What we have been doing this summer!

So we have been busy this summer. My sister and her kids were here for 2 months this summer, we have had a couple of parades, branch picnic, girls camp, a baptisim and swimming in the Delaware. We are getting ready for Youth conference this week. We get to go to Albany and it is with 3 stakes. I guess 180 kids are already registered so I think that everyone will have a great time.

Swimming in the Delaware wore us all out.

Brittany Roa's baptisim.

Port Jervis night out against crime. The band marched and there was a lot of free food and fun times. Kiley and Danny love to dance the EFY version of the Cotton Eye Joe and love to teach their friends.

Everyone always has a great time swimming in Grandmas pool.

I think Jackson is winning the race.

Even mom and dad are jumping in the pool!

The Monticello Young Women! Aren't they beautiful?

the 4th year girls after their service project.

umm, frozen grapes on a hot day!

Keith modeling the new purse I made.

Branch picinic water balloon toss.

Making our banner for girls camp.

Port Jervis Fireman's parade







Keith getting Kiley to not pout.

We played a lot of kick ball with the kids this summer. I love watching Blaize run. I think we all will fond memories of kick ball.

4th of July parade.

Jackson loved to hit people with the noodle!

Big changes in Monticello Branch!

There were a lot of changes in leadership in our branch yesterday. The Relief Society president, Young Women president, Primary president and the youth Sunday School teacher were all released. The new callings are as follows

Young Mens president - Lou Maldanado
Relief Society president - Holly Fuller
Young Womens president - Me (Becky)
Primary president - Cece Prange
Sunday School teacher - Lisa Banks

I was very surprised because I was just called as the Relief Society president in December. I am excited for my new calling but very nervous because I have never served in Young Womens before. Everything has changed since I was a kid. I guess that shows my age. I think that everyone is going to do a great job fulfilling their callings.
ps any ideas for yw activities send them my way please.

Word of the week

We are trying to broaden our vocabulary with the word of the week. We try and choose a word that is not normally used, and one that is fun to say. Try and work it in your conversations during the week. FYI the word we are using this week, someone in our branch used it twice yesterday.

PLETHORA- noun- 1st A very large amount or number of something especially an excessive amount.
2nd An excess of blood in part of the body especially in the facial veins causing a ruddy complexion.

There is a PLETHORA of words in the dictionary.

Have fun using this word remember to be gregarious when dropping these words around your friends and collegues.

Pizza Dough

I thought I would post our pizza dough recepie. Mostly so that if I am away from home and want to make homemade pizza I can find the recepie. This is an easy recepie and the kids love to design their own with toppings even their friends love this and that is nice when we are trying to save money.

PIZZA DOUGH

This makes 2 pizzas

2 Tbls of yeast
2 cups of warm water
5 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of sugar
4 Tbls of oil

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix all of the rest of the ingredients together. Let rise 1x, punch down and spread onto pizza pans. We spray a little pam so it is not quite so sticky. Then put on your sauce, cheese and toppings and bake at 450 - 500 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Let me know how your family likes this recepie.

Pictures

Kiley and the boys!

Kiley went to the Priest Laurel prom down in NJ.

Pictured is - Kiley, Connor, Adam, Isaiah, and Caulin.

This is Danny's OM team at States eating lunch at Friendly's. They had a great time and they placed 4th at states.

The above pictures are of Danny's OM team at states and the judges are asking them questions. The picture below is of our branch. The one of Danny is at the Tri state spelling bee.

Here are some pictures of Kiley and Danny's Odyssey of the mind teams.

This is Kiley's team working on spontaneous.

I have been sick and very busy at the same time. I think that what has happened in the last7 or 8 months has been Heavenly Father's way of saying SLOW DOWN. So a long story made kind of short is that I will be in the hospital every month for a few days receiving IVIG treatments and I also had a hysterectomy in May. I am feeling very good energy wise today except I am having a slight problem with one of my incisions, other than that I have not felt this good since September. I still get tired easily and I really want to start exercising but I am a little afraid. I am going to start walking just a little at a time and work my way into more time as I beginn to feel better. I have had a hard winter and new year but there is always someone out there in worse shape or having a more difficult time than I am.

I am very greatful for my wonderful family and that includes everyone! My doctors who I am very luck that they are the best and have not made any mistakes on me so far--woohoo! The Gospel of Jesus Christ that gives me hope that I can return and live with my Father in Heaven again.

That being said I have a few pictures that I thought you might enjoy. I am not very good with my camera indoors yet. I always seem to get blury pictures. I think I am on the lookout for a new digital so any suggestions of ones that work would be appreciated. I love a big optic zoom and slim features of the one that I have but it is very hard to get a clear picture. So I apologize for any blury pictures that you have to look at.

Word of the Week

We are starting a word of the week. Every week there will be a new word up on the blog. We want to see how you use the word during the week and how many times you end up using it.

gregarious - adj. 1. very friendly and sociable
2. used to describe organisms that live in groups
3. used to describe plants that grow in clusters

I met a very gregarious little girl the other day.

