Tyson LOVES

Josh I knew you'd want to see this...they are marrying June 8th in the Salt Lake City Temple. Her name is Jessie Cordell and she's from Washington. What a GOOD boy! What a GOOD family. What a LUCKY girl!!!!!!

27 years MARRIED today...on the 27th (it's our MAGIC anniversary)

27 YEARS!!! It's still strange to think I've been married way LONGER than I ever lived in my childhood home...hmmmm. As you can see, when I returned from my run I found LOVE PILES of 27 all over the house...which was sweet...but what I loved MOST was Don's prayer before leaving where HE PRAYED that I would be successful in getting the POOL:) That is the LOVE I really appreciate. 27 years. So many life events shared. So much growing and changing. So many blessings and losses all mixed up together. So much communication practice. You'd think we'd be experts by now. Marriage is a MIRACLE. Thank You Don. I love you.

Letter from Josh 26 April 2010

hey family!

this week was good. mom said buru buru sounds exotic. butbesides the fact that its in kenya its not exotic. it is still part of the city, just not central city, more of the outskirts. its a cool place though. a lot of people live here, a lot. i use to think that it was an exageration when i heard people say theat nairobi has 4 million people in it. now that i actually serve here i have no problem believing it. there is this place in my area called pipeline and that place alone has hundreds of thousands. it probably a 2 mile radius of just big apartment buildings. which at home would have a lot of people. but here the people are renting one room apartments (not one bedroom, one room, for everything. there are shared bathrooms and bathing areas on every other floor). which means there are a lot more people per apartment building then there would be at home. that place is just one big maze. narrow roads with no real direction because somebody sold the plots in weird places so that there cannot be a proper road system by any means. half of the flats you couldn't even get to with a car. but nobody living there could afford a car anyways.

somebody asked me the other day what i miss the most. i said my family. then they asked what the next thing was. i said my friends. they asked what else i missed. i sat and thought, and said "i dont know, there use to be stuff but i either dont remember or dont care anymore". they said, what about the food? i thought again and said "well, the food at home is good, but i dont miss it cause i like the food here". i guess that's how you know you have been out for a while. dad said i am in the fourth quarter now. but that's not quite true. fourth quarter starts mothers day. mothers day (the ninth) is one day short of an exact six months from my fly home day and then the eleventh i would guess would be the release day. but to be honest. i am glad i still have another quarter. the sisters that i came with are going home. I'm glad i am still here though. there is still so much i feel i haven't done yet. sometimes when you have been in an area for a while you just kinda feel the end is near and then sure enough you get transferred. but the end doesn't seem near to me, it doesn't feel over yet. i still want to be here.

Moses is still doing good. we gave him a baptismal date for may 8. and then he will be confirmed on mothers day. i am excited for him. he is such a good kid and already has good friends in the church and a powerful testimony. about mothers day though. the cyber here has skype. i am not sure if i would be allowed to use it, but i have zone conference on thursday and will ask president about it then. but i would assume that if he says its ok then i would have to come on Monday to do that and not call on Sunday. i dont know which you would rather do, but let me know and i will let you know what president says as well.

anyways. i love you guys. i hope you have a wonderful week and that you all stay happy!
Love,
Elder Harris

Joshy Joshy Joshy Joshy Joshy!!!!

With Michael leaving we have thought of YOU even more!!! I am trying to console myself by thinking that when he gets back YOU will ALMOST be home!!! Jesse Hardman stayed the night last night as part of their "packing" party...he reminded us Mike gets home in September...it made us miss ALL of you.

