Friday 5 fave..... cookies

Oh man, I love to EAT!
Cookies is this week's category and after much soul searching and sugar craving, I have opted for the following five.  I know a lot of what l like about these cookies are the memories involved, but I think that's half of the joy of eating.

Oatmeal Raisin-- This is one of Wayne's favorite cookies also.  When I want him to feel pampered, I make these.  None of our kids like raisins, so these cookies are just for Wayne, and me of course.  I love Grandma Butters recipe the best, no spices to mess it up...just a pure butter flavor.  She would make it with ground up raisins, so they were littered through out. I have a clear memory of  being a child, standing in her  swimming pool with chlorine water running down my face, munching on a warm oatmeal raisin cookie.  Delish.

Ginger Cream--I  rhapsodized about this cookie when we made it for Addison's wedding.  These are the softest ginger bread with a brown butter frosting.  My Grandma  Butters wanted to die with this cookie on her lips, almonds and strawberries clutched in one hand and a "sweet Aloha" ( diet Pepsi)-- in the other.  I I love this memory and the time I spent in Grandma Butter's kitchen learning all of the "tricks" to make this cookie just perfect.

German Chocolate Cookie-- Parson's Bakery makes this the best.  Think chocolate cookie with German chocolate nuts and coconut mixture on top...and a bit of extra chocolate frosting just to make sure you know it's really chocolatey.  I first had this at a speech and debate tournament 25 years ago, in the coach's room.  They must have been my fellow debate coach, Mr. B's fave as well, because he always got this cookie as a special treat for us.

Sugar Cookie with buttercream frosting or dipped in chocolate and on a stick-- I really like a good soft, sugar cookie with frosting.  I have a couple of recipes I like, including a pan cookie of Si Fosters.  My Sister Marcie always makes heart shaped sugar cookies on a stick for Valentines.  She dips them in chocolate and decorates them all up darling.  We look forward to and fight over  this sweet treat of love every year.  The  chocolate coating softens up the cookie and it's just mmmmmmm....goood.

Shortbread-- My Mom and Sister Liz have perfected this little button shaped cookie filled with butter and sugar.  Butter and sugar, the two best ingredients in the world!!!  Shortbreads  remind me of the Holidays and family.  These keep really well in a tin, so I can have melt in my mouth goodness for weeks.

Chocolate Chip --I couldn't leave this cookie out.  When this is made with a butter recipe and is loaded with semi sweet chips, and cooked in a convection oven, I am in my  bliss.  Si makes and takes these to Young Women's every time she teaches, and I WISH I was a Laurel again.  Mmmmmm.... I also like these cookies  with ice cream sandwiched in between.

Oct Goal: Creativity

What a week and what a month!  September soared by, but we "gathered" a lot, so I feel I atleast touched my goal. 

 Goal for October. To be more Artistic.  I am ready to unleash my creativity in many different ways.  Painting, crafting, mix media class, parties, costumes,  Blog look, Halloween.  

I am EXCITED!

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Other News:  Laila informed my Dad-- her Grandpa Lye-- that he isn't that old. " Just remember how Old Noah was when he built the Ark!"  This didn't necessarily make my dad feel better.
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I raced up to Park City to  sing the National Anthem  and "I am Proud to Be an American"  last Wednesday.  It was for the Hospital Volunteers Organization of Utah.  Many older volunteer type people filled the grand ballroom at the Marriott Hotel.  I seriously, ridiculously forgot all about this until it popped up on my computer screen with  a 15 minute advance notice.  Talk about frantic.  I had no music.  I hadn't practiced.  It hadn't crossed my mind. Good thing I had showered and dressed for the day or my franntic could have turned into an "I am sick, and I can't sing" experience.  As it was, I flew out of my house, missed the I-80 exchange, which added to my hectic, drove like a crazy person until my mom called me and said the event wasn't going to start til 4.  This helped me breathe easier.  I showed up, like I had prepared all along.  Sang acapella  like I had planned to all along.  And drove back down the mountain.  The other upshot is.. I forgot all of my mom-after-school-driving responsibilities.  Oh well...Laila was ticked, Dallas was left...and I get a second chance to make this right, this Wednesday.
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I am enjoying thinking about and making my Friday Fave 5's........... Some lists are more difficult to whittle down than others, but it's a pretty good experience to put myself through each week.  I am going to try and do it til the end of the year.