NYSSMA

Hey guys,
It's Kiley. I got to go to NYSSMA this past Saturday on a level six vocal piece. I tried for All State. I got a 96 on the piece, which was in Italian. I'm eligible for All State, which is good. I had a really good time. It was a really good experience. Just to see how many kids came to try out with their voices or their instruments was just amazing. I heard some of them warming up and could tell they put a lot of time and effort into their pieces. It was my first time ever going and I went straight for the level 6. It was really fun and I plan to go again next year.

bears and bunnies

Well I have been busy! I have made some stuffed bears and bunnies and I am trying to sell them online. Gina told me about a place called http://www.etsy.com/ where you can list your homemade items and people will buy them. It is not an auction. I am excited to see if anything I list will sell. I am hoping to keep the stuffed animals on there and then maybe some baby blankets and burp cloths and I also plan on having cards on there. My username is beckyboutique, so check it out and let me know what you think.

Keith is still out in UT working. I am hoping that he will be home before April 4th which is when Danny goes to states with his Odyssey of the Mind team.

Nerd Alert! We are so excited for our nerd Danny! He is in the Tri state spelling bee this weekned. If he does well he says that he will then go to nationals in Washington D.C. I'm not sure if that is true or not but we will keep you posted.

Kiley is keeping busy with the usual teenager stuff. School, looking for a job, and trying to hang out with her friends as much as possible. We get to start all of the college testing soon. I can't believe we are at that point in our lives. I remember when she was just little, I never thought that time would go this fast.

Too hot in my house!

I try to keep the fire burning and the house warm. We have a little bit of oil but I am hoping that we do not use very much of it. It was snowing all day today, so I decided to bake some cookies. I was really excited to try this recipe that my mom found. It is an old family recipe that was lost. I have very fond memories of these cookies from when I was growing up. (who doesn't have fond memories of cookies)? Mostly in Wisconsin. They are Dutch sugar cakes. So I baked them and they are not what I remembered. Either I did something wrong or they are not the same recipe. I remember them being more puffy or full in the middle and mine are so fragile that they fall apart when you pick them up. This is not stopping anybody from eating them. They still taste good. Anyways my indoor thermometer says that my upstairs was at 82 degrees. We were sweating up a storm. I didn't even have a very big fire going today. I wonder if the snow creates extra insulation? Oh well I think I maybe sleeping with the window open tonight because I am used to sleeping cold, and it is only down to 79 degrees. At least the furnace is not coming on. I guess sometimes you just can't win. The Seminary kids will be happy because they won't be so cold tomorrow morning. Hopefully they will be able to stay awake.

Murphy's Law

I often think that our family should change our last name because of Murphy's law. If something can go wrong it will. Keith has been out west since January 5th. He was also gone for about a week and a half right before Christmas. He had work out in Ut and not any here so we were grateful for the work. I have learned so much since he has been gone.

1. I should learn how to fix cars! The vans timing belt went while he was gone the first time. So the kids and I have been driving the big red truck. Then the truck broke down twice while he was gone. I think it wanted to break down again on Sunday evening too. We left my parents house very late on Sunday (Super bowl and The Office), While we were driving down Drury lane it was making a really loud strange noise. I pulled into the gas station, looked at the tires to make sure they weren't flat and looked underneath the truck to make sure we weren't dragging anything. Nothing so the kids and I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to bless this truck that it would work and started it up and no more strange noise. We made it home safe and sound!

2. I really like my husband! Sometimes when your spouse annoys you think oh I wish he would leave for a little while. Well I am going to try and just laugh next time he annoys me. Besides he is usually laughing while he is annoying me.

3. I would love a shorter drive way. It has snowed a lot here in NY. In fact it is snowing while I am typing this. We have a wonderfully long driveway that is great every other season except when it comes time to shoveling! I know I have 2 teenagers and they need to learn and I do make them shovel but I am usually out there with them because I feel guilty if I am not helping.

4. Keith does so much to keep our house running! When he is home I do not worry one bit about anything breaking because I know that he can fix it. Plus he always keeps the woodstove going which I took for granted. I smoked out our whole house yesterday trying to get it started again because I let it die out on Sunday. So we will smell like campfire for a while.

5. 6am comes to early in the morning. Keith teaches early morning seminary along with everything else he does so I am taking that over while he is gone. I am right there with the kids hoping for a delay or snow day so I can sleep. I do like teaching because I am learning so much but I like my sleep too.

6. There are a lot of wonderful people out here in NY who are willing and do help me and the kids whenever we need anything! I get phone calls and visits making sure that everything is going well. I am so greatful for everyone that has helped us in our time of need and I hope that real soon it will be our family being able to be of service to others.