The weeks are jammed full of good stuff and real stuff and we are definitely WORKING on life around here. Sam was the only one out of ALL of his friends not 16 and missed Prom last night. Even the movie and Cheesecake Factory were not a good consolation prize. He took it like a man though. Megan's job with BidSync is pretty precarious right now which makes her nervous, but her teaching LOVE is driving her towards more school and getting it all figured out. Michael is officially off for his adventure. Spencer fasted for a job last Sunday and on MONDAY, Randy Olsen called him and wanted to know if he would be willing to work for him!!! (I LOVE what a GOOD man and how IN TUNE Randy is). Then on Tuesday the Rec Center found an older application of his and wanted to know if he could start umping little league this week so he is thrilled. Me too!!! I asked him to please fast for the pool :). Pretty much everyone is trying to get HIM to put THEIR order in :) Makes me smile.

We are getting into the thick of camp preparations. I like camp, but I really am so clear on the NOT LIKING all the meetings. Another one tonight. Its work to teach kids how to lead and be responsible. Except for with you...you just CAME here with those skills.

Buru Buru just SOUNDS exotic. I love to hear that you are happy. It makes me HAPPY. Tell your companion that he is with one of my most prized relationships and he'd best take care of you well. And you are with one of HIS MOTHER'S most prized relationships so do the favor back.

It's weird. Dad is at church. Michael is GONE. Megan is at her house. The boys are at the golf course even in all this wind (the SUN is shining)...and I am ALONE in the house with just you and the computer. I LIKE it. I LIKE YOU!!!! We miss you. Hope all is well. NO, I hope all is WONDERFUL and NEVER BEEN BETTER in your whole life. Let me know how it really is. I'm a waiting.....
Mom
XXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXX

I AGREE with America!

As a GOODBYE get together with all of us (except of course YOU, Josh) we were going to the ZOO and cheesecake factory for dinner. When we got to the Zoo it was unbelievable the amount of cars and people there...literally NO PLACE to park. So we went for plan 2 and went to see HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON...the messages were MANY and SWEET and EASY to "get" about loving and accepting and being who you really are. I was charmed by a cartoon film and that rarely happens. I LOVE that we LOVE to be together. Dinner of course was scrumptious. It was Michael's birthday dinner early since he won't be here in July.

GONE again...

Don't they look like BABIES???? 22 years old and off to Alaska for a summer of adventure and money making. They won't be back until the end of August. They were up most the night packing and then headed out at 9 this morning. One day I am going to get use to this independent adult children stuff. I am getting better. I didn't throw a NO YOU ARE NOT GOING fit. At least I didn't do it OUT LOUD to ANYONE.

The bottom picture i couldn't help but take...Spencer was out there too but came in just as I got the camera...but they were outside "playing" together. Yea, I love that.

Stake Camp First Aid Clinic

I love young women!!! But first let me say how much I ADMIRE Angie Wood. When the earthquake hits here I hope she is in charge. She can organize chaos like no one I've seen. Angie is a nurse in our stake (Expanded Geographic Neighborhood/about a 3 mile radius?--for those not familiar with Mormon terminology). Over 200 of our 12-18 year old girls who live in our Stake go to camp each year and certify in MANY things, but one being FIRST AIDE. Because their certification in First AIDE is SO HUGE and overwhelming, we hold this Clinic one Saturday before Camp to help the girls get as much of their stuff passed off as possible. It is intense. It is ALOT of information. It is ALOT of work. AND THANK YOU ANGIE...it was FUN!!!! I could have taken a gazillion pictures. The looks of disgust or fascination at the amputation posters pretty much divided us into who we are and what we will do when we grow up!! We started at 8:30 and were done by 1---with many thanks to the older girls who helped so brilliantly. True confession. I didn't want to go. I am SO NOT about blood and guts much less talking about it with young girls. But I am strange. It reminded me of traffic school. I NEVER want to go...but I always end up with this sensation of gratitude for the reminder of the knowledge out there and the realization that if faced with it I can make choices to make any situation BETTER. Angie...you did an AMAZING job. THANK YOU. Girlies, you always make me laugh...and grateful that I never have to do 12-18 again!!!!

SNAKES in my yard, in my rocks, in my flower beds.....

