Do I know you from somewhere?

Ever hear the words, "I feel like we should know each other?"
A coworker of mine (she is new at our school this year) said those very words to me recently.
Nope, we couldn't make any connections.
I figured it must be one of those "you just remind me of someone else" situations.
BUT...

A few days ago she happened to mention the word "Franklin".
My ears pricked right up. Did she mean the town of Franklin -in Idaho?

Well, to make a long story short-
we were both in the SAME second grade class.
We lived about five country miles apart.
(Her family moved away the next year and we lost touch.)

Doesn't it just make you wonder who else you might be connected to- but just don't realize!

P.S. Is it a good or bad thing to be recognized from memories when you were
a seven year old?

♥
JoAnn

Pulling Out The Fall Decorations...and Witches' Night Out

It's official....fall has finally arrived at our house!
This weekend we pulled out our fall/Halloween decorations.

Spooky!
(O.K., not really, but we do enjoy the atmosphere.)

This little witch is trying on my new hat for Witches' Night Out!

If you want to participate in Witches' Night Out at Gardner Village, keep Friday or Saturday evening open (the 16th or 17th), pull out your best little black dress, don your most fancy black hat, spruce up your best broom, and plan on mingling with the most assorted bunch of witches you might ever come across.
It is so fun to join with so many other witches!

Maybe we will see you there!
♥
JoAnn

Autumn's beauty and a little fun at a pumpkin patch...

I wish I could say I took these three pictures,
but
I "borrowed" them from Google clip art. (You might have seen them before.)

I wish I had taken the pictures because I think that the photographers did a great job
capturing the splendor of fall.

(I really wish I'd taken them JUST TO HAVE BEEN THERE!)

Wow!

I wish I'd taken these next two pictures, too.

Good job to the photographer (Lacey),

I WISH I HAD BEEN THERE, TOO!

(I "double borrowed" these pictures from Liz, who borrowed them from Lacey!)

Thanks!

I hope you are enjoying fall as much as I am!
♥
JoAnn

Fall tradition.....homemade doughnuts

One of our favorite fall traditions
is to make a batch of Doughnuts (Spud nuts).
They are a bit of work, but they turn out so yummy and they are as light as air.

Last year we enjoyed them at our Halloween party.

Here is the recipe:

Easy Doughnuts (Spud nuts)

1 3/4 cups milk, scalded (or hot water will do)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup shortening, melted in the warm milk or hot water
1/2 cup mashed potatoes or prepared instant
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well, being careful not to put yeast in the milk until it has cooled off.

Add:
6 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Mix well and knead lightly. Cover and let raise (about an hour?). Roll out about 1/2 inch thick on floured surface. Cut in doughnut shape (we always use a large cup and a tiny lid to a salt shaker, but you can use real doughnut cutters if you have them.) and let raise until double.
Deep fat fry. (We just put a few inches of oil in a large skillet or electric frying pan and cook one side and then flip over to cook the other side.)
Dip in glaze while warm.

Glaze:
1/2 package powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add enough hot water to make a rather thick glaze. Dip doughnuts while still warm. Use wooden spoon through the hole to let the glaze drip off.

Now we need to plan another Halloween party.
Last year we had a great one!
Who is ready to party?


♥
JoAnn

A birthday party and conference messages

This past weekend we celebrated our daughter

Michelle's birthday.
We had a nice family dinner and a quiet evening together.

Happy Birthday, Michelle! We love you!

*****
We also enjoyed watching General Conference on television.

WE LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

There were so many great messages, but I was touched by this quote from

President Thomas S. Monson.
(He was talking about a minister, a father of seven children, who always asked each one of his children this question at their nightly dinner table.)

"And what did you do for someone today?"

One of the young sons, Jack McConnel, grew up to become very involved in medicine, helping with discoveries for tuberculous tests, the polio vaccine, the discovery of Tylenol, and the MRI process. He was a great scientist, but his REAL joy was in humanitarian service.

Think how this attitude could change the world!

♥

JoAnn

Better Than Expected.....

My weekend has improved a bit since my last post.

My husband was able to fix the bed (whew!) with a little carpenter's glue and some screws.
And...
I got my storage room cleaned!
And...
We had a little birthday party tonight.

Happy Birthday, Michelle!

No, I didn't travel to any exotic places and I haven't made it out to lunch -yet- but I did relive some fun memories looking through my old Europe slides.

Footloose and fancy free- armed with our Eur-rail (no idea how to spell it) passes.



Having some fun in Monaco.


On top of the world with Amy and Fritz in Switzerland!
(Their daughter Monica was an exchange student at my parent's house.)


Exploring Stonehenge. Yes, Barbara, we got to wander all around the place. I understand that now it is fenced off.

Basking in the Italian sun in the beautiful city of Florence!


My only regret- being in such beautiful places with an old, cheap instamatic camera!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend, too!

♥
JoAnn

P.S. Yes, it is late, but I get to sleep in tomorrow!

(I was on a B.Y.U. semester abroad in Salzburg, Austria in 1972. What an amazing experience!)

Too many choices.....

(photo from Google.com)

I have a 4 day weekend ahead of me.
Good, right?

Then why am I having such a hard time getting anything done?

I started cleaning my bedroom, including washing my curtains, shining the windows, washing the sheets, and dusting behind the dressers, but I keep getting side tracked. I start one job and then another seems to pull me away.

The problem is that every job I start leads to 500 more:

Filing miscellaneous papers
Hemming some new pants
Writing a thank you note
Getting out my fall decorations
Cleaning up the mess from the "almost-dead" air conditioner
Pulling some weeds
Raking up crab apples
Sorting socks
ETC.

Some of my friends and family are using this time to travel and do something fun.
(Now I know why!)

I'll keep trying to accomplish something worthwhile today,
but if I keep hearing voices telling me to go to Hobby Lobby and then out to lunch
I may just have to stop and obey. (It is good to be obedient!)

♥
JoAnn

P.S. After I finished this post I went back to work with vigor and determination to accomplish something, but as I tried to pull the bed out away from the wall, I broke the foot board.
Now I know I need to stop and go play!!!!!