A Plate of Cookies

Peanut Butter kiss cookie batch cooling.

I love to bake. More specifically I love to bake cookies. I've been told I have the best cookies in the world, but I'm sure there are others who would argue they or someone they know bakes better cookies. But, I at least have the stamp of approval from my family, friends, Girl Scouts and neighbors.
I never really got into the skill of cooking so much. Anything I can make in less than a half hour is my kind of meal. But baking cookies and other goodies really caught on with me. I like baking cinnamon rolls, but the process takes all day so I don't make them too often.

Wanna bite?

I love around the holidays making up plates of cookies for neighbors. Usually Hershey Kiss cookies, plus I throw some festive Hershey kisses in the holiday wrappers on the plate along with the cookies.
I've received requests from many friends to mail my cookies to them but I've only ever done it twice. Always afraid they'll arrive in broken pieces. Not a good idea to mail chocolate in the summer either, which a lot of my cookies do contain chocolate. I'm a stressed baker too which result in some of my best cookies. When I'm stressed about anything, baking a batch of cookies is usually my outlet. I don't care to be stressed but I'm sure my family likes the yummy results from me being stressed.

Using the right ingredients and the right amount of baking time in high altitude can make all the difference in the world for baking perfect cookies. For chocolate chip cookies I decrease the sugars and baking time, plus add 2 tsp. water to the cookie dough. In almost all cookie recipes the baking time is decreased for high altitude. You should never soften your margarine or butter in high altitude. Cut into small pieces instead and add to your dough. Large eggs also work better than medium or small eggs. I use the air bake cookie sheets and I do spray them with cooking spray. Most cookie recipes say to use an ungreased cookie sheet. I'm not sure if high altitude is the problem, but when I use an ungreased cookie sheet, the cookies get stuck to the sheet. Parchment paper works well too. If you are making oatmeal or oatmeal with chocolate chips or raisins, decrease the oatmeal a little. This helps your cookie to be more chewy and not dry. For example one recipe I have uses 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal. I decrease it to 2 or 2 1/4 cups. Most recipes are not created for high altitude so if you don't live in high altitude areas, the recipe you see should work fine (adjust times for your oven). If you do live in high altitude, most recipes, especially ones you bake should have adjustments on the package for high altitude.


Some of my Choc-Oat-Chip cookies in the cookie jar.

My favorite cookie to bake and eat are chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. The recipe comes from Nestle Very Best Baking right online. I only decrease the baking time and decrease the oatmeal for high altitude (and don't soften the margarine). We don't like nuts in our family so they don't get added. Nestle Choc-Oat-Chip cookies



Rolled sugar cookies. Very yummy!

Another favorite cookie amongst my kids and my Girl Scouts are my frosted sugar cookies. A recipe from years ago in an LDS ward cook book is my recipe of choice. It doesn't require you to refrigerate the cookie dough and they come out really soft and yummy. Like Granny B cookies only better. Just ask my kids! For the frosting I use powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, a little bit of cream cheese and margarine. Oh, and food coloring of course. They don't last in my house. They are a little time consuming and make a mess in my kitchen, but I don't mind baking them for an occasional treat, especially when the weather is cooler and I don't mind having the oven on. I have a Trefoil shaped cookie cutter too which I use a lot for treats at Girl Scouts. I know, not an authentic Girl Scout cookie, but those only come around once a year. Need to pacify all the cookie connoisseurs!
Over the years my cookies have satisfied the sweet teeth and cookie appetites of my children Amanda, Zakk, Caleb and Alyssa. Oh and my granddaughter McKinley. It's mainly for them I bake. OK, I bake for me too! :)


The Eternal Family Ties That Bind

22 years ago began a journey for me that has pretty much become an addiction. A good addiction, but an addiction none-the-less. My dad started being the genealogist in the family, it interested him from the start when we joined the LDS church in 1976. We would attend family reunions back in Harper, Kansas for the Burkes, Newberry's and Howells. My Great Grandma Eda Susan Newberry gave my dad a lot of stuff. My dad has always remained interested in our genealogy but gave over the research duties to me in 1991 when he sent me a small box of long pedigree charts and family group sheets in a Book of Remembrance. Kind of like the picture here, only the paper ones, and not as nice. Pink pedigree charts and yellow family group sheets. :)

So in my curiosity I decided to just look around once along with Joe, Amanda (age 3) and Zachary, who at that time was only a few months old, pushing them both in the double stroller we had around the BYU genealogy library. Well just one time turned into many years of research adventures. I never knew then I would be stepping into a future of thousands of names found, about 6 large file boxes and several notebooks full of information! Research has been so fun for me and a bit of a challenge too. I loved going about once a week to BYU, usually Zachary was with me, but not always, Joe would watch the kids and I'd go on my own, especially as they got older. Even two additional kids later, sometimes I'd be toting a baby in a stroller on my research adventures, sometimes not.