Tuesday I just delcared a ME afternoon when I realized the weather forecast for the rest of the week. I went straight to the yard and was on my way up the hill when snake #1 scared me...In the next hour I went through 6 snakes...screaming each time being so started. These were not BABY snakes, they had a good size on them. I couldn't help but think that even though I can't bear to kill them, if I don't start trying to get rid of SOME of them I will be over run in a few summers. Then I started wondering what they eat....



Being no lover of mice, and KNOWING of their existence in the chicken coop and back shed, I decided I can scream many times in fright (burn a few calories?) if they will just keep those mice under control.

Then I started wondering about the literalness of my seeing so many snakes in ONE short period of time and wondering what snakes symbolize. We all know the bad wrap they get from the whole deceit in the garden of Eden thing, but what really resonated with me was the symbolic meaning I had just learned about a few days before:
The Snake primarily represents rebirth, death and mortality, due to its casting of its skin and being symbolically "reborn".

I really like this...it just felt right when I am sitting in the middle of a thousand new ideas that are so different from the ones I have lived with so far. Ideas that make me itch to shed the old and move on and out of the OLD SKIN with a shiny new one. It is hard to explain how thrilled I am now that I got to see all these snakes. And now to laugh at how scared I was each time...just like my initial reaction to some of my new thoughts!!!

Now HOW ABOUT these gorgeous "tomatoe soup" coneflower plants???? I would have created them too...I was one happy girl to find these...NOT TO PAY THE PRICE THEY WANTED...but I did. And now I have a corner where we will begin the love and care of them until they reproduce and reproduce until I can have a whole mess of them shining in all their deep red glory.

My BUZZ for the week

So Tuesday I was frustrated with the weather---the continued rain/snow/cold forecast. I was sad that it would be so late in the season before I could start my Zinnias....when low and behold....an epiphany in WALMART!!!! It actually started the day before when I was visiting a new friend and she had used these to start her tomatoes. THEN I ran into them in Walmart and KNEW the coincidence was more than coincidence. AND THEY ARE SO COOL...you just add water and they poof all up! I want to create something this cool and leave it with the planet for after I've left...who was this person who figured this out? Whoever you are...I LOVE YOU! And I loved the process...I can't get enough of those KINDERGARTEN delights!!! Remember when you were in Kindergarten and the teacher brought out the fingerpaints and you just could not get over that they were going to LET YOU do that??? And then the thrill of your fingers and hands all soft and slippery with color and when YOU mixed the colors you realize that ALL of the colors would blend into new ones you hadn't really thought about or seen? JOY! Or when they brought out the GLUE and the kleenex's and you created this Easter Creation and had no idea that sticking things together could be SO WONDERFUL!!! I STILL like sticking things together...material, people, food, soil and seeds.......Yea, just saying. THANK YOU HEAVENLY PARENTS. So glad to be here.
My favorite thought for the week came from an energy healer named Caroline Myss "Our PURPOSE in life is to learn to manage the POWER of creation". I have chewed on this truth rather vigorously and must admit, I LOVE remembering it, and I am a much happier camper when I am creating on purpose.
Who could not delight in helping Zinnias to come forth in to the world? Especially when someone ahead of me created these magical little POOF POTS that work the magic of bursting life from the seeds?.

Letter from Josh 19 April 2010

THE TOP 2 PICTURES are in Buru Buru from off the net....

Hey family!

so this week i was transferred. i was pretty surprised by it but i am happy about it as well. i am now with elder Lemma from Ethiopia. i was around him at the very beginning of my mission and also in Mombasa so we know each other already and are having a great time together now. i am still in nairobi but my area is a lot less of the main town then before. it is called the buru-buru area. the members in this ward are very active and love to help with the work. it makes the work sooooooooooo much easier. we have a good number of investigators here that i am still trying to get to know, but here we do spend a lot of our day teaching where my last area was a lot of finding. teaching is ten thousand times better. I think i already like this area better than the last. upper-hill was good cause i worked hard and kept busy doing the things missionaries are suppose to be doing but here we get to teach, A LOT!

i got the news that the package arrived but i haven't got it yet. we are farther from the office here and the assistants said they could bring it during the week so i didn't want to take the time to go all the way to the office and back. but i am very excited for it.