So as you can see I miss Keith and can't wait for him to be home! I think that I have taken for granted how lucky I am to have such a wonderful handy fix it man for a husband. Plus I miss him making me laugh almost every day of my life.

Other than that the kids and I have been keeping busy with Odyssey of the Mind, Seminary, school, shoveling the driveway, going to the hospital for IV treatments, church stuff, and going over to grandma and grandpa's house.

I thought I would include a picture of the logs that almost made me have a really bad day. Here is the story behind the logs. I had been having the kids bring in would and stack it near the wood stove so it would be easy to keep going. Well they had stacked it so close that a few of the logs were touching the side of the stove. This was the first Sunday that the truck broke down, so we were not able to make it to church because we did not have a ride. The Elletts were on their way over to see if they could get the truck running. I was upstairs and I kept smelling smoke. So I checked the oven and I walked around the house. I finally went downstairs and saw all of this smoke coming from the family room. That is when I saw the logs. They had a little bit of a spark and they were charred and smoking. I guess it was a blessing that we were not in church because I think that would have caught our little log cabin on fire really fast. So no harm done and the kids now stack the wood a good foot away from the stove.

I hope everyone else is having a great winter. I know I am because I count my blessings everyday and I am learning that we are truly blessed!

Exciting Times in Port Jervis

So the Murphy Family Band Geeks have had a busy weekend. First, Keith and the kids played at the Kmart Salvation Army kettle for 2 hours and froze their toes. Then later that evening we had a Tree Lighting in downtown Port Jervis that the Broome Street Marching Band played Christmas music for. I was amazed at how many people came. I guess there is not much to do in a small town because there were a lot of people there. The salvation Army was there with free hot chocolate and cookies. They are even having a light decorating contest and then they will drive the Senior Citizens around to see all the houses. When Santa and Mrs. Clause arrived I swear Buddy the elf was there too. We usually cut down our Christmas tree every year but due to time constraints we bought ours at a little nursery in Port Jervis. We found our tree, a Blue Spruce that only cost us $25, after Keith and the Tree guy held up almost every tree on the lot for us to look at. We have a silly tradition that started after we watched Vern saves Christmas one year. Vern would sing the song O Christmas tree and he only knew that one line so he sings the whole song with just that one line. When we find the tree that we are going to bring home we stand around it and sing O Christmas Tree like Vern did on the movie. Now you have to remember that our kids are with us and we are singing in public, you would think that they would be embarrassed. but sometimes they are the ones reminding us that we have to sing. This year the tree guy joined in. We decided that we would decorate Sunday after church. That ended up being pretty late on Sunday evening and we had to move every piece of furniture at least 3 times before we found just the right spot. We started to put the lights on the tree and found that we needed more strands of lights so the decorating would have to wait until Monday evening. On Maonday the band played again at another tree lighting in Port Jervis and more free hot chocolate and cookies. They even let me play the Jingle Bells. The top of our tree is a little sparse with lights but we have 1,000 lights on this tree so any more will have to wait until next year. I even made ginger bread cookies for our tree. Danny and Keith were in charge of the tinsel and you can see by the pictures what a great job they did!!! We have another tradition that I don't really care for and pretty much happens by accident and that is our tree falls down after it is fully decorated. This year we were lucky and were able to catch it before it hit the floor so only one smashed ornament this year (This is the reason I made cookie ornaments). Well our tree is all decorated and looks beautiful and the tree lights keep going out because there are too many. Oh well. I tried.

Cards and OM

So I finally listed my other 2 cards on ebay. I am excited to get back into this. It is unbelievable how much money people will spend on cards. Last summer people were spending over $100 on 1 card! Granted the cards were stunning. I am not complaing because I would love for someone to pay a lot of money for my cards. I no that won't happen for awhile plus there are over 1,000 cards listed every day so there is some serious competition. Let me know what you think. Now I have to get ready for Odyssey of the Mind. Keith and I are the High School coaches and we have our first meeting today. I have to figure out what we are going to do. It is going to be easy and hard at the same time. Keith and I are not allowed to help the kids solve the problem in any way. They have to do everything, costumes, set, skit, we can't even give them advice or tell them what we think! So in that senxe it will be easy. The hard part is to guide them without helping them, to help them learn problem solving skills and creative thinking, that is going to be the hard part. Today, we are going to vote on the problem that they want to do and I am going to try and find some puzzles or mind games for them. After that we have Kiley's first chorus concert tonight. For being stuck at home I still am very busy! TTFN ( Tiggers ta ta for now)

stuck at home

Murphy's law says that we're the Murphy's and Keith's truck is broken so I have a lot of time at home. I am finally feeling better and I have time so I made some cards today and I finally listed one on ebay. Well at least I have something to show for my time, a big messy stamping table and glitter all over me and my house! I really enjoy stamping and creating so I don't mind too much being stuck at home, plus I can't spend any money if I am at home. Hope you enjoy my card. I will show you the other ones I made when I post them tomorrow. TTFN