Mango Sorbet

We made a mango sorbet tonight that was too yummy not to share...

Peach or Mango Sorbet

1/2 pound (or 1 1/2 cups) frozen peaches or mangoes
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chopped jalapeno pepper, optional

In a food processor, combine all ingredients. Process until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately or keep in the freezer until ready to serve.

Serves 2 to 4

Sneak peek of Spring!

Adele had a little picnic and personal story time with Mormor yesterday

Spring is around the corner. We had a sneak peek when we returned from Utah. The daffodils are blooming, and the trees are just a few weeks from blossoming. The birds are busy, singing as they go, and bunny fever still rages in the Davis household.

Adele's baptism

Our trip to Utah was loaded with goodness. My brother Mitch and his wife Joann were sealed in the Provo temple, their little son Tag was sealed to them, too; then Tag was blessed at my aunt and uncles home. But of course, the highlight for us (as if those weren't highlights in and of themselves!) was Adele's baptism. We were surrounded by immediate and extended family ALL weekend. It was a taste of heaven.

We also stayed with my great friend Cherstyn and her family. She taught me how to make a whole wheat bread that we can tolerate (my children will love her forever), how to make a whole grain, raw breakfast cereal that was delicious, and we stayed up talking for hours every night. Nothing compares to a good friend, and Cherstyn has been one for a long time.

Adele's baptism was perfect. We had arranged it in my dad's home ward and the bishop there was more than warm and fatherly. The room was full of family, all smiling ear to ear at Adele on her big day. Adele felt so special.

Unfortunately we can not locate the pictures we took of Adele and Geoff dressed in white! I'm so bummed about it. What is better than an eight-year-old dressed in white, enthusiastic to get baptized! But I do have a slew of pictures of the occasion taken on my mother-in-law's camera.

The cousins sang I'm Trying to be Like Jesus

Ceci and Tennie with my brother Mitch

My awesome dad and his wife Babs

Adele with her bosom cousin Taeya and Geoff's cute mom

My cute mom and Geoff's sister Nikki

Ceci with new little cousin Tag

Geoff's mom getting a smile from Tag

My brother Mitch, his wife Joann and their son Tag

Geoff's sister Erica and her husband Davey

Geoff's mom, his sister Ingrid, my mom and Geoff's sister Emily at a little brunch we had after the baptism

Making Tag smile kept me occupied for a long time...

The whole of us (minus Nikki who took the picture)

A day on the job

We just returned from a relatively quick trip to Utah. Adele had called my dad to ask if he had any jobs for her to do because "I'm saving for a bunny". He promised her a day of employment. By the time we arrived in Utah Tennie and Ceci wanted in on the earning, too.

We arrived at my dad's home and he and Babs had created a list of jobs. They included three incentives: have a 'can do' attitude, have an 'attitude of curiosity' (if they didn't know how to do something they would ask for help), and have an attitude of teamwork. They would get paid hourly, and paid a bonus based on how well they did on the incentives.

These three kids worked hard, and thought it especially cool that they got paid to eat grandpa's meals.

Picking up dog poop in the backyard was a great exercise for a 'can do' attitude

Walking the dogs was a nice diversion

Ceci learned to prepare pie crusts while Tennie and Adele made the preparations for six quiche and a large potato salad

Vacuuming and bathrooms...

Foot rubs (their specialty)

A little break for a belated birthday cake for Adele

And they were even paid to take an hour long golf lesson. They loved it.

They were very excited about their hard-earned money, and they are one step closer to a bunny. (Except for Tennie who was using her new golf clubs today; she whacked off a sprinkler head and has to pay for it. She has vowed never to play golf again...)

The Birds and Bees

Geoff and I took Adele out for dinner tonight to tell her "the most exciting secret in the whole world"...how babies are made. We went to a nice, quiet restaurant in town with a few books for reference. She knew we were going to tell her something "amazing" but didn't seem all that anxious to hear it, maybe because she can see right through our hyped-up efforts to portray it as "amazingly special". Knowing Adele she was probably thinking to herself, "Forget the secret, just take me to the farm store so I can stare at the bunnies...that is exciting!"

We warmed up with some questions (all taken from the Eyre's awesome book How to Talk to Your Child About Sex), and then asked where she thought babies came from. "Heavenly Father." We asked how he got them here. "The mom's tummy." We asked how it got in the mom's tummy. This was something she had never considered, at least for any amount of time. With a silly grin she guessed, "It flies?" We continued by reading a little illustrated book on how babies are made. It is tastefully straight forward, and humorous at the same time. When Adele saw the picture of the naked man and woman she scrunched up her nose, said, "Ew!" and quickly put her napkin over it. She didn't look anywhere near the book again. We continued to read as she is familiar with a male and female body (you can't go to Florence, Italy and not be familiar...) She was growing uneasy as I talked about the body parts, but when I explained the "special hug" she exclaimed, "This is not fun!" (as Tennie had promised). She continued with emotion, "It is getting loud in here...I don't want to talk about this anymore!"

So, "the talk" is on hold. One thing is for sure...she'll certainly never look at us the same!

Persistence

Adele has a natural quality for Persistence. I admire it as a quality, especially when trying to pass a law in congress, or save starving children in Africa, but when it is for a bunny, well, it can get a little tiresome for parents.

She talks about it constantly (as in-between every math problem); she probably thinks about it more. She has a jar upstairs and down for any spare change that may come up daily. She has sign-up sheets for foot rubs around the house. She asks if there is a job she can do several times a day (although she is rather particular about jobs she'll take because she isn't all that interested in working...). She watches videos on how to take care of bunnies, and she has been scouting out places in the yard suitable for a bunny hutch. She prays nightly that she'll get the bunny by Tennie's birthday (March 22nd). Like I said, I admire her persistence. I like that she'll do what it takes to get what she wants. What I don't love is the feeling that life can not go on with any meaning until she has her bunny. She loves animals, and I do think she'll love it and take care of it...so we're doing what we can to support the bunny fund.

"I'd like another foot rub, please."

An expedition

We took advantage of a dry morning (forecast says rain all week), and took a break from the normal routine of school to go on an "expedition" today. During our morning devotional the phone rang, Geoff answered it, and Chief Waterfall had invited us to visit him. We gathered some snacks and water and set off for a nearby hiking trail. The girls were so excited and allowed their imaginations to take over and go along with it all day. We talked about Marco Polo and Lewis and Clark and how they observed and gathered information. The girls have little jeweler loupes that magnify and they were looking closely at leaves, tree trunks, ants, moss and mushrooms. We took out time exploring side trails, Adele found "teepees", we found a clearing where Chief Waterfall's people do powwows...you get the idea. It was totally fun; we all welcomed the change of pace.

We did our own "sun" dance at the powwow clearing

Some trees had vines and the girls and Geoff gave it a try...it got lower and lower and by the time it was Ceci's turn it was dragging on the ground.

Halfway into our hike we read a notice that there were ticks with Lyme disease. Lovely. The notice recommended tucking in clothing to which Adele quickly obeyed.

We followed Chief Waterfall's "roar" and finally found him. He even left the girls some suckers to motivate them to make the hike back to the car...