Mike, have fun in Alaska. Mom, dont freak out, he will be ok, he will come home safely. he has to. cause he has to be there when i get off the plane in November. everybody does. so everybody will still be alive and safe then. Dad, thanks for getting the information on the colleges for me. as you know i dont really have much time on mondays so it would be great if you guys could apply.
this week we were able to teach a guy named Moses. he is an amazing investigator. most people here dont read the book of Mormon the first time you ask them too and then when we ask specific questions about the reading assignment on our second visit they get embarrassed since they always say that they did read and from then on they will skim the chapter a few minutes before you get there so that they can say a few things and then tell you that the english is difficult so they didnt understand the rest. but not him. he not only read the chapter but also all of first nephi and most of second nephi. our appointments were only three days apart. he said after he read the chapter we left with him he prayed to know if it was true. he said he sat and waited for some sort of answer and then decided just to start from the beginning while he waited for an answer. He said that by the time he went to bed that night he wasn't sure exactly how he knew, but that he knew the book was true. so the next two days he read as much as he could. this guy is awesome. we will be meeting with him again on Wednesday.

i love you guys and i hope you all have a wonderful week.
Elder Harris

Another Sunday Lovin' and Missing Josh...WEEK 76

Hey Lovey!!!
FINALLY the weather has turned beautiful and Utah is having Spring. I can hardly keep my fingers out of the dirt. So many beds to weed. Weird how when you are a child it is torture to weed but when you are an adult it is sweet medicine to the soul. My "I LOVE YOU" Iris are starting to come up and soon I'll know what colors they are!!! The Holly hocks and black eyed susan's are poking up their green leaves. A FEW tulips survived the deer and are randomly flowering across the yard. The trees are in blossom. Next Spring you will be HOME:) We can take our Zyrtec together:).

Michelle and Bronson came for dinner tonight. (Empanadas and brownie Sunday's---I made homemade Oreo's last night, but I should have known better...there weren't any left by 3 this afternoon) It had been too long since we'd been with them...I was so sad Robert didn't come. I guess he pierced his ears and was embarrassed for us to see. It mostly makes me sad that he doesn't know that we love him more than that. I'm going to have to work on loving him harder so he REALLY KNOWS. Michelle said she told him that now that he's 18 if he is ever in jail not to call her...I told her to tell him he can call ME. Growing up is hard to do. Growing OLD is hard to do...GROWING IS HARD WORK!!! It makes me smile too...when he's older he'll understand that EVERYONE was young once and made decisions other people aren't so crazy about. He's already got his physical man on, now he's putting on his mental and emotional man. He has the PERFECT MOM for that even though she doesn't think she is....YOU HEAR ME MICHELLE??? YOU ARE THE PERFECT MOM FOR HIM!!!!

Miss Utah, yep...Miss Merrifield is speaking at the Stake Youth Fireside tonight. Dad is there of course. Michael and Alec Smith just left to go test drive Alec's new car. Megan is in Vegas YET AGAIN--same friends as last week! Spencer is in the hot tub, Sam is sleeping...and its just you and me right now. HOW ARE YOU?? I saw Diana in Primary today and she said Greg is a little nervous to be the "first" one home without any of the rest of you. Hopefully he'll find a job pretty quick and get busy. If I know Greg he'll come up with a plan to single handedly turn the whole economy around. I am so ready to have that booming voice in MY HOUSE!!! It will mean that yours is not far behind.

Work is good. Weird that Spencer will graduate. He has had a heck of a time finding a job. He fasted today for one...all on his own. Please pray that his prayer is answered quickly. His friends are feeling the imminence of everyone moving on--they are hanging out together every minute they have. It's sweet. I will be heart broken to see yet another set of friends disappear from our lives for 2 years once the calls start. Jeff Harris will leave in July. He should be getting his call SOON. Ray Nelson was just called to Stockholm, Sweden so hopefully he'll get to know Dave and Nathaniel Olsen...

