, Arizona in the small cemetery there. As you can tell it is a very desolate place. I think it was 110 degrees while I was there. Her husband and his other wives are buried in Utah, and she is here alone. The life of Alice Hanson Hatch link.
This is a picture of the damn in Woodruff as it stands today. Lorenzo Hill Hatch was called to Northern Arizona to colonize, and one of the first things that they did was to build a damn so that they could farm. The stones were huge, and the first three damns would wash out during the rainy season because of the great rainfall. This fourth one was built a little farther up the river and has stayed today. Amazing.
Here are my parents at the Woodruff damn, we spent the week together. I slipped back into the daughter roll and let them take me where they wanted (I played the part well, sitting in the back of the car with my ipod).
Jodi and her husband Keith arranged for us to go horseback riding while we were there, mine was a very short ride (I wasn't feeling well), but enough for a picture.
The next day we drove to Pine Top, AZ to go to the Katy memorial but first we stopped and had lunch together and told the story of her life (we were kicked off the land by an Indian Marshall even though we had a permit), but he guided us straight to the memorial that was on Indian land but we were allowed to be there.
The Katy story is a part of my history, I remember my mother telling me this story when I was young and I remember it being sad but oh, so intriguing, and then as an adult making me weep as I viewed this story as a mother. Grab a kleenex and read her story, told by Katy's sister who was 11 years old at the time. Here is a shorter version from the news paper if you would like a short read.
Everyone in this picture is one of the originals (my mom and her sisters), and then first cousins and their spouses. There was another pic took of everyone that came to the monument grandkids, great-grandkids, and so on, but too many people.
Here I am after shooing the little kids off the monument (there are three kids behind, they didn't want to leave). So many places I went, so many people I saw that I hadn't seen in a while. It was a great blessing to be able to go and share my genealogy with so many wonderful family that I love. Thanks for a great reunion at the land of my (part of)heritage.