BYU Library

As someone who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that this great work of searching our ancestors is important to do their precious saving ordinances for them in the LDS temples of the world.
The research we do leads us to be sealed or bound to our families. The ties that bind us for Eternity.

Matthew 16: 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.



LDS Family History Library Salt Lake City, UT

I also love going to the Salt Lake City Family History Library. I'm like a kid in a candy store. So many books and films, so little time. I remember once (yes, this is true, I don't kid) I asked if I could pitch a tent inside the library. Half joking and knowing they wouldn't, but seriously would have found a Walmart in SLC and bought a tent if they let me.....or an air mattress and sleeping bag at the very least. But, no dice.

I've enjoyed finding pictures and stories most of all. It's been so much fun discovering tidbits of information on my ancestors. My ancestor George Guest Russell fought for both the North and the South in the Civil War. I have many ancestors on both my mom and dad's side who fought for the Revolutionary War, Civil War, War of 1812, Spanish-American War, etc. I've discovered pensions and DAR records and many other things. My ancestors were from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland and Canada.
I'm also glad I got my sister-in-law Kathleen interested in genealogy. She has found a lot of things and as far as the more recent technology of the LDS church on familysearch.org, she knows her way around it better than I do, so we help each other!
I love genealogy and I love my eternal family.


Templeton Family Bible




3rd great grandparents John Arnold Burke and Matilda McIntosh & family.
 





Third great grandparents Norman Allen Newberry and Sarah Thomas.

 

 

Janel Newberry born 14 Jan 1965 in San Diego, CA daughter of Danny Allen Newberry and Judith Lynn Meyer.
Grandparents:
Norman Allen Newberry and Barbara Mae Howell
Edward Charles Meyer and Virginia Elizabeth Owens

Great Grandparents:
Fred Herbert Newberry and Eda Susan Templeton
Theodore Ernest Howell and Lida Luella Burke
Charles Frederick Meyer and Minnie Alma Lexow
William Harrison Owens and Lorene Gertrude Russell

2nd great Grandparents:
Norman Allen Newberry and Sarah Thomas
Henry Lafayette Templeton and Ellen Meathers
George Washington Howell and Margaret Eliza Hickey
Charles Arnold  Burke and Priscilla Beatrice "Twix" Wohlford
John Meyer Jr. and Katherine Ohlweiler
Johan Christensen Fredriksen Lexow and Sophia Maria Dorthea Maier/Meyer
James Madison Owens and Jessie Taylor McCutchen
Elijah Lafayette Russell and Irene Eliza Ann Beavers




Meyer Family Bible



Grandma and Grandpa Edward Charles Meyer and Virginia Elizabeth Owens






3rd Great Grandparents:

 

Benjamin C. Newberry and Adeline Hurley

George Downing Thomas and Mary Batson

William George B. Templeton and Nancy Glover

Henry Meathers and Sarah Ann Griffith

Wamun Mansfield Howell and Margaret Jones

Sandy A. Hickey and Rhoda Tilley

John Arnold Burke and Matilda McIntosh

William C. Wohlford and Matilda N. Keck

John Georg Myer and Barbara Elizabeth

Jacob Johann Ohlweiler and Maria Elisabetha Imig

Charles Lexow and Carolina Holtz

Ernst Maier/Meyer and Caroline Warber

William Randolph Riley Owens and Nancy Narcissus Wilson

Charles Harrison McCutchen and Nancy Elizabeth Taylor

George Guest Russell and Sarah Jane McDonald

Albert K. Beavers and Sarah L. Harris

4th great grandparents:

John Newberry and Hannah Clayton
Dennis Hurley and Mary Connell
Abraham Thomas and Arlinda Gardiner
Stephen Batson and Aletha McDorman
George Hiram Templeton and Margaret Peggy Turpin
Jesse Glover
John Henry Meathers and Ellen
John Griffith and Eliza
Lewis Howell and Jerusha Duncan
Ammond Davis Jones and Elizabeth Tatum Grimes
Elijah Hickey and Sarah Saylors
Henderson Tilley and Mary Cardwell
William Herbert Burke and Barbara Comstock
James Mackintosh and Cecelia Mather
George Wohlford and Priscilla Stahl
Godfrey Kick III and Mary Ann Wolf
Johann Adam Ohlweiler and Maria Margaretha Weber
Johann Jacob Imig and Elizabeth Rausch
Christian Lexow and Caroline Tenajahn
John Holtz
Joseph Owens and Epsie Caroline Gunter
William Tanner Wilson and Rachel
William Walker McCutchen and Margaret Frances Elizabeth Harrison
Leander Jasper Taylor and Mary Ann Pollock
Elijah Russell and Sally Guest
Eli McDonald and Sarah Crouch
Reuben Beavers and Mary Headen



Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple

Waiting for 2014

Seems strange to say that a 48 year old grandma is waiting on a missionary, but I am! No, he's not my son or grandson, or nephew or any relation at all. But, I'm not alone, thousands of people are waiting for this missionary to return, and of all ages. He is preaching the gospel like any other missionary but he is special and different because of who he is, American Idol star David Archuleta. "I can't wait to bring back the person I will become" David exclaimed in a video blog he left for the fans. David also left his fans music, pictures, and videos before he left to keep the fans happy, preoccupied, and interested so we will be here when he returns. What an amazing young man he is, and there is nobody who could be more proud (OK, except maybe his family).