Don't know if you've heard about the ash from the volcano erupting in Iceland...it has paralyzed the London airport. Matt Peterson will have been stuck there a week maybe more before getting out....several missionaries aren't able to make it all the way HOME waiting for things to get figured out....I agree with Matt...he wrote in an email...last I knew planes could TURN...surely they could figure out a different route in less than a week's time. But you never know what will get in your way sometimes. Life can be funny.

I love you. Yep...even more than the ribs that you ate that made you SO HAPPY that made ME SO HAPPY that YOU were SO HAPPY!!!! Have a lovely week. Hope all goes as you hope with the work. Spread that love....
MOM XXOOXXOOXXOOXXOOXXOO

The DREAM

So it's no secret that I have always wanted a pool. Not just kind of wanted one...the REALLY REALLY wanted one type of wanting. Maybe its because I was born Pisces with my rising sign as Cancer (another Water Sign). Maybe its because I was raised in Florida around SO MUCH WATER. Maybe its because my folks built a pool when I was 13 and it became my Sanctuary-- the one thing that got me through the teenage years of living so far away from everyone and gave such sweet relief from the Florida heat when we had no air conditioning. Maybe it is because sometimes I have this recurring dream where I am completely submerged in our pool at home looking up at the sun rays shining down through the water---you would think I would wake happy because I am waking from complete BLISS, but instead I wake frustrated that it isn't really happening, it's always the middle of the night and I want to quickly go back to sleep and be there some more---but somehow I never get back again that same night. I must have really liked the womb.
It's not the same at other people's pools. You can't just go slip in when it FEELS like a good time. There are always other people around. And I do live in Utah, so not so many people would take too kindly to the whole skinny dipping thing...I think you have to be a Southerner. And the whole night swimming thing. Absolute relaxation. So, I am 47 and this dream hasn't gone away. I tried to "get real" with myself several times with the logic the kids are almost gone...to which I respond "YES!! They ARE!!! ALL THE MORE REASON...the pool will bring them and my grandbabies BACK,... and I LIKE to be in a pool ALONE!---IT could be my PRIZE for having to let the kids grow up and go! I tried the "there are so many other places for this money to go"...and that worked for all the time up until now. I tried the "a pool is just a THING", there are starving needy people all over the planet, what if you couldn't afford to maintain it?, it would be a liability....I could go on. BUT I'M NOT GONNA!!!
I am declaring to the UNIVERSE and you, that I am going to build a pool. I surrender, with absolute JOY and SOUL DEEP THRILLING that I am. I should have taken a picture of Craig, the pool guy. He even came to my house on Wednesday. HE CAME TO MY HOUSE!!!! Don went with me to meet him in South Jordan so he could show me the one like I was wanting (Don took a picture of me in front of it)...20 X 50 with the baby splash area that fits an umbrella into it and one side with a lane for laps, and the TURBO SLIDE that those yet to come Grandbabies are gonna squeal over...maybe me too! I know the economy isn't the best its ever been. I know I am starting with$XXXX and it is not enough to pay for it yet. But it will come. From now on, just like taxes, tithing and all the other monthly stuff...there will be a chunk set aside for THE POOL. Yes, for ME. There. It is declared. If you would like to contribute feel free. Oh, feel SO free. Anyone who contributes get to share it with me. Hey...maybe I could even do those cement name blocks with your name on it around the pool...now that would be love remembered!!! I am trying not to feel sad thinking how much closer I would be if I didn't have all those Canada trips...but maybe Canada will just have to come to me. It makes me feel giddy just thinking about it. It makes me want to have longer work days to help realize it faster. It makes the WHOLE work thing feel so DIFFERENT from before--like PLAY!!! Yeah...that's it...like PLAY!! And I want to WIN!!! Just to be clear. I really am doing it. Yep. Even if something comes up that needs a chunk(BECAUSE SOMETHING DOES ALWAYS COME UP)!!!......so when it does, the answer is NOPE, NO, NYET, NO, But thanks for asking anyway...NO NO NO...because the amazing POOL is going to come.

