A Splenda Diet

Amber and I have been doing pretty well on our diets. We have both plateaued near our low points, but we are not giving up.

The other day, Amber decided to make some brownies. She had been craving them all day long and so she scoured the internet for a magic recipe that would be sugar free. After about 20 minutes of the fruitless attempt, Amber resigned to going back to a traditional recipe.

However, not to totally wreck her carb-protein balance, Amber decided to halve the sugar requirements for the recipe and replace it with the sugar substitute, Splenda.

We all sat in the kitchen and eagerly awaited the soon to be finished brownies as the smell of the chocolate dish floated through the house.

When the time came to remove them from the oven, there was a gasp and a cry of despair from Amber's lips. The brownies were flat and hard. We tried the crisp oddity, but it just didn't do it for us - the taste just wasn't there.



Oh, well, I guess Splenda did its job, at the end of the day, we didn't eat any brownies!

Trip to Temple Square

We had stake conference this weekend. Amber, being the true Mother in Israel, suggested that we take advantage of the lack of many Sunday meetings and take the kids up to Temple Square. Our kids have spent their entire lives in Provo, UT and have never visited temple square when there was good weather. We have only managed to take them to the Mormon Mecca during cold, stormy winter nights when they are too cold and tired to really care.

We spent all afternoon doing tours, watching little video clips, etc. The kids really enjoyed themselves.

Here are a few pictures of the activity.

Here are the kids taking a brief break for a quick snack of cheese and crackers.

These last two pictures are of the kids at the Christus statue.

Just to keep everyone informed.

I called Evelyn this morning and she said that....................

Kandace & Troy's little boy Chase (3 yrs. old) has been very sick with a temp. of 104 1/2 and vomiting and extreme pain, He has strep throat and blood in his urine.
Kandace took him to the doctor and he said that Chase has kidney stones. They also figure that he has the same Kidney Disease that Troy has. It just makes me sick. Being such a little boy they can't give him any med's when he passes the stones, he just has to go through it.
Keep him in your prayers.

My Mother, Dorma Call wrote this down for me

Dear Jo

Briefly this is the way that I remember this.

My Uncle Fred Housley, (my mothers brother) and his wife Aunt Hazel were retired and they were going home for Christmas.

On their way, they were hit by (I believe) a Semi.

The ambulance came and the paramedics put Uncle Fred on a gurney and checked

him out to see if he was ok. He seemed fine.

He hadn't been told yet that Aunt Hazel had died.

They brought her up on a gurney next to Uncle Fred . Uncle Fred raised up on his elbow

and looked over to see how Aunt Hazel was doing.

They had her face covered up with a sheet and so, he laid back down and was dead.

A couple of weeks prior to this, Uncle Fred and Aunt Hazel were at Aunt Clarissa's and Uncle Fred said to her that they were going to go on a mission soon . They asked him when, where, and how. Did you get your call yet, And he said no, No one had asked them to go yet, but he knew they would be going soon.

After this incident took place They figured that this was the mission they were called on.

Special Dinner Guests

Last night, Amber got an email telling us that the Missionaries had a dinner appointment fall through and the ward was looking for someone willing to feed the missionaries on short notice. Amber volunteered.

Of course, having the missionaries over wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but at the last minute everything started going wrong. Around 3pm Jace started getting a fever and needed to be held every second.

Luckily, Amber had prepared a lasagna and all she had to do to put it in the oven. However, after waiting for the lasagna to cook, Amber realized that the oven element wasn't even on. The oven was on the fritz and the dinner was cooked. So, Amber had to run the pan to the neighbors for some serious cooking.

I got home right about five and went and grabbed the missionaries. Amber's quick thinking landed Jace in bed (and asleep) by the time dinner started, and a warm lasagna was retrieved from the neighbors. The missionaries didn't even know the difference!

On a similar note, one of the girls that Aylee has been working with for missionary work, is now getting baptized. She is a girl from school and Aylee's softball team from last year. Aylee invited her to our stake's Christmas fireside in December and also gave her a Book of Mormon. The baptism is scheduled for April 19th. Your prayers for the baptism would be welcome! We're excited that her friend is making this big decision.