Cherish Each Moment

After the shock, horror, and grief all of us felt over the events of this past week, I began to look for the blessings they brought into my life and the lives of those around me.

Our daughter-in-law squeezed her first-grader’s hand and gave her an extra hug and kiss as she walked her into school. “I’m so grateful that my children are well and alive, and my heart is broken for those who have lost loved ones,” she said.

Here's the Deseret News Review of the John Taylor Book.

"TEXTING THROUGH TIME: John Taylor and the Mystery Puzzle," by Christy Monson, Bonneville Books, $12.99, 176 pages (f) (ages 8 and up)

A new book by Christy Monson is a wonderful piece of fiction for young children. “Texting through Time: John Taylor and the Mystery Puzzle” is also a useful tool for parents who want to teach their youngsters about the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the sacrifices of the early Mormon pioneers.

Alicia and Micah are young children with a fascination for church history. Their father recently developed a cell phone that allows people to travel through time. The children have already used this tool to visit Brigham Young in the first book it the series, and they tell their father they would like to use the phone this time to visit the prophet and third president of the LDS Church, President John Taylor.

Their father is skeptical at first because he has learned of a few glitches the phone has. He tells his kids he will go with them. But when the phone is activated, it only takes Alicia and Micah to England, the place where John Taylor was born.

Alicia and Micah meet John Taylor as a child. After playing war games with him and his friends, Alicia and Micah decide they should go home and see their father. The phone will not transport the children back home, however, until they finish a puzzle.

The puzzle makes the children travel throughout the entirety of President Taylor’s life. They go with him to Canada where he was a Methodist preacher. They also go to Nauvoo, Ill., after he was shot in Carthage Jail.

The most poignant part of the book comes when President Taylor describes the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith to Micah and Alicia. Children reading the book will not only understand the gravity of the situation, but they will appreciate Joseph Smith and his sacrifices on a much higher level.

The combination of time travel, cell phones and church history makes this book appealing to young children.

Monson does an excellent job intertwining scriptures into the book as well. The scriptures are placed in such a context that children will be able to understand them easily.

Monson is also the author of “Texting Through Time: A Trek with Brigham Young.” Her works have been published in multiple church magazines, as well.

Shelby Scoffield has a bachelor's in English from Brigham Young University and a master's in rhetoric and composition from Stanislaus State University. She is currently working on her teaching credentials so she can teach high school English.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865568837/Book-review-Texting-through-Time-John-Taylor-and-the-Mystery-Puzzle-will-delight-young-readers.html

English Toffee, Quick and Easy

I have had over 3,000 views on this post, so I decided to show the entire picture process.

Toffee Recipe
2 squares better

1c. sugar

5 T. water

Vanilla

Stir well. Put on high heat and don’t turn the head down. It takes about 15 minutes to make it. (I’ve made it in my electric frying pan and it works well, but I really like it best cooked in my cast iron frying pan.) Cook until it starts to burn, stirring constantly, and then add a little vanilla. Pour on a marble slab. (If you don’t have a marble slab, pour it onto a cookie sheet. I set it on a bread board because the candy is so hot.) Before pouring onto marble you may spread broken pecans, walnuts or sliced coconut on the marble and pour toffee over it. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and spread when melted. After it cools, break it into pieces.

When you’ve made it a few times, you’ll be able to tell when it starts to burn. I tell by watching the bubbles as the candy cooks. When they begin to let off little puffs of smoke, it’s burning. You can also tell by the color. It needs to turn a caramel color.

Ingredients

Chop the nuts

Melt butter, sugar, and water

Cook for 10 - 15 minutes on high . . . 

until mixture caramelizes

Pour over nuts

Sprinkle Chocolate Chips

Spread and let cool

Break into pieces

Enjoy

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

When you cook with butter and sugar, you can never go wrong!
I took some of these bars to my book signings at Deseret Book in Ogden, and the Bear Lake Craft Fair. Everyone thought they were so good, they wanted the recipe. So, here it is.
They are so very easy to make. I always make a double recipe. You get a lot of dessert for a little amount of work. Just my style!

English Toffee

Toffee is one of my favorite holiday candies. I like to make it because it’s fast and easy. It’s also fail-proof once you know how to do it. You can make it with or without nuts, depending on your taste and allergies. I love it with sliced almonds, but my favorite is fresh chopped walnuts. We have a walnut tree in our back yard. (The squirrel and I have a contest each fall to see who gets the nuts. When I get there first, he scolds me soundly.)

Delivering Hope by Jennifer Ann Holt

What an inspiring book this is! I loved reading it.

Olivia and Michael are unable to have children. Through years of waiting, anticipation, hope and prayer, the fertility doctors finally tell them there is no chance of them getting pregnant.  Olivia has a difficult time accepting this path until she reads her Great Aunt Elizabeth’s journal and finds that this grand lady walked the same road with honor and dignity, giving love and service throughout her life.

Allison is a model young woman, active in the Church and a good student with plans to attend college after high school graduation. A night of poor decisions changes her life forever, and she finds herself in the Bishop’s office, telling him that she’s pregnant.

The author has skillfully presented all the obstacles that line the paths for each situation. Her understanding of the issues for both parties is presented with depth and insight.

As a retired Marriage and Family Therapist, I would love to have had this book for my couples who faced infertility as well as the young girls I worked with who found themselves pregnant. My hat is off to you, Jennifer. This is a well-written book. I give it a great recommendation.

Jennifer says:

“I am donating my royalties for books sold during November (excluding e-books) to the National Council For Adoption's The Hope Challenge project (www.thehopechallenge.org). My publisher has agreed to donate $1/book sold of their profits, and with the help of several other charitable foundations who will be matching these donations, $5 will be donated to this terrific cause for every copy of Delivering Hope that sells during November!”

Christy Monson, L.M.F.T., Retired.

"Jennifer Holt" <jenniferannholt@yahoo.com>,

Gratitude

“Gratitude is the twin sister of humility” James E. Talmage

And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers