Count Me In!

Hey what a fun idea! I enjoy blogging and this will be fun to share stories, pictures and anything else! Kyle and I have been enjoying our Christmas break here at home, we figure it will be one of the last times we get a long 2 week vacation. Next year around this time, we will *hopefully* be moving from Provo; Kyle graduates December 2009. Here are some Carlson family photos of our Merry Christmas!

Our annual holiday breakfast at IHOP!

Christmas Eve at homeMissy and Daniel enthusiastic about reading the Christmas storySteph and I showing off our new clothes/PJs! Daniel and Kyle received matching robes from Mom and Dad Christmas Eve

I caught Daniel opening the gifts early!Steph was so excited to see what Santa put in her stocking-especially her "Blitzen" antlers

Kyle and I leave for Utah on Saturday (Jan. 3rd). We hope to be back with family soon! I have a blog for us and our adventures (or lack thereof) in Utah. CLICK on this address to find it: http://monsoneverafter.blogspot.com/

Love, Becca

• Hey Mom,
• I finally got a around to getting the recipe for the mexican rice to you. When we made this recipe, we doubled it. However, the combination of this and the 2 pans of enchiladas that they made weren't enough for the eight of us. Also, we didn't cook it as long as it says to, but our stove is a little wacky, so it may be okay for you.
• 
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 small small onion, diced
• 2/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 ounces canned diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in onion and saute until translucent.
  2. Pour the rice into the pan and stir to coat grains with oil. Mix in cumin, chili powder, tomatoes, salt and water. Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cook at a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir occasionally.

What to do during a recession

Surprise, surprise - people are finally admitting we're in a recession - and probably a big one at that. I've spoken to several consultants over the last few years on what to do to prepare for a recession, and have found several online articles that support what I've heard. I pass them on to the readers of this blog as there are several very good (and highly important) things to take note of:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/personal-investing/recession-proof-your-finances-9-07/overview/recession-proof-your-finances-ov.htm

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/what-to-do-during-a-recession.html


My Key Take-aways:

• Don't sell your investments now and stop contributing to retirement/other savings! ...if you do, you're just locking in your losses. Now is the perfect time to invest, if you're in it for the long haul (> 10 years) - providing you have emergency funds set aside and in a secure account (money market, CD, etc). No sense in investing if you don't have emergency funds. 3-6 months of living expenses is typically considered a good allocation for emergency funds.
  
• Get more training/education - employers are laying off like crazy - more training and education make you a less likely candidate for layoffs, and a more likley candidate for hiring if you do find yourself unemployed.
  
• Be patient. Don't succomb to the media hype. History has shown that those who don't have knee-jerk reactions to the world around them typically do better. Keep working hard at your goals/plans and stick to your principles.

These are what we made for our December treats.

Click below to read about Rannie's Cousin

Seattle Times article on Don Wakamatsu

I'm related to someone famous

My cousin's son is now the manager of the Mariners! Don Wakamatsu was just on the Seattle news talking about his new job! Too bad that I won't be able to milk any perks out of the situation. His parents moved to the Bay area when he was young and they never came to OR to visit much. So, I probably haven't seen him in 20 years or more. Oh well, at least I can celebrate just being related to someone famous!

Thanksgiving Treats

This is what we made for our November treats.  We have two mini loaves of pumpkin and poppy seed bread in each pumpkin pie plate.

White Chili

Marianne,  here's the recipe you requested.

4 cans great northern beans (not drained)

3 cups chicken broth plus 1 bouillon cube

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 medium onions, chopped

2 cans green chilies

1 Tbsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. cumin

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

4 cups diced, cooked chicken

1 32 oz. carton sour cream

2 cans white corn

4 cups grated jack cheese

 

            Cook onions in butter or oil adding spices until onions are tender.  Add rest of ingredients except cheese and sour cream.  Simmer 20 minutes.  Add sour cream and cheese reserving enough cheese to sprinkle some over top of individual bowls.  Heat through but do not boil once sour cream has been added.  Serve, topped with reserved cheese.

