My most requested recipe

I have been making these since I was a little girl. It's a family recipe that I have never seen exactly as
this anywhere else.

For over 50 years, I've made these for weddings, funerals, new neighbors, birthdays, cookie
exchanges, Relief Society meetings, Christmas presents, my 2 husbands, Courts of Honor, baby
showers, bridal showers, open houses, Missionary farewells, Missionary homecomings, family
potlucks, and parties of all kinds.

And invariably at least someone, usually more, ask me for this recipe. Or beg me to make them again.
I gave some to McKenna this week and she wants the recipe, so I thought this was a good time to put
it on my blog.

I have not eaten these in years, maybe decades because I'm not a dessert person. But if you are, and if
you have not had your fill of good tasting treats this past week, or if you are looking for something
special for New Years Eve, you may need to try these.

They freeze really well, btw.

Next time I make these I will add a picture to this post. :)

Dream Bars

1 1/2 cubes butter, softened (equals 3/4 cups)
1/4 c brown sugar
1 c flour

Combine and line 7x10 or 8x8 pan.
Bake 10 minutes @ 350'

While this is baking, mix this up:
2 eggs
4 T flour
1 1/4 c brown sugar
dash salt
1/2 t baking powder
1 c chopped walnuts

Pour over hot crust and put back in 350' oven for 20 minutes till they are golden brown. 
(Original recipe calls for 30 minutes but that has always been over cooked for me.)

Cool, then cut into squares and roll in powdered sugar. 


Rozier Nativity 2016

Every Christmas Eve we get together with my extended Rozier 
family, and the children take part in the Nativity. 
Just a few of my favorite parts here. 

Oh Leo...
no one is sure how they got that Shepherd's crook away from you after it was over.

Alex singing Noel

Every Christmas Eve we gather with my extended family, have 
dinner, the kids re-enact the Nativity, and then we have a talent 
program. Last night I could not get enough of my nephew Alex's 
voice! Here's just a little part of it.




 This picture does not show everyone, but you can get the general idea :)

And you think you are having fun!



Hey, did you notice how many decorations are left on our tree? 

Perfect Roasted Chicken

After coughing most of the night, I was so happy to take an 
afternoon nap yesterday. When I woke up the house was oddly 
quiet. Den said the McKs went to a movie and took all the kids with them. 

Then he pulls this out of the fridge. 
He said McKenna asked him to put it in the oven at 4pm.
what? what? When did she have time to put this together??


It was SO delicious!



When they got back from the movies 
she whipped up some garlic mashed potatoes, 
and cut up some fresh fruit.

It was like a dream waking up to dinner in the making.
And I will definitely be making this roasted chicken.
Recipe right here.
(she left the fennel out and we didn't miss it)


McKenna and Karen are already up early this morning
getting a start on dinner for tonight!

btw, McKenna likes this article she found from 1950.
She said the website she found it on had some preeeeetty BAD comments about it however. 


6 of our grandkids reunited




These inseparable cousins who have been separated since last May, 
were reunited last night.

Leo, Grant, Annie, Scarlett, Juliet, and Rich

Just before Karen and Tyler and family arrived last night, 
there was some dancing going on in the kitchen.
Obviously they were a bit excited in anticipation.


I had my arms outstretched to Leo and Rich as they walked 
through our front door and they had their arms outstretched to me, 
until, they saw their cousins, and then went to them instead. 

Feeling rejected for about 5 seconds, 
and then I thought, no, this is good!
I so want my grandchildren to be close to each other.



Soon after Leo walked in the door he explained some ground rules 
to Scarlett, "Don't hit Juliet. She's a good boy. She's not your boy, 
but she's a good boy." Just protecting his baby sister. 
Not that Scarlett had any plans to hit anyone. 


Then moments later, Scarlett sobbed and sobbed because she 
couldn't take a bath with Rich and Leo. Her Dad tried to explain to 
her that she can't take a bath with boys.


These 2 little girls, Annie and Juliet, will be best friends someday.

Our house is full, and crazy and messy, and noisy this week, 
and I'd have it no other way. 

These families went through great effort to make it here.
I am feeling very grateful.

Lots of cooking gone on around here and I'm not the one doing it.
I'll be sharing their recipes soon.


So worth the 3 hours of lost sleep

About 2:30 am Sunday morning I woke up from all my coughing. 
I also thought....Did Dennis remember to put the alarm back on 
after he got home last night from the airport? (looking for the McKs' lost
luggage)

So in the process of checking the alarm, 
I saw this little shadow of a girl wandering around in the dark.


Scarlett! 
 It had been a long 19 months without her.

 So we just cuddled and talked for the next 2 hours. I had lost my 
voice so all I could do was whisper to her. So she copied me and 
would only whisper, so I couldn't hear a lot of what she said to me. 

But that didn't matter. 
Nothing like precious time with a 3 year old granddaughter 
in the middle of the night.