Happiness is...Getting your War medals replaced

Grandad has lamented the loss of his war medals for years. The legion in Brussels helped him to get them reissued. Here he is Easter Morning wearing them on his way to a service. He said" I never thought I'd ever see these or the like again...I'm grateful Baby, I'm grateful!" AND SO AM I to all who worked on helping him to get them. Thank you Brussels legion! He's losing weight huh?

Letter from Josh 12 April 2010

hey family!

before i forget to say it,dad dont send the confernce outline thing. by the time it gets here we will have the ensign with the full version of all the talks.
anyways, this week has been good. nothing too new really. on thursday my companion and i went to an all you can eat ribs restoraunt and it was glorious. i ate 15 half-racks mashed potaoes and onion rings. needless to say i was stuffed. it hurt to walk the rest of the night. and i was only two half racks short of the record. i was angry at myself for not getting the record. . . maybe next time.
the work is going well. we have a baptism coming up at the end of the month and i am really excited for it. her name is Majuma. during the week she had her old pastor come and talk to her and tell her a bunch f rediculous stuff about the church. i guess he had a whole slide shpw presentation for her. on one of the slides he had a picture of the baptismal font in the temple and then told her that we go in circles around it dancing and at the end we sacrifice somebody by drowning them in the font. she said up to that point she was getting confused, but when he said that she started laughing because it sounded so stupid to her, which made the pastor really angry, and then she asked the pastor to leave because she only had time to listen to the truth. shes awesome. i guess her daughter was there while the pastor gave the presentation and they both couldnt stop giggling while they told us some of the stuff he said.
i realy enjoyed geting letters from mike and meg this week. i like knowing what my family is up too. megan isnt so bad, but my other siblings need some help. i amhappy to see that mike has started repenting.
mom, i dont know if you have done anyting with my college stuff, and i knowits really not fair to have you doing it but i dont know how to do it from here and i dont want to have to miss that semester when i get home. sorry for the inconvenience, i know its a lot of tedious type of things, but i wouldreally apreciate it.
i love you all sooooooooo much. and i miss you too. i hope you are having a wonderfull time at home with all of your various activities. i know the church is true and i know that god loves each and every one of us. i know that christ suffered and died for ME and for YOU so that we could have the opportunity to repent and go back and live with him andour heavenly father after this life. i love you. more than that all you can eat rib place. have an awesome week!

Love,
Elder Harris

Dear Josh...

I love you. Twice this week I have been startled by Sam out of the corner of my eye thinking HE was YOU...he had on the ALMOST HANDSOME T-shirt the first time...anyway...it made us ALL really really miss you this week.

I found out today that Greg comes home June 4th. June 4th. He IS COMING HOME. That gives my heart hope. Whenever you get a release date I'd love to know. James Gardner is June 8th. Poor Clayton...he will be thrilled to have SOMEONE home.

I had a busy busy work week and that is GOOD. I'll have another this week. Michael leaves on the 22nd...he's not here very much so it won't be as traumatic for me as the other times he's left. Spencer graduates on the 27th of May and is in diligent job seeking mode. The DAY of sunshine we had was windy and SO nippy...but he was at the course! Sam is up to his eyeballs in baseball and will be for a few weeks still. They both have been glued to THE MASTER's on TV...Phil Mickelson won. Tiger came in 4th. The boys and Dad went skiing on Saturday...Dad was pleased because he never fell down...I was pleased because I didn't have to go:) I just worked and didn't have to feel guilty about it with no one home. Megan went to Vegas again with a group of friends for another friend's wedding...she left Thursday and got back tonight. She saw a Cirq de So-lei show and loved it. They all crammed into one room at Tuscany Suites. Guys and Girls. One bathroom...I personally would have paid the extra money for another bathroom.