Isn't She Lovely?

Thanks, Pauline! I love this idea of having this blog for all the family to post!

Thought I would share a picture, of course, not of me! This is of our princess, Stevie in her homecoming dress. The pictures that were taken at the dance did not show off how cute her dress was, or how lovely Stevie really is! I know, I know....after I took the pictures and got them home, I could see how terribly wrinkled the dress was after she had already worn it to the dance but at least I have some good full length pictures of her in it! Well, this one has weird lighting, but her face is so cute here!

She went to the dance with a guy named Josh. Those that keep up on her My Space will probably know that they have been together since last spring.

Greg's E-mail

Last week I emailed on Tuesday, so I will continue from there in the things that are going on. It was kind of a tough week in a lot of ways, but a very good week in a lot of other ways. We had three appointments with people fall through, which was way hard. One of those was Imai-san. She went to Nagoya to visit her brother who works down there, but when she got to his apartment and knocked, nobody was home. When she called him, he totally forgot she was coming, and had picked up an extra work appointment/meeting that night. She was really devastated. That night we called her and she asked us to share our favorite Book of Mormon scriptures, and our number one favorite scripture about Christ to cheer her up. I shared the beginning of Mosiah, and 3 Nephi 12 for each topic relatively. It is amazing to see someone run to the scriptures as their first relief from a worldly issue, before they are ever baptized!

This weekend, we also had another appointment with Rumiko-san, and we did a sweet personality test by drawing a tree with fruit on it. The existance of roots, what kind of fruit you drew, how thick the trunk was, and whether you could see the top of the tree on the paper were all fundamental aspects of your personality. Apparently I'm a very self-stabilizing person, with clear goals, but I have a need to share myself with others too much. I thought that was mostly accurate.

Also, Uncle Reo came to church in Gifu this week. He called Mission President and asked for permission, then was able to Google Map directions and ask people along the way. It was a pretty neat experience for both of us, and I got a lot of neat advice and heard some stories I hadn't heard before. He took some pictures with us, so you will likely see those soon, if you haven't already.

LeeAnne is doing well, she was expecting (hoping for) her mission call this weekend, but it didn't come. She is working hard (as usual, she is way good about that) and preparing to serve. Sounds like she is about halfway through the Book of Mormon, and is getting pretty excited about the call coming. I think she is serving Japan Fukuoka, Greenhalgh thinks she is serving Japan Sapporo, and Elder Silva-Muniz (who was in the MTC with me) thinks she is serving in Brazil. Only because he is Brazilian. Guess we will find out next week!

I guess the last interesting thing is our dinner we had at the Bishop's house last night. It was kind of a practice family home evening/planning session. Multiple members here are starting to do monthly 'open' family home evenings, where anyone can come and bring friends, etc, and we are training them on how to do it. It is going to be way fun. Before it gets too much colder, we are going to teach the kids how to play capture the flag one FHE night, and they are all going to bring a couple friends, and we are going to bring two of the people we are teaching. It should be great fun, and a good way for nonmembers to realize we aren't as strict and weird as people think we are.

Anyway, that's really all I have for these week. I still need to reply to Derek/Jacob/Kathryn etc, so I'm going to do those quick before time runs out. Love you all, and thanks for keeping in touch! Talk to you soon!
Greg Burnham
gregburnham@myldsmail.net
1-304 Itakadai
Meito-ku Nagoya-shi Aichi-ken
465-0028 Japan

Pauline, thanks for starting this! I think its a neat idea!

I'm planning on doing kind of a neat project for school and myself. If you'd like to contribute, email your testimonies to me at cheney.janelle@gmail.com. I think it would be awesome to have everyone contribute if possible! I know everyone is busy, but if I can have them by Sunday November 23, that would make this amazing!!!
Thanks and Love,
Janelle

Family Blog

I thought it would be fun to start an Anderson Family blog.  I thought we could share pictures, recipes, thoughts, etc.  We'll see how it goes.