 

In January of 2012 before David left on his mission, I made a scrapbook for David, listing his fans who lived in various LDS temple districts and though most of the fans listed are not LDS, after explaining to them the scrapbook, they agreed to have their names in the scrapbook. Through the help of Geri in Utah I was able to get this to his family. I am wanting to do something else, starting it maybe in a few weeks and as a Christmas or coming home present for David (haven't decided). Additions to the list of fans who will wait for him will start right away. It will not be another scrapbook, and what I do hasn't been decided yet, but I will try and decide soon.

I've decided to just share one video of the start of my scrapbook. The others can be found on my YT under SRHS83 or Rochelle Dawn.

Planting the Seeds of the Gospel

Imagine with me if you will a seed buried in the ground, a little too deep perhaps, but there, and in the shade, out of the reach of any water source. Then, with the care of the grounds keeper, one day reaches a little further with the sprinklers, trims back the trees near where the seed was planted to allow sunlight on his garden, then finally hope reaches the little seed and it grows, and is fertilized and more seed is created from it and more new life springs from it.

My testimony was buried deep for so long, and as my younger brother told me, it was there, but I denied it was. I wasn't feeling or seeing anything that would make me think differently, in fact the adversary helped things along by making what anti-mormons and ex-mormons said against the gospel make sense to me and my testimony grew ever more hidden, shaded from the light of Christ and my thirst for the knowledge of the truth was no longer there.
Heavenly Father had his time and plan for me to return, and perhaps he wanted me to return earlier, but I wouldn't listen as it was just easy for me to become complacent in my daily routines, and make excuses for not believing anymore or going to church. But the ray of sunshine came in the form of a hymn, one which I had sung in church when I was a young adult, but had long forgotten over time. The delivery of the song came from a young man with the voice of an angel, David Archuleta. It hit me so strong listening to it on Youtube from a fireside where he sang it. I listened over and over and used tissues cluttered up my desk and the floor around me, but I couldn't stop. Later that same day, I had passed the temple, and I had this feeling of a pull toward it, like a magnet almost. Then back the other direction I passed it again on my way home with the same pull toward it, only stronger. This time I had to pull over because the feeling hit me so hard. I asking God what was happening, why was I feeling this way now, and the message was sure, that it was the music I had been listening to and I need to keep listening. This burst of sunshine to my testimony was the beginning of a journey eventually leading back to the church. (more of the story can be found in another blog I did here about Be Still My Soul).

As my testimony has grown, so too has my desire to spread the gospel, to be a voice for my Father in Heaven and for my Savior, and to never deny the truthfulness of the gospel ever again. The spirit dwells strong in me at times, and I can discern the spirit in others, David included. I have had the thrill of sending 4 Books of Mormon to some young people on the FB group "Learn About David Archuleta and His Religion "Mormon". One a young man Elysion in Taiwan, one to Cherry Mariano in the Philippines, (those two included testimonies from David), one to a young girl Virginia "Gin" in New York, and one to another young lady Cinthya Mendoza in Ecuador (with testimonies from me). I know and see the testimony of sweet young Gin, and I know she wants to be baptized and is looking forward to being able to drive herself to church. A new seed planted and a testimony growing. I have seen the work of our Father in Heaven reach and touch the life of Cinthya through her going to church, and now attending Institute classes, and she is slowly but surely reading the Book of Mormon. And I can see that her testimony will probably start to develop soon, through the examples of young people her age at the Institute classes and through missionaries which will be coming to her home soon.
I hope some day though that through my example and how happy my own children see me, that perhaps they will seek and return to the gospel I love and have a testimony for themselves. I pray for it all the time and hope for it. I just have to have faith.

Though Gin has not been baptized yet, I can already see her sharing her testimony and I see that testimony touching other people's hearts. I love these young people and love doing my part to bring the light of the gospel to their lives.
I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for giving me Be Still My Soul as my beacon, and reminder that I am where I'm supposed to be. I'm grateful for my testimony and I know this gospel is true, I know it as the spirit has testified it to me. I know God lives and I am his daughter, I know Jesus is the Christ and my redeemer, I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know it with every fiber of my being. I hope I can help plant the seed of the gospel in the lives of more people, and see their testimonies grow and see them be baptized, then in turn they will share their testimonies with others, and so on. Planting the seeds of the gospel, seeing them grow with their testimonies, and planting more seeds to touch more lives with His truth. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Update: Cinthya was baptized on July 21st, 2013. I'm so happy for her!! :)