The deer have eaten my tulips...AGAIN. I am having unloving feelings about them AGAIN.
2 new houses in the Ivory Homes development have started...it won't look the same when you get back. Great families have been moving in. Karie, Kimmie and I had a girls night out on Thursday and went to 2 movies and dinner...even though neither movie was great, it was FUN just to be together and be out. Kimmie is still as beautiful as ever, and Karie is still one of my BESTEST'S!!!! The house has been rocking for Spring Break. Most families didn't go anywhere with the economy the way it is. I was grateful...but we went through a boat load of food...and you should have SEEN the basement before Spencer cleaned it on Saturday...I was pretty much horrified for ANY female to go down there...poker chips, dirty clothes, popcorn, pop cans, fast food wrappers, cards, DVD's...you name it...it was EVERYWHERE. I'm ready for a REAL week tomorrow.

I 'm READY for a message from you. Did you get your package yet?
I love you!!!! Maybe I'll get to dream about you tonight....
MOM XXXOOOOOXXXOOOOOOOOOOOXXXXOOOOOOXXXXXOOOOXXXXXX

Birthday stuff I didn't write about...

HOW CUTE is this apron? You know how often I have an apron on...I acutally feel pretty in this one! Almost hate to get it covered in food prep or cleaning stuff.
And this cookbook...Kim Bartlette, LOVE YOU WOMAN!!!! See all the yellow post its?? Those are the GOTTA TRY SOON Tabs...so, we're gonna have a COOKIE party women...just borrow the book to choose which recipe you want to bring and let me know....I have the best life!!!

Talapia Recipe for Kim....

and for anyone else who wants the BEST darn fish they've ever made at home...or had out for that matter...and I got the recipe off the net...I am pretty much LOVING the recipes on the net...just make sure you type in BEST EVER before what it is you want and then go with the one that has the most stars!!!! What I like about this recipe is that I can double the spread and keep it in the frig for a week or so for a quick fix lunch or dinner. I use the frozen Talapia steaks from Costco...but Spencer won't eat the fish so for him I just put it on a chicken breast that I have precooked/grilled.

BEST EVER BROILED TiLAPIA PARMESAN!!!!
Prep time: 5 minutes/ Cook time 10 minutes? Ready in 15 minutes...I SWEAR This is TRUE!!!!
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 TBLSP Mayonaise
2 TBLSP fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 tsp onion pwd
1/8 tsp celery salt
2 pounds tilapia

Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
In a small bowl mix all above ingredients well and set aside.
Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil again another 2-3 minutes.
Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2-3 more minutes or until the topping is browned and the fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to overcook the fish.

Some new FAVORITE eats!!!

Dr. Bean's PUMPERNICKLE BREAD RECIPE like unto CHEESECAKE FACTORY

1 1/8 cup water
1 1/2 TBLSP vegetable oil
1/3 cup Molasses
3 TBLSP Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsps yeast
1 TBLSP dough enhancer (I didn't have this and it worked just fine!)
I wanted to make sure it was sweet like the restaurant so I added 1/2 cup sugar....and yeah...just do it! Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
You are SO gonna LOVE ME!!!

Have you ever had that AMAZING pumpernickel bread at Cheesecake Factory? I had never had pumpernickel before and if I hadn't of tried it I would not have believed how YUMMY it is...so, I went on a search for a recipe, and low and behold...my EYE doctor gave me this tried and true recipe and now I know WHY it is SO YUMMY!!! Who KNEW that they put Cocoa and Molasses in BREAD??? I made this tonight to go with our steaks and YES...it is a MUST have in your recipe box!!! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

A favorite Primary Idea...

This year when the Primary kids have their birthdays we give them a gift certificate that can only be redeemed by shaking the Bishop's hand...then he lets them choose from the BIG CANDY BAR BIRTHDAY box...so this week I took a picture of the Twins, Sierra and Sam and Malania too, redeeming their birthday "coupons"... if any of YOU have great Primary Ideas, I 'd love to hear them:)

Spring "Break"....pun intended...