After about 2 hours, I tried to put her back to bed she but requested 
to stay with me. So I held her hand as we went feeling our way 
through the dark to my bed. 

Ever so quietly trying not to wake Grandpa, I lifted her up and she 
moved to the middle 
and then she softly patted the bed and whispered, 
"Here's a spot for you Grandma Honey."

By now it's 5:30am and she said her tummy hurt and my cough 
came back, so I thought I better return her to her parents. I opened 
their bedroom door and then Scarlett said, "I don't know which one 
is their bed." There was only one bed in there! :)

So then I went back to bed and this morning as I was opening my 
eyes, I once again saw a shadow of a little girl. She was hovering 
around my bed. I asked her to go get my camera and she did. 
Somehow she knew exactly which drawer I kept it in! 
Then she got on top of my bed 
so she could show me her new dress.

I so did not plan on being sick the week they are here...
but the perk of this is, 
I would have missed our middle of the night visit. 

I never would have heard those little words,
"Here is a spot for you, Grandma Honey."





Within 2 hours of arriving here....

This may look like just a lovely little family 
without a stress in the world.

But I promise you the previous 26 hours 
before they arrived to us from Boston, 
was NOT an easy adventure. 


But look how well they recovered!

And we are SO thankful 
McKay, McKenna, Grant, Scarlett, and Annie are with us now. 

More about this later. 


The unusual, and the best.


I heard my grandgirls unpacking their over night things in the other 
room while I was getting dinner together. 

They soon came in to show me the little bedtime friends 
they brought with them.

I turned around to look at their animals, confused, and asked, 
"Wait a sec. Where did you both get these?"
(thinking their Moms must shop at the same place, 
but still what a coincidence to both come with that same unusual creature.)


Violet piped right up, "Mommy got me this in Italy."
While Téa said, "My Mommy got mine at the mall." 

Let's see, the mall 2 miles away....Italy a lot further than that!


But the best part of the evening? 
It happened after I gave them their bag of surprises.

They said they wanted to be alone for a few minutes. 
I didn't think anything of it....just went about cleaning up dinner.

When they came out of the bedroom they announced, 
"Because you do so many nice things for us, 
we wanted to do something for you."

And they presented me with these pictures...
Violet made this one of our old house. That big blue thing? 
That was our pool. 


I think Téa made our new house. 
Not sure. But it doesn't matter.

It doesn't even matter why the rainbow is under the house.

What does matter to me is they were SO sweet to think of me!
But I think I'll wait a few years 
before I ask them to wash my dishes.


She's still with us

This was my Mom's song. I had to have it in our home!


She never said it was her song, but right after she died I flipped on some music 
and this was the hymn that played. I know it was her message to us.

And I wanted these words written big and bold in my life.
I miss my Mom today more than usual. 
So I watched this video again from a million years ago.


 It was about 1957. Just me and my 2 brothers back then. The other 5 weren't born yet. 

And my Uncle Don is in this too....(he said the last house call he knows of occurred Dec 8, 1929 
when Dr. O. M. Goodall arrived for the delivery of his little sister Gaynor!)




On April 15, 2007, I looked at my Mom lying there, already having passed into the next 
world. I realized more than ever before just how blessed I was to have been raised by her. 


She gave us a firm foundation to build our lives upon. 



There was never any question to what she was about.



Her goodness, her purity would be with her, and all of us, forever.

Some things I will never understand

So a few days ago while Den and I were visiting my Dad and Susan 
he asked if we had seen the new Burger King commercial. 

"Uh no, Dad, don't think so."

He said it features two of the original cast of 
Napoleon Dynamite from 12 years ago.

Oh yes, that movie I've never understood.
The one my boys and Dennis would watch together, and quote. 
 And years later, they still talk about!


So my Dad asked if we'd like to see that new commercial.


He brought us over to his computer.

And here it is....




I still don't get it. 

I keep watching this.....

I just happened to run into this on Facebook of my nephew Alex 
singing and....I couldn't even wait for it to be over 
before I yelled to Dennis in the other room, 
"You have to come see this!"

Love his VOICE!...which is saying a lot 
because I don't even like this song. 

 And he's only in high school.

He needs to be on The Voice. 




I think this link shows it even better:

Alex Rozier is the son of my brother John and his wife Suzanne. 

The grandchild we have not met

Annie is the only grandchild we have not even met, and she is ONE today. 
A whole year without seeing her or holding her.


Do you want to know how I make myself feel better about that? I 
tell myself that she will be here in California and in our house in 
just 14 days. I really do tell myself that because it's true.

So here she is this morning in Massachusetts. A long ways away. 
Thank goodness for technology.

And as an extra special super duper bonus to us this year, 
Karen and Tyler and Richie, Leo, and Juliet will be with 
us too from Washington. I cannot wait to see these families together 
again. It's been a long 7 months. 

And won't our home be fun here this month of December 
with 6 little kids all under 6  :)

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...