Friday 5 fave......Cars

Today I will list my 5 favorite Cars!!!

1. Red
2. Yellow
3. Royal Blue
4. Pearly White
5. Green

I pretty much can't tell one car from the next, much to my husband's chagrin. Maybe I will do better with my favorite trucks  list ?

Saw this out in cyberspace today.....and LOVED it.  Had to share.

Tuesday Tidbits

We celebrated Dad's  80th Birthday on Sunday.  He is a wonderful, good, kind, handsome  Man.  These are just some of the attributes shared about him as we took our turns around the tables saying what we loved about Lyle.   We gathered for a family dinner of Swiss Steak, potatoes and squash, followed by Raspberry Trifle.  Just what dad ordered.  He fell down on Thursday and wrenched his good shoulder, probably a torn rotator cuff, he already had a bad shoulder.  Not fun.  So, he wasn't his usual jolly self, but he did enjoy the company and the gift. All of us wrote our testimonies down and put them in a COLE FAMILY TESTIMONY book just for him.  What else do you get an 80 year old?

Landon , Nelson, Aaron, Megan, Addison and Bre

Jenna, Becca, Hayden

Jordan, Laurie, Rachel, Anthony

Christine, Adam Sheri, Lyle

Angela and Guy

Al and Liz

Wayne, Melinda, Marcie

Marcie, Nelson, Gary

Angela, Dad, Megan, Rachel looking at Testimony Book

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Uncle Floyd Israelsen's funeral was on Saturday.  He was 92.  He was a Saint of a farmer and the Stake patriarch in Logan.  He gave 934 blessings.   His family did a great job honoring him. One of the messages that I keep thinking about was given by his son, Clark.  He said at his mom's funeral an older gentleman came up to him and said, "As good as your parents are, you really should have turned out better."  The man didn't laugh, just turned and walked away.  Clark was shocked, but he thought about it and realized the man was probably right.  Wow.   I know my parents are perfectly fabulous, and I want to try to turn out to be better.  More loving.  More kind.  More gentle. More inclusive.  More.
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Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on Forget Me Nots touched me and has stayed with me.  Part of this is because he is a  master speech writer.
1.  Forget Not  to be patient with your self.
2.  Forget Not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.
3.  Forget not to be HAPPY now.
4.  Forget not the WHY of the Gospel.
5.  Forget not that the LORD Loves YOU!
He uses sign posts, gives great examples and wraps up at the end with a review.
He would get an A in my  speech class.  I am really looking forward to Conference.
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Speaking of my class, a student from 1985 just sent me his first published book in the mail.  Rejiggering the Thingamajig and other stories.   Eric Stone is a science fiction writer who has received numerous awards.  He sent me a note along with the book thanking me for encouraging his creativity, and I am also listed in the book's acknowledgements.   It was so nice to unexpectedly receive this from him.
So many times as a teacher I wonder if I make any difference at all.
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Wayne and I have started eating "good" again.  We have to do something because the scale keeps going up.  We are at the nothing fits stage and look like sausages in the clothes that we put on every day.  Laila loves us just the way we are.  As we discuss new eating patterns and losing weight, she is always disgusted with us.  When I told her I would have to buy new clothes if I didn't lose some weight, she optimistically said, "maybe it's just a growth spurt!?!"

Friday 5 fave..........New Musicals

NEW MUSICALS  (in the last 30 years)


This list was equally difficult.  (All you theatre geeks out there, try this exercise.)  It is truly overwhelming to whittle the list down to only 5.  I had to tell myself that only 5 would fit in my "life boat" or my "handcart."... it was a silly notion, but it  helped my decisions.  I probably like all of these shows because I saw them on Broadway or with the original casts... and just relished the entire experience.