Even though it was Spring Break for us this last week...Sam had ball games so we didn't go anywhere, and Monday and Tuesday we had SNOW...but finally we got a game in and Dad parked in the WRONG spot!!! He gets his new windshield tomorrow. It's funny because we HEARD it happen and everyone said "Ohhhhh, that did NOT sound good"...nope, pretty impressive LOOKING though!!!

Prom asking...

One day I really will learn how to load the photos so they come out in the right order. The bottom pic is how Spencer asked Amy to prom, and then obviously this was her answer. This chick is so darn ADORABLE!!! The only problem is that it is lonely--but I can't put it in with my grown hens cuz they'll kill her....anyone got some nearly day olds I could put this one in with???Right now she is pecking and walking all over my keyboard and shes not heavy enough to even make the keys go down. She likes company. She's quiet if you hold her...but if you put her in the box she will not quiet with her chirping. When I set her in my lap so I can type she flies up to the desk...just makes you wonder how they just KNOW how to fly ....what kind of things did I come here just "knowing"? Spencer and Amy are creative and cute.

Letter from Josh 5 April 2010

hey everybody!

well, i am super jealous that you all got to watch conference. they still don't broadcast it to Kenya so this is the third one that i haven't been able to see at all. it makes me excited for the ensign, which i never was at home since i had already heard everything, but i still wish i could watch it.
this week was good. we were able to get into a few more houses this week since it was the Easter holidays. partially because people were actually home and partially because they felt worse about turning us away. it was nice to be able to teach more and we found some really good people. i am excited to follow up with them.
mike, you so have to hook me up with that cruise when i get home. and have fun driving those coaches. i'm just glad its not me. i hate driving, especially big cars (i'm a lot like mom in that way), and that thing is huge!
I cant believe there is still so much snow everywhere. i almost forget what snow is being here. but i am stoked to go play in it again.
This week was kinda uneventful i guess cause i cant think of anything else to say. i am happy here though. it has been a really fun transfer and it is almost over. this is the last week and then we will get transfer news again, but i don't think anything will change. i love you all and i hope you have a great week!
Elder Harris

p.s. happy birthday Greg! i sent a letter the other day, i hope it gets there soon!

Happy Easter Josh!!!! XXOOXXOOXX

Look what we woke up to this morning!!!! The Easter Bunny had to move all the egg hunting inside I guess! We will have MORE SNOW tonight and Tuesday. I am working on being positive...so I guess it will be GREAT for the garden and flower beds???? I got some pics of us boy lovin' parents freezing our tosh's off...I just love that his guy brings his own propane heater. I may have to make a trip to Cabella's yet. I feel so bad for the boys not being able to wear their coats, jackets,...you know me. I'm still wierded out that you didn't take a sweater to Africa!!!

Conference was sweet. So nice to have a day to just hang in our jammies. I did the traditional srawberry and cream waffles for breakfast...the smell of bacon had everyone up and if front of the TV by 10 for the start. I wondered WHERE you were and what parts you got to watch if any...such a long time difference!!

Most of our week was baseball and work and Conference. I'm sorry I don't have anything exciting to report. I hot tubbed everyday and the whole meditating thing is finally going great. I ran alot of miles. The boys are so happy to have Spring break, but I think they will have to ski if they do anything recreational. Sam has a few games so there was no chance of going anywhere.
Michael just broke the news to us that if he works the whole summer he gets 1/2 off any Princess line cruise for himself and 3 others....how cool is that!? I think he might get you hooked up when you are home!!!!

I love you more than the hot chocolate from Walkers after the 2 1/2 hour baseball game in the 20's with wind. I love you more than snuggling into my electric blanket, I love you more than any book written by Sarah Addison Allen ( and I LOVE her books)..... I just LOVE YOU love bug!!!!!
Mom XXXOOOXXXOOOXXX