Culture Club

We have had some great Culture Club activities these

last few months. Its been so great, learning new things

and having such a great time while doing so. We had a

chocolate night hosted by the Durtschies which was

amazing. Eric is in the chocolate business and taught us

a lot of what he knows about the origins and processing

of Cacao beans. He discussed all the positive effects of

eating chocolate (which was good to hear since I can

never help from eating as much as I do) and we had a

chocolate tasting. It was incredible to taste how chocolate

made from beans that were gown in different areas tasted

so different.

We then hand rolled truffles and made Reece's (excuse me

Reese's) peanut buttercups.

We learned some great tools to work chocolate with.

Never thought of using syringes.

Crystal was great at melting chocolate.... with her hands.

Another month we attended the art and soup celebration.

An event where all the restaurants in UT set up stalls and

pass out samples of their favorite soups off their menus.

Then there are local artists painting and auctioning off

their work. We enjoyed partaking in the tasty and visual

genius of others.

The thai stall won in best presentation but worst tasting soup.

My favorite soup was a tomato from Olios restaurant.

After having all those salty and savory soups I was longing

for something sweet, too bad many of the stalls just lured me

in with sweet-display-only decor. Good thing after the evening

of soup we went out for a late night run to get Passion Fruit

Iced Teas from Barns Noble.

Book Club

I have loved being in a book club. I have enjoyed expanding

my reading library, the mind opening discussions,

and making sweet and lasting friendships.

One book club that I happened to document was our

discussion of the book "Team of Rivals".

This book delves deeply into Abraham Lincoln's

life and political career before and after he was elected

president. The book also studies the lives and

personalities of Lincoln's running mates and those he

chose to put in his cabinet to work and council beside him.

This book is a monster, super long, intense vocabulary,

every sentence loaded with information. Kinda like reading

a textbook. The only way I was able to get through it was to

listen to a bulk of it on CD on my commutes to work. I learned

so much about how great a man Abraham Lincoln was, a unique

combination of strength and humility. I wouldn't have pick this

book up if it weren't for my book club, but Im glad that I did

and that my mind and understanding has been expanded

because of it. Thank you ladies.

I pulled out everything that I had that

was patriotic to decorate and make our meeting special.

they had a raffle and gave out way cool prizes. We had a

soup buffet, I made a spicy tomato. Sour cream and blue

chips made that all american too.

Easter

We had a great Easter & Conference Weekend.

It started out with us being spiritually fed with

the Saturday morning session of talks from leaders

of our faith. Then during lunch break a

quick and fun packed venture to Wheeler Farm.

We chased geese, rode ponies, and held bunnies.

The family was probably surprised that I didnt walk away

with one of these velveteen bunnies in my pocket.

I was in love.

Mom tried her first funnel cake, yum! Loved afternoon

session. Then we had Easter Traditions for the little ones.

Rice Crispy nests, decorated easter baskets, and egg hunt

(which ended up having to be in the living room as the

weather was wet and cold).

The next day I set up an egg dying station in which Kate and

I with a little help from the litte girls, dyed eggs while

listening to Sunday's conference talks. We tried

a few new techniques (which didnt work out so well so we

defaulted to the old favorite M.O.s)

I decorated the table for a real Easter dinner. It was good

to end the day remembering what easter is really all

about. (but I did fold the napkins as bunnies though,

just wanted to try it)

Easter Lilies

Rosemary a symbol of remembrance.

Roses, Heather, and tulips.

I gave all the members in my family little booklets with

all the pearls of wisdom I had learned from my relief

society meeting whose theme was "Bloom where

you are planted": spiritual parallels with gardens.

Something I thought appropriate since during this time

we were celebrating first, a sacrifice

made for us in a garden, and second, an empty tomb

which was also.... in a garden.

Christ has risen.