Again, in no particular order.......


1.  The Secret Garden is a musical based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The musical's book and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon. It premiered on Broadway in 1991.
I love this classic tale of a little girl with no parents who just wants to find her place.
Wayne took me to this with actor/singer Mandy Patinkin in the main part, in LA.  We were almost on the back row, yet the scenery and story were breathtaking.  When Mandy sang the duet of "Lilly's Eyes"....it was silent....then thunderous applause.

2. Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz: Elphaba, the misunderstood girl with emerald-green skin, and Galinda, later Glinda, the beautiful, ambitious and popular blonde.  IT debuted in 2003.
  I have seen this 3 times  ( NYC, NYC and San Fran)....and could see it again, and be equally satisfied. Any kind of injustice story tugs at my heart, plus the little twist at the end....priceless.  I love to crank up this sound track in my car and sing at the top of my lungs.

3.  Les Misérables  --translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.  The Muscial  was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird. The lyrics were written byHerbert Kretzmer and opened on Broadway in 1987.  
This is a  timeless story about the power of forgiveness and love. I listened to the  London cast soundtrack when it first came out over and over again.  My little boys favorite song was "Lovely Ladies."   I saw my first production with Wayne in NYC.  Fantastic.  The highschool has done the school edition of Les Mis twice, and even with student actors,  and a small orchestra I am moved.  
The 25th Anniversary edition was just on PBS...it was so fun to listen to, I even survived the token Jonas Brother.  At the encore  the four past/current Val Jeans sing, "Bring Him Home".........chills.   Ahhhhhhhh....now that's musical theatre.
You can click HERE to watch it.

4.  Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to make her comeback to the big screen. Romance and tragedy follow.  This opened on Broadway in 1994.    
 This is a total star vehicle female role....and the part of Norma Desmond is one I would love, love to play some day.  So meaty and filled with power vocals.   I saw this in LA with Glenn Close in the part.  We were on the 4th row, and actually got spit on by Ms. Close.  I didn't wash my arm for.....awhile.  She was very impressive.  I really love the Andrew Lloyd Webber music....so beautiful.

5.  The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score
We first saw this show with Standing room only tickets in NYC.  We stood in the back through the entire 2 hours with our friends the Fowers.  None of us even minded standing because the show was so fun, uplifting and contagious.  
This is a perfect show for me because of the narrator man in chair part.  He breaks the 4th wall and includes the audience throughout the show.    The Man in Chair says everything that I feel and love about Musical Theatre.  What I think in the dark prior to the opening curtain; how musical theatre transports me to a new place; how I identify with the characters and am interested in the actor's lives who play them; how musical theatre is an inclusive medium that brings people together.
  I saw a sub-standard production in West Yellowstone, and I still liked the show.........


Honorable Mention:    Stephen Sondheim's  INTO THE WOODS.... Brilliant.  Love the characters, the messages the amazing lyrics and fairytale quality.

Apple of My Eye

We had an "Apple of My Eye" family night.  It was a great recipe for fun!

Ingredients:
Attendees:  Grandma Welch, Holly, Grandma Sheri, Grandpa Lyle, Addison and Bre, Landon, Laila, Wayne and ME
Decorations:  Red and Green dishes, apples for the centerpiece and an "Apple of my Eye" banner.
Dinner:  Pork Chops and apple slices, baby green apples (Peas), Gma Welch potatoes, apple and feta salad.
Dessert;  Gma Sheri's Apple pie and ice cream
Lesson:  Wayne taught on the basics of the Gospel ...which is Love and Service.
Game:  Apples to Apples....Landon won, with Holly coming in 2nd.
Activity:  Bobbing for Apples and Dipping Carmel Apples. Mmmmmmmmm!

 "You are the Apple of my Eye......that's why I'll always be around."  Sung to Sunshine of my Life